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Sunday, April 12, 2026

Emergency Shelter, Part Two©

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

Could you survive? You’re on an open hillside, miles from camp and a storm is rolling in from the west, heading your way, it’s already started to rain. You decide to head a short way downhill to an area of rocky outcrops to look for shelter in a cave or rock overhang.

This is choice ‘C’ and it isn’t the answer that the Airforce survival specialists at Fairchild AFB suggested as the most correct answer.

However, if you know of a rocky outcropping with a large boulder field, like you will find in most areas of the Appalachian Mountains, then the survival experts said this would be an ideal choice.

Rock Shelters

A shallow cave at the base of the cliff is a rock shelter. Rock shelters are also sometimes called slant-rocks, overhangs, rock-houses, or half-caves; and are different from true caves. True caves often have extensive “dark zones”, generally though, rock shelters are wider than they are deep, and caves are deeper than they are wide. And while caves are different from rock shelters, cave mouths or ‘vestibules’, as they are sometimes known, offer similar advantages for shelter as do rock shelters.

Staying Safe...

What do you look for to stay safe when overnighting or waiting out a storm in a rock shelter?

Knock, knock, is anybody home? Rock shelters are valuable real estate, so always check for inhabitants: study the inside of the shelter and look and listen carefully before you go inside.

Check to make sure that the overhanging roof is stable and not going to come crashing down on you. Bang on the ceiling with a heavy branch or a walking stick and listen for a hollow or dull sound. If you hear one, it means that the ceiling might have a crack or a loose section.

Lightning can be a risk. Rock shelters that are at the base of a low cliff or outcrop of rock or are in a heavily wooded area are relatively safe from lightning.

Look for drips of water, or icicles in the winter. A few drips or icicles are to be expected, but if the shelter is very wet, then during a storm you might get washed out.

If you light a fire, build it near the opening of the rock shelter, under the dripline. This keeps it at a safe distance from both the roof of the overhang and the backwall.

Just like with any shelter, always sit between your fire and the back wall of the shelter, and build a reflector. The reflector will help to channel the smoke upwards and away from you and will reflect heat into your shelter that would otherwise be wasted. Also, always keep your fire small and sit close to it

I hope you are never “misplaced” and have to overnight in a rock shelter like this, but if you do I hope that you remember these tips and stay safe and warm. For more information on rock shelters read “Rock Shelters or Half-Caves, That Home Away From Home, Part One ©”, HERE, and “Rock Shelters or Half-Caves, That Home Away From Home, Part Two ©”, HERE.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Emergency Shelter, Part Three ©”, where we will talk about how to shelter if you are caught in the open, and why you should always carry a trash bag.

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Airforce Survival School, Fairchild AFB; “Could You Survive”, Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 13, 1977, page 22, https://books.google.com/books?id=__lLAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA12&dq=%22could+you+survive%22&article_id=3746,2800258&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqisikv6eTAxU1mokEHfm0NbUQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=%22could%20you%20survive%22&f=false, accessed March 28, 2026

Burns, Allen Joseph; “Prehistoric Rockshelters Of Pennsylvania: Revitalizing Behavioral Interpretation From Archaeological Spatial Data”, August, 2009, page 55, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/NA.31.3-4.b, page 72, accessed April 11, 2026

Morning, Heather; “Hypothermia, And How Not To Get It”, February 17, 2015, https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/skills/hypothermia_and_how_not_to_get_it-7091, accessed April 4, 2026

Province of Alberta; “Winter survival in the backcountry”, https://www.albertaparks.ca/media/2161491/2008_winter_survival.pdf, accessed April 4, 2026

Reynolds, Eric; “Rock Shelters or Half-Caves, That Home Away From Home, Part One ©”, https://thewoodsmansjournalonline.blogspot.com/2020/11/rock-shelters-or-half-caves-that-home.html, accessed April 11, 2026

Reynolds, Eric; “Rock Shelters or Half-Caves, That Home Away From Home, Part Two ©”, https://thewoodsmansjournalonline.blogspot.com/search?q=rock+shelter, accessed April 11, 2026

Undepend; “How to build a natural shelter”, [© Undepend.com], https://undepend.com/how-to/build-a-natural-shelter/, accessed April 4, 2026

Sunday, April 5, 2026

Emergency Shelter, Part One©

Last week we talked about what you would do if you found yourself on an open hillside, miles from your base camp, with a storm to your west, heading your way and it’s already started to rain.

Sheltering with Choice ‘B’

Ok, you’ve opted for choice ‘B’, the most correct answer according to the Airforce survival specialists at Fairchild AFB, so, and you’ve found a site that’s large enough and level enough for you to comfortably lie down, with available materials nearby for constructing a shelter. But how do you build a shelter?

Before deciding a spot to build, make sure there are no dangers such as dead trees, or large hanging branches, known as “widowmakers”, which can blow down and crush you. Also don’t build near streams, which can flood and drown you.

The easiest and fastest shelter, other than a rock overhang or cave, is a is a natural lean-to, which is also known as a “fallen tree shelter”, an “A-frame” or a “debris hut”. This is a simple survival shelter that requires no cordage and uses existing natural structures to provide immediate protection from the elements.

Many times you can find a tree which is half broken and bent over and often the tree is still attached to its stump by a “hinge” of bent wood and is less likely to collapse. If so, the trunk can become the “ridgepole” of your shelter, saving you time and the effort of finding and moving heavy logs. You can also create your own hinged ridgepole by girdling a small conifer with a knife or axe and pushing it over.

If you cannot find a pre-made “ridgepole” attached to a stump, or don’t have the tools to girdle a small conifer, then wedge or lean big, long branch against a tree, or stump as the ridgepole of your shelter.

This type of shelter can also be built as a lean-to, against a large fallen log, the root ball of a blown down tree or even a large boulder. Build your shelter so that the closed side of the shelter is perpendicular to the prevailing wind.

Remove any rocks, damp debris, or sharp branches from the area directly underneath the trunk, or besides the trunk, depending on whether you are building an A-frame or a lean-to. The floorplan of your shelter should be no wider than six inches, 15 cm, from either shoulder, and no more than four inches, 10 cm, from your head or feet.

“Build low”, your shelter should be about two feet, or 60 cm, high at its highest point, just big enough for you to be able to lie down inside. This keeps your body heat close to you and prevents cold air from getting into your shelter, remember your shelter is just an all-natural sleeping bag, that you must warm with your body heat.

Next “insulate, insulate, insulate”. Your clothing is your first layer of insulation and protection from the wind and the elements. Remember to remove layers if you start to sweat, because sweating leads to hypothermia, which leads to death!

Your second layer of insulation is a layer of debris on the ground. Build a mat or “sleeping pad” of dry leaves, pine needles, or grass at least four to six inches thick, 10 to 15 cm between you and the ground. This prevents the ground from sucking the heat out of your body by conduction.

Your third layer of insulation is the roof of your shelter. Survival experts recommend at least three to four feet, or about 1 meter, of insulation between you and the elements, but more is always better, if you have the time.

Lean smaller sticks as “rafters” against ridgepole close together. Make sure the ends of the rafters don’t stick out too far over the ridgepole, or they will funnel rain or melt water into your shelter. Then add evergreen branches, or moss on top of the sticks, working from the bottom up, overlapping them like shingles on a roof to shed rain. Pile them on, until you can’t see through the roof from inside your shelter. Lastly add leaves, other debris, or during the winter, snow, to seal it all off.

Survival Pro Tip: If you build a small fire, keep it outside the entrance and build a reflector made of logs or stones to bounce heat into the shelter. Be extremely careful with fire near dry brush or pine boughs!

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Emergency Shelter, Part Two©”, where we will talk about how to shelter in an overhang or rock shelter.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

Sources

Morning, Heather; “Hypothermia, And How Not To Get It”, February 17, 2015, https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/skills/hypothermia_and_how_not_to_get_it-7091, accessed April 4, 2026

Province of Alberta; “Winter survival in the backcountry”, https://www.albertaparks.ca/media/2161491/2008_winter_survival.pdf, accessed April 4, 2026

Undepend; “How to build a natural shelter”, [© Undepend.com], https://undepend.com/how-to/build-a-natural-shelter/, accessed April 4, 2026

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Could You Survive...You Need Shelter Now!©

You’re miles from your base camp on an open hillside. The wind is kicking up and there are dark clouds gusting in from the west of you, heading your way. It’s already started to rain.

You need shelter, NOW! What are you going to do?

A) Look for an area close to water and fuel.

B) Seek out a site that is large enough and level enough for you to lie down comfortably, with available materials nearby for constructing a shelter.

C) Look for a cave on the mountainside.

D) Make do with the available terrain and seek protection immediately.

The storm is blowing in fast and bringing rain with it and the ‘Rule of Three’ should be your guide as to which of the four options to choose. Since you can survive for only three hours without shelter from the elements and fire, and of these two, fire takes a back seat to shelter; if the rain is coming down hard, your fire is dead anyways.

It is all about staying 98.6^oF (37^o C), and to do this you need to keep your first layer of protection, your clothes dry, or you risk hypothermia.

Rain and wind can be a killer, water conducts heat 25 times faster than air, combine that with wind and wind-chill and you have a problem (for more on the effect of wind and wet, read “Being Wet Kills, Fast!©”, HERE and “Hypothermia, It Can Happen Any Time, Anywhere ©” HERE).

Hypothermia means “low heat” and it can happen anytime your core body heat is lost faster than you can replace it. It strikes anytime, anywhere, indoors, or out, even in relatively warm 50^oF (10^oC) temperatures! Hypothermia is common in the winter, however, according to Princeton University, it occurs most often during the spring and fall.

Since you are on a hillside, looking for water means descending towards a valley and lower elevations, that can take time, and if the storm is coming in fast you might not have time.

Do you remember seeing a cave or rock shelter, or easily gathered fuel wood nearby? If the answer is ‘no’ to both questions, then you could get caught by the storm while you search. The hillside you are on is open, with no shelter for the wind or rain, stopping here means getting soaked. Getting drenched by the storm means getting wet and chilled, and that increases your chances of hypothermia by 25 times.

The best answer is ‘B’, unless you know there is a cave or a rock shelter nearby, if so, then ‘C’ becomes the best answer. Both answers, A’ and ‘D’, are not good choices.

If you answered ‘B’, your survival score is 75%. There are no higher scores in wilderness survival because survival is never an assured thing. If you chose ‘A’ or ‘C’ then your survival score is 50%, since you could get soaked descending to find water, searching for fuel, or looking for a rock shelter, and getting wet risks hypothermia and death. Choosing ‘D’ means getting soaked and being exposed to the full force of the wind, if you chose this answer, your survival score is 25%. But just like there is no guaranteed success, there is no assured failure either. Much of life, or death for that matter, comes down to luck, either good or bad. That is why in scenario ‘D’, searchers will either find your dead, scavenged corpse or, if you’re lucky, then they’ll find you suffering from hypothermia in time to save you.

I hope that if you are ever in a situation like this, that this will help you make the right choice.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Emergency Shelter ©”, where we will talk about how to camp in the winter wilderness and stay warm and safe.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, A Pocket Guide to Cold Water Survival, CG 473, September 1975, https://archive.org/details/pocketguidetocol00inte/page/6/mode/2up, accessed March 28, 2026

Environmental Health and Safety, “Cold Stress Facts”, [© 2022 The Trustees of Princeton University], https://ehs.princeton.edu/workplace-construction/occupational-health/heat-cold-stress/cold-stress-facts, accessed March 28, 2026

Warren, Elizabeth G., SSGT.; “Hypothermia Missing in the Atlantic”, Flying Safety, November 1983, pages 12-15, https://www.safety.af.mil/Portals/71/documents/Magazines/FSM/1980s/198311%20-%20FlyingSafetyMagazine.pdf, accessed March 28, 2026

Sunday, January 14, 2024

As long as people have been wandering the wilderness, people have become misplaced¹ and have experienced an “unexpected overnighter”! Even Daniel Boone once famously admitted, “No, I can’t say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days”² (for more read, “Being Bewildered and Bending the Map ©, HERE). But what hasn’t changed is what you are supposed to do when it happens.

In the early 1820’s, in what was then the wilderness, but today is what we call Medina County, Ohio, USA, Mr. William H. Bell went out to look for his cows, but it got dark, and he became confused as to the way home, so he stopped and sat down by the side of tree and waited for morning’s light to make his trail home clear. It was a common situation, but if you read into this story there are three bits of excellent survival advice buried in it, so let’s talk about them.

First, NEVER travel after dark, unless you are absolutely certain of your path. If you are uncertain or bewildered, and you travel through the wilderness after dark, at best you will only get more confused, but at worst, if you give in to panic, you will become truly “lost”.

Also, you could stumble and injure yourself, take a branch in your eye, injure yourself falling into a ravine, or tumble into a creek or swamp, soaking yourself and increasing your chances of hypothermia. For more on “lost” versus “misplaced” read “You Are Only As Lost As You Think You Are ©”, HERE.

Second, as soon as you become confused, S.T.O.P., and admit that you are “misplaced”.

Stop, sit down, take a deep tactical breath or four, and calm yourself. Author and U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman, in his book On Combat, teaches a breathing technique called “tactical breathing”, which will help you combat stress, lower your heart rate, and allow you to think clearly³.

Think. Ask yourself “What would an intelligent person do in my place”? Vic Walsh, an Outward Bound instructor says, “Survival is simply a state of mind”. And Orbell Apperson Jr., a Mt. Shasta avalanche expert and ski patrolman, noted “When you find yourself lost or snowed in, you have to think of two things. First, you have to realize that every decision you make could spell the difference between life and death. Then, you have to tell yourself to stay calm”.

Observe and organize. Take an inventory of the items in your pockets or pack, and what’s in your immediate area that could help you to survive for the next 72 hours, or until rescuers find you. To read what Les Stroud, the Survivorman thinks about the O in S.T.O.P., read “The O in S. T. O. P. ©”, HERE.

Prioritize, plan, and then put into effect your plan. Avalanche expert, Orbell Apperson Jr. stated, “...one bad decision followed through may be better than six great decisions that are, one by one, acted upon and then abandoned. Changing strategies is both physically and mentally draining”.

The third thing we can learn from Mr. William H. Bell, who found shelter for the night sitting next to a tree, is to stay warm, stay dry, and stay out of the wind. Bivouacking on the lee side (the sheltered side, the side away from the wind) of a ridge or hill, and then on the sheltered side of a tree, rock, a blow-down, and huddling together for warmth with your buddy, if you have one, will significantly increase your comfort and warmth and your chances of survival.

So, hopefully these three survival lessons from Mr. William H. Bell’s unexpected overnighter in the 1820’s, can help us still to survive a wilderness emergency today.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ Personally, I hate the word “lost” and prefer to use the word “misplaced”, because misplaced things, by definition, are eventually found. But lost things are lost forever. Being lost is scary!

² Margaret E. White, Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own Hand, p. 48

³ Tactical breathing is sometimes also called combat or box-breathing and it works like this:

· Breath in a deep breath through your nose taking 4 seconds to slowly fill your lungs, “and-one, and-two, and-three, and-four”.

· Hold your breath for 4 seconds, “and-one, and-two, and-three, and-four”.

· Exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds, “and-one, and-two, and-three, and-four”.

· Hold your breath for 4 seconds, “and-one, and-two, and-three, and-four”.

Repeat this four times or until your heart rate slows and you can think clearly.

Sources

Cleese, Rose Marie; “Winter Survival: It’s All In your Head”, Skiing, January 1975, https://books.google.com/books?id=hFGikpZMQdAC&pg=PT60&lpg=PT60&dq=%22Winter+Survival:+It%E2%80%99s+All+In+your+Head%22&source=bl&ots=of1ReiSM07&sig=ACfU3U2xIUcCYJepMVYvHe2MX2dnPW7yKw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_-PvKk9uDAxXqFFkFHe77C28Q6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Winter%20Survival%3A%20It%E2%80%99s%20All%20In%20your%20Head%22&f=false, accessed January 13, 2024

Perrin, W. H., Battle, J. H., and Goodspeed, W. A.; History of Medina County and Ohio, [Baskin & Battey, Chicago, 1881], page 468-469, https://books.google.com/books?id=jOsLHjmVqooC&pg=PA468&dq=%22people+were+often+lost+in+the+woods%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn6pT83NaDAxWWAHkGHdPpCgsQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=%22people%20were%20often%20lost%20in%20the%20woods%22&f=false, accessed January 11, 2024

“Outward Bound's 50th Anniversary in the US”, http://outwardbounds50thanniversary.weebly.com/pioneering-staff.html, accessed January 13, 2024

United States Department of Agriculture, Outdoors USA: 1967 Yearbook of Agriculture, [United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1967], p 87-89, https://archive.org/details/yoa1967/page/n3, accessed January 13, 2024

Wikimedia, “A Landscape near Boldrewood”, by Alfred Parsons, 1871, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Parsons_-_A_Forest_Landscape_near_Boldrewood_-_B1979.12.786_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg, accessed January 13, 2024

White, Margaret E. Editor; A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own Hand, (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, New York [1890]) p 47-48 reprinted in https://books.google.com/books?id=zgROAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22he+had+a+very+large+progeny%22+%22chester+harding%22&source=bl&ots=I9y_v-yRI2&sig=qxwqKUR9y42naWBjhoArGJi2P5U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4goGi7czdAhXEnOAKHWvECaoQ6AEwAHoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22he%20had%20a%20very%20large%20progeny%22%20%22chester%20harding%22&f=false, (accessed 9/21/2018)

Wikimedia, “Unfinished Portrait of Daniel Boone”, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Unfinished_portrait_of_Daniel_Boone_by_Chester_Harding_1820.jpg, (accessed 9/21/2018)

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

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Sunday, April 12, 2026

Emergency Shelter, Part Two©

Sunday, April 5, 2026

Emergency Shelter, Part One©

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Could You Survive...You Need Shelter Now!©

Sunday, January 14, 2024

An Unexpected Overnighter©

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