Any Shelter is Better Than No Shelter


BUILDING YOUR SHELTER

1. Once your fire has been started and it's burning well, it's time to begin building your shelter.

2. A shelter should ideally be constructed where water is close at hand, where materials are readily available and where there is fuel for your fire.

3. Your shelter should be in a place safe from hazards such as floods, avalanches, poison ivy and other such plants, and pests such as fire ants, mosquitos, etc.

4. The kind of shelter you build will depend upon how much time you have.

5. Factors also include how much daylight is left and the weather conditions (rain, snow, hot, cold, etc.).

6. Also important are the tools you have on hand. Do you have a survival knife? A wire saw? A hatchet?

7. What can your surroundings (nature) supply for your shelter (Leaves? Pine needles? Tree limbs?).

8. What your physical condition is at the time. Are you fatigued? Do you have injuries? Are you dehydrated?

9. And lastly, and most important, is how ingenious (creative) you happen to be.


IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT YOUR SHELTER:

1. Is your shelter to be built near the fire?

2. Is your shelter roomy enough to sleep in comfortably?

3. Is there enough room to store your gear?

4. Is the shelter strong enough to hold up?

SOME KINDS OF SHELTERS

PONCHO SHELTERS

1. The simplest kind of shelter can be made by pulling your poncho over your sleeping bag.

2. Easy-to-set-up shelters can be made by attaching your poncho to trees, tree branches, or poles.

IMPROVISED SHELTERS

1. During the summer, you need protection from mosquitos and other pesty insects. During the winter, you can't stay in the open for long unless you're on the move.

2. Tents or other regular shelters are sometimes not available in an emergency situation. If they aren't, a temporary improvised shelter must be built.

3. Suitable natural shelters may be available. Natural shelters would include caves, rock ledges or overhangs and crevices.

4. The shelter you build will depend on the tools you have and available materials. Some sort of shelter can be built in any season by properly using available materials:

a. In open terrain, a shelter can be built using ponchos, canvas, snow blocks, etc.
b. Snow houses, snow caves, snow holes, or snow trenches can be built in the winter.
c. In the woods, a lean-to is usually preferred to other kinds of shelter.

5. Whatever the weather conditions, nature provides the materials to prepare a shelter. Your comfort, however, greatly depends on your initiative and skill at improvising.