Shelters!!

  • Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Nice thatching Crosslandkelly!

Our first night in Scandinavian winter in a natural shelter, a lot of lessons learned :D
p1030306.jpg

p1030325.jpg

p1030330.jpg

843058_502261439819543_367511227_o.jpg


Here an article on how we made a double lean-to in Summer
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress.com/trip-report/natural-shelter-basic-lean-to/

And revisiting the same shelter in Winter, epic times!
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress.com/trip-report/sweden-march-2014/
 
Last edited:
Nice thatching Crosslandkelly!

Our first night in Scandinavian winter in a natural shelter, a lot of lessons learned :D
sweden-winter-trips

sweden-winter-trips

sweden-winter-trips

media


Here an article on how we made a double lean-to in Summer
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress.com/trip-report/natural-shelter-basic-lean-to/

And revisiting the same shelter in Winter, epic times!
http://belgianbirkebeiner.wordpress.com/trip-report/sweden-march-2014/


Hi Ruud, unfortunately there were no pine boughs on either of the sites, so they were both piled with about 50cms of leaf litter. I have to say that there were two of us on each build.
 
Hi Ruud, unfortunately there were no pine boughs on either of the sites, so they were both piled with about 50cms of leaf litter. I have to say that there were two of us on each build.

Nothing wrong with a nice leaf-shelter! You did a superb job in making a shelter with the resources available at the time needed. And nothing wrong with building a shelter with other people either! :D
 
This is one thing I haven't done yet and suspect there is skill and practice to it. Look forward to reading more posts. Great to see people sleeping in them too.
 
making a shelter "sleep-proof" is more a matter of trial and error and some insight in physics. I've slept in bitter cold in a few shelters but also had the best nights' sleep in a shelter ever. the most important thing to keep an eye on is the bedding (insulation!).

looking forward to seeing the shelters of others too, looking for some ideas I've never tried before (like the big lean-to leaf shelter of Crosslandkelly (is that a leaf-to then?) )
 
Last edited:
great shelters Lonefish

Thanks Ruud, was an experience building them. I appreciate much more now the effort that is needed to construct such a shelter. Collecting the leaves was an awesome task, even in a area that seemed abundant. Really needs consideration whether it's worthwhile vs calories expended, i.e. for pleasure, for longer term shelter, in extreme need. A smaller, more thermally efficient and easier to build shelter has to be a priority when you need it most.

I also hadn't appreciated how well insulated even these quite open shelters are. On both occasions the fires were warm enough to force me to sleep on top of my bag rather than in it, and with minimal clothing. But that's in our barmy british summer weather, no where near the temperatures you will have had to deal with on your trips! :-)

I hope to do a winter / cold expedition in the next few years. I have plans for next year and the year after but maybe Maine in US in 2017. And a Norwegian tour before I retire.

I enjoyed reading your articles on your blog. :-)
 
Did a trueways survival course and your right, making a natural shelter does take a lot longer than you think. It's not a two minute or a two hour job

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
My latest one[A
TTACH=CONFIG]31348[/ATTACH]



All the insulation is brambles - the only material around! - and it took about 12 -14 hours of work.
100% natural - no paracord...just brambles for lashing as well!
 

Attachments

  • 005.jpg
    005.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 21
I also hadn't appreciated how well insulated even these quite open shelters are. On both occasions the fires were warm enough to force me to sleep on top of my bag rather than in it, and with minimal clothing. But that's in our barmy british summer weather, no where near the temperatures you will have had to deal with on your trips! :-)

I'm sure that if you add a nice insulated bed in your shelters they would do a good job in winter (in combo with a fire of course). Do keep in mind that when making a shelter in lets say, Sweden, that there is an abundance of materials to work with most of the times, even without chopping any tree around. That's why I like to see shelters built in our woodlands, they are a bit harder to setup properly.

and thanks for reading my blog btw!`

@John: great stuff mate, nice bindings
 
Last edited:

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE