simple shelter- help.

[Aaron Rushton]

hi all,
i was thinking of doing an activity for our scout group next camp which is shlter building. it would been i a small copse. i'm looking for a fairly simple shelter design that they can do in about an hour and a half with 6 pairs of hands. any ideas? can use tarps and paracord but would prefer to just use whats around us with maybe a small woddaxe for help.
ATB
Aaron

[Celt_Ginger]

Do the classic A frame debris hut.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/012-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/021-2.jpg

[Aaron Rushton]

cheers mate, are the stick elnt against the main beam fatsened in any way or just freestanding? and how do you keep the main beam up?

[Celt_Ginger]

The front of the ridge pole is held up by 2 "Y" sticks. These are pointed and driven into the ground for stability. The rear is held up on a smaller "Y" stick. this is just long enough to allow for a food space. The upright sticks are not tied on. The weight of the debris on top of them holds them in place. Also, if there are any little branches etc on any of the sticks you use, make sure these point downwards to help shed water.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/017-2.jpg
Front of the shelter.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/009-4.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/015-3.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/018-3.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/019-1.jpg
The protruding end of the ridge pole would get cut off to help prevent rain from "wicking" along it and getting inside the shelter.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/023-2.jpg

[resnikov]

Thats a great looking shelter, going to have to try and make one myself next time I am i the woods. How long would you say it takes to make it?

[Celt_Ginger]

With 4 or 5 people, a couple of hours will do it. On your own, about 5 or 6 hours work will make it properly waterproof. You will, of course, spend even more time on it as you make slight ongoing alterations to it.

[resnikov]

Did you sleep out in that one? How was it ?

[Celt_Ginger]

Believe it or not, I've never slept in a single man version of this type of shelter. I have however built and slept in a 2 man version. It was rather warm and, unlike the one pictured in the previous post, wasn't covered in beech leaves which tend not to harbour as many insects, but with mostly Sweet Chestnut leaves. I got bitten a lot that night.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/DSC_0306.jpg
This is what the structure would look like. It would, of course, need covering in plenty of debris.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/029-1.jpg
4 of us slept under this lean to shelter

This is a stacked debris shelter. It took 6 of us 2 days to make this one. We all stayed in it though.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/119.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee291/garyminiss/116.jpg
It has a central internal fireplace.

[Fletching]

Top class shelter building there Celt_Ginger. Well impressed. :)

Steve

[Aaron Rushton]

great thanks for that!

[mahikan]

With the A frame shelter you can bind the initial A frame apex with spruce root.
If you are caught out without a sleeping bag I teach my students to fill the shelter with dry grass, leaves, dry moss from top to bottom back to front then crawl in like a squirrel, in a nest, to sleep through the night.
The main problem is creating enough of a layer beneath you to insulate you from the ground, so this area needs extra attention. An optimum layer of 45 cm is required if you are using bush products for an insulating layer, as a sleeping mat, of course this is quite hard to do with this shelter due to the size limitations involved.
Ensure the wind is not blowing into the entrance and try and have the opening facing South East.

[MikeWilkinson]

With an hour an a half and 6 pairs of hand you should easily be able to make something or a few somethings, like this, providing there is good debris to use of course. My 4 year old and I built this in under an hour and a half.

360

I went back in the evening to have a play.

359

Debris shelters are excellent as there are no hard and fast rules as to how the shelter should be constructed. The only things you need to make sure of is that there is enough debris on top to keep the rain off and if an enclosed shelter there is enough to keep you insulated too.

I like the open fronted type for use with a fire, or the big group shelter types like the one shown previously.

[OKBushcraft]

Great pics guys! I guess I just need to man up and pick ticks after a good night's sleep in one around here. Thanks for sharing.