Survival Skills: Avoid These 5 Shelter Building Mistakes

A good shelter with a few fatal flaws isn’t such a good shelter after all. Over the years, I have seen some awful blunders (and made a few myself) when it comes to the art of shelter building.

Here are five of the most common survival shelter mistakes that I see when I teach people how to build survival shelters.

It’s not tied down or secured properly

Tarp shelters and even tents need to be tied down to weather the storms, but most people don’t grow up tying knots or using rope on a regular basis anymore - and it shows. Thankfully, this is a problem that can be resolved.  Spend more time working with your hands and learn more knots!

Condensation

This mistake usually happens when you are using a shelter covering that is not breathable.  Plastic sheeting and tarps often trap the moisture from our bodies and bedding.  This moisture then condenses on the inside of the shelter covering as water drops or frost, depending on the temperature.  The fix for this problem is more ventilation.  Increased ventilation will cost you some warmth from your shelter, but it was probably too steamy in there anyway.

Too open to the weather and heat loss

You’re not trying to build a circus tent out there in an emergency.  Many shelters that I see are just too big and too open.  You don’t need a giant door gaping wide open.  You don’t want your sleeping shelter to be one-sided like a Lean-to.  These types of shelter really bother me because they are only half of a shelter.  Make it more of a shelter by reducing the openings, adding a second wall to your Lean-to, etc.

Overestimating the warmth of the shelter or the materials used

Maybe you got tired when you were constructing your new home.  That’s inexcusable.  Maybe you were seriously injured which set your emergency situation in motion.  That’s actually excusable, but excuses won’t help you now.  You thought a small pile of grass would keep you warm down to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.  Or you thought (or hoped) that your tiny tarp shelter with the big door and no floor would be warm and cozy.  You guessed wrong.  The best fix for this mistake is some serious overkill on the front end of construction.  Build your shelter with tons of insulation.  Make your hooch hurricane proof.  You can always open it up a little if you get too hot during the night.  Trust me, it’s never fun to be on the other end of the spectrum – waking up in the freezing cold and staggering around looking for more insulation in the dead of night.

 The “Man Trap”

No, this is not your ex.  Nor is it a trap designed to maim intruders in your camp (which is a felony by the way).  The “Man Trap” is a shelter that may fall down on the inhabitants causing them injury or even death.  Just because you hope a log or a pole stays in place, doesn’t mean that it will stay there.  The rule here is to set up the main structural elements of a shelter in a way that they support their own weight, plus more.  Snow loads, heaped-up roofing material, and even rain will add to the weight that your shelter must carry.  Build strong frames.  Figure out if the shelter can fall, and if so – where will it fall?  It’s not called survival anymore if you catch yourself in a trap, it’s called a Darwin Award.

Want to actually build a survival shelter and learn through hands-on experience? Join one of our survival classes!

Written by Tim MacWelch First draft posted on outdoorlife.com