Note of the co-author, this file is not finished yet as I terrain where it is not safe to proceed or if exhaustion or

write this on June 25 1995, it even needs a bit of injury prevents you to go further.
translation still, which will be done in the final
upload, so please bear with me till then. You may have to make do with any natural shelter that
you can find for the night or until you can more fully
However I believe that so far all which is written can assess the situation. In this case, virtually any protection
be used without too much problemo. If you see any from wind, rain & cold will be welcome.
glaring mistakes write them to me & I will make the
necessary correction. Thanks. If movement down a slope seems risky, traversing even
a short way along the contour may bring you out of the
Note add on: this chapter as well as many others will wind. If no cave or crevice is available to give shelter,
need picture in order to be well understood. make use of any hollow in the ground.

At the present they are not yet included, not having a Add to its height, if you can by pilling up rocks, but
scanner nor the money but as soon as I can I will do MAKE SURE that any structure is stable & use a
that rest assure and not only for this chapter alone but back-pack, if you have one, to increase the windshield
for the rest of the book. Thanks for your before settling down on the Leeward side.
understanding so far.
If there is still daylight to see by, you have no injuries
NOTE OF THE CO-AUTHOR: OUR to handicap you and are not isolated by unnegotiable
APOLOGIES FOR THE FOLLOWING TEXT cliffs or other barriers, it will be worth seeking possible
WHICH OFTEN TIMES WILL REFER TO PIX # better places in the vicinity.
THOSE PIX ARE NOT IN THIS BOOK YET.
For a long term camp you should find a secure site with
They will be part of the later edition when $$$ convenient access to your major needs.
comes along for me to scan all of them not only for
this particular chapter but the rest of the book. This CAMPING MUST FILL THOSE
note is written as of June 1995, lets hope for all that REQUIREMENT WHEN POSSIBLE:
by this time next year if not sooner we will have all
that resolved. Thanks. 1) Wind sheltered
2) Offer wood for installation.
SHELTER & MAKING CAMP: 3) Offer wood for burning

CAMP AND KNOWING HOW TO MAKE A 4) Away from swamp, dampness.

GOOD SHELTER ARE ESSENTIAL SKILLS. 5) Close to drinking water supply yet not too
close bugs.
You will need to make fire and to chose the right type 6) Seek Dry ground as much as possible.
of fire construction. Shelter IS NECESSARY to give
shade, to repel wind, rain and to keep warmth. 7) High enough to AVOID mosquitoes using
air draft.
SLEEP & ADEQUATE REST ARE ESSENTIAL
and the time and the effort you put into making your 8) Tent facing East or rising sun position
shelter comfortable will make them easier to get.
9) Winter: Sheltered from wind as much as
If you are a victim of a plane crash or a vehicle that possible.
has let you down, it may provide a shelter or materials
which one can be built, but if there is a fire or the threat 10) Winter storm ALWAYS come from West
of fuel tanks exploding wait until it has burned out & North thus to AVOID.
before attempting salvage.
WHERE TO CAMP & WHERE NOT TO CAMP:
If you are the unequipped victim of an accident, are
trapped by unexpected mist or caught by nightfall in
1

1
1) Hill-tops exposed to wind, move down and signals and that you can be easily spotted by rescue
look for shelter on the Leeside. parties.

2) Valley bottoms and deep hollows - could be Check above your head for bees or hornets nests and
damp and especially when the sky is clear, for dead wood in trees that could come crashing down
more liable to frost at night. in the next storm or high wind.

3) Hill-side terraces where the ground holds Keep away from solitary trees which attract lightning,
moisture. and in forest areas keep to the edges where you can see
what is going on around you.
4) Spurs which lead down to water, which are
often routes to animals'watering places. Don't camp across a game trail- you don't want
marauding animals as unwelcome guests or to find your
If you are on high exposed ground go lower down to bivouac flattened by a herd of animals (elephants?) on
find a sheltered spot, but on low, wet ground you will their way to a water-hole or bar, but stay near to any
need to climb higher to find somewhere securely dry. obvious human tracks.

Look for somewhere sheltered from the wind, on rising BEST TENT LOCATION:
ground that has no risk of flooding and is safe from
rock falls or avalanches. Erected towards the South will AVOID the cold
wind of the North as well as the rain from the East.
Hot air rises, cold air sinks, so valley bottoms will often
pockets of cold air and in cold weather,be susceptible to SHELTER FROM COLD:
frost and damp mist.
In an emergency look for natural shelter in your
In areas that get plenty of rainfall terraces across a slope immediate area; a shallow cave, a fallen tree, boulders.
will often be damper than the steeper ground above and
below them, for water collects there before flowing DON'T WAIT TILL DARKNESS FALL. Make or
further downward. find a shelter while there is light. You MUST get out of
Ideally you should be near water, with a plentiful the rain, wind, snow before Hypotermia sets in. Make
supply of wood near at hand. more permanent shelter when permitted.

Pitching camp too close to water, however may lead If nothing better punch a head-hole in plastic bag (In
you to be troubled by insects and the sound of running your S/Kit). Put it on & huddle out of wind, back
water can hide other noises which might indicate against boulder, tree trunk etc. Move legs & arms
DANGER or the sound of search or rescue parties. frequently.

ON RIVER BANKS LOOK FOR THE HIGH SHELTER LOCATION:

WATER MARK.
If choice, locate shelter out of wind on high ground, not
In MOUNTAIN REGIONS streams can become in hollow where chilling fog will settle. Stay near forest
torrents in minutes, rising as much as 5m (17ft) in an if possible. Trees are good wind breaker.
hour! Even on plains keep out of old watercourses, no
matter how dry they are. Insulate floor of shelter as deeply as you can with
brush, leaves, grass- anything to keep you of the cold
Heavy rain storms in nearby hills can easily send water ground.
rushing down them in flash floods with
PRACTICALLY NO WARNINGS. WHAT IS UNDERNEATH IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN WHAT'S OVER YOU.
Choose ground that is reasonably flat and free or rocks
and MAKE SURE that you have space to lay out

2
Dig tunnel into snow if no other shelter is available. Whenever there is any question, we'll bivouac among
Use stick to keep air vent open. In deep snow, base of small growth or in the open.
trees can provide shelter.
That is where we will make any winter camps in
Use your imagination, improvise but KEEP treeless northern regions, well away from lees where
CONSTRUCTION SHELTER SIMPLE, DON'T drifting snow can be an insidious hazard.
WAIST VALUABLE ENERGY!
WARNING:
HOT OR COLD SLEEPING NOTE:
But check the trees out. Never camp beneath a lone tree
NEVER sleep at any time directly on the ground, if there is any chance of thunderstorm.
winter or not, use a ground sheet or if none then use
evergreen as a thick mattress to isolate you from the With its limbs reaching higher in the sky than anything
cold ground. Cold comes from the ground. else around it makes a natural lightning rod, dear Mose!
(Deer Moose?)
WHERE NOT TO CAMP:
Dead tree are also a hazard, the heavy waterlogged
Common sense is the principal determinant to be close birches in particular. One moment they stall tall &
to drinking water and firewood nearby at hand and to serene in the sky.
pick a spot as conspicuous as possible to make signal
if in case of emergency. The next moment, sometimes without even the lightest
zephyr having whisked across the ground, they lie
We will AVOID spot that may be inundated by a uprooted and prone. Should your tent have been pitched
suddenly rising stream, particularly not if we are aware beneath, well... Tough luck Charley Brown!
of the disastrous results in some areas of storms not
even visibly locally. The same hold true, if to a lesser degree, for dead
branches. Don't camp beneath them. Chances of a
Warning tokens to be considered often include scars dead branches killing you in its fall are very slim
and debris left by previous high water. So AVOID dry indeed. But an injury is far from out of the questions,
river beds which can be inundated fast. and the least it will do is ruin your tent.

Lush growth may be not only rough and soggy MOUNTAIN CAMPING:
underfoot but it may presage troublesome insects.
When pitching your tent above the timber line in moun-
Also AVOID places where there may be cave-ins, tainous regions, look up before you set up. Landslide
avalanches, or perils from tumbling rocks. are not a common occurrence statistically

If there are dangers of electrical storms REMEMBER But why become a statistic Slopes of loose rock, slabs,
that solitary trees have a tendency to attract lightning. round boulders, or what looks like a frozen stream of
smooth rocks down a gully may decide to move during
Particularly to be shunned will be jeopardy from falling a heavy rain or in the alternate freezing and thawing of
timber. the cold of night and warm of day. Give all of them a
wide berth.
Such trees such as cottonwoods and poplars are
particular offenders when it comes to unexpectedly Do pick a spot that is sheltered as much as possible
tumbling limbs. from the wind.

The fast growing coastal pines of California are A firm outcropping of rock or large, well entrenched
extremely brittle & therefore, threats in every sort of boulders are probably the best shelters you will find to
weather. pitch tent behind.

3
But take advantage of whatever you can. A determined
mountain gale may hit a hundred & fifty to 200 WHERE TO CAMP BEST:
miles/hour.
The 3 traditional requirements for a campsite used to be
A good campsite is not that difficult to find, I hasten to Water, Wood & a flat area on which to lay out your
add before proceeding with one more small caution: sleeping bag or pitch your tent.
know what poison ivy & poison oak look like.
Wood is no longer a prerequisite, with the handy and
SETTING UP THE EASY WAY: convenient stoves on the market. Water is still
necessary.
To really enjoy camping, the trick is to make it as little
work as possible. In pitching and breaking camp, each So is the relative flat stretch of ground. Flat ground can
person doing specific tasks is the KEY to a Wond- be as difficult a thing to find as water, if not more so,
HER full time! MMMMM! particularly in the mountains. There you may have to
settle for a spot that slopes.
SHELTER BASIC ESSENTIAL:
If you do, MAKE SURE you set up the tent or lay out
TO BUILT A SHELTER TAKES A LITTLE the bags so that you will be sleeping with your head up.
TRAINING BUT ONE THING THAT IS
ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL: Sleep with your feet higher than your head, and you
will wake up in the morning feeling you have a nasty
IT IS A GROUND SHEET WATERPROOFED. IF hangover.
YOU HAVE THAT THEN YOU ARE SAFE &
WILL MAKE GOOD SHELTER. Sleeping sideways on a slope will have all the occu-
pants of a tent piled on top of each other on the
BUILDING A SHELTER: downhill side before the night is halfway through.

The type of shelter you build will depend upon: the If you are not in a tent, you don't know where you will
materials available, the tools available, what you are wake up. The only certain thing is that it will be far
sheltering from wind, cold, snow, rain, insects, etc. from where you fell asleep.

How long do you intend to remain at the location? So why not pitch camp at the bottom of the hollow?
Snow caves and natural holes are ideal if you are on the Well, usually because that is the wettest, coldest,
move and do not need a permanent structure. Size will foggiest spot around. In the case of heavy rain it usually
depend upon the number in the party! (Having fun also means the morning will greet you with a small
yet?). quagmire all around.

Take your time over building a complex structure and The top of knoll avoids these problems. Its more posi-
rest often. OVER-EXERTION WHICH tive advantage is ventilation. A good breeze will keep
PRODUCES SWEATING MUST BE AVOIDED. the bugs to a minimum.

BEST CAMPING SPOT: BUGS CORNER: BZZZZZ!

For best results, pitch the tent or lay out your sleeping Speaking of bugs. There you are in the middle of a bea-
bag on the East or North side of shade trees. utiful mountain meadow, fragrant summer blooms
swaying in the breeze. A perfect spot.
This way you will be greeted by the warmth of a che-
ering sun in the morning. Yet during the heat of the day No! For several reasons. Tall grass is there the chiggers,
you will be shaded from its harsh rays. ticks and other bugs like to camp too. Also alpine
meadows are fragile. Setting up a tent there for a week
If prevailing winds are known, take them into consider- may leave a visible scar for years
ation the same way.
4

4
For your own comfort and that of the meadows, pitch Among the best for the purpose are the small young
your tent at the edge instead of the middle. It will be as branches of the heavily needled balsam, but fir and
fragrant and the view will be better. even spruce will do nearly as well. These boughs can in
the absence of knife and axe be stripped off by hand.
At the edge of a meadow is also where you find bushes
and trees to provide wind shelter & shade for the heat of They can easily be carried if laid one by one over a long
the day. stick which has an upward angling fork at its bottom
whereupon interlocking needles will hold the light
COLD & HOT WEATHER CAMPING: although bulky load in place.

Camp on the Lee side of rocks and trees when it's Cold The operation is started by placing a thick layer of
and you need protection. resilient green boughs at the head of the bed. These we
lay with their underneath upward.
When it's Warm, make camp on the Windward side
so the breezes help cool your wilderness home. They are placed, in other words, opposite from the way
they grow. The butts are kept well covered and pointing
NOTES: toward the bottom of the bed. The browse bed is
thatched in this matter with row after row of boughs
ALL SHELTERS MUST BE ADEQUATELY until it is a foot or more thick.
VENTILATED TO PREVENT CARBON
MONOXIDE POISONING AND ALLOW Whereupon it is reinforced and levelled by the poking
MOISTURE TO ESCAPE. in of soft young evergreen tips wherever an opening
can be found. Unfortunately it has to be redone every
Two holes are needed- have one near the top and one third night.
near the entrance.
SUMMER CAMPING ADDED TIPS:
BED HUNTER HEATER:
Mosquitoes seem to hate the smell of Basilic try it out.
To heat up stones and wrap them well then insert them
in your sleeping bag. THINGS TO AVOID:
BRION BED HUNTER TYPE 2: 1) AVOID all damp ground or to be near
swamps or marsh, as well as damp tall grass and also
Also there is the old trapper trick: Dig a rectangular #ravines# which can be flooded any time.
hole, fill it with hot coals which you then cover up with
earth then lay a blanket over it all. 2) AVOID also isolated trees which attract
thunderbolt, #vieux sous-bois# which can provoke
It is the ideal to sleep warm, or: Where you place your falling trees or branches, rocky slopes which can bring
bed, lite up a fire for a few hours in order to dry up the rock slides.
ground and to heat it up.
3) AVOID dead mass of waters and slow
Then remove the fire and clean the ground, add green moving currants or rivers.
boughs or canvas to the ground because ONE MUST
NEVER SLEEP DIRECTLY ON THE GROUND. If there are a lot of mosquitoes try to find a place where
there is a good wind and well cleared area at the tip of
BROWSE BED: (pix # needed) earth bank near a lake or on top of a hill.

It is famous but its construction requires a great deal 4) AVOID to be under the permanent shadow of
more systematic efforts. You need first of all a trees, this may be good when it is hot but when it rains
surprising quantity of the softest available boughs. then the rain keeps on coming down 1 to 2 hours after
the storm and it is hard to keep your place dry
afterward.
5

5
 If you decide to stay put and wait for rescue, a more
5) REMEMBER to pitch your tent at least 1 long term shelter can be build and improved on as time
HOUR BEFORE SUNSET. and energy permit.

6) Sandy bottom maybe nice but they attract For those walking to safety, on the other hand,
mosquitoes and sand bugs crazy, try to find temporary shelters can be built at each stopping point.
a ground with good drain system.
They can even be carried with you if they are
SHELTER FILE: sufficiently light and there is a significant risk that
materials may not be available at the next campsite.
Observe the usual wind direction & built your shelter in
the opposite direction and the fire in front of you. A more permanent shelter will certainly be worthwhile
for the sick and injured, who MUST rest up in order to
THE EASIEST WAY TO CONSTRUCT A regain their strength or where it IS NECESSARY to
SHELTER IS: wait for the weather to clear before attempting a
journey. Use the time to stockpile equipment and
To fix solidly into the ground 2 forked sticks and to put provisions.
across a pole as a ceiling and then you lean against it
other poles or bunch of branches and cover the roof HASTY SHELTERS:
with grass etc.
If no materials are available for constructing a shelter
ANOTHER EASY WAY EVEN FASTER IS: make use of any cover and protection that is available:

To take only one pole and to lean it against a tree then Cliff overhangs, gradients and so forth, which will help
tie it then used pine branches or leaves branches to shield you from wind or rain. Incorporate natural
make the sidings. windbreaks in quickly constructed shelters.

In a country like South Africa where one does not have In completely open plains, sit with your back to the
poles at his disposal, one makes a hay wall or using wind and pile any equipment behind you as a
brushes in an half circle so as to protect oneself from windbreak.
the cold wind and lights a fire in the open section.
BOUGH SHELTER:
If the sun makes your shelter too hot add another layer
of grass or leaves. THE THICKER THE ROOF Make use of branches that sweep down to the ground or
THE COOLER THE SHELTER. boughs that have partly broken from the tree to give
basic protection from the wind, but MAKE SURE that
If it is too cold then thicken the bottom parts of the they are not so broken that they could come down on
walls or built a small wall about one foot high around your head!
the walls of the shelter.
Weave in other twigs to make the cover more dense.
Don't forget to dig a ditch around the shelter so that the Conifers are more suited to this technique than broad
rain does not wash you off or enters your shelter. leaved trees as they require less weaving in to keep out
the rain.
TYPES OF SHELTER:
Make similar shelter by lashing a broken-off bough to
It will depend upon local conditions and the material the base of another branch where it forks from the trunk
available. Also on how long you expect to need it. (A).

For immediate protection from the elements, rig up a ROOT SHELTER:

makeshift shelter while you construct something better
and more permanent.

6
The spreading roots and trapped earth at the base of a
fallen tree make a good wind and storm barrier, if they Caulk between the stones especially the lowest layer
are at the right angle to the wind. with turf and foliage mixed with mud, and deflect the
flow or rain-water around the shelter as shown below.
Filling in the sides between the extended roots will
usually make the shelter much more effective and SAPLING SHELTER:
provide a good support for building a more elaborate
shelter from other materials. If suitable sapling growth is available, select two lines
of sapling, clear the ground between them of any
USE A NATURAL HOLLOW: obstructions and lash their tops together to form a
support frame for sheeting.
Even a shallow depression in the ground will provide
some protection from the wind and can reduce the Weight down the bottom edges of the sheeting with
effort in constructing a shelter. rocks or timber. You can make a similar shelter from
pliable branches driven into the ground.
However take the necessary measures to deflect the
downhill flow of water around it, especially if it is a If you lack sheeting, choose or place sapling close
hollow on a slope or you could find yourself lying in a together, weave branches between them and consolidate
pool. Make a roof to keep the rain off the and the with ferns and turf.
warmth in
SHELTER SHEET:
A few strong branches placed across the hollow can
support a light log laid over them, against which shorter With a waterproof poncho, groundsheet or a piece of
boughs and sticks can be stacked to give pitch to the plastic sheeting or canvas you can quickly and easily
roof and so allow water to run off. Consolidate with turf make a number of different shelters which will suffice
or with twigs and leaves. until you can build something more efficient.
Make use of natural shelter (A) or make a triangular
FALLEN TRUNKS: (Not fallen drunk!?!) shelter with the apex pointing into the wind (B).

A log or fallen tree trunk makes a useful windbreak on Stake or weigh down edges. If it is long enough curl the
its own, if it is at the right angle to the wind. With a sheeting below you running downhill so that it keeps
small trunk, scoop out a hollow in the ground on the out surface water (C). Use dry grass or bracken as
leeward side. A log makes also an excellent support for bedding.
a lean to roof of boughs.
NEVER LIE ON COLD OR DAMP GROUND!!!
DRAINAGE & VENTILATION: (ITS THE BEST WAY TO CATCH COLD &
RHEUMATISM.)
A run-off channel gouged from the earth around any
shelter in which you are below or lying directly on, A closely woven fabric, though not impermeable will
ground level will help to keep the shelter dry. keep out most rain if you set it at a steep angle. Fit one
shelter a few inches within another (D).
Hasty shelter will usually have many spaces where air
can enter. Do not try to seal them all: VENTILATION The rain that does come through will rarely work its
IS ESSENTIAL ! way through both layers.

SHELTER MORE COMFY IF: WARNING AGAINST DRIPPING:

STONE BARRIERS:
With any woven fabric AVOID touching the inner
A shelter is more comfortable if you can sit rather surface during rain or you will draw water through.
than lie in it, so increase its height by building a low
wall of stones around your chosen hollow or shallow TEEPEES:
excavation.
7

7
Best known from its North American from, the teepee Do not split down the leaf but fold the leaflets on one
occurs in many cultures. side across to the other and interweave them (D).
THE QUICKEST TYPE TO ERECT has
three or more angled support poles, tied where You will probably find this easiest if you work first
from one side then the other but it does takes practice.
they cross to make a cone.
THREE-LOBED LEAVES:
They can be tied on the ground and lifted into place
before covering with hides, birch bark panels or Or leaves cut in this fashion (E) can be locked over a
sheeting. Leave an opening at the top for ventilation. thatching frame without any other fixing being
Wider angle will give greater area but shed rain less necessary to hold them in place (F).
easily.
ELEPHANT GRASS:
TROPICAL SHELTERS:
And other large leaves can be woven between the cross-
In rain forest and tropical jungle the ground is damp pieces (G). Only a small number are needed to produce
and likely to be crawling with insects life, leeches a shelter very quickly.
(yerk!) and other undesirable.
LONG BROAD LEAVES:
Instead of bedding down on the ground you will be
better in a raised bed. Consequently you may want to Can be sown along the thatching battens with vines.
make higher shelters. (Tarzan style!)
PALM & OTHER LONG STEMMED LEAVES:
Unless you are at an altitude high enough to make the
nights cold you will be less concerned with protection
They can be secured by carrying the stem around the
from the wind than with keeping reasonably dry. A
batten and over the front of the leaf, where it is held in
thatching of palm, banana and other large leaves makes
place by the nest leaf (I) Leaves MUST overlap those
the best roofs and walls.
below on the outside of the shelter.
ATAP:
BAMBOO:
Also known as Wait a while vine, Atap is especially
This large-stemmed plant actually a grass, is a very
useful, despite the barbs at each leaf tip which make
versatile building material and can be used for pole
careful handling necessary.
supports, flooring and walls.
Look for any plant with a similar structure (A) the
The giant form of bamboo- which can be over 30m
bigger the better. The broader the individual leaflets the
(100ft) high and 30cm (1ft) in diameter - is an Asian
better also.
plant found in damp places from India to China both in
the lowlands & on mountain slopes.
Atap is best used horizontally splitting each leaf into
two from the tip (B) then tearing it into 2 clean halves
But there are types native to Africa and Australia and
down its length. Do not try to split from the tick end or
two which are found in the southern USA.
you will end up with a broken branch.
Split bamboo vertically to make roofing and guttering
Closely layer halves of Atap on your roof frame (C).
to collect rainwater. The split stems, laid alternately to
You can let it be a little less dense on walls. Woven
interlock with one another, form efficient and
Atap can be particularly effective for the sides of a
waterproof plant tiles.
shelter.
Flatten split bamboo for smooth walls, floors or
ANOTHER METHOD:
shelving by cutting vertically through the joints every
1.25cm (1/2in) or so around the circumference.

8
It can then be smoothed out. The paper like sheaths Tie reeds in long thick bundles by starting and finishing
formed at the nodes can also be used as roofing with a clove-hitch knot. Choose the longest reeds and
material. ensure that their ends are spaced out along the length of
the bundle so that they do not cause a weal point by
WARNING! WARNING! BAMBOO: coming all together.

Take great care when collecting bamboo. It grows in The base should be a flat end, the other should taper.
clumps which are often a tangled mass. Some stems are Prepare more reed bundles, thinner and longer if
under tension and when cut fly forcefully and possible. They will be used for securing the sides of
dangerously apart, exploding in sharp slivers. your shelter. Range thick columns of reeds on the longs
sides of your shelter site.
SPLIT BAMBOO CAN BE RAZOR SHARP &
CAUSE SERIOUS INJURIES. Dig the thick ends into the earth and link the columns a
short way up each by lashing on thinner bundles
The husk at the base of bamboo stems carry small horizontally between them.
stinging hairs which cause severe skin irritations.
Bend the tops of the columns towards each other,
LIGHT STRUCTURES: overlapping them and binding them together. Add more
thin bundles to link the sides of the columns and carry
Follow the methods outlined for the lean-to structure. up over the arches.
You can extend it with a less angled roof and a front
wall or you can build vertical walls and roof them over Interweave a wattle of reeds between this framework,
with deep eaves to give you extra shade from the sun using thinner reeds until adequate shelter is provided or
and to ensure that rain runs off well away from the hut. weave separate panels of leaves & reeds to attach to it
Dig a channel to carry any water away.
SOD HOUSE (TURF):
If you have bamboo or other strong material available
to build a firm frame, raise the floor of your shelter off Turf-built shelters are an alternative to log cabins when
the ground in tropical climates, so reducing access to timber is scarce or there are no tools to cut it. Cut
ground creatures. sections of turf 45 X 15cm (18X6in) and build with
them like bricks, overlapping them to form a bond. (Yes
In Hot climates you will need to make your roof solid James!)
to keep out the rain and give good protection from the
sun burns. Slopes the sides to give pitch to the roof- to support
which you will have to find spars of wood or other
If it projects well over the walls, you can leave them as strong material. The greater the pitch, the better rain
fairly open lattice to allow air to pass through. will be repelled.

Grasses and mud will seal cracks and all kinds of The length of the spars will determine the size of the
material will make a thatch if woven between roof cross structure. Lay turves on the roof as well, or cover it
pieces of sticks or cords. with grass.

In climates with heavy rainfall use leaves or bark like Unless you have a great deal of turf available keep the
tiles on top. structure low, big enough to sit on the floor but not big
enough to stand. One side could be open facing the fire.
BUILDING WITH RUSHES:
DISTRESS SIGNALS WITH TURF:
When neither trees nor bamboo are available, rushes or
other strong stems can be tied in bundles to form Cut the turf in a pattern to leave a permanent
structural pillars a method used by the Marsh Arabs of DISTRESS signal on the ground at the same time as
Iraq. collecting building material.

9
SMALL SHELTER &TURF ADD NOTES: LOG CABIN:

For small shelter you could also use turves to make a Scale your cabin to the number it is to house. You can
beehive or igloo like structure. If time and resources are ALWAYS enlarge it or add on extra rooms later.
available a large hut can be built with turves. Some sort
of timber will be needed for a door frame (A) & for The size of logs available will determine the length of
roof spars. walls. A square or rectangle will be sturdy and easiest
to roof. 2.5m (8ft) square is a sensible size.
Build an internal hearth and chimney, but if you use turf
for them be careful that they do not catch fire You may be lucky and be able to use trees that have
themselves. Plaster the inside of hearth and chimney already fallen, in which case you could perhaps lash a
with clay. framework of logs together and fill the spaces in
between, but it is much better to joint the corners to fit
Site the open side or doorway away from the prevailing snugly into each other. Do not finish off the projecting
wind and, with a small turf-built house make your fire ends. These are the strength of the structure.
outside the entrance and build a reflector on the other
side of it to throw heat back inside. Lay down your first layer of logs in the shape of your
hut (A). Joint the corners to fit on top of each other (B)
Even with an open side, a short return will make the and cut other logs to fit neatly on top of them. Since
corners more stable. Bond the corners as with logs tend to taper, place them alternately top to bottom
conventional brickwork for strength. to counter this (C).

THE SOD HOUSE: Once the ground frame is established leaves space for a
doorway on the side away from the prevailing wind.
This is a 6 sided house and may be improved by
notching the logs and building them up one on top of You may be able to use off cuts from logs for these
the other, dome-shaped to the required height. sections on either side of the door. Square off the edges
and wedge a door frame in place (D). Do not bother
After laying some rafters for the roof and leaving a hole with windows, the door will give sufficient ventilation.
for the chimney the frame is complete.
In hot countries no chimney hole is left in the roof Build up the front higher than the back to give pitch to
because the people there do not build fires inside the the roof. The last log front and back should project well
house, they go indoors to keep cool and not to get beyond the side walls.
warm.
These will support the roof. Across the hut from side to
Make the doorway by leaving an opening pix # 150 and side notch in one cross-beam to keep short logs in
chinking the logs along the opening to hold them in place.
place until the door-jamb is nailed or pegged to them.
Lay a roof of logs, front to back, extending beyond
And then build a shed entrance which IS wall. Notch the logs to fit on to the cross pieces or lash
NECESSARY because the slanting sides of the house them down.
with an unroofed doorway have no protection against
the free entrance of dust and rain or snow. Choose a flat site for your cabin or level a slightly
larger area. Dig into a hillside if necessary, but the
The house is covered with brush or sod etc. Pix # 152 foundations for the wall MUST be level.
shows how to make a log dugout by building the walls
of the log cabin in a level place dug for in the bank. The flexible saw in your survival kit will cut logs of
sufficient size and if you are a survivor from a wrecked
All such house are good in dry countries & countries plane or boat there will have been a fire axe on board.
frequented by tornadoes or by winds severe enough to There is no need to make a door yet.
blow down ordinary camp.

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Hang a piece of blanket to keep the wind out, or make a Length ways to these poles lash thatching battens each
panel of wattle of fill the gap until you feel equipped to about 1 inch thick and 8 feet long. These should be 6
make a permanent door. Don't bother with windows inches apart. They are then thatched with grass, fern
either- the door will give enough ventilation. palms or reeds. (branches and tree leaves are useless.)

Caulk in between the logs with mud or wood chips, or The bed is suspended from the centre pole by ropes or
if there are big gaps, sapling before applying the mud. vines to the 2 long sides which are held apart by lashing
Mix it with grass and moss and use a sharpened stick to 2 cross bars at head and foot. The bed is then made up
force it between logs. like the camp bed.

Cover the roof with saplings before adding a layer of This shelter can be swung round the tree trunk to take
mud and turf. Instead of a complete roof of whole logs advantage of sun or shade or get better protection from
you could use lighter materials & mud on a timber the weather.
frame.
SHELTER FOR THE MAKING:
Bark from the logs make an excellent top covering if
laid as tiles. These could be pegged through with small Where we are with what we have, right now! A fallen
supple twigs while the mud is still soft. tree is often at hand, even when we are looking for one
under whose roots a browse bed can be laid so as to
If there is no risk of a build up of water in which case it benefit from the luxury of a crackling night blaze.
would be useful to build a floor later, dig down inside
the hut to provide the earth for mud caulking and you Nor is it unusual to come upon a dry indentation in a
will at the same time increase its interior height. If you stream bank that can be quickly roofed with brush and
leave a hole somewhere in the roof for smoke to escape cheered by a campfire in front.
you can make a fire inside the hut.
No canopy is more pleasant under favourable
But do not leave it unattended put it out rather than risk conditions than the open sky.
your home burning down. If stone is readily available,
you could build a proper chimney and fireplace. The only refinement we want on such nights if indeed
we desire any, are a mattress of evergreen boughs a
You will retain more of the heat if it is a central long hardwood fire and maybe behind us a log to reflect
structure. Fit stones as closely as possible and use small warmth onto those portions not turned toward the
stones and mud to pack the spaces. friendly heat.

SWINGING SHELTER: (Ask Tarzan!) On other occasions-when there is a storm or cold or

when the situation is such that our every reasonable
A forked pole at least 4 to 5 inches thick and 8 feet long long range effort should be directed at conserving the
with a side branch coming of at right angles to the fork utmost vigour.
and 4 to 5 feet below it is required.
The time and energy required for throwing up a
To the side branch a rope or very strong vine loop is bivouac may well be returned several fold.
secured, passed around a tree trunk and then bound
very securely back on to the side branch. The long arm Under circumstances when it may be desirable or
of the pole should be horizontal & 6 to 7 feet long to the perhaps obligatory to remain in one area, we may as
ground. well enjoy the sanctuary that for a combination of
reasons is the best reasonably available.
To make the shelter top, lash 3 feet stakes each about 2
inches thick to each side of the pole. They should slope This will be especially true if sufficient food is at least
down at an angle of about 45 degrees & can be held temporarily lacking, for then we may expect strength to
outward by lashing braces across. be maintained in direct proportions to our ability to
remain comfortably and warmly relaxed.

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CONIFEROUS SHELTER: The distance between the trees will be the length of the
opening of the lean-to although it is possible to
No one needs have much difficulty in finding sanctuary incorporate variations. The number of people requiring
in softwood country, for no axe IS NECESSARY and shelter should determine the size.
in fact, we can get along very well without even a knife.
When constructed for one man it should be made long
A heavy grove of big evergreen itself affords for him to sleep across the open mouth of the shelter,
considerable shelter. From sudden shower you can keep whereas for more than one it should be planned for
dry by just lingering under a spruce or pine. them to sleep lengthwise.

There is usually sufficient small growth in such a forest One or both ends of the ridge pole may be supported by
to break off and angle in lean-to form against a a pie tripod if a second tree is not available. This leaves
protective log or trunk. the builder a wider choice of sites.

CAPTAIN BRION NICHE: IT SHOULD BE REMEMBER THAT THE

STEEPER THE SLOPE ANGLE OF THE ROOF
It is very simple to make a niche by stripping of a few
lower branches from a well situated tree. These boughs THE BETTER IT WILL SHED RAIN AND
augmented by others from nearby trees will quickly REFLECT HEAT FROM THE FIRE.
floor & thatch the shelter.
A 45 degree slope angle is generally considered a
Such a nook is particularly easy to heat with the great suitable compromise between available interior space
amount of fuel almost ALWAYS available in such and rain shedding effectiveness.
coniferous terrain.
Once the framework has been constructed proceed with
If a blizzard is scuffing or rain dripping and some easily the covering. Spruce boughs make an excellent natural
handled bark such as that from birch trees is available covering although the branches of any coniferous and
we'll probably want to insert a few sheets at least of many leave trees will do.
overhead.
They are placed on the lean to in the same manner as
VERY GOOD BEDDING: (MMM!) shingles on a roof, the first row at the bottom and the
last row at the top. The brush ends of the boughs are
For bedding a soft mass of additional boughs placed down overlapping the butt ends of the previous
sandwiches between such waterproofing bark can row.
FURNISH SURPRISING COMFORT EVEN
WHEN THE WORLD IS RESTLESS WITH WET This method of thatching ensures that the rain will be
AND COLD. shed more readily. Continue to lay rows of boughs in
this fashion until the top of the lean to is covered.
SHELTER IN BUSH AREA:
Repeat the entire procedure of thatching until the entre
"LEAN TO": THE MOST COMMON & roof is covered to a depth of at least 6". The triangular
PRACTICAL IN EMERGENCY. sides are filled in with large boughs set butt end up as in
thatching.
THE LEAN TO IS AN EXCELLENT SHELTER
IN ALL SEASONS BECAUSE YOU CAN USE The parachute shroud or a canvas or the covering of
ALL KIND OF CAMP FIRES. plane wings are all indicated to cover the lean to and to
replace the evergreen boughs or with them if need be.
A pole framework is covered with a thatching of
evergreen boughs or rushes. When constructing the WHEN VERY COLD:
lean-to, find 2 trees about 7 to 9ft apart with fairly level,
firm ground between them.

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When it is very cold you first place the canvas upon Natural forks can be used instead, however. So can the
the frame then you cover it with branches and braces.
evergreen.
NO NEED OF KNIFE EVEN:
Inside the shelter the white colour of the canvas will
better reflect the camp fire thus greater comfort. Although a knife will simplify the task, not even that IS
NECESSARY. The skeleton can then be draped,
WHEN VERY WET: interfaced or otherwise covered with green branches,
bark, moss, grass, reeds, leafy vines and other such
If however we run into a lot of rain or melting snow, materials. The few basic principles are self evident.
then you MUST PUT THE EVERGREEN
BOUGHS FIRST THEN ON TOP YOU PUT THE When thatching a roof, as we do with bark, we will
CANVAS. Using this method will help to keep the naturally start at the eaves and lay the bottom of each
shelter dry. When possible it is HIGHLY suddeding layer across the top of the thickness beneath,
RECOMMENDED to lay a second layer of canvas. so that any water will tend to flow unimpeded off the
edge.
ADVANTAGES OF THE LEAN TO:
If we happen to build a roof with a double pitch, we'll
The lean to is an excellent shelter in all seasons because further waterproof that by bending bark over the ridge
you can use all kind of camp fires. and fastening or weighting it down on each slant.

The shelter has a low entrance and its depth is the width BOTTOM TATCHING IS A MUST SAID MRS
of a sleeping bag which permits for one person to have TATCHER!: ( SHE WAS RIGHT!)
all his body exposed to the heat of the fire and to be
VERY COMFORTABLE EVEN UNDER THE When thatching the walls, we will of course start at
GREATEST COLD. (mmmMMM!!!) the bottom as if shingling and work our way up layer
by layer with each higher series ALWAYS covering
One can construct such a shelter for many persons yet the one immediately below. Water will then be more
their head or feet are the only exposed part to the fire so apt to run down the outside of the structure instead of
it is not as comfy as if you were parallel to the fire's into it.
warmth.
GOING ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION:
One can construct 2 lean to face to face with a fire in
the middle but it is difficult to place them so as to Probably the most satisfactory way to describe a few of
AVOID the smoke swirling into one or the other lean the more common types of lean-to is by means of the
to. First you think you have succeeded then the least following self-explanatory illustration.
draft blows it into the shelter make it unbearable.
From them, even the newest greenhorn can pix #ure out
JOIN THEM IT’S BETTER!: the most practical way to use whatever wilderness
materials happen to be at hand
So while you are at it, why not join those 2 lean to that
are facing one another so as to make a big shelter. Just If we have something such as a tarpaulin to stretch
keep on working till their top reach one another and over a pole framework, our work will be considerably
there it is lessened. This will also be true to a considerable extent
if only the roof can thus be quickly made waterproof.
LEAN TO # 2 TWO TOO!:
GOOD TO CARRY ON YOU AT ALL TIME:
More complicated frames are easily enough assembled,
particularly when the joints are fastened if only by A large rectangle of plastic, folded and carried in a
lashing by lashing them with fine but tough spruce shirt pocket is a good thing to take along at all times
roots.Or with wiry birch or willow withes. (#?) if only for possible emergency use as a rainy day

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cover. Or use the survival blanket even a large DOOR IN RELATION TO WIND:
strong garbage.
When the wind is any problem, the opening of a
OPEN LEAN-TO SHELTER #3: temporary shelter is usually placed on the side away
from it.
If there is nothing solid to lean a roof against and you
are not trying to keep out of heavy rain or a blizzard. SNOW OR CANYONS & MOUNTAINS AREAS:

Use panels of wattle or frames covered in grass for In open SNOW COUNTRY where blocking drifts
protection. Erect a horizontal cross-piece between trees may form in that lee, however, the entrance is best built
or on simple supports. crosswise to the wind.

On the windward side lean a panel of wattle or tie or This is also the most satisfactory compromise when one
lean saplings at 45 degrees to make a roof. Add side is camped where air currants alternate up and down, as
walls as necessary. in canyons and along mountain streams.

REFLECTOR: FOR LONGER STAYS:

(A) Site your fire on the leeward. Add side pieces and If we are putting up a structure that may be used for
this is the trick, build a reflector (B) on the other side several days or longer, we will not be governed too
of the fire to MAKE SURE that you get the full benefit much in this matter by the direction in which any
of the warmth. breezes may be blowing at the moment.

WHY NOT A HUT?: We will be more apt to lock around for natural signs,
such as deadfall and leaning trees which indicates the
MAKING WALLS FOR BETTER SHELTERS: quarter or the prevailing wind.

It may be expedient to build an emergency shelter so THE DOOR ORIENTED SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST
substantial that its wall can be additionally insulated by IS USUALLY THE BEST ALL AROUND.
heaping sod or earth against them.
TO DITCH OR NOT ?: ( Or Not to bitch?)
If these walls are leaned in slightly from the bottom,
gravity will tend to hold such reinforcements more We may want to ditch the survival shelter so as to
firmly. conduct away water that depending on the terrain might
otherwise soak the floor.
The roof can also be made warmer by covering it with
several inches of vegetation, topped by enough dirt or Any such drain should be placed so that in addition to
preferably more durable sod to keep everything in other functions it will catch any moisture running down
place. the walls. A channel several inches wide and as deep
may be made with a sharp stick instead of a handier
An animal skin, some contrivance of woven vines or tool.
perhaps an available fabric may be hung over an
opening to serve as a door. An open stone fireplace can If this furrow is in the way of foot traffic as it may be at
be made in the centre of the dirt floor of such a shelter. the front, or if the ground is such that it will crumble
easily, the drain usefulness may be maintained by filling
Although a chimney hole will then have to be cut in the it loosely with small stones.
roof for ventilation, this vent may be kept covered when
the fire is entirely out. If your shelter is on a slope, water will of course
have to be shunted only from the upper side.
It should not be closed otherwise because of the threat
of CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING.

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If we camp on sand or in forest so carpeted with and situations. If additional supports are later needed
vegetation that water sinks into it almost immediately these can be added as necessary.
then no ditching is needed. (Yupee!)
We may weave moss or grass through the final
DOME STRUCTURE SHELTER: basketlike framework in lieu of anything better, perhaps
laying on a second coat which can be both secured and
Even if no wood large enough for the ordinary lean-to insulated with a thick plastering of mud and snow.
is available, we can still make a very comfortable
structure from growth as slight as willow. TARP-CABIN:

Let us obtain first a quantity of the longest wands we This shelter requires a considerable amount of work and
can find. We can then, after examining them, draw a when completed will a degree of permanency that other
rough outline of the house. This at most should not don't have.
ordinarily be much wider than the average length of the
material. In building the cabin particular attention MUST be paid
to the choice of location, as the cabin is not portable.
The base of such a structure may be oval. It may be
rectangular, in which case the final shelter may well Choose an area close to water supply, yet not in a
resemble a barrel split lengthwise. valley. The ridges offer much more comfortable living
conditions freedom from insects, flooding.
Whatever the general conformation in other words we
will find it advantageous structurally to employ rounded The area should also offer an abundant supply of long
sides and roof. straight logs 4 to 8" in diameter. Build 4 walls log cabin
fashion to a height of about 3ft. and then build a frame
Lets start by securing the larger end of one wand in the work of light poles to support a covering of parachute
ground on the outline there scratched which for material or canvas.
purposes of illustration let us assume is a circle.
Opposite the first wand on the round line, let us set the CANVAS:
bigger end of the second switch.
From this stage its a simple matter to place this material
We can then draw the tops together in the middle and over the framework to form a finished shelter.
tie them with roots, string, vines, rawhide or any
convenient material. It is preferable to use a double layer of fabric with an
air space between to improve the insulating and water
Let us similarly set and bend another 2 wands so that shedding qualities of the roof.
above the centre of the circle they cross the first arch at
right angles. At this apex we will lash all 4 together. NO CANVAS: (RATTTS!)
The curve of the dome roof now defined, will govern
the decreasing size of subsequent arches. To construct a #hutte# when no canvas nor parachute,
you MUST then build the walls to the desired height
A few inches away or perhaps as much as a foot or so if and to add a roof made of #motte de terre ou chaume#
our covering is to be canvas or light skins, we may
make a slightly lower arch parallel to the first. Don't try to build a complicated roof. All you need is a
roof as smooth as possible that will shed the rain at the
This we may cross at right angles with a similar arch. back.
This crisscrossing operation we may continue in such a
fashion except to allow for an entrance, tying each of THE LOWER THE ROOF THE EASIER
the numerous joints, until the frame is sufficiently TO HEAT.
sturdy.

There need be no particular methodicalness, however

for functional variations are as numerous as materials
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In this kind of shelter you MUST use a #rechaud# to do generally less bugs on an island than shores but
cooking and heating since the ventilation is not BEWARE of the rising water level to check up.
sufficient to make a camp fire as in normal condition.
SHELTER FROM ANDREW:
WIGWAM:
A friend told me this trick which I think could be worth
An easy and simple construction if you have a chute or mentioning, once you have cut or broken a big pile of
canvas with ropes. Use the suspension of your chute evergreen which you have put into one place. Hide into
which you cut at about 2 feet from the chute itself. the middle of that pile, working your way through until
you are comfy.
Attach a rope or a suspension section around the ropes
at the top of the chute and tie this rope to a tree branch But BEWARE for branches into your eyes and
and also to a cross piece between 2 trees or at the MAKE SURE you are well above ground level.
summit of a tripod made of poles of at least 15ft. long.
Then put a tarp on top of the whole branch pile which is
After this operation, attach the chute to the desired secured either with ropes or other branches. It will keep
height and maintain it close to the ground all around it you real warm into this makeshift shelter.
its #perimeter# using rocks, pegs, #motte de terre# so as
to form a#conical# tent. SHACKS SHELTERS AND SHANTIES:
(Snack -Melt-hers and Panties?!)
The diameter of the tent depends of the number of
occupants, if you use a chute you will near ALWAYS NOTE OF THE CO-AUTHOR: OUR
have an excess of canvas, which you can cut if you APOLOGIES FOR THE FOLLOWING TEXT
need it or just let it hang on as a door. WHICH OFTEN TIMES WILL REFER TO PIX #
THOSE PIX ARE NOT IN THIS BOOK YET.
When you have the intention to make a camp fire in the They will be part of the later edition when $$$
shelter you MUST take care to have sufficient comes along for me to scan all of them not only for
ventilation before putting on the chute. this particular chapter but the rest of the book. This
note is written as of June 1995, lets hope for all that
In wooden area where great wind are generally rare the by this time next year if not sooner we will have all
opening at the summit is usually to small to insure a that resolved. Thanks.
good air draft thus you MUST make a small cut of a
few inches along one of the #couture dun fuseau#.
BALSAM BEDS:
To keep the hole open just use 2 stick tied in a cross
shape to the dimension of the desired hole. The fire The balsam bed is made of the small twigs of balsam
MUST be made in the centre of the tent directly in the trees. In gathering these, collect twigs of different
axial of the draft hole. lengths from 18 inches long to be used as the
foundation of the bed to 10 or 12 inches long for the top
TENT AND CANOE CAMPING: layer.

Put up your tent first as you get off the canoe but take it If you want to rest well do not economize on the
only as the last item when going back in the canoe, so amount you gather to make it thick.
that if there is a surprise shower you can wait it out in
comfort. If you attempt to chop off the boughs of balsam they
will resent your effort by springing back and slapping
BEST CANOE LANDING & CAMPING: you in the face. Ouch! You can cut them with your
knife but it is slow work and will blister your hand.
If possible install your tent on an island near the shore,
there is lesser risk for a forest fire. You will AVOID Take twig by twig with the thumb and fingers (the
animals which could be dangerous and there is thumb on top pointing toward the tip of the bough &
the two forefingers underneath).
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 Then if you don't sleep well blame the cook or the fact
Press down with the thumb and with a twist of the wrist that it was not thick enough.
you can snap the twigs like pipe-stems shows two
views of the hands in proper position to snap off twigs OTHER BEDDING:
easily & clean.
If sleeping in a country without balsam, pine etc, you
The one at the left show the hand as it would appear still can make a good spring mattress by collecting
looking down upon it; the one at the right shows the small green branches of any sort of tree which is
view as you look at if from the side. springy and elastic.

PACKING BOUGHS: Build the mattress as previously described. On top of

this put a thick layer of hay, straw or dry leaves or even
After collecting a handful of boughs string them on a green material provided you have a rubber blanket or
stick which you have previously prepared pix # 4. poncho to cover the latter.

This stick should be strong green hardwood 4 or 5 feet FALLEN TREE SHELTER:
long with a fork about 6 inches long left on it at the butt
end to keep the boughs from sliding off and sharpened For a one man one night stand, select a thick foliaged
at the upper end so that it can be easily poked through a fir-tree and cut it partly through the trunk so that it will
handful of boughs. fall as pix # 11.

String the boughs on this stick as you would string fish Then trim off the branches on the under-side so as to
but do it one handful at a time, allowing the butts to leave room to make your bed beneath the branches,
point in different directions. next trim the branches off the top or roof of the trunk
It is astonishing to see the amount of boughs you can and with them thatch the roof.
carry when strung on a stick in this manner and thrown
over your shoulders. Do this by setting the branches with their butts up as
shown in the pix #13 and then thatch with smaller
If you have a lash rope place the boughs on a loop of browse as described in making the bed. This will make
the rope as in pix # 6 then bring the two ends of the a cosy one-night shelter.
rope up through the loop and sling the bundle on your
back Rambo or Tarzan or Jane etc. THE SCOUT-MASTER BED:

CLEAN YOUR HANDS: Take 3 forked sticks (A, B, C PIX # 12) and interlock
the forked ends so that they will stand.
When you have finished gathering the material for your
bed your hands will be covered with a sticky sap. Over this framework rest branches with the butt ends up
or lay a number of poles & thatch this with browse or
And although they will be a sorry sight, a little lard or take Elm, Spruce.
baking grease will soften the pitchy substance so that it
may be washed off with soap & water. These shelters may be built for 1 boy or made large
enough for many men. They may be thatch with
HOW TO MAKE BEDS: (Army style?) balsam, or any kind of long-stemmed weeds.

To make your bed, spread a layer of the larger boughs CAMP BED OFF THE GROUND:
on the ground start at the head and shingle them down
to the foot so that the tips point toward the head of the A framework similar to the table with the table top
bed, overlapping the butts. pix # 7 only is made and the 2 poles are overlaid with sticks
exactly as for the bed on the ground.
Continue this until your mattress is thick enough to
make a soft couch upon which you can sleep as home. When making a bed off the ground it is not necessary
to have the forks as high as for the table.
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A camp bed should ALWAYS be built off the When the ground is dry, or under a shelter, stones
ground in SNAKE country or in areas where ground heated in the fire and then buried under a thin layer
pest. Such as leeches, ants, scrub mites, chiggers or of soil beneath will keep their heat through most of
ticks are liable to be troublesome. the night, adding to your comfort.

An alternative to the forked stakes and ground poles A-FRAME BEDS:

is the use of 2 piles of stones to support the side
poles. An A-frame forms a strong construction and will
keep you off the ground. Drive two pairs of post into
CAMP BED USING A COUPLE OF BAGS: the ground at an angle, leaving a little more than your
height between the pairs. Lash the tops together.
A very comfy camp bed can be made by setting up
the 2 forked stakes as for the preceding camp bed and If the ground is hard, cross-members will be needed
2 side poles are placed into the crotches of these so between the feet of each A frame and between the
they are about 45 degrees slope. two A frames.

2 long straight poles are cut and passed through the 2 TUBE BED:
sides of 2 bags which holes are cut in the bottom of
each of these bags to allow the poles to pass through. This simplest form depends on having or making a
tube of strong material, sewn or thronged together. A
The closed ends of the bags are towards the ends of large heavy duty plastic bag is suitable, but not thin
the poles and the bags overlap a few inches in the plastic.
middle.
Really toughly made clothing could serve but would
The 2 bed poles with the bags are laid one on either usually make a rather narrow bed. Do not risk this
side of the angle poles. The weight of the body lying method with any fabric that might give under your
on the bags keeps the side poles pulled well down on weight or with seams that might come apart.
the angle poles.
Make A frame supports and choose two fairly
If the weather is COLD or greater comfort is needed, straight poles, each slightly longer than the distance
a stuffing of dried grass or bracken fern inside the between the frames, and pass them through the tube
bags will serve to give greater softness & a warmer of plastic or fabric.
bed to booth.
Place them over the frames so that they rest on the
FURNISHING THE CAMP: sides, the tube preventing them from slipping lower.

MAKE-KING BEDS: (AHHHHHH!) BOUGH BED:

Sleep is the great generator and a comfortable bed is Where conifers are growing, fir tree branches
worth a little effort. Some form of bedding should arranged in alternate layers will be more comfortable
ALWAYS be used to avoid lying directly on cold or and their fragrance will ensure a good night's sleep.
damp ground.
LADDER BED:
In Tropical climates it is ALWAYS better to raise
the bed into the air, both to keep off wet earth and Make A frame supports and select poles as for the
to provide a current of cooling air. tube bed, but you will also need a number of cross-
pieces-how many will depend upon the size of the
In COLD CLIMATES, when no permanent shelter sleeper and the kind of bedding to be used.
has been erected, choose fuel which will keep the fire
going through the night and build a screen to reflect
the heat back to your sleeping space.
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Springy saplings will be more comfortable than To take it off a standing tree, cut one circle down at
boughs, provided that they are strong. Lash the end the butt and another as high as you can reach and slit it
"rungs" to the A-frame, jutting out either side. along a perpendicular line connecting the two cuts.

Make these of strong timber and lash them securely. Then peel off the bark carefully, this will kill the tree
Fit the ladder over the frames and lash in place. Lay but your survival is more important than the tree or is
bedding of bracken, ferns or leaves. it? Yes it is.

HAMMOCKS: USING BARK: (Not dog)

It takes a little practice to sleep in a hammock-in a To shingle with bark, cut the bark in convenient
string one you MUST push the sides outward so that sections, start at the bottom, place one piece of bark set
it cups around you. on edge flat against the wall of your shelter.

BED HUNTER HEATER: Now place a piece of bark next to it in the same
manner, allowing the one edge to overlap the first piece
To heat up stones and wrap them well then insert a few inches and so on all the way around your shack.
them in your sleeping bag.
Then place a lawyer of bark above this in the same
ALSO THERE IS THE OLD TRAPPER TRICK: manner as the first one the end edges overlapping, the
bottom edges also overlapping the first row 3 or 4
Dig a rectangular hole, fill it with hot coals which inches or even more.
you then cover up with earth then lay a blanket over
it all. Hold these pieces of bark in place by stakes driven in
the ground against them or poles laid over them,
It is the ideal to sleep warm, or: Where you place according to the shape of your shelter.
your bed, lite up a fire for a few hours in order to dry
up the ground and to heat it up. Continue thus to the comb of the roof, then over the
part where the bark of the sides meet on the top lay
Then remove the fire and clean the ground, add green another layer of bark covering the crown, ridge, comb,
boughs or canvas on the ground then make your bed or apex and protecting it from the rain.
on top, because one MUST not sleep directly on the
ground. In the teepee form, the point of the cone or pyramid is
left open to serve as chimney for smoke to escape.
PEEL BARK AND SELECTION:
THE ADIRONDACK:
To get Birch bark, select a tree with a smooth trunk
devoid of branches and placing skids for the trunk fell It is a lean-to open in the front. Easily made. The usual
the tree and then cut a circle around the trunk at the two manner is to set up two uprights then lay a crosspiece
ends of the log and a slit from one circle clean up to the through the crotches and rest poles against this
other circle. crosspiece.

Next With a sharp stick shaped like a blunt-edged Over these poles other poles are laid horizontally and
chisel, pry off the bark carefully until you take the the roof thatched with browse by the method shown
piece off in one whole section. before.

If it is spruce bark or any other bark you seek, hunt But here the tips of the browse MUST point down and
through the woods for a comparatively smooth trunk be held in place by other poles on top of it. Sometime a
and proceed in the same manner as with the birch. log is put at the bottom of the slanting poles depending
of the need.

THE SCOUT SHELTER:

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 same opportunity. Maybe 2 or 3 trees will be found
Where Birch bark is obtainable it is shingled with slabs willing to act as uprights.
of this bark , the bark being held in place on the roof by
poles laid over it and on the side by stakes being driven Where you use a wall of any kind, rock, roots or bank it
in the ground outside of the bark to hold it in place. will of course be necessary to have your doorway at one
side of the shack.
THE PIONEER:
The upright poles may be on stony ground where their
A tent form of shack shows how the bark is placed butts cannot well be planted in the earth and there it will
liked the shingles overlapping each other so as to shed be necessary to brace them with slanting poles. Each
the rain. camp will offer problems of its own. Poor Rambo!

The doorway of the tent is made by leaning poles BEAVER MAT:

against forked sticks, their butts forming a semicircle in
front or rather the arc of a circle and by bracing them The beaver camp is a new one and under favourable
against the forked stick fore and aft they add stability to condition a good one. Cut your poles the length
the structure. required for the framework of the sides.

BARK TEEPEE: Lash them together with the green rootlets of the
tamarack or strips of bark of the papaw, elm, cedar or
Lash 3 sticks together at the top ends spread them in the the inside bark of the chestnut.
form of a tripod then lay together sticks against them
their butts forming a circle in the form of a teepee. Then make a bed of browse of any kind handy but
make it in the manner prescribed for making balsam
Start at the bottom as you do in shingling a roof and beds.
place sections of birch bark around, others above them
overlapping them and hold them in place by resting You will thatch so that when the side is erected it is
poles against them. shingled like a house the upper rows overlapping the
lower ones. The lash a duplicate frame over the browse-
If your camp is to be occupied for a week or so, it may padded frame and the side is complete.
be convenient to build a wick-up shelter as a dining-
room. Make the other side or sides and the roof in the same
manner after which it is a simple matter to erect your
This is made with 6 uprights, two to hold the ridge pole shack.
and two to hold the eaves and may be shingled over
with browse or birch etc. The great advantage of this sort of shelter is that it is
Shingle with the browse in the same manner as that much easier to do your thatching on the ground than on
described for the bark beginning at the eaves & standing walls and also when done it is so compact as to
allowing each row of browse to overlap the butts of the be practically water-proof.
one below it.
FAGOT SHACK:
MATERIAL:
Intended where large timber can not be cut but where
In building a shelter use every and any thing handy for dwarf willow bamboo cane, alders or other small
the purpose; off times an uprooted tree will furnish a underbrush is more or less plentiful.
well made adobe wall, where the spreading roots have
torn off the surface soil as the tree fell. From this gather a plentiful supply of twigs into bundles
of equal size. Use these bundles as you would stones in
And what was the under-side is now an exposed wall of building the wall and lay them so as to break joints.
clay, against which you may rest the poles for the roof
of the lean-to. Or the side of the cliff may offer the It is so that the joints are NEVER in a continuous line.
Hold the wall in place by stakes as shown in pix # 26.
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 but the Apache uses a thatch of the rank grass to be
Use the browse, small twigs with the leaves adhering to found where his shack is located.
them, in place of mortar or cement so as to level your
bundles and prevent their rocking on uneven surfaces. To-day they use the corn-stalks with which to thatch the
The doorways and window opening offer no problem long sloping sides of this shed like house which makes
that cannot be solved. good material as well.

Pix # 27 shows the window opening, also shows you SAN CARLOS SHACK:
how the window-sill can be made firm by laying rod
over the top of the fagots. Rods are also used across the It is a domed-shaped hut built by making a framework
top of the doorway upon which to place the bundles of of small sapling bent in arches as pix # 30.
fagots or twigs.
The ends of the poles are stuck in the ground in the
Twigs is probably the best term to use here, as fagots form of a circle, while their tips are bent over and
might be thought to mean larger sticks, which may be bound together thus forming a series of loop which
stiff and obstinate and hard to handle. overlap each other and give stability and support of the
principal loops which run from the ground to the top of
ROOFS: the dome.

After the walls are erected, a beaver mat roof may be The Indians thatch these huts with bear-grass arranged
placed upon them or a roof made of a frame such as in overlapping rows and held in place with strings
shown in pix # 28. made of Yucca leaves.

And thatched with small sticks over which a thatch of CHIPPEWAS SHACK:
straw, hay, rushes or browse may be used to shed the
rain. Much farther north the Chippewas Indians built a
framework much the same manner as the Apache of
One great advantage which recommends the beaver- San Carlos.
mat and fagot camp to lovers of nature lies in the fact
that it is unnecessary to cut down a single large or But they covered their frame with layers of birch bark
valuable young tree in order to procure the necessary held in place by ropes stretched over it as shown in pix
material to make camp. # 32. The door to their hut consisted of a blanket
portiere.
Both of these camps can be made in forest lands by
using the lower branches of the trees, which when The dome -shaped frame is a good one to be used in
properly cut close to the trunk do not injure the standing many localities and like all other frames it can be
tree. covered with the material at hand.

The faggot hut may be made into a permanent camp by It may be shingled with smaller pieces of bark, covered
plastering the outside with soft mud or clay and treating with brush and thatched with browse or hay, straw,
the inside wall in the same manner thus transforming it palmetto leaves, palm leaves or rushes, or it may be
into an adobe shack. plastered over with mud and made as adobe hut for
Tarzan even Jane.
APACHE HOGAN:
PUMA LODGE:
These shelters have been used with success by Indians
for centuries, this White Mountain Apache builds a They make a flat-roofed lodge with slanting walls pix #
tent-shaped shack which is practically the same as that 33 which may be adapted for our use in almost any
already described and shown.. section of the country.

The difference being that the Apache shack is not It can be made warm and tight for the far North and
covered with birch bark a material peculiar to the North cool and airy for the arid region of the Southwest.
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 The uprights on the two sides have their ends bent over
The framework as pix # 33 is similar to the wick-ups and lashed together, forming arches for the roof.
we make consisting of 4 upright posts supporting in
their crotches two crosspieces over which a flat roof is VARMINTS PROTECTION:
made by placing poles across. But the sides of this
shack are not upright but made by resting leaning Over the arches are lashed horizontal poles as pix # 67
poles against the eaves. which shows one way to prevent varmints of any kind
from scaling the supporting poles and creeping into
WHITE MAN'S WALLS NO GO ! : your camp.

The main difference between a white man's architecture The protection consist of a tin pan with a hole in the
and the Indians's lies in the fact that the white man with bottom slid over the supporting poles.
brick, stones or frame house in his mind, is possessed of
a desire to build perpendicular walls, walls which are Pix # 66 shows how to lash the thatching on to the poles
hard to thatch and difficult to cover with turf. and pix # 68 shows how to spring the sticks in place for
a railing around your porch or balcony.
Especially in the far North, where there is no true sod
such as we understand in the middle country, where our The floor to this bog ken is a little more elaborate than
grass grows thickly with interlacing roots. that of the last described camp because the poles have
all been halved before laying them for the floor.
You will do well to REMEMBER this and to imitate
Indians in making slanting walls for your shacks in These are supposed to be afterward covered with
the woods. browse, hay or rushes and the roof shingled with bark
or thatched.
If you have boards or stone or bricks or logs with which
to build you may use a perpendicular wall otherwise THATCHING: (Ask Margaret?)
slant them. Indians were no dummies.
Soak your straw or hay well in water and smooth it out
ADOBE ROOF: flat and regular. The steeper the roofs the longer the
thatch will last.
If you want to put a dirt roof on a shack of this
description, cover the poles with small boughs or In this bog ken our roofs happens to be a rounded one,
browse, green or dry leaves, straw, hay, grass, or rushes an arched roof, but it is sheltering a temporary house
and put the sod over the top of this. and the thatch will last as long as the shack.

If in place of making the roof flat as pix # 33 p271 you You can use any kind of material but to make a really
slant it so as to shed the rain. good thatch one should use only straw which is fully
ripe and has been trashed clean with an old fashion
This sort of shack will do for almost any climate, but flail.
with a flat roof it is only fitted for the arid country or
for a shelter from the sun no to be expected to be used The straw MUST be clean of all seed or grain &
during the rain. kept straight, NOT mussed up, crumpled & broken.

THE BOG KEN OR MARSH SHACK: If any grain is left in the straw it will attract field mice,
birds, etc and these creatures in burrowing & scratching
It is a house built on stilts where the ground is marshy, for food will play havoc with your roof.
damp and unfit to sleep upon.
It is not necessary to have straight and even rafters,
As pix # 66 the house is built upon a platform however because the humps, bumps and hollows caused by
the shelter itself is formed by a series of arches. crooked sticks are concealed by the mattress of straw.

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Take a bundle of thatch in your hands, squeeze it The mattress should be carefully made of sticks having
together and place it so that the butt ends project about their branches trimmed off sufficiently to allow them to
3 inches beyond the floor (A pix # 66). lie in regular courses as in the diagram 71.

Tie the thatch closely to the lower rafter and the one The first course should be laid one way and the next
next above it, using for the purpose twine, marling, course at right angles to the first, and so on, until the
raffia or well-twisted white hickory bark. mattress is sufficiently thick for the purpose.p272b

This first row should be thus tied near both end s to Standing on the mattress, it will be an easy matter with
prevent the wind from getting under it and lifting it up. your hands to force the sharpened ends of your upright
posts A B C D down into the yielding mud.
Next put on another row of wisp of thatch over the first
and the butt ends come even with the first, but tie this But be careful not to push them too far because in
one to the third row of rafters. some of these marshes the mud is practically bottom
less. It is only necessary for the supports to sink in
The butts of the third row of thatch pix # 66 should be the mud far enough to make them stand upright.
about 9 inches up on the front rows, put this on as pix #
66 till the roof is completed. The next step is to lay, at right angles to the top layer of
brush a series of rods or poles between your uprights as
The thatch should be 10 or 12 inches thick for a shown in pix # 70
permanent hut but not to be so if temporary shed. As
there is no comb to this roof the top MUST be Then take 2 more poles, place them at right angles to
protected where the thatches from each side join. the last ones, and press them down until they fit snugly
on top of the other poles and there nail them fast to the
And to so this fasten a thatch over the top and bind it on uprights as shown in pix # 70 ,
both sides but not in the middle, so that it covers the
meeting of the thatches on both side of the shack. After which to further bind them you may nail a
diagonal from A to D and B to C but this may not be
This top piece should be stitched or bound on with wire necessary.
if you have it or hastened with Willow withe or even
wisp of straw if you are an expert. When you have proceeded thus far you may erect a
framework like on pix # 71 and build a platform by
A good thatched roof will last as long as a modern flooring the crosspieces or horizontal bars with halves
shingle roof, a well made thatched roof will last 15 of small logs pix # 71.
years.
It is now a simple matter to erect a shack which may be
But a bog ken is one that is built over buggy or marshy roofed with bark as in pix # 72 or thatched as in pix #
land too soft to support an ordinary structure. 74.

To overcome this difficulty requires considerable study Pix # 72 shows the unfinished shack in order that its
and experiment. If you wish to build a duck hunter's construction may be easily be seen;this one is being
camp on the soft meadows or for any reasons you desire roofed with birch bark.
a camp on treacherous boggy ground, you may build
one by first making a thick mattress of twigs and sticks A fireplace may be made by enclosing a bed of mud pix
as pix # 70 pB. # 73 p 272b between or inside of the square formed by
four logs.
This mattress acts on the principle of a snow-shoe and
prevents your house from sinking by distributing the On this clay or mud you can build your camp-fire or
weight equally over a wide surface. "cook-king" fire or mosquito smudge with little or no
danger of setting fire to your house.

AVOID MOSQUITOES ALSO:

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 Our experience with this sort of work lead us to advise
The mosquito smudge will not be found necessary if the use of piles upon which to build in place of piers of
there is any breeze blowing at all, because the insects stones.
cling to the salt hay or bog-grass and do not rise above
it except in close, muggy weather where no breeze Where we have used such piers upon small inland
disturbs them. lakes, the tremendous push of the freezing ice seems to
slide around the piles without pushing them over.
Many have slept a few feet over bog meadows without
being disturbed by mosquitoes when every blades of The real danger with piles lies in the fact that if the
grass on the meadows was black with them, but there water rises after the ice has frozen around the uprights
was a breeze blowing which kept the mosquitoes at the water will lift the ice up and the ice will sometimes
home. pull the piles out of the bottom like a dentist pulls teeth.

OVER-WATER CAMPS: Nevertheless, piles are much better for a foundation for
a camp or pier than any cribs of rocks and that is the
If the water has a muddy bottom it is a simple matter to reason we have shown the cribs in pix # 75 and 77
force your supporting posts into the mud. made so as to rest upon the bottom supposedly below
the level of the winter ice.
This may be done by driving them in with a wooden
mallet made of a section of log or by fastening poles on SIGNAL TOWER, GAME LOOKOUT:
each side of the post and having a crowd of men jump
up and down on the poles until the posts are forced into With a small tower all the joints may be quickly lashed
the bottom, you may also use a pile-driver if one is together with strong heavy twine, rope or even wire or
around. bind the joints with pliable roots or cordage made of
bark or withes.
If your camp on the water is over a hard bottom of rock
or sand through which you cannot force your supports Now to secure the necessary timber, first lets cut 8
you may take a lot of old barrels pix # 75, know the straight poles as straight as one can find them. These
tops and bottom out of them. poles should be about 4 1/2 inch in diameter at their
base & 16 1/2 feet long.
Nail some cross planks on the ends of your spiles, slide
the barrels over the spiles, then set them in place in the After all the branches have been trimmed off the poles,
water and hold them there by filling the barrels with cut 4 more sticks each 9 feet long and 2 1/2 to 3 inches
rocks, stones or coarse gravel. in diameter at the base.

Pix # 77 shows a foundation made in this manner;this When these are trimmed into shape one will need 26 or
method is also useful in building piers pix # 78. 27 more stout sticks each 4 1/2 feet long for braces and
for flooring the platform. This should be enough for
But if you are out in the boon then you can make Tarzan's lookout.
yourself cribs by driving a square or circle of sticks in
the ground a short distance & then twining roots or CACHES:
pliable branches inside and outside the stakes basket
fashion as in pix # 76. Unless a cache is absolutely secure then it will be raided
by wolves, bears and other creatures so BEWARE dear
When the crib is complete it may be carefully removed Jane or Tarzan.
from the ground and used as the barrels were used by
filling them with stones to support the uprights. Pix # PROSPECTOR CACHE:
79 shows an ordinary portable house which has been
erected upon a platform over water. This first cache pix # 98 consists simply of a stick
lashed to 2 trees and another long pole laid this to
which the goods are hung, swinging beneath it like a
hammock.
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 Is made of larger timbers because it not only MUST
This cache is hung high enough to be out of reach of a support a roof and side of logs and sod but MUST also
standing bear. The tripod cache pix # 100 consists of 3 be able to sustain any quantity of snow.
poles lashed at the top with the goods hung underneath.
First erect 2 forked upright sticks pix # 132 and then
Another form of the Prowpector's cache is shown by steady them by 2 braces. Next lay four more logs or
pix # 102 where 2 poles are used in place of one and an sticks for the side plates with their butt ends on the
open platform of sticks laid across the pole; the goods ridge pole and their small ends on the ground as in pix #
are placed upon the platform. 133.

TENDERFOOT'S CACHE: Support these logs by a number of small uprights-as

many as needed for the purpose. The uprights may have
In pix # 105 is used only for temporary purposes as it is forks at the top or have the top ends cut wedge-shaped
too easily knocked over & would be of no use where to fit in notches made for that purpose in the side plates
animals as large as bears might wreck it. as shown by 133 A

It consists of 2 sticks lashed together at their small ends The shortest uprights at the end of the roof should be
and with their butt ends buried in the earth. Their tops forked so that the projecting fork will tend to keep logs
are secured by a rope to a near-by tree while the duffel from sliding down.
is suspended from the top of the longest pole.
The roof is made by a number of straight rafters placed
MONTAGNAIS CACHE: one with the butt in front next with the butt in the rear
alternately, so that they will fit snugly together until the
Is an elevated platform upon which the goods are whole roof is covered.
placed and covered with skins or tarpaulin etc. pix # 99.
The sides are made by setting a number of sticks in a
ANDREW STONE CACHE: trench and slanting them against the roof. Both sides
front and rear of the building should project 6 inches
It is a miniature log cabin placed on the ground and the above the roof in order to hold the sod and dirt and keep
top covered with halved logs usually weighted down it from sliding off.
with stones pix # 101.
Up in the north country one MUST not expect to find
BELMORE CACHE: green closely cropped lawns or even green fields of
wild sod in all places.
Consists of a pole or a half a log placed in the fork of
the 2 trees on top of which the goods are held in place Although in some places the grass grows taller than a
by a rope and the whole covered with a piece of canvas man 's head in other places the sod is only called so by
lashed together with eyelets like a shoe. courtesy.

SHELTERS SHACKS & SHANTIES: Consequently we MUST secure the sod by having the
walls project a little above the rafters all around the
Now lets build camps in which we use logs instead of building.
poles. Most of these camps are intended to be covered
with sod or earth and are nearly related to the old prairie Of course in summer weather this roof will leak, but
dugout. then one may live in a tent, but when cold weather
comes and the sod is frozen hard and banked up with
The sod house is used in the arctic regions because it is snow the Stefenson makes a good warm dwelling.
warm inside and it is used in the prairies because it is
cool inside. The same style of camp can be made in the temperate
zone of smaller trees & shingled with browse or in the
THE STEFENSON FRAME: South of cane or bamboo & shingled with palmetto

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leaves or in the Southwest of cottonwood where it may surrounding it will not be tempted to push in the sides
be covered with adobe or mud. and spoil your house.

Pix # 134 the front is left uncovered to show its Erect the frame pix # 156 by having someone hold the
construction and also to show how the doorway is made uprights in place until they can be secured with
by simply leaving an opening like that in a tent. temporary braces. (Not those in your mouth)

In winter this may have a hall way built like the one You may then proceed to board up the sides from the
described in the Navajo earth lodge pix # 35 or in outside of the frame by slipping the planks between the
milder weather the doorway me be protected with a frame and the bank and then nailing from the inside.
skin. An opening is left in the roof over the fireplace
which answers the purpose of a chimney. The door-jambs will help support the roof which will be
covered by planks etc then by sod.

CLIFF-HOUSES ROOF:
UNDERGROUND HOUSE: p276
If you wish to make the roof as the cliff-dwellers made
One funny thing about this house is that it MUST be theirs, put your biggest logs crosswise of your house for
furnished before it is built, because the doorway and rafters and across the large logs lay a lot of small poles
passageway will be too small to admit any furniture as close together as may be, running from the back to
larger than a stool. the front of the house.

So select or make your furniture and have it ready then Fill in the cracks between with moss or calk them with
decide upon the location of this dug out on the edge of dry grass;on them place a layer of brush, browse or
some bank pix # 158 small sticks and over this a thick coating of clay, hard-
pan or ordinary mud and pack it down hard by tramping
In this diagram the dotted line shows how the bank it with your feet until it becomes a smooth and packed
originally sloped. The real hard work connected with crust. Over this you can put your sod and weeds to
this is the digging of the foundation which is hard work. conceal your secret house.

The trouble is that with caves there is a danger of PASSAGEWAY: P276

caving in but a properly built underground hogan is
perfectly safe from such accidents. After you have To make the frame for the underground hall or
levelled off the foundation erect the rear posts of two by passageway pix # 156 first across the door-jambs to
four A B C D pix # 156 form the top to the doorway, after which put in the
supports.
These post should be of the same height and tall enough
to allow the roof to slant toward the front as in pix # Next built the frame and joint it by the two pieces and
155. put in the middle frame support. The passageway
should be about 6 feet long and the front doorway pix #
The front posts E F G H although shorter than the back 156-157 of sufficient size to enable you to creep
post should be tall enough to allow headroom. One, tow through with comfort.
or three more posts may be erected between the post A
B C D if additional strength is required. The bottom piece can be nailed to a couple of sticks
driven in the ground for that purpose. The next thing in
The same is true of the sides and in place of having only order is the floor and to make this firm you MUST lay
one post in the middle of each side pix # 156 there may a number of lumber 2 X 4 & see that they are level.
be 2 or 3 more posts, all according to the size of the
house you are building. You will need a number of shorter pieces of the same
material to run parallel for the hall floor as seen pix #
The main point is to make a compact and strong box of 157. Across these nail your floor securely as shown in
your framework so that in wet weather the banks pix # 155.
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 Pix # 159 p276 shows a rude way to make a chandelier,
There are no windows shown in the diagram, but if the and as long as the candles burn brightly you may know
builders wish one it can be placed immediately over the that the air in your little hogan is pure and fresh.
entrance or hall way in the frame pix # 156.
When such a chandelier is used pieces of thin should be
In which the covering of dirt MUST be shovelled away nailed above the candles to prevent the heat from
to admit the light in the same manner as the dugout burning holes through the roof.
shown in pix # 142 and in the small sketch 154.
HOW TO CUT AND NOTCH A LOG: P277
The ventilator show in pix # 155 sold may be replaced
if thought desirable by a chimney for an opening fire. None of us is to young to use an axe. REMEMBER
that every time you hurt yourself with an axe you learn
On the variation a stove would not be a properly thing to be more careful.
for an underground house but opening fire could help
for the ventilation.prob of text here to check. Joking aside, we MUST get down to get serious work
of preparing the logs in order to build a little cabin or
This diagram the ventilator; it may be help of barrels or your own, a log club house for our gang or a long camp
barrels fill in the dirt around by the scanting 2 x 4 and 4 for a troop of scouts.
x 4 #as a rimer# to cover the roof with small sticks and
fine brush and grass weed grass weed. You should have NOTCHING LOGS: P277
good strong front door pix # 157 & padlock from
trespassers. To make logs hold together at the corners of our cabins
it IS NECESSARY to lock them in some manner and
AURE HINGES: p276 the usual way is to notch them.

A rustic hinges may be made by splitting a forked You may cut flat notches like those show in pix # 162
branches pix # 157 and using the 2 pieces nailed to the P277 and this will hold the logs together as shown by
sides of the door-jambs pix # 157 run through them. pix # 162 or you may only flatten the ends, making the
General Putnam joint shown in pix # 163.
The middle of the B stick is flattened to fit on the
surface of the door of which it is nailed. The hinged Or you may use the Pike notch which has a wedge-
was invented by Victor Aures. shaped cut on the lower log, as shown by pix # 164
made to fit into a triangular notch shown by pix # 164
When all is completed you can conceal the ventilator which was drawn from a cabin built in this manner. But
with dry brush or by planting weeds or shrubs around it, the simple notch is the rounded one shown by A B C
which will not interfere with the ventilation by will pix # 165.
concealed the suspicious-looking pipe protruding from
the ground. When these are logged together they will fit like those
shown in pix # 165. Away up North dovetail the ends
The top of the ventilator should be protected by slats as of the logs pix # 166 so that their ends fit snugly
in pix # 161 or by wire netting with about one quarter together and are also locked by their dovetail shape.
inch mesh in order to keep small animals from jumping
or hopping down into your club house. To build a log house, place the two sills logs on the
ground or on the foundation made for them, then two
TRAP DOOR: other logs across them as pix # 168 P277

In place of a ventilator or a chimney a trap door may be HANDLING THE LOGS:

placed in the roof and used as a secret place entrance
access to inside being had by a ladder pix # 169 170b That the log may be more easily handled they should be
P277b. piled up on a skid way which is made by resting the top
ends of a number of poles upon a big log or some other
sort of elevation and their lower ends upon the ground.
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With this arrangement the logs may be rolled off Pix # 169-170 Our purpose is to tell you to use of the
without effort as they are used to. notched logs. Our pioneers ancestors used them to
ascend to the loft over their cabins where they slept pix
CHINKING: # 179.

A log cabin built with hardwood logs or with-pitch pine It is also good ladder to use for a tree house and a first
logs can seldom be made as tight s one built with the rate one for our underground hogans when we have an
straight spruce logs or the virgin? forests. entrance through the top instead of one at the side
shown pix # 156 P276.
The #latter will ?lise as close# as the one shown in pix #
162 P277 while the former on account of their Since you have learned how to use the axe you make
unevenness, will have cracks between them like those one of these primitive ladders to reach the hay loft in
shown inf pix # 165 your barn if you have one.

These cracks may be stopped by quartering small pieces You make the ladder of one log if you set the pole of
of timber pix # 168 and fitting these quartered pieces log upright and knot it on both side so that you can
into the cracks between the logs where they are held in clasp it with your hands and placing one foot on each
places by spikes. side of it, climbing down the same manner.

This is called chinking the cabin. To keep the cold and LOG ROLLING AND OTHER BUILDING
wind out, the cracks may be muddled up on the inside STUNTS: p278 (Even the Rolling Stones!?!)
with clay or ordinary lime.
Of course readers know all about geometry but if not of
MODELS: should not prevent them from using that science to
square the corners of this log cabin.
Study the diagrams carefully, then sit down on the
ground with a pile of little sticks alongside of your and Builders ALWAYS have a tenderfoot measuring rod-
sharp jack-knife in your hand and proceed to that is, a rod or straight stick ten foot long and marked
experiment by building miniature log cabins. with a line at each foot from end to end.

Really this is the best way to plan a large scale cabin Make your own ten foot pole as straight as possible
if you intend to built one up. from a piece of wood as you can find.

From your model you can see at a glance just how to With it measure 6 feet carefully on the log C, G pix #
divide your cabin into rooms, where you want to place 180 P278 and mark the point at pix # 180 measure 8
your fire place, windows and doors, and we would feet on the other log C A pix # 180 and mark the point
advise you ALWAYS do make a small model before at N.
building.
If these measurements have been carefully made from
Make the model about one foot 3 inches long by 10 C to O and from C to N your corner is square.
inches wide, using stick for a log a little less than one
inch in diameter. Then your 10 foot pole will reach between the two
point O and N with the tips of the pole exactly touching
That is one inch through one inch thick. I have taken N O.
these dimension or measurements from little model that
I have before here in my studio but of course you can If it does not fit exactly fit between N & 0 either the
vary them according to the plans of your cabin dear corner is not square or you have not marked off the
Crusoe or Jane. distances accurately on the logs.

NOTCHED LOG LADDERS: P277b Test the measurements and if they are not found true
then push your logs one way or the other until it is

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exactly 10 feet from, O to N. Then test the corner at H The men in the woods often build such a camps of logs
in the same manner. with a puncheon floor and a roof of real shingles. The
pix # 184 P278b is made from such a camp.
LOG ROLLING: (Rolling stones?)
At the rear the logs are notched and placed like those of
In the old times log-rolling was ALWAYS a great a log house pix # 162 163 164 165 166 p277 but the
frolic and brought people from far and near to lend a front ends of the side logs are toe-nailed to the two
helping hand in building a new house. upright supports.

In handling logs lumbermen have tools made for that In this particular camp the logs are also flattened on the
purpose, cant-hooks etc. But the old lumbermen and inside in order to give a smooth finish, as they often are
pioneers who lived in log houses owned no tools but in Virginia log houses.
their tomahawks, their axes and their rifles.
In Virginia they formerly hewed the logs flat with broad
So the logs of most of their houses were rolled in place axes after the walls were up, but rarely used these days.
by the men themselves pushing themselves up the skids
laid against the cabin wall for that purpose; later when CABIN PLANS: P278B
the peddlers brought ropes to the settlements they used
these to pull their logs in place. A one room log cabin with double bunk at one end
makes a good camp pix # 185 p278b with room for 2 to
In building my log house we used two methods, one 4 sleepers according to the with of the bunk pix # 186
was hand-power pix # 181. Taking 2 ropes we fastened
the ends securely inside the cabin. THE BUNKS:

We then used the free ends of the ropes around the log The bunks are made by setting the ends of 2 poles into
first under it and then over the top of it, then up to a holes in the log bored for that purpose pix # 185 P278b
group of men who by pulling on the free ends, rolled and nailing slats across the poles.
the log pix # 181 up to the top of the cabin.
Over this a bed of browse is laid and on this blankets
But when my buddies were supplied with some oxen are spread and all is then ready for beddy bye bye.
they fastened a pulley-block to the other end side of the
cabin. THE NORTHERN TILT AND INDIAN LOG
TENT: 278B
That is, the side opposite the skids, and ran the line
through the pulley block to the oxen as it is run to the 3 Some years ago the Indians built themselves logs like
men in pix # 182. the pix # 187. These were the winter houses in the north
country.
When the oxen were started the log slip up the skids to
the loose rafters N O P when once there it was easily A ridge pole was set up on tow forked sticks and the
shoved and fitted into place. logs slanted up against each other and rested upon the
pole.
LOG STEPS:
Smaller pole were then laid against this frame, both
Sometimes one wants front steps to one's logs house front and rear all of which could then be covered with
and these may be made of flattened ?opgs or puncheons sod or browse and made into a warm winter house.
as pix # 183
You may build a similar house by using small poles
THE ADIRONDACK OPEN LOG CAMP AND instead of big logs or they may make a northland tilt pix
ONE ROOM CABIN: 279 # 189 which is a modification of the Indian log tent and
has 2 side plates pix # 188 instead of one ridge pole.

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The log chimney is also added and when this connected Now build up your cabin as you would a log house,
with a generous fireplace the fire will brighten and notching only the small ends of the side logs & saving
warm the interior of the tilt and make things the larger ends for the front.
comfortable.
Between each of these is the other end of the cabin built
The chimney can be erected in the same manner that just the same as the rear end, but it should be build of
you build a log house. peeled logs as they are less liable to catch fire than the
ones with the bark upon them.
The front of the northland tilt is faced in with small logs
set on end, as shown in pix # 189 this makes a If you feel real lazy it will only be necessary to peel the
substantial warm winter camp. If the logs fit close bark off from the inside half of the log.
together on the roof they may be calked with moss or
dry grass. Above the door at the end of the roof of the Adirondack
camp part of the space is filled by logs running across,
If the cracks are too wide on count of the unevenness of with the lower one resting upon the top of the door
the log, cover them first with grass, fine brush or jamb.
browse and over all place a costing of sod or mud and
you will have a house fit for a king to live in. This close the shed above the wind shield and leaves a
little open yard in front wherein to build a camp fire.
To tell the truth it is much too good for a mere king and
almost good enough for a real american boy even a THE RED JACKET:
Rambo.
It constitute the suggestion offered by the Gist and
HOW TO BUILD A RED JACKET, THE NEW extends the side walls all the way across to the wind
BRUNSWICK: p279 shield and the latter now becomes the true end of the
log shack.
This another camp but this you see has straight walls,
marking it as a white man camp in form not apparently The side walls and end wall are built up from the top of
borrowed from the red men. It is however a good the shack to form a big wide log chimney under which
comfortable rough camp. the open camp-fire is build on the ground.

To build the Red Jacket one will first have to know how The Red Jacket is roofed with bark in the same manner
to build the more simple form which we call the New as the New Brunswick and Guist and occupies the
Brunswick then the next step will be the Gist then the important position of the missing link between the true
Red Jacket. log cabin or log house and the rude log camp of the
hunter.
THE NEW BRUNSWICK:
If you look at pix # 184 p278b then the camp with the
You will see that it is practically a deep Adirondack shield enclosed but still open at the top where the wind-
open-face with a wind-shield build in front of it. shield enclosed has turned into a fire place with a
chimney.
To build this camp, make the plan about 6 feet by 12 on
the ground of course the back logs MUST be Then pix # 271 and 173 p281 showing the ends of the
something over six feet long to allow for 6 feet in the real log cabin you will have all the steps in the growth
clear. Notch about 4 or 5 back logs with the plain or evolution which has produced the American log
rounded notch already described pix # 165 p277. house.

Then lay the side sill logs and erect 2 uprights forked CABINS DOORS & DOOR-LATCHES AND
sticks for the front of your cabin to hold the cross stick FOOT LATCH: P279b
which supports the roof rafter.

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One of the simplest of the foot latches consist of a piece outside and any one may enter by pulling it pix # 193-
of wood cut out by the aid of axe and hunting knife to 194.
the form show in pix # 199 P279b.
But when the owner is in and does not want to be
A hole in the door cut for that purpose admits the interrupted with Jane he pulls the string in which tells
flattened and notched end and upon the inside it fits the the outsider (cops) that he MUST knock before he can
round log sill. be admitted.

The owner of the log when reaching home, steps upon The simplest form of latch has been here put upon the
the foot latch pix # 199 which lifts up the catch on the simplest form of a door, a door with a wooden hinge
inside and allows the door to swing upon ready for made by nailing a round rod to the edge of the door and
Jane?. allowing the ends of the rod to project above and below
the door.
TRIGGER LATCH: P279B (Not tiger catch!)
In the sill log below the door a hole about 2 inches deep
Pix # 200 shows a more complicate form of latch with a is bored to receive the short end of the hinge rod, above
trigger protruding from the lower part of the door which a deeper hole is bored to receive the long end of the
is hinge to a wooden shaft, and the shaft in turn is hinge rod.
connected with the latch.
To hang the door run the long end up in the top hole far
The fastening of the trigger to the shaft and the shaft to enough to lift the door sufficiently to be able to drop the
the latch are made with hardwood pegs or wire nails lower end of the hinge rod in the lower hole. Your door
which move freely in their sockets. is then hung and may swing back and forth at your
pleasure.
The latch is the simplest form of a wooden bar fastened
at one end with a screw or nail on which it can move up Notwithstanding the fact that such a door admits plenty
and down freely the other end is allowed to drop into of cold air, it is a very popular door for camps and even
the catch. used for log houses.

The latch itself is similar to the one shown in pix # 193 SIMPLE SPRING-LATCH: p279b
and 194. The trigger is also fastened to a block on the
outside of the door by a nail or a peg upon which it A simple form of a spring-latch is pix # 196 as you see
moves freely. A is a peg driven into the door-jamb. It has notch in its
outer end so that B a piece of hickory may be sprung
So that when the weight of the foot is placed upon the into the notch; B is fastened to the door by a couple of
trigger outside the door that end is forced down which screws. By pushing the door the latch will slide out of
pushed the end attached to the shaft up. the rounded notch and the door opens.

This pushes the shaft up & the shaft pushes the lack up; When you pull the door to close it the end of the spring
thus the door is unfastened. The pix # to the left of pix # strikes the rounded end of the A peg and sliding over it,
200 shows the edge of the door with the trigger on the drops naturally into the slot and holds the door closed
outside, the shaft upon the inside. also good one for gates.

The diagram to the right in pix # 200 shows the inside SECRET LOCKS: p280
of the door, the end of the trigger, the shaft, the latch
and catch. Secret locks are more useful than the strong ones for a
country house which is left alone during the winter
THE LATCH STRING: P279B months.

In the preceding locks and fastening, no matter how Hence if your locks are concealed your house is safe
generous the owner may be, his latch-string NEVER from all but professional thieves who seldom waste
hangs on the outside but this one the latch literally hang
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their time to break open a shack which contains nothing thieves and bandits respects. After all they are survivors
of value to them. of a kind themselves.

The latches shown by pix # 193 200 and 201 may be THE TIPPECANOE:
made very heavy and strong and if the trigger in pix #
200, the latch string hole in pix # 193 and the peg hole This latch is worked with a wooden spring and when
in pix # 201 are adroitly concealed they make the properly made of well seasoned wood will probably
safest & most secure locks for summer camps, outlast a metal one for wood will not rust and can not
shacks and houses. rot unless subjected to moisture.

If a large bar pix # 201 1/2B be made of one by four The position of the spring in pix # 201 shows the latch
inch plank bolted in the middle of the plank with an with the bolt sprung back. The fact that the bolt-hole is
iron bolt thought the centre of the door. the catch is empty also tells the same story.

And fastened on the inside by a nut screwed on to the The drawing of the outside of the door pix # 203 shows
bolt it will allow the bar to revolve freely on the inside by the position of the peg that the door is fastened.
of the door and bar the door when resting in the Al C
catches. To open the door push back the bolt by sliding the peg
to the opposite end of the slot. From a view of the edge
But if a string is attached to one end it may be of the door pix # 202280 one may see how the peg
unfastened by pulling the string up through the gimlet protrudes on the outside of the door.
hole in the door.
Although the Tippecanoe latch is made of quite a
To conceal this lock, draw the string through the gimlet number of parts, it is really a very simple device but in
hole and fasten a nail on the string. When it is order to display the simplicity of this construction to
?undrawned the door bar is horizontal and the door is you.
consequently barred.
I have drawn all the parts but the spring stick natural
Then push the nail in the gimlet hole so that only the size pix # 204 to 207 but since the original diagram is
head appears on the outside and no one not in the secret drawn too large for this page and was reduced by the
will ever suppose that the innocent appearing nails are engraver there is a scale of inches at the bottom to give
the key to unfasten the door. the reader the proportions.

When you wish to open the door from the outside, There are no fixed dimensions for this or any other lock
pluck out the nail, pull the strings and walk in. Bingo latch or catch but the proportions here given are
Rambo! probably the ones that will fit the door.

There are thousand of other simple contrivances which The foundation block is shown by pix # 204 upon this
will suggest themselves to the camper and he can find the latch rests and is securely nailed or screwed to the
entertainment for rainy days in planning and enlarging door.
on the ideas here given.
Pix # 205 206 are 2 wooden clamps which are fastened
In the real wilderness however every camp is open to to the door and also to the foundation block pix # 204.
all comers that is the latch string hangs outside the door
but the real woodsmen respect the hospitality of the These clamps MUST be notched as in the diagrams to
absent owner and replace whatever food they may use allow for the movement of the bolt but since the bolt
with fresh material from their own packs. pix # 207 is larger and thicker at the butt.

Wash all dishes they may use and sweep up and leave The notch in pix # 205 is made just a trifle larger than
the shack as apple pie order after their uninvited visit the butt end of the bolt and in pix # 206 the notch is
for this is the law of the wilderness which even horse made with a trifle smaller than the opposite end of the
bolt.
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 prevent the fire from cracking and chipping the stones
The object of the offset on the bolt pix # 207 forward of but clay is not absolutely necessary in this fireplace.
the peg is to make a shoulder to stop it from shooting
too far when the spring is loosened. When however you build the walls of your fireplace of
logs and your chimney of sticks the clay IS
THE CATCH: (22 ?) NECESSARY to prevent fire form igniting the
woodwork and consuming it.
Pix # 201 and 204 1/2 show the catch which is to be
securely fastened to the door jamb. For a long framed-fireplace, make a large opening in
the wall of your house and against the end of the logs
The spring of course MUST be made of well seasoned where you sawed out the opening.
elastic wood, hickory is the best. This stick may be
quite long say half again as long in proportion as the Erect jamb pieces of planks two to 3 inches thick
one shown in pix # 201 P280. running up to the logs see pix # 272 next lay your
foundation of sill logs neatly notched so as to look like
It MUST be flattened at the upper end and secured by 2 the logs in the walls of the cabin.
nails and it MUST be flattened at right angles to the
upper part and somewhat pointed at the lower end so as Build your fireplace walls as shown by pix # 272 after
to fit in a notch in the bolt pix # 201 which take your mud or clay and make the hearth by
hammering the clay down hard until you have a firm
A well make lock of this sort is a source of constant joy smooth foundation.
and pride to the maker and he will NEVER tire or
springing it back and forth and extolling its virtues to its The front hearth may be made as shown in the diagram
guest. like a new born child to show around. or stones of any size from pebbles to flagstones with the
surfaces levelled by sinking the under part down into
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE PLACE AND the clay a uniform level till reached at the top.
CHIMNEY FOR A SIMPLE LOG CABIN:
The fireplace may be built with bricks or moist clay and
Pix # 269 Shows a sample of a fireplace which is wet clay used for mortar. Make the clay walls of the
practically the granddaddy of all the other fireplaces. fireplace at least one foot thick and pack it down hard
and tight as you build it.
It consist of 3 walls for windbreaks a side up in a stone
of sod against some stakes driven in the ground for the If you choose you may make a temporary inside wall of
purpose of supporting them. plank as they do when they make cements walls and
then between the temporary boards wall and the logs.
The four cornered stakes are notched or forked & small
logs, are laid horizontally in this forks and on top of this Put in your moist clay and ram it hard down until the
a pyramidal form of a log pen is builded of small logs top of the top of the fireplace is reached after which the
and billets and this answers the purpose of a chimney. boards may be removed and the inside of the fireplace
smoothed off by whipping it (Ouch!) with a wet cloth.
This type of fireplace is adapted to use in camps and
rude shacks like those shown by pix # 187-189-192 STICK CHIMNEY:
also for the most primitive log cabins but when we
make a real log house we usually plan to have a more After the walls of logs and clay are built to top of the
elaborate or more finished fireplace & chimney. The fireplace proper, split some sticks and make them out
pix # 279 shows also 270 one inch wide by one half inch thick or use the round
sticks in the form in which they grow
MUD EARTH: See also turf & sod #?
But peel off the bark to render them less combustible,
Here you see there is a mud earth, a wall of clay then lay them up as shown by log cabin style. With the
plastered over the stones of the fireplace. This will chimney we have four sides to the wall in place of 3
sides as in the fireplace.
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 Lay your stones in mortar and cement. See that each
The logs of the fireplace where they run next to the stones fits firmly in the bed and does not rock and that it
cabin may have to be chinked up so as so to keep them breaks joints with the other stone below it.
level but the chimney should be built level as its has 4
sides to balance it. By breaking joints I mean that the crack between the 2
stones on the upper tier should fit over the middle of the
Leave a space between the chimney and the outside stone on the lower tier.
wall and plaster the sticks thickly with mud upon the
inside as shown by pix # 271 281A which is supposed This with the aid of cement locks the stones and
to be a section of the chimney. prevents any accidental cracks which may open from
extending any further than the 2 stones between which
DURABILITY: it started.

All through the mountains of Tennessse and Kentucky I If however you do no break joints a crack might run
have seen these stick chimney some of them many from the top to the bottom of the chimney causing it to
many years old. fall apart.

In the mountains countries the fireplaces are lined with Above the fireplace make 4 walls to your chimney as
stones but in Illinois in the olden times stones were you did with your stick chimney extend above the roof
scarce and mud was plenty and the fireplaces were at least 3 feet this will not only help the draught but
made just like those describes and illustrate pix # 272 it will also lessen the danger of fire.

The stone chimney is an advance and improvement FOR FIRE MAKING, AND TENDING AS WELL
upon the log chimney but I doubt it requires any more AS FIREPLACE SEE FIRE FILE #
skill to build.
END OF SHACK AND SHANTIES!
CHIMNEY FOUNDATION: (not snack & panties?!?)

Dig your foundation for your fireplace and chimney at Again our apologies for the chapter you just read it will
least 3 feet deep then fill the hole up with small be uploaded with the pix mentioned in the chapter, but
cobblestones or broken bluestone until you have for now due to the lack of money, honey and secretary
reached nearly level of the ground upon this you can not mentioning time, we uploaded the whole thing as is.
begin to lay your hearth and chimney foundation. As soon as we can we will upload the whole 9 yars with
all the pix to go along. Thanks.
If you fail to dig this foundation the frost will work the
ground under the chimney and the chimney will work PS If you are really pissed off, send me some $$$ and I
with the ground causing it either to upset or to tilt to one will hire someone to do the job! Oh well!
side or the other and spoil the looks of your house even
if it does not put your fireplace out of commission.

STONE CHIMNEY:

In laying up the stones for your chimney

REMEMBER that it makes no difference how
rough and uneven it is upon the outside. The more
uneven the outside is the more picturesque it will
appear.

But the smoother and more even is the inside is the less
it will collect soot and the less will be the danger of
chimneys fires.

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CAVES: (CAVEMAN 2001 BC-2001AD) Such natural bivouacs are found everywhere in the wild
and rural area of N. America and the world.
IN CAVES THE RISK OF CARBON MONOXIDE
POISONING IS EXTREMELY HIGH. USE CAVES ARE FOUND IN:
THEM ONLY TEMPORARILY.
(See CARBON MONOXIDE #?) Caves are usually found in mountain and sloppy
regions as well as cliff near sea, rivers etc. Yet if they
Caves are the most ready made of shelters. Even a are damp stay away.
shallow cave in stone usually known in fact as rock
shelter offers an excellent permanent home. BEWARE that many good ones are already occupied
so be careful upon checking them out, for bears, lynx
People still live in them in many parts of the world, Even Fred Flinstone etc.
sometimes with all the modern convenience! Caves
situated above valley will be dry even if water seeps Yet whenever possible to build a shelter go for it since
through in some places from above. caves can be dangerous for cave in and the risk of
carbon monixide poisoning is extremely high. Use
They are weather proof and require little constructional them only temporarily
work, usually simply the creation of a barrier to close
off the entrance. Make this of rocks, wattle, logs, turves HALF CAVE SHELTER:
or almost any materials.
The Indians were ALWAYS quick to see the
Caves can be cold and they may be already inhabited by advantages offered by an overhanging cliff for a camp
wild animals, so approach any such shelter with site. Pix # 9-10.
caution. Plenty of dry plant matters and pine boughs on
the ground will provide insulation. A good fire will His sample camps all through the arid Southwest had
usually make animal occupants leave. Allow them an gradually turned into carefully built houses long before
escape route. we came here.

WATER IN CAVES: The overhanging cliffs protected the buildings from the
rain and weather and the site was easily defended from
Sometimes a cave will have its own fresh water supply, enemies.
especially if it goes deep into a hill-side, either from an
underground stream or from water seeping through the Although not ALWAYS necessary, it is sometimes best
rocks above. to make a shelter for the open face of such a cave and
this may be done by resting poles slanting against the
WARNING WARNING: face of the cliff.

Check for the possibility of a rock fall inside or outside And over these making a covering of balsam, pine, for
the cave. You might be desperate for shelter but your thatch to shed the rain & prevent it driving under the
situation will be a lot worse if you are trapped or cliff to wet our bed.
injured by falling rocks.
WALLS:
CAPITALIZING ON CAVES:
QUALITIES NEEDED: It is not ALWAYS necessary to thatch the wall; a
number of green boughs with leaves adhering may be
Temporary shelters need the same qualities than those rested against the cliffs and will answer for that
of Stone Age: purpose.

DRY, PROTECTED FROM THE WIND, SAFE Set the boughs upside down so that they will shed the
AND PREFERABLY SMALL ENOUGH TO BE rain and not hold it so as to drip into camp.
EASILY HEATED.
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Use your common sense? which will teach you that all increase the formation of CARBON MONOXIDE by
the boughs should point downward and NOT upward. not affording sufficient oxygen for complete
combustion.
I am careful to call your attention to this matter because
it is important to know better. DEATH AWAITING PARKED MOTORISTS:

DANGERS FROM CARBON MONOXIDE: It may save lives to draw attention to motorists stalled
by snow and ice. The tendency under such conditions is
It is a potential threat in any closed space be it a tent, to keep windows closed tight and the motor going so as
cabin, hut or cave where there is a fire of any kind. to heat the car.

Even a glaze in a tight new stove with adequate drafts The danger when any closed vehicle is so parked
may be dangerous for the heat reddened metal itself particularly if a white smother of flakes is building up
can release dangerous amount of POISONOUS gas. around the car is that the CARBON MONOXIDE can
and many times does collect inside the unventilated car
CARBON MONOXIDE results from incomplete in killing quantities.
combustion is particularly dangerous because being
colourless, odourless and cumulative. EMERGENCY TREATMENT:
The ill effects of breathing small amount of the usually Get outdoor QUICKLY or at least in a position where
unsuspected POISON day after day accumulate slowly you can breath fresh air even if this means slashing or
in the body until one more perhaps otherwise smashing something. Keep warm. As soon as you are
inconsequential dose lays the victim low or dead. able to do so without too much risk of being overcome,
eliminate the cause.
It seldom gives any recognizable warnings. There is no
difficulty to breathe for instance. If for example this is a wood stove whose drafts have
been too tightly closed, open the outlets as wide as
What usually occurs is that one is so suddenly possible and of course get fresh air into the shelter and
overcome that when first he does something is wrong, from then on keep it particularly well ventilated. Drink
he is already nearly if not entirely helpless. some stimulant such as hot tea, coffee or chocolate if
you have it.
PREVENTION:
Take it easy as you can for a while, lying quietly in
CARBON MONOXIDE has killed blankets if possible, breathing deeply to help rid the
many in the wilderness. THE BEST blood of the effects of the POISON.

PREVENTION IS TO MAKE COLD & WINTER TENT TIPS:

SURE OF GOOD VENTILATION.
Although not ESSENTIAL a double roof makes the
There is even a real danger in a tent for if the spaces in tent much more comfortable because the air pocket
the weave of the fabric are closed either by insulation, so if you have an extra ground sheet use it
waterproofing or by frost as ex: a small heater can and for that purpose.
in many recorded cases has killed all occupants.
Also in order to AVOID drafts you should raise a wall
Danger is increased as cold deepens because the human of snow all around the tent about 8 to 12 inches high
tendency to restrict ventilation in favour of warmth. this will also increase the warmth.

Poor circulation of air not only permit the invisible & ARCTIC SHELTER:
odour-free gas to accumulate in closed area.
But the very fact that the atmosphere becomes In polar areas simple shelter will be those already
progressively more and more stale itself tends to waiting for you in natural caves and hollows.

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 you are on the move or making something bigger for
If you can carry some kind of bivouac equipment, you example.
can erect it and increase its protection by piling up loose
snow around and over it, so long as it can support the Mark out an area the size of a sleeping bag including
weight. head support and cut out blocks the whole width of the
trench. dig down to a depth of at least 60cm (2ft).
But to build in hard snow- and at very low temperatures
snow will be solid. You need some kind of implement Along the top of the sides of the trench, cut a ledge
to cut into it or make blocks from it. about 15cm (6in) wide and the same deep. Rest the
snow bricks on each side of the ledge and lean them in
SPADES AND ICE SAWS ARE ESSENTIAL against each other to form a roof (A).
EQUIPMENT FOR POLAR EXPEDITIONS:
Put equipment below your sleeping bag so that you are
Snow or rock caves will be easily recognizable but not not in direct contact with the snow beneath.
so obvious are the spaces left beneath the spreading
boughs of conifers in the northern forests when the Block the windward end with another block or piled up
snow has already built up around them. snow. At the other end downwind have a removable
block as a door (B) or dig an entrance (C) Fill any gaps
A medium-sized tree may have a space right around the with snow.
trunk (A) or a large one have pockets in the snow
beneath a branch (B). It is Most effective when built on a slight slope, the
cold air will collect in the entrance leaving warmer air
Try digging under any tree with spreading branches on in the sleeping place.
the Lee side. Even soft snow can be built into a
windbreak. Those with equipment can cut blocks. (C). SNOW CAVE:

THIS IS THE MINIMUM Dig into a drift snow to make a comfortable shelter.
Make use of the fact that hot air rises and heavier, cold
SHELTER FOR THE MINIMUM air sinks.
EFFORT.
Create 3 levels inside: build a fire on the highest, sleep
Anchor a ground sheet or poncho along the top with on the centre one and keep off the lower level which
another course of blocks, use others to secure the will trap the cold.
bottom edge. Use more snow blocks to close the sides.
Drive a hole through the roof to let out smoke and make
BUILDING IN SNOW: another hole to unsure that you have adequate
ventilation.
A saw, knife, shovel or machete IS NECESSARY to
cut compacted snow into blocks. The ideal snow will Use a block of snow as a door and keep it loose fitting
bear a man's weight without much impression being and on the inside, so that it will not freeze up and jam.
made, but be soft enough to allow a probe to be inserted
evenly through it. If it does a block on the inside will be much easier to
free. Smooth the inside surfaces to discourage melt
Cut blocks about 45 X 50cm (18 X 20in) and 10-20cm drips and make a channel around the internal perimeter
(4-8in) thick. These will be an easy size to handle, thick to keep them away from you and your equipment.
enough to provide good insulation, yet allow maximum
penetration of the sun's rays. TO AVOID THE DRIPPING:
SNOW TRENCH:
Which comes from the inside heat MAKE SURE that
This is a much quicker shelter to construct than trying the inside dome walls are well smoothed use the back
to build in snow above the ground, but its suitable for of your mittens or mukluks to do this job not your hand.
only one person and then only for short term use- while
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REMEMBER ABOUT DRIPS: Lay the first course of blocks and then shape them to
the required spiral. You do not have to overhang the
If the inner walls start to glaze with ice and drip, you blocks if you angle your initial spiral downwards and
are overheating. inwards.

DRIPS STOPPED!: And shape the top and bottom faces of subsequent
courses to lean inwards. The last few blocks in the
In igloos can be stopped by placing a piece of snow on centre may need some support as you fit them into
the source. position.

SNOW HOUSE (IGLOO): Cutting the first course to an even spiral eases the whole
process. Angle the top edge slightly down towards the
An igloo takes time to construct but centuries of use by centre.
the Eskimo demonstrate its efficiency.
THE FINAL BLOCK MUST BE CUT TO FIT-
Build the main shelter first then dig out an entrance or unless the space is small enough to leave for ventilation,
build an entry tunnel which is big enough to crawl but this blocks helps to keep the structure from
along. collapsing.

MAKE SURE THAT ITS ENTRANCE DOES INSIDE THE IGLOO:

NOT POINT INTO THE WIND:
Build a sleeping level higher than the floor or dig down
You could bend the tunnel or build a wind break to when building to create a lower cold level which can be
makes this less likely. Mark out a circle on the ground used for storage.
about 4m (13 1/2ft) in diameter and tramp it down to
consolidate the floor as you proceed with the rest of the Cut an entrance way through the lower course of blocks
building. or dig a tunnel beneath them. The central hole can be
used as an entrance if you are too exhausted to
Cut and lay a circle of blocks on the perimeter. Be complete the structure.
prepared to dig a tunnel (A) leave a space for an
entrance (B). PARACHUTE SNOW HOUSE:

Place another layer on top of them but, as when laying This is a useful structure if stranded on sea ice where
bricks, centre new blocks over the previous vertical sufficient snow for an igloo for a larger party may be
joint. hard to find.

Build up more layers but place each only halfway over Look for snow or convenient blocks of ice in the
the lower tier, so that the igloo tapers in or becomes pushed up pressure ridge of the ice. Mark out a circle
dome shaped. Shape out the entrance arch as you and build up a circular wall of snow blocks about 1m
proceed. Seal the top with a flat block. (4ft).

Make ventilation holes near the top and near the bottom Leave an entrance space if on ice. You will not be able
but not on the side of the prevailing wind or so low that to dig an entrance tunnel. Dig a lower area in the floor
snow rapidly builds up and blocks it. for cold air to sink into.

Fill any other gaps with snow. Smooth off all the inside Raise a central column of blocks in the centre about 1-
to remove any drip-points. This will allow any 1.5m (3-5ft) higher than the wall. Drape the parachute
consideration to run down the wall instead of dripping over this and the wall securing it with a further row of
off. blocks on top of the wall.

IGLOO (SPIRAL METHOD): REMEMBER:

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 Regularly clear accumulated snow from any entrance
The structure of this parachute roof makes it a snow tunnel to ensure that it does not become blocked.
trap which could become a dangerous weight poised
above your head. Clear accumulated snow regularly. The smaller the shelter the warmer it will be inside, but
since it will not be possible to heat the shelter to many
If you want a small fire inside ensure there is adequate degrees above freezing, you will need a little time to
ventilation. Site the fire on the outer shelf where it will adapt to the environment so far from Miami.
not affect the canopy, not near the central column.
DOOR IN RELATION TO WIND:
Anchor parachute cords with further block of ice or
snow or cut a hole in the ice and pass the top through it When the wind is any problem, the opening of a
to make a firm anchorage. temporary shelter is usually placed on the side away
from it.
LIVING IN A SNOW HOUSE:
DOOR ORIENTATION IN SNOW OR
In bad weather MAKE SURE that you have a good CANYONS & MOUNTAINS AREAS:
supply of timber or liquid fuel, inside the shelter.
In open SNOW COUNTRY where blocking drifts
Do not carry loose snow into the shelter, knock it off may form in that lee, however, the entrance is best
your boots and clothing before you enter.That snow built crosswise to the wind.
would melt inside and make a mess and more
dampness. This is also the most satisfactory compromise when one
is camped where air currants alternate up and down, as
Mark the entrance clearly so that it is easily found. in canyons and along mountain streams.
Keep shovels and tools Inside the shelter, you may have
to dig yourself out. FOR LONGER STAYS:

COLD & HOT WEATHER CAMPING: If we are putting up a structure that may be used for
several days or longer, we will not be governed too
Camp on the Lee side of rocks and trees when it's Cold much in this matter by the direction in which any
and you need protection. breezes may be blowing at the moment.

When it's Warm, make camp on the Windward side We will be more apt to lock around for natural signs,
so the breezes help cool your wilderness home. such as deadfall and leaning trees which indicates the
quarter or the prevailing wind.
NOTES:
THE DOOR ORIENTED SOUTH /
ALL SHELTERS MUST BE ADEQUATELY
VENTILATED TO PREVENT CARBON SOUTH-EAST IS USUALLY THE
MONOXIDE POISONING AND ALLOW BEST ALL AROUND.
MOISTURE TO ESCAPE.
HYGIENE:
Two holes are needed- have one near the top and one
near the entrance. Relieve yourself inside the shelter- this is usual practice
in these conditions and conserves body heat. Use plastic
SNOW SHELTERS BASIC NOTE: bags, ration tins or other containers and empty when
possible.
In snow shelters the holes MUST be regularly
checked to ensure that they have not become blocked Try to discipline the bowels to work just prior to
by ice or snow. leaving the shelter in the morning and then remove
faecal matter with other rubbish accumulated.

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ORGANIZATION: There may be boulders along the shore between which
snow walls can be heaped and over them several young
In a shelter with several people organize a rooster of evergreens spread.
duties. It is important that someone tends the fire at
all times. Among the driftwood at hand, you will find some large
dry snags which when a conflagration is kindled against
Others can check the vent holes, gather fuel, go hunting them, will themselves burn with the help of enough
when possible, prepare meals and do the other job (s). occasional extra fuel to keep them going.
(Signals when need be!).
Another way to get by is to tunnel into sufficiently deep
REMEMBER that a low temperature you will need snow taking care to do this at right angles to the wind so
more food. that there will be less chance of the opening's being
choked by drift. Or: when snow lies heavy you open a
HEAT: crude hole from the top down.

No matter how low the external temperature, that inside Such a trench can often be made by stamping. It may be
a well constructed snow house will not drop lower than in the shape of rough triangle with the wider end roofed
-10C (0.F) Just burning a candle will raise the and floored with evergreens, large enough to sit or curl
temperature by 4 degrees. up in and with the narrower part reflecting a small fire.

The traditional Eskimo way of heating an igloo was a PRECAUTIONS WITH SNOW:
wick in a bowl of fat. In a large shelter with a wood fire
the temperature is cosy. An oil burner or fat on bones AVOID making a snow camp where there are dangers
are alternatives where there is no wood or Casiope. from rapidly forming snow-drifts, from overhang or
from slides.
LONG TERM SHELTER:
If in open country BEWARE of making the shelter on
If you decide that any possible search for you has been the side of an elevation that is protected from the wind.
abandoned & that it is impracticable to make your own
way to safety, whether due to distance, time of the year, Taking such a precaution is exactly opposite from
lack of equipment or physical condition, you will want what we would do in the forest, but in open terrain
to make the most comfortable permanent shelter such lees gather drifts than can bury and suffocate one.
possible. Hilton?
Keeping dry is particularly important under such
Somewhere that you will be able to establish yourself conditions, inasmuch as clothing that becomes damp or
cosy until you can eventually attract rescue or equip frozen or lying in direct contact with snow.
yourself to undertake the journey with your own
resources. It will be safer to have some protective material
between and this may be an oilskin game bag, section
In a cold climate you will want to be warm and snug. In of plastic, mitts or any handy bark.
a warm one, on the other hand, you will want to take
advantage of any available breezes. HOUSES OF SNOW:

Your shelter will need to provide protection against the An easy way to go about constructing a snow house in
changing seasons and night temperatures which may very cold weather, is to heap snow in a mound slightly
differ from daytime ones. larger than the enclosure desired. Pack down the final
surface.
WHAT IF THERE IS SNOW?:
If the weather is well below freezing and if water is at
Snow can make the task of bivouacking even easier. hand, throw that over the pile so that a glaze of ice will
Suppose we're travelling along a wilderness river. form.

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Otherwise let the mound harden as well as it will in the
air for 1/2 hour or so. The burrow into the pile at right First search an area where snow-drifts are deep enough
angles to the wind. to permit cutting snow blocks from a vertical face.

Keep scooping out snow until as thin a shell as seems This will require a depth of nearly 2 feet. The snow
feasible remains. Build a small blaze within. Any melt should be firm enough to support your own weight with
will be blotted up by the snow remaining. only a slight marking of your foot print.

Drag out embers and ashes finally, poke a ventilation Probe into the snow with your saw-knife or a long
hole through the dome and allow the shelter to ice. sturdy stick. Try to find a place where the resistance to
the probe indicates an even firm structure, free of harder
A very small fire within such a snow house, augmented or softer layers.
by body heat will keep the temperature surprisingly
comfortable. When you find a spot, probe around to ascertain
whether enough good snow is available.
The tendency in fact will probably be toward
overheating. extremely important in any event will be IT IS WELL WORTH HUNTING FOR AN HOUR
the maintenance of good ventilation. (CARBON TO FIND PROPER SNOW AS YOU WILL SAVE
MONOXIDE) THE TIME & ENERGY DURING SNOW HOUSE
BUILDING.
EVERYONE SHOULD:
If snow of sufficient depth to cut vertical blocks cannot
Everyone who travels on land in the Arctic or the be found, it will be necessary to cut them from the flat
barren lands in winter should be able to build a snow surface of snow.
house.
This is time consuming and requires a much larger
This skill could easily mean the difference between life snow area, and the snow house will have to be built
or death, if an accident or sudden blizzard conditions higher, because it cannot be dug into the drift.
make unexpected delays necessary.
THE FIGHTER TRENCH: (Not fighter French!
ARTIC TOOLS: (QUICK AND EFFICIENT)

THE COMBINATION SNOW SAW-KNIFE OR A If time does not permit building an igloo, a PIX
SNOW KNIFE IS ALMOST ESSENTIAL TO #FIGHTER TRENCH CAN BE BUILT EASILY
SURVIVAL NORTH OF THE TREE LINE. AND QUICKLY WITH MINIMUM WORK FOR
THE RESULT ACHIEVED.
With it snow blocks can be cut to build a shelter while
on the trail or if lost. This is simply a trench dug in the snow and covered by
blocks to form a shelter. If a large drift of snow at least
MATERIAL: 3 feet deep is available, the shelter can be made by
cutting large vertical blocks from a trench wider than
The snow from which the snow house is built should be the sleeping bag and long enough to accommodate
in a firmly packed and frozen form with several the one or 2 builders. (2 French trench-her?)
characteristics not often encountered south of the tree
line. The snow blocks are stood on each side of the trench.
When the trench is completed a notch is cut along each
The snow should be solid enough that a cubic foot side to provide non-slip support for the snow block
block will support the weight of a man, yet it can be cut, roof.
sawed or split with ease.
A triangular block is placed at one end of the trench as a
ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF SNOW IS support for the first snow block of the roof.
SUITABLE FOR SNOW HOUSE BUILDING.
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The first roofing snow block is cut narrower than the NOTE: Once you have laid out your plan and pack
others in order that the succeeding blocks will overlap, down the area which you want to use for your igloo
each supporting the next. The remainder of the roof
blocks are placed in a similar manner. REMEMBER THAT:

In a 2 man trench an entrance door is placed halfway #1 KEY FOR THE SUCCESS OF YOUR IGLOO
down the trench, opening into a roofed-over square pit IS THE EXISTENCE OF A PERFECT CIRCLE.
which allows room for "cook-king" and removing (Oui oui Pere-rond?)
clothing before entering the sleeping bag.
One way to ensure this, is to put a peg in the middle of
Be sure to cut a ventilating hole in the roof and have a the area you wish to built then using any rope tied to the
good snow block handy to close the entrance at night. centre you tie the other end to a stick and use it as a
compass to draw your circle.
If no deep snow drifts can be found, a trench style
shelter can be erected by building a wall of blocks MAKE SURE the stick stays straight though while
enclosing the shelter area. you work the outline of your circle.

This wall is then roofed over with large slabs which are IGLOO BUILDING NOTE 3:
hollowed slightly on the inside after erection to form an
arch. Now begin to lay in a supply of snow blocks. Cut them
from the face of a trench, laid out as shown, and to the
The Pix # fighter Trench while a good emergency depth of at least 20 inches.
shelter is too cramped to permit much movement
without dislodging the frost on your clothing and Begin cutting blocks by digging out a clear vertical face
sleeping bag and in time you will become damp without at A-B with a width of about 48 inches and a depth of
a good means of drying out. This is why you should about 20 inches.
begin your igloo as fast & as soon as possible. (P/S
there is even a Trench fire place #?) Smaller blocks are not much easier to cut and igloo
construction is slower and more difficult with them.
IGLOO# 2 add notes: Using a snow saw-knife along the ends of the block.

Ideal winter shelter in the Arctic. It is solid, soundproof Cut the blocks about 8 inches thick and break off at the
and wind resistant and is large enough for comfort. bottom. Cut about a dozen blocks before starting to
build.
There are a few building techniques which MUST be
mastered but none of these are particularly difficult. Dimensions of blocks about 36" long, 18" wide and 6"
thick. With your snow saw-knife, cut a slot at each end
Once the method is learned, the igloo will almost of the block about 2" wide and the full depth of the
invariably be the shelter used in an emergency. So block.
when you have found a good snow-drift, lay out the
floor plan Jan!. Next, score a grove parallel to the face marking off a
block about 6" thick. (p99). If you have a snow saw-
Draw a circle centred on snow firm enough to support a knife, saw along this mark, breaking off the block with
person and at least 20 inches deep with the approximate a firm jab in the centre.
diameter as follows:
If you are using a snow-knife, deepen the groove by
1 man = 8 feet / 2 men = 9 feet / 3 men = 10 feet / 4 running the point back and forth, then 3 or 4 gentle
men = 12 feet / 5 men = 13 feet / 6 men = 15 feet. stabs and a firm central stroke will break it off.

KEY #1 SUCCESS OF AN IGLOO: Lift the snow block to one side and begin another.When
you have about a dozen cut, then you may begin to
build.
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 radial to the igloo centre or the previous block may be
When the first row reaches the snow block trench, a displaced.
snow block is replaced in it to permit the wall to be
taken across it. When fitting snow block on the A-B-C method
described, the block should be lifted into position and
NOTE: The slope of the first row of blocks. All end the joint fitted roughly with the faces in contact and the
joints are fitted with faces radial to the igloo centre, or block supported by the left hand.
you are heading for trouble.
If the snow saw-knife is run between the new block and
When the first row is finished, begin the spiral which the previous one to make them fit, then a slight
will end at the key block. undercut on the under face at the end nearest the
previous will leave the joint supported at A and C only.
If you are right handed, cut away any 3 blocks
diagonally, sloping down form left to right. If you are A firm tap downward at C as shown by the arrow will
left handed cut the slope the other way. drive the block into the final position, setting at A, B
and C when it need no longer be supported. Carry on
Now fit the next block, leaning it inward so that its building block by block.
inner face is roughly a tangent to the dome.
You will find that the increasing slope of the igloo wall
Even at this early stage the block might fall in, except will of course increase the tendency for the block to fall
that it is supported by the face of the notch and the top in.
of the previous blocks.
But that is compensated by the increasing angle
The block MUST bear only at area A-B- and C it between the A-B axis of the successive block as the
should not bear at D or it will pivot and slip.p99 diameter of the opening decreases. Building actually
becomes easier toward the finish as the blocks will jam
All blocks from this point on until the key block are set firmly into place.
in this manner. Continue cutting blocks from within the
igloo circle, fitting them as you go. When you run out of block snow inside the igloo,
cautiously cut a small door as far down the wall as you
Don't use block less than 2 feet long or 18" wide if can, tunnelling underneath to make enough space for
you can help it. the outside workers to push in more building blocks.

Lay small blocks aside for later use in snow bench and Try to keep the curve of the walls symmetrical &
doorway building. The slope of the block, which of AVOID a pointed igloo, because the high ceiling
course governs the shape of the igloo is estimated by would reach the limiting warmth before the sleeping
eye. bench gets its share of heat.

The block is raised into place and the joints are trimmed It is surprising how flat an arch can be built using the
until the block settles into position. When the third row spiral technique. The last few blocks will be almost
is under construction the slope will be great enough TO horizontal, but if you REMEMBER the A-B-C- fit,
MAKE CAREFUL FITTING ESSENTIAL. they won't fall.

Each block bears on the same 3 positions only = A-B-C When the remaining in the roof is small enough to
The remainder of the joint can gape wide, or almost permit doing so a key block is fitted. After what you
touch, but these 3 faces MUST carry the load to jam in have been doing, this is easy. The edges of the hole
the block. should be bevelled at about 15 degree from the vertical.

The tendency to rotate inward about A-B is resisted by The hole should be longer than it is wide to permit
pressure between the upper third of the faces of the new passing the key block up through then juggling it into
block and the previous block at C. This face MUST be position.

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This is tricky but not as difficult as it may appear. By This will form the front of your sleeping shelf, which
judicious use of your snow-knife, cut away the block, will raise you into the warm air trapped above the door.
letting it slowly into position. You have builded your
igloo. Shove all the snow in the igloo behind the wall to form
the shelf. Break lumps and blocks to soften the bench
NOTE: and to provide better insolation.

The entrance tunnel permits to AVOID drafts. Level the bench top carefully. At each side of the door
Windows are easy to build, just freeze water in a round leave or erect little benches allowing about 20" of leg
bucket about 1 to 2cm thick which you can incorporate room between the sleeping shelf and bench.
to your wall. Eskimos use ice block to replace one of
their snow block. This is the kitchen and heating area. It MUST be
reasonably close to the bench to permit the cook and
And they put this ice block at the top near the centre lamp tender to reach it without rising from the sleeping
block to give more light in the igloo, they even add a bench on which he is sitting.
reflecting block of snow on the outside of the igloo top
so as to add more light. Chink the dome of the igloo carefully with powder
snow, which when packed firmly into the open seems
The tunnel length entrance is about 2 1/2ft high and 5ft will soon harden and stop loss of warm air from the
long and the door is at right angle from the prevailing igloo. If you plan a short stay, chink only the outer
wind. Igloo floor can be covered with evergreen as seams, but for a better job do both inside and outside
insulator. joints.

ANOTHER FORM OF IGLOO #5: You may throw loose powdery snow on top of the igloo
to act as chinking but not so much as to add to the
According to the latest researches of the Arctic weight of the dome. You may bank the bottom row of
Aeromedical Laboratory in Alaska, they can not only blocks to prevent wind driven snow from causing
be builded from solid block of polar snow pressed erosion.
together, but also from fresh fallen snow-as is the
practice of the Nunamiut Eskimos in Alaska. IF A HIGH WIND IS BLOWING:

When the Eskimos of this tribe want to pitch camp, they The drifting snow can erode the wall of the igloo can
pile up branches and bushes and cover them with skins erode the wall of the igloo very rapidly.
or tarpaulins.
A snow wall should be erected to act as a wind-break
Then heap the loose snow on top (use snow shoes as a and any broken blocks can be piled against the
shovel). After about an hour it hardens and the leaves windward wall to protect it from the cutting effect of
and branches can be taken away. The igloo is ready. the drift.

IGLOO METHOD #6: Now, with the igloo chinked, the door cut in and the
sleeping bench completed, all you need to do before
Igloo made from block of snow or stone and a moving in is to clear out all loose snow.
parachute see pix # p100 b for this one
Then bench is first covered with caribou skin or other
OTHER SNOW SHELTERS: insulation and the sleeping bags are then enroled and
placed heads toward the door, side by side.
MAKING THE IGLOO HABITABLE:
All snow and frost MUST be removed from hides,
Across the floor, about one third of the way back from bedding and clothing before they are placed on the
the door, build a snow wall about 20" high to conserve sleeping bench.
warmth.
DRYING:
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Drying racks made by forcing sticks into the walls, When the level of the oil drops, the flame may follow
above the heat sources will serve the following down the wick causing further smoking.
purposes:
A simple damper, made of sheet metal will prevent this
A) Drying of clothing from which all snow, ice and will permit closer control of the flame. A few drops
and frost have first been scraped. NEVER MELT of aircraft fuel used with caution will aid in lighting the
SNOW ON GARMENTS, ALWAYS SCRAPE IT wick.
OFF.
NEVER try to burn a volatile fuel in the koolik, you
B) Thawing of frozen rations which do not need would be far too successful and might find yourself in
"cook-king." This requires quite a long time trouble.

C) Protection of the igloo wall & roof from Remember that a little animal fat in lubricating oil
melting. makes a good improvement in the flame.

KOOLIK FOR COOKING IN FOOD WITH THE SOME RULES FOR LIVING IN IGLOO:
FOLLOWING KOOLIK:
Persons entering the igloo for a stay of longer than an
Pots can be suspended from pegs driven firmly into the hour or so, after removing mukluks and snow from
walls above the fat lamp koolik or the primus stove garments, should get up on the sleeping bench out of
koolik. the way.

The Koolik has provided heat for comfort and cooking The cook usually at the right hand bench has the primus
"even cookin-king" for thousands of years, giving a stove, under which is a piece of cardboard from a ration
quiet pleasant light and warmth to the native home. box to prevent it from melting into the shelf and
tipping. He may also have a koolik,# if fat is available
Properly tended it does not smoke or smell and it can be for slow cooking.
controlled to give more or less heat on demand.
It is carved from soap-stone in the form of a shallow ONE PERSON MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
pen of 1/2 moon shape. The straight edge of the lamp ADEQUATE VENTILATION!
are veiled to support the wick made of Arctic cotton or
moss. Keeping the vent holes in the dome and door open
enough to AVOID risk without freezing the occupants.
Seal oil or caribou fat is used as fuel. To avoid its
melting into the snow shell and to keep it warm enough BEWARE OF CARBON MONOXIDE:
to render fat, it is supported on short sticks driven into
the shelf. The left-hand man remain on the bench assist in
cooking and maintaining their kooklik.
IMPROVISED KOOLIK:
(Invented by "AL" KOOLIK?) If this lamp is burning animal fat it requires only
moderate attention.
You can improvise a fat lamp out of any flat pan, such
as a ration can. If you have fat to burn, all that is Lubricating oil is not so easily used, as the flames
required is a piece of heavy cotton, linen cloth or smokes easily and the wick needs more frequent
absorbent cotton for a wick and a slopping ramp to attention.
support it.
A little animal fat dissolved in the lubricating oil makes
You can burn lubricating oil in a fat lamp but the flame a big improvement in the flame.
will smoke more readily and the wick will have to be
trimmed more carefully to keep the flame below the If the group finds the igloo cluttered with odds and
smoking point. ends, a miniature igloo can be built against the outside
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wall and a doorway out through to form a cache. Keep The explorer Stefenson lived for a full year on meat
the entrance low to avoid loss of heat. alone to prove this point. If you are forced to live solely
on the product of the chase!
DANGER:
You MUST eat flesh, fat, liver and every edible part, to
During the day, the door is left open. At night it is ensure that you don't suffer from dietetic deficiencies.
closed by a snow block which should be chinked and a
ventilation hole 3 to 6"in diameter bored through the Remember FAT is ESSENTIAL in Arctic survival
upper part. don't waist it.

The more fumes generated the larger MUST be the SNOW SHELTER BESIDE IGLOO:
opening. Don't wait until the lamp won't burn properly
and you begin to feel groggy before letting in air. If you are stranded in forest in the winder and darkness
comes simply dig a hole in the snow at the foot of a tree
It is dangerous and not necessary. If the roof hole all around it.
does not draw properly because of the wind, a snow
chimney can be made by setting a perforated block over Cover the bottom of evergreen branches as well as the
the hole. walls on the outside toward the tree which you then
cover up with snow. It is not central home heating but
Now that you are in the residence the igloo will warm will prevent freezing to death.
up rapidly If the inner walls start to glaze with ice and
drip, you are overheating. Ex:Temperature outside = 0F temperature inside hole =
40F. Many a mountain climber have thus saved their
Take corrective actions before icing develops, cut down lives with this simple snow hole dug in loose snow
the heat if you MUST. round a tree trunk and then covered with branches.
Scientist from Aeromedical laboratory have
FRYING: etc. established that the temperature within such a shelter
Frying, baking or broiling have no place in igloo living. even excluding the bodily warmth of those occupying it
Boiling and stewing are easier and prove very can be 18F higher than the outside where storms may
satisfactory. be raging at 36F below freezing point.

Canned goods may be heated in the can by bringing If there are several people in the hole, the temperature
them unopened to a bowl in a pot of water which will rise even further, this seems the only explanation
completed covers them. that in case of avalanche death is due more often to
suffocation then exposure.
Use the pressure cooker or tightly covered pot to avoid
steam. NEVER place an unopened can over direct To build such a shelter is only profitable of course if the
heat, it will explode. victim of an accident does not wait till he is too
exhausted but starts on it directly after his crash.
Two good meals a day, breakfast and the main meal ln
the evening avoid loss of the working day. A snack at ANOTHER FORM OF SHELTER:
noon will not bring the activity to a halt for more than
an hour or so. A hole is covered with branches and a tarpaulin except
for the entrance, a little snow is put on top.
Body heat is derived from food intake, so eat all your
ration and supplement with fish whenever possible. Inside this primitive shelter the temperature will soon
rise. This would apply in an area where there are no
Eat fat rather than burn them if the supply is low. A diet trees of course.
of meat is good for you.
Using this particular method 2 men and a young woman
ran into a heavy snowstorm on a peak in the Alps
nearly 10, 000 feet up.
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 In winter in arid regions when no shelter, you can build
The storm lasted 5 days they were found alive and well a snow wall by cutting bock in the compacted snow.
even through a storm which had blown with a force of
60 mph. Use this blocks to build a 1/2 moon shape wall about 3
feet high, then reinforce it with snow on the wind side.
REMEMBER: That the shelter door MUST be The wall act as wind-shield beyond which you can
placed at 45 degree from the wind direction and the sleep. Yet it would be better to build an igloo.
shelter has its back to the wind in order to have good
ventilation and not being snow ploughed under. COLD SLEEPING NOTE:

SNOW CAVE SHELTER: NEVER SLEEP AT ANY TIME DIRECTLY ON

THE GROUND, WINTER OR NOT, USE A
The first thing is to choose a thick snow bank which GROUND SHEET or if none then use evergreen as a
you will make your dug out bottle shape. The best thick mattress to isolate you from the cold ground. Cold
places usually are river bed, bottom of cliff #ravine#, comes from the ground.
any snow bank from slopes.
SNOW BLOTTER FOR CLOTHING:
AVOID to install in fresh fallen snow, or in powdery
snow or in snow too well packed. An old Eskimos trick for any one who falls through ice
in order to dry your garments before they freeze.
MAKE SURE that when you start digging the entrance
that the wind will not blow the snow inside or that a Undressing QUICKLY they stamp foot their wet
overhang will not come to block the entrance. You garments in the powder snow around them, this snow is
MUST then dig a small tunnel about 2ft long directly in so dry that it acts as a blotter and will absorb sufficient
the flank of the snow bank. water to AVOID the catastrophe.

Starting from there then you dig a chamber, the best is SUNGLASSES YES?:
to dig from the right and the left so that the chamber is
at right angle to the tunnel entrance. IN POLAR REGIONS IN SPRING FROM APRIL
TO JUNE & IN WINTER YOU MUST WEAR
If you dig in the tunnel entrance axial you can hit older SUNGLASSES AT ALL TIME.
snow usually harder than the fresh snow and the task
will be harder. When the sun is high or even when the sky is partly
cloudy you have great danger to be hit by snow-
To speed things up you can dig a second entrance blindness otherwise which brings grave consequences.
which will be blocked off when the chamber is ready.
PARACHUTE SHELTHER TIME:
NOTE:
PARACHUTE TEEPEE:
A) The room MUST be high enough to permit
easy sitting, it’s more comfy. A parachute suspended by its centre makes an instant
teepee. Peg out the bottom edge. Parachute material can
B) When not in use, block the door be used to cover a teepee but even simpler is to suspend
completely or in part using snow block one from a tree.
or your bag.
C) When the entrance is blocked, the tunnel is Give the sides a steep angle and even when the fabric is
airtight it MUST BE VENTILATED. You not impervious, water will run off. Fold a segment of
need 2 air holes (dome, door.) the chute double for a door flap, slit along a seam and
make a tie fastening to close it.
SNOW WALL SHELTER:
STICK WALLS AND SCREENS:

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It is easy to build walls by piling sticks between
uprights driven into the ground & if possible tied at the Theses may be covered with canvas or spruce boughs.
top. Arrange the boughs in rows starting at the bottom and
ending at the top.
Caulk them well to keep out wind and rain. These are
ideal for making one side of a shelter for blocking a REMEMBER:
shelter's opening or for a heat reflector behind a fire.
THE FRONT OPENINGS OF ALL SHELTERS
If large rocks are not available use this method to dam a SHOULD BE KEPT CROSSWIND. A FIRE IS
stream. To make very sturdy stick walls, increase the USUALLY BUILT IN FRONT OF THE
space between the uprights, use two stacks of sticks and OPENING.
as you build it, fill the space with earth.
DESERT: SHELTER FROM HEAT:
COVERING:
DON'T REMOVE CLOTHING / KEEP HEAD
Make wattle and woven covering for roofs or walls COVERED.
from springy saplings, plant stems, grasses and long
leaves either whole or if large enough, shredded for As you find / make shelter, move slowly to avoid
tighter weaving. excessive: sweating, waste of energy & dehydration.
Stretch tarp, blanket overhead.
First make a framework from less pliable materials
either in situ or as a separate panel to attach later. Tie Don't stay in car, or enclosed tent that restrict air
the main struts in position. Weave in the more pliant circulation. If no tarp of blanket is available for shelter,
materials. find shade under brush, shady side of car, boulder,
ledges etc.
If no ties are available drive vertical stakes into the
ground and weave saplings between them. Caulk with Try not to sit or to lie directly on hot ground, which
earth & grasses. If suitable firm cross pieces are too is usually much hotter than air temperature. Above or
few, weave creepers between the uprights. below ground is desirable.

Very large leaves, lashed or weighted down or hooked Sit or lie on brush, packs or other improvised elevation,
over lines of creeper, can be overlapped like tiles or preferably with air circulation underneath.
shingles to keep out the rain. Long grass can be
bunched and woven, overlap the ends irregularly to IF? travel is ESSENTIAL, Move ONLY during
make a continuous warp and weft. evening, morning hours or during moonlit nite. BEST
to stay in shelter, put on aerial marker, prepare to signal.
Or use birch bark to make shingles. Ring a birch tree
with even 60cm (2ft) cuts and carefully remove the Leave shelter ONLY if you know precisely where to
bark. (A). go, the length of the journey, & limits of your strength
and water supply.
Across a frame fix pairs of canes or creepers in close-
spaced pairs. (B). Upper ends of shingles are gripped DON'T venture far from established shelter, you
between the canes, the lower ends rest on top of those could become lost a second time.
below (C).

PARA-TEEPE:

This is a simply erected teepee. Cut 3 poles

approximately 12 feet in length. Tie these with rope or
strips of skins or bark about 8" from one end and set up
as a tripod. Place extra poles about the tripod and lace
together at the top.
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