Best Shelter

[Barney]

Hello all,

Going out tomorrow with minimum kit, what would be the best type of shelter to build in view of the forcast 70-90mph winds. The location is wooded so I would expect there to be some shelter and the wind not to be as forceful. But I still wouldn't like to be caught out so any advice gratefully received.

The will be no tarp but axe/saw/knife/string will be available.

 

[lub0]

Yeah man this is what I did the other week but could only make the shelter half as good as I wanted to due to arriving at the woods an hour and a bit before dark.

Basically it was a lean to under a sycamore tree which had a large amount of spruce branches growing out of it from it's base. This thick spruce bush kept the ground underneath really dry, but only out to about 1 foot out. Fiding bedding material then drying it is essential!
The lean to was made from about 15 long poles simply leaning on to the spruce branches, then a few thin sticks weaved in through the lot to provide structure.

I didn't have time to find anything to cover the shelter with for proper weather proofing but I did find 2 clumps of Ferns which I picked and dried by the fire ready to spread out beyond the 1 foot of dry ground under me as bedding before sleep time.
Next time I try it I'm doing to use those prickly holly branches as bedding and use the ferns on top to stop the spikes from ripping my bag and pricking me.

 

[Mike Ameling]

The key point will be blocking that WIND. See if you can find a downed log that will work to lay down beside. Use that log to block the wind. Then a few branches leaned up/over that log to give yourself some "shelter" from above. Then gather lots of leaves/grasses/vegetation to lay on the ground to insulate you from it, and possibly even burrow into.

But get out of that wind.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[korvin karbon]

like the grumpy guy said

wind is the biggest issue you will have, will chill you to the bone, you might even have the problem of the wind blowing your shelter to bits.

Please ensure that you take or have close by the proper equipment, there is testing your skills and then testing your will to survive.

have fun

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

I would build a lean to, with a small angle to prevent hopefully blowing the shelter apart (30 degrees i guess? smaller than 45). Granted, have not tried this myself, but watched ray do it a few times! He found 2 trees about 7 feet apart. lashed a log between the two, maybe 4-5 feet high. from that log, he built a roof going down to the ground. covered the bottom 2-3 feet with moss, then thatched spruce (or whatever) to make it water resistant. he actually built himself an elevated sleeping deck, but that seems pretty difficult. just my (or rays) 2 bits of advice

 

[Pict]

With that kind of wind I would say build in the lee of a hill or some other terrain feature to cut it down a bit. I have slept out on mountain tops where natural windbreaks, even small ones made all the difference. Mac

 

[korvin karbon]

With that kind of wind I would say build in the lee of a hill or some other terrain feature to cut it down a bit. I have slept out on mountain tops where natural windbreaks, even small ones made all the difference. Mac

scotland is suppose to have 60 - 80 mph winds this weekend i think i will leave putting my grans security light up LOL

 

[Pict]

That kind of wind will put the "Ex" in exposure real fast. Windproof clothes will be a great help. I'm currently looking for a wind/waterproof anorak for mountain use in Brazil. Hurricane force winds are nothing to fool with. Fortunately in my area we have lots of large rocks and cliffs that will get you down out of the direct force of the wind. Scotland has rocks, right? Mac

On this day we had wind of about 40 mph and heavy rain at times. We wern't planning to spend the night on the mountain (6000 ft) but searched out locations that could be made into living space.

 

[Shewie]

Hope you`re having a good night Barney, you`re a braver man than I going out in this with no tarp.

 

[alpha_centaur]

Hope you`re having a good night Barney, you`re a braver man than I going out in this with no tarp.

If you were round here today you'd have no tarp, somebody in shetland might have your tarp though

 

[sam_acw]

Maybe wait till the winds die down? Stay safe!

 

[Pablo]

I'm with Sam on this one. If you're in a wooded area be extra careful (I wouldn't deliberately go out at all in those winds if I didnt really have to - having been caught out a couple of years ago.)
Check the area for standing dead wood, large over-hanging branches especially old beech.
Stay safe.

 

[Barney]

Well we were lucky, the forecast winds did not arrive and neither did the rain, well not too much anyway. The forest already had a lot of windblown trees and there were lots of dead standing everywhere.

Plenty of mistakes were made, some which had even been pointed out beforehand

1)Incorrectly estimating the amount of time required to construct a weatherproof shelter. 2)Building a shelter far too large, which then took more time and importantly more resources, both physical effort and materials to construct. Luckily I had taken a small tarp "for emergencies"(thank you Kevin) which had been used pretty quick when the realisation dawned on us of the enormity of the task at hand.
3) underestimating the angle needed to effectively shed rain water resulting in annoying drips
4) Even dead standing is wet in winter and its easy to miscalculate the amount of time and effort required to construct and maintain "wet fire" for cooking and water procurement.

Conclusions, I must learn to allocate myself more time to each task under less than optimum conditions

 

[Shewie]

Did you get any pics of the shelter Wayne ?

 

[Barney]

It was minimal kit mate so did not take the camera LOL. I took the phone, but mine is one for talkin on and the pictures are not very good generally, However I did take a couple and I will see if anything has come out of it.

For a mental picture the shelter was built under a fallen pine tree about 10" wide which was over a Wadi type trench about about 10 ft wide and chest high deep. The idea being that the tree would offer some protection against falling deadwood and that the wadi tops would offer protection from fresh windblown trees. The construction was a lean to type set up with about 20 poles 10ft long x four inch wide thatched with anything we could find branches twigs spoil etc(There was very little to be honest as it was mostly pine trees, the kind with a few branches near the top).
I would estimate the angle at a bit less than 40 degrees which was no where near enough, but we had bivi bags and accepted leaks as part of the building process. The wind was the thing Rich in our plans and we got shelter from it on three sides without subjecting ourselves to danger from falls etc.