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.

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.

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