I'm Building a Debris Shelter!

...Or at least I did yesterday.

Took four hours and was a lot of fun and hard work.



Made a video of our efforts here.

Enjoy brothers! We learned a lot. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Looks good, have you ever spent the night in one

looks great!!!

here in my area there is very little forests with leaves like that. Debris shelters here tend to be heavily reinforced shelters heaped with dirt, moss, bark etc.. It takes forever to build them, and that alone is the reason i do not use them in an immediate survival situation - instead the tarp is king here, esp during the 10 months of the year that it rains.....

HOWEVER, in a LONG TERM survival situ, i will build a debris shelter, the time it takes occupies the body and mind and that can be a great morale booster.

great looking shelter Joe, got any inside pics?

That looks nice, I bet it warm too.

I do have some inside pics, I'll have to upload them later today.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Just wanted to take a moment to post a bit more about our shelter and what was learned from this experience...

First off, again, this was our first effort based off of articles I read and videos we watched of similar shelters. These resources were very helpful and I was very excited to put them to the test.

Speaking of test, I have to say that our water test was a bit extreme, and maybe next time I'll just use a watering can!

The video was fun to put together but I'm not sure if it shows enough of the details, especially on the inside.

This first picture shows the attic (in progress) as well as the layers of leaves we used to insulate the floor.



Here's a better shot of the inside and floor of the shelter.



I'm 6'4" and 260 lbs, and I couldn't feel the ground. We packed that thing with leaves, compressed it, and packed it again... several times. It was very soft and quite warm.



My brother-in-law is about 6'6" (for size comparison). We tried to shape the shelter like a loaf of bread.







I didn't get any video of this (maybe my brother-in-law did, I'll have to check) but after the water test we climbed on top of the ridge pole and it held my weight, even bounced up a down and it held! Strong design for sure!

So, what we learned from this first go around:

The tarp and "nature-made" rakes were a life saver. And I'd guess in a survival situation making the process more efficient can make all the difference. (If I didn't have the tarp I would have used the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing.)

Just when you think you have enough leaves, keep going.

The long grass made for effective "thatching" and base layer for the leaves.

Staking it out at the beginning helped, but I needed to give myself a little bit more length, would have been a bit more comfortable inside without sacrificing heat.

The door plug was the trickiest part and I had a hard time finding good information on how to seal the thing off. That's why practicing these skills in a safe environment and situation is important. I'll have to figure out something better.

Oh, and when you "see sunlight"...



Stop dumping water! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Here's the link to video again, in case you missed it!

Cool shelter. The debris here in the desert would not be fun to sleep on.

Great job Joe! I was just on the Rat forum and I noticed this as well <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks! Now Jeff wants me to sleep in it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

I'm not concerned about rain. This time of the year in the the mountains of Utah... I'm concerned with snow, and temperatures well below freezing!

I'm thinking about it though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/paperbag.gif" alt="" />

Really good job. It would probably not work so well around here. We would build a mud shelter. If we could get enough leaves, by the time we got done, and in it, we would be covered from head to toe with ticks... I love those things.

Doc

Looks like a great way to spend some time outdoors. Have you considered sharing your outdoor skills with your local Boy Scouts?

Way ahead of ya! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Good work. I love the natural camoflauge the leave give it.

Awesome! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Beautiful material to work with, the shape of the leaves and the color make this one pop! I've lived in Utah for ten years and just discovered how great the Wasatch and Uinta mountains are this year! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

I'm making up for it big time, no worries!

I've read that you need at least a foot of insulating material to keep it water-tight. A garbage bag is good to carry in your kit. Easier to gather leaves for a shelter than a shirt. Can also be used to make a shelter or use as a raincoat.

Whats your realtors number? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Great job.Hope we don't have to use them,but its best to be ready. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

That is one cool shelter. Now I want to try and make one...

That was a great video!!!
Very cool!

Thanks Dave, it was a blast to make. I want to do more like that. Keep them from the point of view of someone who's learning, not trying to look like an expert.

There's already a lot of those out there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Very cool and well camouflaged.

Thanks for the video Joe. I have read about these shelters but this was the first that I have seen constructed.

great job. i've always assumed i could make one, but like you said, best to practice before your hide is on the line.

Thanks guys, appreciate it! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

skills not practiced are skills lost.

nice work, i just made my first one last month too, mine didnt work out too well though i must have grabbed a spider nest(lots of spiders) didnt really think about it this time of the year i figured the bugs were gone so i didnt pay attention to what i grabbed still worked though and no bites, the dog didnt mind either.

That sounds horrible, glad you're ok! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

all a part of the learning experience

Hey! I'm in the running to win the shelter building contest over on Bladeforums (in the RAT Cutlery forum).

Go check it out!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698987

Very cool Joe.
I'm working on a all natural winter shelter for the contest that's going
on in the W&SS forum over on BF.
Maybe you could build a snow shelter and enter that one as well. Would be
really cool to see what you come up with.
Mine isn't going to be a snow shelter as we don't usually get a lot of snow
in our area, but I'm taking a page from your book and am building a debris
shelter.

Cheers