How to build an outdoor survival shelter

The debris hut is an example of a good outdoor survival shelter. The debris hut is composed of materials that are procured from the wilderness and is easy to construct.

To describe it short a debris hut is just a pile of dead leaves, branches and whatever else is around, fixed under a hut so the wind can't blow them all away. If done correctly there is enough space under it for you to lay under the pile comfortably - and still breathe. It should take about 1-2 hour to build a hut so don't wait until it gets dark to start building.

To make a debris hut:

- Find yourself a long sturdy pole. Length about 1.5-2 times your height. This will be the main beam of your hut. Another option is to find a fallen tree that will fit to build this hut.

- First look for something to hold the main beam of the hut off the ground. A rock, stump, tree with a forked branch anything strong enough can be used for this support. Height - a little taller than you are sitting.

outdoor survival shelter - Lean smaller poles against both sides of your main beam at about a 45 degree angle to make a framework. Place them close together and fill in around them with smaller branches.

- Cover this framework with materials at hand. Dead leaves, dry fern, evergreen branches, grass, use whatever you can find. Once you have sufficient debris in place, at least 1 m (3 feet) thick, you will need to place a layer of small, light branches over the outside of the hut to keep all your insulation from blowing away.

Depending upon how thick your insulating layer is, a debris hut can keep people dry and warm in frigid temperatures. In the winter, pile snow on top of the hut to increase the insulation factor.

debris hut - Place a 30-centimeter layer of debris inside the survival shelter. Try to choose stuff that you would like to sleep on. Your body heat can be lost very quickly lying on the bare ground.

- At the entrance, pile insulating material that you can drag to you once inside the shelter to close the entrance. Or build a door.

You can make a door by gathering finger size dead wood and lashing it into a grid pattern. Make two grids and place debris between the two grids. Lash the grids together and you have an insulated door. You should have sited the door away from the prevailing wind.

Efficient outdoor survival shelter

This simple outdoor survival shelter can make the difference in a wilderness survival situation.