How to build a shelter in the forest

As we all know, people who find themselves in extreme situations, being cut off from civilization, can live for a long time in the wilderness if they can find a source of water in time and build a shelter in the forest with their own hands. In addition to protection from precipitation, the temporary shelter is also a visible landmark from the air. A building in the woods, especially one marked with a bright object, will be a visible sign for rescuers, which will speed up the search (Figure 1).

However, in order for your temporary shelter to be reliable, you need to choose the right parking spot. It should be as safe as possible, especially if you plan to stay in one place for a long time. Do not place your shelter on shallows and river banks, in narrow gorges, steep ravines with unstable earth, dry riverbeds, especially if it is damp rainy weather.

Figure 1. A brightly colored shelter will make it easier for rescuers to find a lost hiker

Also, do not settle for open places, crests of hills and mountains, on tops, where there is a high risk of getting into a thunderstorm.

Do not place your parking lot next to animal trails, animals can react aggressively to a person who has invaded their territory. Smell food products can attract wild animals to you, so keep the camp clean and hide food securely.

Also pay attention to the presence of forest anthills nearby, they can bring a lot of inconvenience during your stay (Figure 2).

Do not try to build a shelter in the forest with your own hands next to rotten, dry or hollow trees, during bad weather they are very likely to fall on you!

Another important requirement for the place of construction of the shelter is the presence of a source of water in the immediate vicinity, and a sufficient amount of fuel for a fire.

How to build a shelter in the forest from improvised materials

If you decide to build a shelter in the forest with your own hands, decide for what needs it will be used (overnight stay, storage of things, food, protection from precipitation, cold, heat). Also, the type of building is affected by the amount of materials and tools available, the duration of your stay and the number of people in need of shelter.

To simplify the work on the construction of a temporary home, you can use natural natural shelters.

They require only minor adjustments, which will help you save effort, time and materials. Natural shelters include fallen tree trunks, shallow caves (Figure 3) or depressions in the ground, rock ledges or snowdrifts in winter time.
Figure 3. If you find a small cave nearby, it is quite possible to use it as a shelter

Having found a natural shelter, make it more convenient and reliable. For example, a fallen tree can be used as the basis for a hut, single or gable. Depending on the situation. You need to make sure that the tree trunk is securely fastened and will not fall on you during the night, and then, with the help of branches and additional poles, build walls or a canopy that protects from rain and wind.

Shelter walls can be built by attaching a “frame” of sticks to the main pole (lay out the frame in the form of a lattice). After installing this frame, start filling each sector with spruce branches and brushwood, working from the bottom up. This way of laying out will prevent rain from flowing into your shelter.

In winter, the walls of the shelter should be covered with snow - this will give additional thermal insulation properties.

In winter, in the forest, you can hide under the lower branches of large coniferous trees densely covered with snow. They form a small cave between the ground and the tree trunk, where it is quite possible to wait out the bad weather.

Sometimes need or danger forces people to spend the night on a tree (Figure 4). This is not the best way out, but when there is no other way out, try to protect yourself as much as possible from falling and hypothermia (use a stretched awning or polyethylene, ropes).

If there are no natural shelters nearby, then you will have to rely only on your own strength. It will be very difficult to build and equip a camp alone, especially in the cold season. In winter conditions, the most important thing is to stock up on enough firewood for the night, and build at least a minimal shelter before dark.

In order to build a hut, it is necessary to install a horizontally strong pole between two trees, or on two horns. It will become the basis for the frame of the future structure. Further, thinner poles are laid on the base at an angle, and long branches are tied to them, parallel to the ground. Such a lattice structure is gradually filled with small thin brushwood, deadwood, grass or reeds, laid from the bottom up. Make one or two walls, place a hearth near the exit.

Do not make the shelter too high, just enough for you to fit in it while sitting and lying down. Thus, you will save energy, and it will be much easier to heat the place of lodging for the night.

During frosts, in no case fall asleep without a fire, you risk freezing to death.

It is also not recommended to go to bed on bare snow. Fold yourself a bed of pine and spruce branches, brushwood, reeds, polyethylene. A tightly knitted high bed will not allow dampness from the ground to rise to your clothes.

IN summer time in the forest, it will be easiest to build a canopy or a simple hut as a shelter with your own hands (Figure 5). Before you build, prepare everything necessary materials in sufficient quantities: branches, poles, spruce branches, ropes. If you do not have an ax or knife with you, try to find sharp stones - this will make it easier to process materials for construction.

Remember that the need to build a shelter in the forest with your own hands most often does not imply a large-scale and durable structure (although such cases do happen). Often, this is the erection of shelter in extreme conditions in order to survive. Usually, in moments of unforeseen situations, a person does not have the necessary tools, enough time for preparation and strength. Therefore, you have to use any materials at hand and show ingenuity for the speedy construction of shelters in the forest with your own hands. Therefore, we will consider different types shelters and how to build them.

Do-it-yourself shelter in the forest: types of shelters

Temporary shelters built in the forest with your own hands can be divided into several types, regarding their purpose and method of construction.

Shelters are open and closed (Figure 6). Closed structures are protected from animals and precipitation. These include all types of closed huts (wigwam, gable hut), dugouts, huts, snow needles. They are more reliable and safer than open ones, but it takes tools, time and the help of partners to build them.

The open type of shelters includes canopies, shed huts, hammocks and deck chairs. Their construction takes much less time, and does not require tools, however, they are best used only in the warm season.

Also, temporary shelters can be divided into "group" and "individual", depending on the number of people located in them.

The purpose of self-built forest buildings can also be different, depending on climatic conditions: protection from cold, precipitation, sunlight, wind.

Depending on the period of operation, shelters can be divided into: one-day (one overnight stay or a short shelter from the weather), temporary (Figure 7), and long-term (seasonal).

Depending on the materials at hand used in the construction of their own hands, buildings can be divided into snow, earth, frame (using fabric or branches), in some cases even stone and wood, they are built with the availability of materials and special preparation.

The main types of street huts and the stages of their manufacture

Huts can be divided among themselves into three types: single-sided, double-sided and tented (Figure 8). Shelter in a recess can also be attributed to shelters of the tent type.

A shed hut consists of a so-called "frame" and one wall. It is a small hinged structure, located at an angle to the ground, and protecting from wind, precipitation and shielding heat from a fire. It can be built both near a fallen tree, and by installing a pole - the base on two horns.

A gable shelter involves adding one wall to a shed hut. Due to this, the protective and thermal insulation properties of such a structure are increased.

A tent-type hut resembles an Indian wigwam with its appearance. The advantage of this structure is the ability to place a small hearth inside, provided that the hut is high enough and spacious. To place a fire, it is also necessary to leave a hole for the exit of smoke at the top of the "tent".

Even in the cold, do not forget about fire safety in your shelter. The fire inside must be constantly supervised (so it is better if you do not spend the night alone). Do not let the flame flare up too much, it should be even and low. Do not use firewood from coniferous trees for kindling - they scatter sparks strongly, which can jeopardize the safety of your building and your life.

Shelter in a recess is a shallow hole in the snow or in the ground, designed to fit your dimensions, and covered from above with a canopy of branches and spruce branches. If you want to build a shelter in the forest with your own hands during the cold season, you can't do without a shovel. Frozen soil is hard to dig, and it takes too much precious strength. It is better to find a natural depression in the ground. However, in wet weather it is better not to risk it, otherwise you can get very cold, spending the night in this way, and there is still a danger that you will be flooded with rain.

A few important reminders:

If you need to build a shelter in the forest with your own hands, the presence of a plastic film, waterproof fabric or raincoat (tarpaulin) can play a big role. Thanks to them, you will spend much less time on arranging an overnight stay, and you will be more protected from various atmospheric phenomena.

Do not forget that we left many recommendations for people who are in an extreme situation. Creating a temporary forest dwelling for them suggests a way to save and sustain life. If you are just a hiker making a forest hike, do not break or cut trees and shrubs unless absolutely necessary.

"in the material presented by the author, it will be shown and told in an accessible way how to make a shelter in a snowy forest so that you can spend some time in it and spend the night. Using for construction only those materials that were found directly in the forest itself, the author shows us that even in the most difficult and extreme situation there are positive aspects.

This material is useful for lovers of hunting and fishing, as well as for tourists, and you just need to know the skills of survival in the wild, for everyone, without exception, "you never know what can happen in life"

And so, let's take a closer look at all the stages of construction, as well as get acquainted with what and how the author used.

materials
1. spruce branches (coniferous tree branches)
2. poles
3. sticks
4. snow
5. rope (bark can be used)

Tools
1. ax
2. sapper shovel
3. knife

The process of creating a shelter in a snowy forest.
And so, the construction will take place on a small hill in a cold, winter forest, all materials for construction will be taken in the nearest county from the parking lot. This type of shelter construction is designed specifically for an extreme situation, when you don’t have a tent with you to hide from the raging bad weather and spend the night, and there is also a minimum of tools and material.

The first step is to choose a suitable location for your future shelter, it is best if it is built on a hill. Then you should clear the snow cover down to the ground, digging a kind of small trench in the snow, you can lay out a parapet from the snow for greater reliability and subsequent strengthening of the walls of the dwelling. Here is an example of how the author did everything directly.

After the hole in the snow is completely open, our tourist begins to collect branches of coniferous trees (spruce, pine, cedar) around the district; in the common people, such material is called (spruce branches)
ATTENTION! Twigs should be cut from the lower parts of the tree, in no case do not break young trees! Take care of nature first!

From the harvested branches brought by the author, a flooring is made on the ground - this is done so that there is a layer between the icy ground and the feet of travelers. As the saying goes "Keep your head in the cold and your feet warm" Because having cold feet, you can get pneumonia, at best, just catch a cold, which is highly undesirable in a hike.

Next, the frame of the future shelter is made of pine poles, the desired length of the trunk is cut off with an ax or knife and stuck into the snow, and a jib is also installed for reliability. If there is no ax with a knife, then you will have to break the branches thinner and preferably dry, it will be easier to break them.

Then a roof is made, if you can call it (a crate), the sticks are stacked next to a small interval and tied to the frame with a rope. If you didn’t have a rope with you, then you can use thin twigs (hazel, willow) or another tree, the main thing is that they are not brittle in the cold, they should also be warmed up a little by the fire.

As soon as the frame is ready, it is covered with spruce, starting from the bottom up.

For reliability, the walls of the dwelling should be sprinkled with snow, this will also help to preserve heat inside the room.

It is difficult to imagine a situation when a person finds himself in a dense forest at night without any tools and means of communication. However, even for such a scenario, you need to be prepared - you never know what. Therefore, such a skill as building shelters for survival in the forest from improvised materials with bare hands- enough useful skill. And now we will focus on the simplest options for shelters that everyone can build.

Building shelters for survival in the forest

1. A bunch of leaves

Keeping warm is easy while you're moving. Normal clothes are enough for this. But you can’t constantly move, rest is also needed. And not in all situations, you can just stretch out on some log to sleep. Exactly what is on the log, because on bare ground it is much easier to catch hypothermia and all the consequences associated with it.

However, in the standard deciduous forest middle lane, you can build the simplest shelter - a bunch of leaves. Important point- only dry foliage or grass is suitable, since wet will take away precious heat without providing the necessary insulation. So when it rains, this forest survival shelter does not work. In other situations, please. Just make sure that there is enough foliage - you need a decent pile, as deep as your outstretched hand. You need to get into it with your head and imagine that it is such a “sleeping bag”.

2. A-shaped shelter

A bunch of leaves is good, but not universal. So you have to start building shelters more complex structures providing even some protection from the rain. Such is . All you need is a long and relatively straight support pole, and two smaller poles that can provide support. Natural "slingshots" are also suitable - it will even be easier that way.

You will also need some material in order to fasten the supports of the structure. There are laces or paracord - great. No - vines, young bark, roots of young trees. When you have made a solid knot, you can start working on the “covering” of the sidewalls. The first layer is thick branches, the second is spruce branches or branches with leaves, the third is a thin layer of fallen leaves. You need to orient the shelter so that the wind does not blow there and the rain does not fall. However, the second point can be difficult. In addition, it is worth dragging leaves and branches so as not to contact the cold ground.

3. Wigwam

There are several options for constructing a wigwam-type survival shelter. First - three poles are tied from above to form a supporting frame. Everything else is installed on top of them. The second option is more complex, but also more effective. It is necessary to find two trees that grow at a distance of a meter from each other. The trees are bent in an arc, large branches break off from the upper part, and these parts themselves are dug into the ground. At the intersection point of the two formed arcs, it is better to tie them with a cord.

It turns out a hemisphere, which can already be covered with thinner branches and leaves. But before that, it is worth "weaving" the side support branches. In short, it turns out something like a wicker dome, in which you can make a hole from any side so that the wind does not blow. This method of building a shelter is suitable for situations where there are various vines and thin young trees nearby. Or something like a cane. The method is not the easiest, but provides sufficient protection from the weather.

4. Canopy

An even more advanced option, since it allows you to get more effect from a nearby fire. In addition, the canopy is usually equipped with a special "couch" so as not to sleep on the ground. So this is a forest survival shelter in the long run.

Shelter type "canopy" is being constructed as follows. You need to find two trees with horns somewhere at the height of human growth, and located at a distance of two meters from each other. Next, you need to find a long but strong pole. The pole is fixed with laces / vines / young bark / roots in forks. And then a slope forms. It should be sloping enough so that snow and rain roll off it. The first layer is poles, on top of them are branches with leaves, and even higher you can already lay out a layer of turf. We also slightly strengthen the sidewalls with the same branches and sticks so that nothing blows out from there.

It turns out something like a pocket in which it will linger warm air from the fire. The whole thing must be placed against the wind, so that the “screen” also protects the fire from it. In this case, the smoke will rise up, and not move into the pocket.

Summing up

All these shelters for survival in the forest have a serious drawback - in the process of mining fallen leaves and branches, you can easily run into some kind of snake, which also knows a lot about forest shelters. So it is better to use a long stick or pole in the process. Pure just in case.

All the shelters described above can be built with bare hands. However, even a simple knife will significantly improve the situation and speed up the work. After all - and a shovel, and an ax, and almost any tool that you might need.

Dugout

Dugout

In some cases, a person has to hide in a shelter in the forest in order to survive and avoid mortal danger. If it is easier to do this in the warm season, then in winter or late autumn, with the onset of cold weather, there is a danger of freezing and not holding out.

Forest shelter is made for several people or for one, depending on the situation. Usually improvised materials and tools are used, a natural stone and boards. Shelter can be temporary or long-term.

Warming of the building is carried out natural materials inside or an awning outside, allowing you to protect people inside from cold, precipitation or wind. Before building a forest shelter, you need to choose the safest place, for which you should familiarize yourself with certain rules and advice from experienced builders:

1. when choosing a safe place for shelter, you must remember about the possible strong wind, which breaks not only a growing tree, but also its branches. The danger of emergency evacuation in the middle of the night or the threat to life and health is not worth building a shelter under the crowns of trees;
2. it is important to inspect the nearby places - they should not have a lot of dead wood (a dead tree dried up from time to time), as well as trunks hooked by branches to the crowns of neighboring trees. As soon as the wind rises, the crowns will sway, dropping the excess;
3. once a site is selected, a polygon-shaped area is marked out. Marking poles are chosen thick, connecting them at the very top with thin and flexible branches. It is important to do the work at this stage very high quality so that there are no unstable supports;
4. you can make a roof from a piece of tarpaulin or an awning. This provides protection from rain or sleet. Making it pretty high level you can light a fire. Live fire allows you to cook food, keep warm and dry clothes without going outside. If rises strong wind, you can lower the awning lower so that it is not blown away by a gust (it is recommended to use a tree for greater reliability);
5. if you don't have an awning or a piece of tarp handy, you can make the roof tighter by reinforcing it with branches and resin.

How to make a forest shelter for a long stay?

Shelter in the forest is necessary not only for spending the night, but also for a long stay inside it in cases of danger and threat to life. Outside of civilization, such a building should be reliable, comfortable enough and safe. Be sure to make a canopy in the form of an awning from wet snow and rain.

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If desired and possible, it is allowed not to use powerful equipment for construction. If construction is carried out in advance, then you can buy building materials. Natural boards for building will harmoniously fit the shelter in the forest and make an eco-friendly shelter.

How to make the right entry?

The main point in the construction of a forest-type shelter is its entrance. It is allowed to make an opening out of wood or put a full-fledged door, you can punch a hole and close it with an awning. As experts admit, the door is the most reliable option - behind its canvas, rain and wind, cold and bad weather are not afraid. Preservation of heat indoors will be more effective than with an opening in the wall.

If it is too warm inside, for example, in summer, you can open it for ventilation or leave a gap to cool air masses updated the air inside the shelter. When the door is closed, all the heat heated by the house or heating will remain. Also, the door can protect against animals in the forest or intruders if there is a settlement nearby. The entrance can be made without the use of metal traditional hinges - there are many options for various adjustment fasteners.

A long stay in a forest shelter requires a thorough approach to the arrangement, so you still cannot do without a minimum set of tools. In particular, a hand-held drill is needed to make holes in the wooden sheet. With the use of a drill, wedges and fasteners will match exactly, which will significantly increase the durability and reliability of the door.

Among dead wood or trees fallen from the wind you can find big trunk dry and smooth enough to be used as a door leaf. To do this, proceed in the following sequence:

• break the nearest hazel or its analogues into wedges for sequential birch splitting. Use ash or other types of wood to create a hammer, one end of which is cut like a handle, matching the size of the palm;
• when choosing a trunk for shelter boards, it is necessary to monitor their evenness and quality, so the trunk must be split exactly in the center, for which a hazel wedge is used. The crack along the wood fibers increases until the wood is completely split. An approximate calculation allows you to get about 4 full-fledged boards from one log;
• a pole is made for hanging the roof of the shelter, which ideally has a couple of branches for fixing the planks. To find a similar trunk, you can go around the area around, in trees one of the sides is often elongated in the sun at an angle of 90 degrees. This will be the top bar of the asylum door;
• the lower door bar is made according to the dovetail principle - the boards are made flat and smoothed with an ax blade. A pair of hardened tree rods are drilled overlapping to the door post. Theoretically, the undried wood of the shelter, the door elements dry out over time, compresses the hole more tightly;
• driving in the rods, they are cut from above and the cuts are arranged for the pegs. The depth of such cuts is great importance as the rods expand towards the edges to support the wedge. It is recommended to choose stiffer wedges than ash wedges;
• the first rod for the door is driven in. Fixed with oak wedges. The boards are fixed with fasteners, after which the door is ready for installation by lifting around the corner;
• a ledge the size of a large palm is left at the pillar of the doorway of the shelter. Corners are planed and rounded to reduce friction.

When arranging a shelter in the forest for a long stay, it is necessary that it "breathe" - closed room must resist bad weather do not accumulate moisture. If the shelter is damp and damp, then the materials will quickly rot and the structure may soon collapse. If desired and possible, one person can be left inside, who will support the fire for drying.

The place of attachment of the roof and walls is different high humidity because of straw and earth. The integrity and dryness of the structure of the shelter in the forest depend directly on the rafters and their decay. The task of building comes down to a strong inner wall low level from hazel rods twisted around oak pillars. Rafters are laid on the wall. Such a frame protects the base of the shelter and is a reliable foundation.

All parts of the shelter structure that are supposed to be laid on the ground or underground should be slightly smoked in the fire.

The supporting post should stand straight and hold the spine of the ridge inside the back wall of the shelter. It is fastened with two pillars with a slight slope and weaving near the wall. The frame has a different slope than the door, but is also fixed to the ridge and top. It is important to maintain compactness, while providing a small heating with a fire built inside. Even in ancient times, dwellings in the forest were built without chimneys - a smoky ceiling from a fire was created at head level, penetrating through a straw roof.

Additionally, it kills insects that hide in roof crevices. In conditions wildlife the roof can be covered with fern leaves cut at the root. They are laid from the bottom of the roof towards the ridge, on top of each other. Additionally, it is recommended to use fallen leaves and mulch, moss, any camouflage materials of plant origin. The leaves on the roof create additional protection by cold.

Going to the forest for a long time, a person must thoroughly prepare for the trip. Be sure to have a minimum survival kit (at least matches, a knife, a sapper shovel). These items will be useful to you for the organization of three vital processes.

1) Find a food source
2) Light a fire.
3) Build a shelter in the forest.

Of course, when a survivalist is armed with all the necessary items and tools, it will not be difficult for him to carry out these processes. But what to do if a person is left alone with nature, without any items for survival? In this case, you need to urgently take care of building a simple shelter in the forest. To date, more than a hundred structures for the construction of temporary shelters are known, which differ in their size, the complexity of the structure itself, and the materials used. The choice of design depends primarily on the specifics of the extreme situation - the type of terrain, the presence of vegetation, the season, etc. The main factors influencing the choice of the type of asylum are presented in the figure below.

For the construction of complex shelters you will need: an ax, a knife, a saw. It is worth noting that all these tools can be replaced by the "Soviet sapper shovel", it performs all the functions - it cuts, digs, hammers. Shelter in the forest should protect the traveler from various adverse weather conditions— wind/rain/snow. For the construction of the lodging, materials traditional for the area are used.

In the presence of some kind of fabric or plastic film, you can very quickly build a canopy that protects from direct sunlight and rain. True, the usual canopy is not intended for long-term parking. If you have enough time, you can build a chum or a wigwam. For the construction of these shelters, the same materials are used (film, fabric, long branches). The advantage of the plague and wigwam is that they additionally protect a person from insects and lowering the temperature. In addition, the design of the wigwam allows you to light a fire right inside the shelter.

In the complete absence of additional building materials (film, fabric, rope), the most simple option is the construction of a canopy. As a roof, the lower branches of the tree are used, on which the branches for the roof are laid. A hut is considered a more reliable shelter. The frame for such a design is a tree and poles that are leaning against its trunk. Branches are laid on top of this structure.

Fallen trees can be a good base for a hut. It is necessary to remove all the lower branches and lay them on the side ones that descend to the ground. This hut can accommodate up to two people. If there are no suitable trees nearby, then any other construction method can be used. You can see some options in the picture below.

IMPORTANT!

Branches that serve as a roof and walls should be laid from the bottom up, like tiles. This is to prevent water from getting inside. In all shelter construction options, it is necessary to dig a drain to prevent water from flowing into your shelter. In the absence of a sleeping bag, dry grass or spruce branches can be used as bedding. If the ground inside the hut is very damp, then it is first necessary to make a flooring from logs, and already on top of it a flooring from grass or spruce branches.

You can build a shelter in the forest using only the terrain. For example, in mountainous areas it can be small caves, grottoes. One of the most accessible shelters in the forest will also be a dugout. Most importantly, do not forget to determine the degree of safety of the place, whether a collapse, flooding or rockfall is possible.

In the winter season, it is much easier to build a temporary shelter. Snow is beautiful construction material, it is enough to find natural snow holes, slopes or large snowdrifts and quickly dig a small cave. If the terrain does not allow you to do this, then we return to the construction of a hut. All walls of the shelter should be covered with snow to create thermal insulation.

And most importantly, when you find yourself in an extreme situation, never let fear take over you. A healthy mind and planning your actions will bring much more benefits than senseless panic. We wish you not to get into such situations and go to the forest only prepared.

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