optimum one person natural shelter

[Man of Tanith]

I'm away on a course early next month and part of it involves building a shelter to live in for the duration of the course along with a lot of other stuff
I'll only have a knife and a silky pocketboy saw so tree felling is out really and its just me building it.
I am pretty certain I know which style I'm gonna go with but I'm curious as to the style others would build with those tools and the loose criteria I gave

 

[bambodoggy]

I'd plum for a small thermal A frame debris hut if local resources allowed it. If I had blankets then maybe a leaf litter lean to with a fire and reflector....but if not then just the thermal A frame

Cheers

 

[sandbender]

If there is enough litter and dead wood around, a debris shelter, very cosy.

 

[sunndog]

i'd go A frame debris shelter.....and hope some more trees lose their leaves in the next couple of weeks lol

Is an axe against course rules or a safety thing?

 

[Man of Tanith]

Tis a limited kit list and axe paint on there.
I can understand why its not on there

 

[John Fenna]

If there is no leaf litter then brambles work (this shelter took about 14 hours ... and 3 pints of blood...)

 

[Man of Tanith]

14 hours is a bit beyond the time I really want to dedicate to the shelter. 3pints definitely not keen on donating either!
I'll have t millbank the water and boil it.forage. gather firewood. Light the fire without spark stick flint n steel matches lighter etc so im gonna be a bit busy
Nice shelter though John

 

[Clouston98]

I'd go this route mate:



I reckon lots of dead wood used and then sone leaves and possibly small branches too. I bet you'll miss the axe when building it

 

[sunndog]

Sam, how long are you staying?

John, that does look a nice shelter
Must admit i'v thought of making one out of brambles.....forgive me if I don't rush out to try it though lol

 

[British Red]

Bracken thatch is quick and easy if there is bracken about? Tied in bundles and lashed onto a lean to or A frame. Very quick, wind and water tight.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Not bad suggestion Cam. I missed the axe last time I did a challenge along these lines (see my write up of winter bushcraft challenge with wilderness survival skills for that one)
Hugh thats not a bad idea either.
Sunndog I start the shelter bit on the monday am until Friday afternoon.
So t be honest I want it reasonably liveable sized rather than sneaking in at night.
No blanket just what I am wearing. luckily I've a twodogs boreal shirt so I'll be plenty warm enough
Ive been working on assorted skills since I was booked onto the course and ive been whittling down the kit I take to focus more on skills etc

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

Given the importance of that first day (they're usually the busiest on these challenges!) I'd build a 'progressive' A frame-
That means the first night you won't be as warm as you'd like but you'll be dry and you'll have invested your most productive time (that is the 18 hours after a nice carb binge) in thinking clearly, getting an optimum spot, getting that fire lit and water on the boil!
Then just progressively build up/complete the shelter as and when you can! The advantage of this is that you won't have expended all your energy up on the first day building and potentially finding yourself without a fire (and therefore water) for the second day where the cycle repeats itself. Instead with a progressive shelter you split your efforts and energy equally between tasks to start with so you've built up that level of confidence/insurance/security ON THE FIRST DAY and after that your just expanding on what you've already achieved and if something goes wrong you will have your first day's effort to fall back on!

So; I would suggest planning to build an A frame; and the first day you should seek to complete the initial frame (leave space for a bed!), and the wall/thatch and 30cm (the waterproof sweet spot) of debris along ONE side of the shelter - this will see you through the night with a fire (and rough bed)
The second day you can spend as much time as you like on it provided that you have fire and water on-line. But at minimum for the second day you should aim to complete the second side (both wall AND debris)
After this is finished you essentially have a working thermal A frame.. But still to do as and when you can:
-conical front to the shelter (also with debris) so that you have more room and the door is now on the SIDE of the shelter as opposed to the front. This is important because it slows the rate of heat loss - ESPECIALLY (tenfold infact) if the top of the door is lower down than the highest point inside the shelter
-improved and (hopefully) comfy bed; because a good nights sleep is half the battle... Use your saw to your advantage here by harvesting straight poles and thick end pieces to build something that will get you off the ground.

Goodluck with your challenge!


PS - some general observations/notes/aidé-memoir about the shelter-

-always measure out the frame first!!
-the small area of shelter beneath the ridge pole that is too small for anything (including your feet) is best dealt with by building a small sturdy bipod to raise it slightly (remember to build the shelter just right to your dimensions) if you don't do this, the ridge pole has to be longer (and therefore stronger) to compensate,you will spend more time trying to find a ridge pole to these dimensions, the shelter is therefore made higher, requires more thatch and the pitch becomes steeper meaning there is too much room above you which reduces thermal efficiency. By spending the 15 minutes it might take to gather together and build the bipod, your work is cut down EXPONENTIALLY and you will sleep warmer for it also!
-Fire heated rocks work best in these types of shelters
-A frames use far less cordage than most - saving a precious resource! Or saving your time gathering spruce roots!

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

Hopefully some of that makes sense

 

[sandbender]

Do you gave to build a shelter for one? (I know that is what you are asking about in the title) but could you team up with another attendee and share the workload and shelter?

 

[Man of Tanith]

Tracker.
cracking tips and advice thank you. Got any pics? Just for curiosity?

Sandbender aye its all solo.
The winter one was done in a three which significantly altered the game more pots for water boiling/storage and a third t cook with. Third of building work thrid of fire wood collection.
This is all on me and I'll be honest I cant wait (says something about me don't it:/)

 

[Quixoticgeek]

If you have only the clothes you are standing up in, is there any sense in a lean to with a long fire and heat reflector? I don't know how cold it is where you're going, but this would be my first choice for a warm shelter if it's not too wet.

J

 

[Man of Tanith]

Wiltshire......
so not arctic monkeys cold.
wet well its the UK in early October. ........... enough said really

thats another style of shelter I have in mind.
to be honest I have the shelter choice in my head already but I was curious as to what others would go with never know there might be something groundbreaking I'd not thought of.
like the phased build tracker nts-054 mentioned

 

[Toddy]

Genuinely curious ....why do folks build A frames, lean to's and such like ?

People who choose to live in houses built from natural materials build them round or oval
...... Benders, the ring of small stake holes in British Archaeology that indicate curved shelters and complete basket woven type small huts.
All very quickly built, use a lot less material for the underpinnings than the A frame/lean to set ups, create a warm micro climate with very little heat (or none).....lighter weight and they won't brain you if the wind brings them down with the weight of all those sticks of the framed ones.

Put in the withies, tie them together, lightly weave in brash to fill, cover up with leaves or thatch with bracken, if necessary. Jobs done. Fiona and I made a 6 foot one in a couple of hours. Another one was made with double rings of withies (about an armswidth between them) that we stuffed with leaf litter and bracken for insulation. Made a rush cap for that one to shed the rain.

Didn't even need a saw, a pair of pruners or a wee knife.

Just asking

M

 

[Man of Tanith]

Perhaps because in the majority of the books recommend A frame/lean too?
Honestly dunno but its an interesting question

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Wiltshire......
so not arctic monkeys cold.
wet well its the UK in early October. ........... enough said really

Make no assumptions. Autumn is currently happening about 3 weeks early, if you take the local plant life as your guide. The elders are all gone over, and the leaves on the trees are falling, and we've not even had an equinox yet. I wouldn't even want to take any bets on the weather in October.

thats another style of shelter I have in mind.
to be honest I have the shelter choice in my head already but I was curious as to what others would go with never know there might be something groundbreaking I'd not thought of.
like the phased build tracker nts-054 mentioned

If it was me, what ever shelter I went for would be a heated one, with a fire of some form. Even in the middle of summer I would probably build a heated shelter, unless I had a sleeping bag.

Genuinely curious ....why do folks build A frames, lean to's and such like ?

Simplicity. You can throw up a simple A frame or lean to in pretty quick time. If you just want a simple shelter to get you through the night, it's simple, fast work.

People who choose to live in houses built from natural materials build them round or oval
...... Benders, the ring of small stake holes in British Archaeology that indicate curved shelters and complete basket woven type small huts.
All very quickly built, use a lot less material for the underpinnings than the A frame/lean to set ups, create a warm micro climate with very little heat (or none).....lighter weight and they won't brain you if the wind brings them down with the weight of all those sticks of the framed ones.

I'm not sure I agree with you there. Round houses haven't really been built in the UK for centuries. Wattle and daub houses of the Anglo Saxon era were rectangular based. The Roman villas of 1 millennia earlier were also rectangular...

I'm not sure why that is the case.

Put in the withies, tie them together, lightly weave in brash to fill, cover up with leaves or thatch with bracken, if necessary. Jobs done. Fiona and I made a 6 foot one in a couple of hours. Another one was made with double rings of withies (about an armswidth between them) that we stuffed with leaf litter and bracken for insulation. Made a rush cap for that one to shed the rain.

Didn't even need a saw, a pair of pruners or a wee knife.

Do you have pictures of what you built? How would I go about having a fire heated version?

Julia