Learning the basics of surviving in the wild is a primary requirement before embarking on camping trips. You must not only be familiar with the surroundings but also with the sights and sounds and must have the skills besides knowing the techniques of survival in the wild. For some people, the attraction of wilderness and camping is so intense that they fall in love with some chosen place where they keep coming back. For such people, it makes perfect sense to build permanent wilderness shelter (like this) that they can visit whenever they want regardless of the season. The shelter encourages spending some days without worries in the lap of nature which is a heartening break from the humdrum of city life and stressful urban lifestyle.
How well you can survive in the wilderness depends mostly on your ability to build a shelter that protects you from the wildlife and the elements of weather. Food is not at all a problem when you are wandering in the woods because you can always pick up something from the surrounding that helps to survive comfortably. Typically, water availability should also not be an issue unless you are traversing across deserts and dry terrains. However, the shelter is what you must create and know how to build a shelter that matches with the situation, surroundings, and your needs. Building the appropriate shelter can make the difference between living and dying when you face a survival situation. Therefore, it is essential to be sure that you can build a survival shelter when needed that gives you a lot of confidence to overcome the odds.
Survival shelters differ in construction and design depending on the situation and circumstances that you may have to face. In this article, we have discussed a few options that should help to build shelters to meet varied needs both short term and long term.
Short-term shelters and long-term shelters
Short-term shelters are the most common type of wilderness shelter that every camper is familiar with. You can set up such shelters with only a few items, most of which should be available from the surroundings. However, you must carry with you some essential items like tarpaulin and paracord along with the required tools and tackles that makes the process of building the shelter easy and quick.
Building long-term shelter requires more time, resources and energy and you must have a well-thought plan for building it because it is entirely different from the impromptu short-term shelters.
Log cabin
The log cabin is a typical long-term shelter that you can build in the lines of the childhood game Lincoln Logs. It consists of building a rectangular frame of logs by interlocking it at the corners. Prepare the site first by clearing the ground of grass followed by leveling it and laying a layer of gravel on the top for drainage. Place large rocks at the corners that act as a foundation as well as along the circumference of the structure maintaining 4 feet gap between each. The logs can rest upon the rocks so that it stays off from the ground.
Place the base layer of the logs at least 12 inches diameter known as sill logs on the rocks. Place logs 7-8 inches in diameter upon the sill logs to create the walls of the cabin. The logs for the walls should have top and flat bottoms so that it can sit flush and form interlocking at the corners. The length of woods keeps diminishing as the wall height increases, and you can have the roof made from cut shingles or split logs depending on the lumber and tools available with you.
Subterranean survival shelter
When you are looking for some quick ways of building a short-term survival shelter, building a subterranean survival shelter seems quite easy. It consists of carving out a shelter by creating a hollow in a mound of earth that provides a warm nook for sleeping. The root base of fallen trees is a chosen location because the firmness of roots prevents caving in a while providing a structure too. This type of shelter can even become part of the long-term plan, but it would require much more effort and time.
A simple frame and tarp shelter
Though this might appear to be a flimsy shelter, it can be a good choice for its easy to set up a method that creates the protection you need during a brief stopover for a night. Construct a slim frame from branches of trees and bamboo poles and cover it with a tarp. Leaning poles against a tree trunk or lower branch help to support the frame on which you place the tarp to create a cover under which you can spend the night.
When going on camping trips always carry with you the tools and materials required for building the shelter you need.
