Survival Shelters: So You Don’t Die!

Survival Shelters: So You Don’t Die!

 

Knowing how to make a survival shelter could save your life. Building a basic survival shelter doesn’t have to be difficult. You may be surprised to know that it can be built in several different ways with a variety of material that you can find nearby.

What’s a survival shelter?

A good survival shelter is a protected area that helps you maintain your body temperature. Usually, this is accomplished by keeping you warm and dry. The goal is to create a barrier between you and the outside elements with the purpose of providing a place where you can maintain your body temperature.

In this article, we talk about the different types of materials that you can use to build your survival shelter and how to use them. We will discuss several shelter designs with details on how to build each one. Get ready for some tips on building a survival shelter to simply keep you from dying.

Contents-

  • What’s A Survival Shelter?
  • Tips When Building You Survival Shelter
    • Keep Safety In Mind
    • Stay Calm
    • Pick The Right Spot For Your Survival Shelter
    • Take Advantage Of Your Surroundings
  • Tips & Tricks
  • A Modern Twist
  • The Rest
  • Other Recommendations

Tips When Building Your Survival Shelter

 

Keep Safety In Mind

When building a survival shelter it’s best to keep safety in mind. Think about where you are building your shelter. Identify reasons why this is a good place or why it may not be. The goal is to keep yourself safe and being aware of what you are doing is going to help.

Stay Calm

It may be alarming to realize you’re in a survival situation. Having the proper knowledge and skills will help you succeed. Remain calm, take a few deep breaths and take a moment to slow down. Take logical action instead of making emotional mistakes.

Pick The Right Spot For Your Survival Shelter

Find the driest place you can, next to a sturdy object. The first thing you’re going to look for is how dry is the area around you. You need to find the driest area to make it easier to maintain your temperature. Some good places to look are next to large trees, outcroppings, or boulders.

Be as visible to search and rescue parties as possible without risking your safety. The key to most survival situations is to stay as safe until you are found. Try to draw attention to your area so people know you are there.  

Avoid areas where the ground is damp, ridges or mountaintops that can expose you to the wind, ditches ravines or washes which might flood, or low lying valleys where cold air collects at night.

None of these areas are going to be an ideal building spot for your shelter so use your best judgment when picking your spot.

Take Advantage Of Your Surroundings

Pick something that can be used as a back wall, meaning you have something that you can lean your material against. in this example, we’re going to use a boulder as our back wall.

Pick the best spot and allow nature to do as much work for you as possible. Is there a location where you only need to add a roof or maybe you just need to add a wall?  Thinking ahead a little bit when picking your survival shelter location will make it easier on you.

The way to pick the best spot to build a survival shelter in the wilderness is to find a spot that is dry, protected from the wind, features that can be used as walls or a roof and has material nearby that can be easily gathered to provide insulation from the elements.

This article is currently being written. So, check back later. 

What To Do When You Are Lost

What To Do When You Are Lost

In many survival situations, you are going to need a good survival shelter. After doing some research I have determined a winner and compiled a list of 3 honorable mentions that you should learn more about.

The lean-to shelter is going to be the best shelter because it can be deployed in a quick and efficient manner and this shelter can withstand a wide variety of conditions. Materials for making a lean-to will consist of anything that is easily obtainable, can keep the wind and rain off of you and can be secured into position.

Even though the Lean-To is the winner for survival shelters, the other two honorable mentions could be the easiest shelter given the right situation.

Article Contents-

  • How the Survival Shelters Were Graded
  • What Shelters Were Tested?
    • Lean-To (The Winner)
    • A-Frame
    • Leaf Pile
    • Debris Hut
    • Teepee
    • Open Shelters
    • Huddle and Cuddle
  • Tips & Tricks
  • A Modern Twist
  • The Rest
  • Other Recommendations

How The Survival Shelters Were Graded.

We tested and graded each survival shelter on 3 factors. On a standard 1 to 10 scale where 1 is the lowest and 10 being the highest, we tested and scored each survival shelter on 3 factors

  1. Survival Applications
  2. Materials needed
  3. Degree of difficulty

What Survival Shelters Were Tested?

List of shelters.

  1. Lean-To
  2. A-Frame
  3. Leaf Pile
  4. Debris Hut
  5. Teepee
  6. Open Shelters
  7. Huddle and Cuddle
Basic Fire Making For Survival

Basic Fire Making For Survival

. Hey Gear Guy,

I bought the SOL Origin Survival Kit, but my friends told me this was a rip-off. Do you think it was worth it?

— Concerned Kenya, Sunnyvale, California

A. Hi Kenya. Thanks for the question. Nobody likes to feel like they got ripped off, so I understand your concern. I’ve checked out the SOL Origin Survival Kit first-hand, and I have a couple of things to mention.

First off, it’s made by Adventure Medical Kits, which is a highly respected company that makes lots of good products. Secondly, it’s a pretty well-stocked survival kit for the price ($30-$45). Sure, you could build a lighter-weight kit (the plastic case makes it slightly heavy—yet still just 6.25 ounces!) with some higher quality items if you purchased each piece individually and put it together yourself, but that would be much more expensive.

For what it’s worth, I also looked around on the Internet and found it rated with 4 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com and 3.7 stars out of 5 on REI.com.

All in all, for the price and the ease of a ready-to-rock survival kit, I think the SOL is good. Most important of all, the only way to know if the SOL was really worth the price is if it saves your hide when you actually get stuck out in the wilderness. Hopefully you’ll never find out. But remember: A survival kit can’t save you if you don’t remember to carry it with you!

Basic Water For Survival

Basic Water For Survival

In many survival situations, you are going to need a good survival shelter. After doing some research I have determined a winner and compiled a list of 3 honorable mentions that you should learn more about.

The lean-to shelter is going to be the best shelter because it can be deployed in a quick and efficient manner and this shelter can withstand a wide variety of conditions. Materials for making a lean-to will consist of anything that is easily obtainable, can keep the wind and rain off of you and can be secured into position.

Even though the Lean-To is the winner for survival shelters, the other two honorable mentions could be the easiest shelter given the right situation.

Article Contents-

  • How the Survival Shelters Were Graded
  • What Shelters Were Tested?
    • Lean-To (The Winner)
    • A-Frame
    • Leaf Pile
    • Debris Hut
    • Teepee
    • Open Shelters
    • Huddle and Cuddle
  • Tips & Tricks
  • A Modern Twist
  • The Rest
  • Other Recommendations

How The Survival Shelters Were Graded.

We tested and graded each survival shelter on 3 factors. On a standard 1 to 10 scale where 1 is the lowest and 10 being the highest, we tested and scored each survival shelter on 3 factors

  1. Survival Applications
  2. Materials needed
  3. Degree of difficulty

What Survival Shelters Were Tested?

List of shelters.

  1. Lean-To
  2. A-Frame
  3. Leaf Pile
  4. Debris Hut
  5. Teepee
  6. Open Shelters
  7. Huddle and Cuddle