Having certain survival skills can take you a long way if you are tossed into an emergency setting. Things like learning how to start a fire and knowing north from south are a great start. If you are worried about becoming truly lost it is a good idea to learn how to build a lean-to, a basic form of emergency shelter.
The best tip you will hear is to just stay put, and wait for help. Your emergency shelter doesn’t need to be anything too extravagant, just a decent area to keep you dry until you are found. It is a fairly simple process that could save your life one day.
Emergency Shelter Building Instructions
If you have any paracord from either of our previous articles, the Survival Kit or the Survival Multitool, this will be a lot easier.
First, pick out a good location, preferably two trees just a little farther apart than you are tall to give yourself enough room.
Next, brace a large branch between the trees, be sure that you secure it tightly, as this will be the support for your roof. The higher up you hang this branch the larger your shelter will be, it might be smart to make your shelter a bit small to keep your heat in (unless you plan on having a fire inside). Lay branches from the cross beam to the ground to create the trusses for your roof.
The rest is fairly simple, just add enough debris to ensure that your lean to is waterproof. Branches from evergreen trees and others like them are ideal. But, you may just have to make do with whatever is around at the time. Use some debris to elevate yourself if the ground is wet or covered in snow.
Lastly, stack branches up or pile debris to finish the remaining walls leaving yourself enough room to climb in.
Hopefully you never NEED to build a lean-to. But, they really are not difficult to figure out. Growing up near the woods we used to make them for fun! Additionally, lean-to’s will help in a more permanent application, if you put in the extra effort.
I want to hear from you
Feel free to leave a comment with your personal lean-to tips. I always love hearing from you!