Survival Shelters

SIMPLE LEAN-TO SHELTERS. 

This is a simple shelter made from two tarps, one that is laid across a cross-piece mounted on two upright staves, with two leaning-staves for support. Another tarp is used as a base. Of course, if you have a long tarp then only one is needed. The front is pulled over the cross-stave and guy-ropes used to keep it tight. Face this with the wind at the back.

This shelter is made by tying a piece of cordage between two trees and holding the tarp to the cordage with 'Tarp Clips'. The back is held down by wooden pegs and a log placed right across to keep the wind from the back. Face this with the wind at the back. The trees can give some protection at the sides if they are large enough. 

This one was made by draping a tarp over a dead tree, making sure the tree is quite safe. It is tied at the front like a 'porch' using guy-ropes and wooden pegs. The back is held by wooden pegs and a log placed across it. Here a basha is used rather than a tarp - this folds down a lot smaller. 

This one was made using an old fishing-shelter whose rods had broken but whose framework was sound. It is held at the front by a cordage between two trees, and at points on the back and sides with guy-ropes.

The above shelter was made up of an old tarp that we found in the woodlands; this was draped over a cross-piece between two trees, with a stout framework as the back. One side has been protected by logs piled on top of each other, between two staves. (The other side was done later.)

This shelter stayed in this piece of woodland for around 6 years without being found; it was then taken down again and the wood scattered to show nothing of what we had done. 

A-FRAME SHELTERS.

• A-Frame at the front, using two crossed staves.
• One long stave running from the A-Frame to the back.
• A basha is used as the cover, pegged down with wooden pegs (easily made with a knife). A small tarp makes up the base of the shelter. 

The advantage of this over the simple lean-to shelters is that it has protection on three sides and is open only at the front. Your rucksack can be placed over the front as protection, or you could make a front from sticks and leaves etc.

This one was made by using A-Frames at the front and the back, giving much more room than the first one. A Tarp is taken over the top cross-stave, and another smaller one tied across the back. 

The staves are rather large, but this one was done from wooden staves left over after a group of scouts used the area to make shelters - we merely used what was there already. This one made a very strong shelter, and there was plenty of room inside.

TEPEE-SHELTER.

This one has been covered in another blog because it is a lot harder to do and takes much longer than the others. It is a semi-permanent shelter that was left on site for around 7 years before the area was 'cleared' by the Forestry Commission.

THE TARP-CLIP.

This is what i call a 'Tarp-Clip' although it probably has a far more technical name; it is used when the tarp-grommets are damaged. In this case it is used to clip the tarp over the cordage tied between two trees.