temporary shelter(s) ?

[Canadian-guerilla]

for whatever reason, you're forced to leave your house after TSHTF
what would you look for in a temporary shelter, THAT YOU HAVE TO BUILD YOURSELF

SIZE - how many occupants

MATERIALS - there could be A LOT of other people looking for shelter materials too
and once a salvaged piece of plywood is on your shelter
you have to MAKE SURE it stays on your shelter

HEATING / COOKING INSIDE - what to use for a fireplace/cooking spot and how big

RAINPROOF / ABLE TO HOLD HEAT - keeping the rain out while holding the heat in could be a big factor in comfort

SANITATION - outside the shelter

VISIBILITY - out of sight, out of mind

****************

for myself

SIZE - just myself, so i could make do with a really small shelter ( if for only one day )

MATERIALS - this depends on the area i'm in and whether i'm thinking of a " four walls and a roof " shelter, in the summer, 4 walls and a roof wouldn't be such a priority, but it's a whole nother matter in the winter

HEATING / COOKING INSIDE - hobo stove, i wouldn't think of a firepit unliss i was in a good sized shelter

RAINPROOF / ABLE TO HOLD HEAT - a nice piece of tarp/plastic would take care of this, with a angled roof and a hole at the peak for a chimney, and one could make a shelter more solid, depending on how permanent the shelter would be

SANITATION - outside the shelter

VISIBILITY - shelter visibility is BIG on my shelter requirements ( temp and long-term )

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND, if people don't know you're there, should be no hassles

one of my BOL's is a auto junkyard ( windowless maxi van on it's side )
when TSHTF
i don't think people will be wandering around an auto junkyard looking for food and water

last winter i used a port-potty as a shelter with a hobo stove for heat
didn't get much sleep, but i made it thru a sub-zero winter night


come spring, i may have my choice of " nice shelters " after a SHTF winter

[Professur]

I can't help but think that a scrap yard isn't going to be the most private place going. Short of a super market or hardware store ... that's the biggest supply warehouse going. Joe City might not think of it, but Joe Suburb definitely will.

[Russkie]

If we're talking short-term, I'd go to the forest and build a debris hut, wigwam style. The size can be adjusted.

All you need is a machete, some twine, a plastic tarp (if you want to be fancy), some saplings, and a load of debris from the forest floor.

Cut saplings, stick them in the ground (wedge rocks at the bottom of the hole) in a circle 8ft across. Bend the tips down to the middle, lash them, add cross bracings. If you have a few tarps, distribute them over the dome in a logical way, then pile on the debris until it's three feet thick. Modify for a smoke hole if you want. I've built one of these, and they are cozy. It's better if you have good sleeping bags, and something to make the ground drier and softer. Cardboard, for example. Blends in well with the environment.

To make the design bigger, just turn the circular structure into an elongated circle.

If we're talking long-term, I'd build an underground hut with a masonry stove. You'd need plastic sheeting for this, a shovel, an ax, and a lot of elbow grease. Look at Mike Oehler's website.

[Godot]

Boats are a good way to go IMO.... worked for the last 5,000 years anyway.


I'm a little long in the tooth for the build a wigwam with a tooth brush and duct tape thing.

[ToBeSelfEvident]

If TSHTF there might be 100 million cars and SUVs with no gas available. They'd make nice sleeping quarters, though, since they are small, lockable, well-insulated, etc. Even if you cannot heat your house you might find comfort sleeping in your now-useless vehicle.

Or, if you only have a small amount of gasoline it makes more sense to use it to run the car, providing heat, radio, etc in a small comfortable space instead of trying to heat the whole house or running a generator for an hour a day.

[Lt Dan]

Got a really old slide-in truck camper out back. Can't say how far I'd get, depends on if I had to leave very far, but long as the gas in the propane tank holds out, we could cook and stay fairly warm and most of all dry from the weather. Without power the refer, water pump, lights and furnace wouldn't last long, but it'd be a place to escape the weather. Oh yeah, got a truck to haul it on if gas enough.

[Russkie]

I'm a little long in the tooth for the build a wigwam with a tooth brush and duct tape thing.

Duct tape instead of twine for the wigwam is actually a good idea.

[noworries]

A tent works very well.

Can make a debris hut over the tent, use a polytarp as a 2nd roof, then cover and camouflage as need.
Can sleep in a tent in your home to maximize your heat. Coleman catalytic heater works very well and relatively safe.

Could use a backpacker bivy and wrap bivy/sl bag inside a hd tarp. Duck tarp last the longest. Maybe carry a piece of
Tyvek for flooring... Tyvek is 9' long and comes on long roll at building supply store. Could wrap a conical pole structure
make a crude Tipi.

USGI surplus tents with liner and stovepipe lined hole are excellent. Use Plywood w/T&G slots for flooring, erect over
forklift pallets if you want a real portable home. 12x32 tent weighs about 175lbs another 130 for the liner. Relatively
compact, can even transport with ATV trailer. Cut poles on site.

Heavy duty tarp with a few tennis balls and rope can make a wide variety of shelters. Tennis ball inside tarp, Twist
tarp to trap ball, loop rope behind ball, tie rope to whatever support you have.

Don't forget a folding shovel or trowel to channel rain or runoff water away from your shelter

[pay dirt]

A lightweight tipi tent can throw in a backpack with a collapsable wood stove for a quick exit. They are completly mobile with a small footprint, easy to set up and take down. They have been tested in high winds and sub zero temps. Can cook in them on the woodstove that heats with minimum twigs and dry clothes when wet. They are not cheap and run around 1000 bucks.

http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/teepee1.jpg

http://www.kifaru.net/
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/products.html

[julene2000]

LOL......
Really, in the shtf moment, this will hold you over for a few days until your smoke fire is spotted by a professional hunter that hasn't shot or eaten anything to 2 weeks. Make sure your have enough for 2

[arkhaus]

As some of you may be aware I am a big fan of these:http://www.globallogisticsgroup.net/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/20-foot-ground-storage-and-shipping-container-20ft-one-trip-single-use-container.jpg

[Lt Dan]

Aren't those containers a bit tricky to lock from the inside?

[gasilat]

grandma gatewood did just fine with a shower curtain. but with proper natural cover such as dense forest or rock overhang even that isn't necessary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood
Emma Rowena Gatewood, better known as Grandma Gatewood (October 25, 1887–June 4, 1973),[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-Gallia_County_Genealogical_Socity-0) was an extreme hiker and ultra-light hiking pioneer who was the first woman to hike the 2,168-mile (3,489 km) Appalachian Trail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail) from Mount Oglethorpe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Oglethorpe) in Georgia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)) to Mount Katahdin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Katahdin) in Maine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine) solo, and in one season.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-Sierra-1)
Gatewood hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1955 at the age of 67, wearing Keds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keds_(shoes)) sneakers and carrying an army blanket, a raincoat, and a plastic shower curtain which she carried in a homemade bag slung over one shoulder, thus making her a pioneer of Ultralight backpacking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_backpacking). Local newspapers picked up on her story, leading to a profile in Sports Illustrated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated) when she had reached Connecticut [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-2) and an appearance on the Today Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(NBC_program)).
She had read about it in a National Geographic Magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Magazine). "I thought it would be a nice lark," she said, adding "It wasn't." Another time she complained "For some fool reason, they always lead you right up over the biggest rock to the top of the biggest mountain they can find."[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-Sierra-1)
She hiked it again in 1960 and then again at age 75 in 1963, making her the first person to hike the trail three times (though her final hike was completed in sections).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-Sierra-1) She was also credited with being the oldest female thru-hiker by the Appalachian Trail Conference (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail_Conference) [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood#cite_note-3) until 2007.

but lets say you're settling in for the winter someplace way out in the middle of nowhere...

you should be able to carry everything you need to build a cabin on your back in one trip. you need your carrying axe (mid-size) and a file for sharpening, a one man crosscut saw for felling and later firewood, a few handfuls of nails for the wood shingles you split yourself, a 5 gallon sized woodstove and 3 lengths of single wall stovepipe and a damper, a piece of flashing for the roof, a set of hinges for the door, a piece of plexiglass for a window. I guess a short crosscut hand saw might come in handy too to make flat boards for a table and shelves and trim to fill cracks. you should be able to build a short wall, steep roof cabin 10 x 12 feet in less than two weeks. No fancy saddle notches with paper thin gaps or old world dove tail notches on the corners that take time. a rough square notch that puts it together as fast as you can.

people need much less than they think they do...

[Nickelless]

If TSHTF there might be 100 million cars and SUVs with no gas available. They'd make nice sleeping quarters, though, since they are small, lockable, well-insulated, etc. Even if you cannot heat your house you might find comfort sleeping in your now-useless vehicle.

Or, if you only have a small amount of gasoline it makes more sense to use it to run the car, providing heat, radio, etc in a small comfortable space instead of trying to heat the whole house or running a generator for an hour a day.


Got a really old slide-in truck camper out back. Can't say how far I'd get, depends on if I had to leave very far, but long as the gas in the propane tank holds out, we could cook and stay fairly warm and most of all dry from the weather. Without power the refer, water pump, lights and furnace wouldn't last long, but it'd be a place to escape the weather. Oh yeah, got a truck to haul it on if gas enough.

Gas wouldn't necessarily be a concern if you had an Arctic-rated sleeping bag, or multiple of them to craft a sort of tent inside your vehicle if you can put all the seats down. I'm waiting to hear back on a Craigslist listing for an electric blanket that I'm thinking about getting an adapter for to plug it in in the cigarette lighter in my car.

Plus, an electric blanket in the car works better than a wood-burning blanket. :haha:

[Lt Dan]

Gas wouldn't necessarily be a concern if you had an Arctic-rated sleeping bag, or multiple of them to craft a sort of tent inside your vehicle if you can put all the seats down. I'm waiting to hear back on a Craigslist listing for an electric blanket that I'm thinking about getting an adapter for to plug it in in the cigarette lighter in my car.

Plus, an electric blanket in the car works better than a wood-burning blanket. :haha:If you know the specs on the blanket, you could use a dc to ac inverter to plug into the lighter outlet and use a regular electric blanket. Sometimes the wiring to the lighter is not sufficient to handle an inverter though.

I have all the sleeping bags, blankets, etc. for sleeping in the cold in the camper. The truck is a 4x4. I refurbished the camper just last year when I bought it. For you thrifty types, I paid only $625 for it, spent another 800-1000 on it for new jacks and other repairs, which I did myself and even tried it out (camped in it). I've traveled all over the US in a truck camper before, (early 90s). Although they are not a house, it is surprising how well they work for traveling light and rather fast. Of course, you are still dependent on gas and usually electric at camp sites, but you learn how to improvise for every need if you use your brain first for a survival tool.

[Russkie]

I think any severe bug out strategy should include NO gadgets which require electricity or fuel.

something good to do if you have the time is to have a bug out holiday- go out into the woods for a few weeks in some unkindly season and test your equipment and skills.

[pay dirt]

LOL......
Really, in the shtf moment, this will hold you over for a few days until your smoke fire is spotted by a professional hunter that hasn't shot or eaten anything to 2 weeks. Make sure your have enough for 2

Doesnt sound like a very good hunter if they cant shoot or eat anything in 2 weeks. The nice thing about a mobile camp is if things get uncomfortable one can move quickly and steathly. A fire at night is best for people not noticing the visible smoke.

[julene2000]

Doesnt sound like a very good hunter if they cant shoot or eat anything in 2 weeks. The nice thing about a mobile camp is if things get uncomfortable one can move quickly and steathly. A fire at night is best for people not noticing the visible smoke.

When you have 100's of experience hunters and notice want-a-be's picking up a rifles thinking there's nothing to it just go out to the woods and shoot. You must not campout much.... I dont need to see the fire at night, you can smell it.....

Just make sure you have enough for 2 or 3 people cookie.

[shades]

Find a large log or rock, and setup a lean-to or bivouac. DPM tarp/poncho is the way to go, saves on a lot of time + effort and you can concentrate on building a nice comfy bed underneath.

Something like this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyjSFQK760&feature=related

[goldie40]

[QUOTE=shades;105396]Find a large log or rock, and setup a lean-to or bivouac. DPM tarp/poncho is the way to go, saves on a lot of time + effort and you can concentrate on building a nice comfy bed underneath.

Something like this:

I'm glad you put up the video, as that is what i was going to suggest, It has to be a genuine military poncho, not one of those cheap look alikes, they're thin and a little smaller.

[arkhaus]

Aren't those containers a bit tricky to lock from the inside?

The best thing would be to lock the outter shackles open so you can't be trapped inside, then add a few simple peices of hardware to the inside to allow a large plank or bar to barricade yourself inside. Something similar to this:http://www.crime-safety-security.com/images/Door-with-Barricade-Bolt-3790000.jpg

I guess this is not really a temporary shelter, and only mobile if you have a truck/trailer. But I have what could probably be described as an unhealthy obsession with intermodal steel shipping containers...

More in line with the spirit of this thread I always wanted a yurt!
http://travel.mongabay.com/china/600/china_106-7511.JPG

[Russkie]

[QUOTE=shades;105396]Find a large log or rock, and setup a lean-to or bivouac. DPM tarp/poncho is the way to go, saves on a lot of time + effort and you can concentrate on building a nice comfy bed underneath.

Something like this:

I'm glad you put up the video, as that is what i was going to suggest, It has to be a genuine military poncho, not one of those cheap look alikes, they're thin and a little smaller.

The poncho bivuac is a complete waste of time- it MIGHT keep the rain off you, that's all, but you'll freeze in the winter and get eaten alive in the summer. If you're going to make such a prep, just go ahead and pack a one-man tent. Easier to put up, just a compact, and you'll save a bit more of your body heat and keep the skeeters out.

They made a film about the poncho bivuac..."a river runs through it"....


and the OP was about stuff we had to BUILD, right???

[Canadian-guerilla]

and the OP was about stuff we had to BUILD, right???

+1

i'm thinking along the lines of salvaging castaway junk/garbage

a 15 foot length of snow fencing
a scrap piece of 4x3 plywood
a good sized but torn piece of tarp
a castoff 10x12 rug

there's an improptu dump about a mile from my #2 BOL, with 4 nice sized rolls of carpeting
i may try and drag the smallest one behind my bike about halfway along the road, at night
and then it's on my shoulder for a 1/2 mile walk

[shades]

[QUOTE=goldie40;105406]

The poncho bivuac is a complete waste of time- it MIGHT keep the rain off you, that's all, but you'll freeze in the winter and get eaten alive in the summer. If you're going to make such a prep, just go ahead and pack a one-man tent. Easier to put up, just a compact, and you'll save a bit more of your body heat and keep the skeeters out.

They made a film about the poncho bivuac..."a river runs through it"....


and the OP was about stuff we had to BUILD, right???


The poncho thing is ok for certain climates, and as a temporary overnighter on the move. I'm not claiming it 's the be all and end all of outdoor luxury. I pack a tent normally, and even those don't keep
you that warm or are particularly comfy even with a sleeping bag.

As for building things, there are always things around to build with, a poncho or tarp or bit of scrap wood/steel might be just such an item, these are called materials, it depends how far into the woods you are, and how keen you want to be to construct things from leaves and sticks.

Your building site is key, whatever you choose to build with, create run-off scrapes if necessary to channel water away from your hide.

[Thornapple]

I long while ago I found a website that showed how Russian peasants would build a home. I wish I could find that link again, I thought I bookmarked it but I guess I didn't.

Basically they would find a small hill and on one side (south?) they'd dig it out leaving the sides and back of the hill to form the house, as earth is a very good insulator. They'd then build the roof part as kind of an A frame out of wood trunks/branches. They would then make a hardened floor by packing down animal dung and letting it dry out completely.

I think I'd try it without the dung though :D I've heard miners used to do something similar to build shelters in their work camps around the mine.

[AKBill]

Temp shelter

2 Military issue Poncho's and a army issue emergency blanket (not the cheep foil ones),poncho liner with a third poncho as a sleeping bag with a swiss volcano stove for heat. 'Mid term" shelter half's X2 poncho for floor swiss volcano stove with a candle for heat (I like the tea light candles that you can buy by the bag of 200 to 500) long term Squad tent or ten man arctic tent with a Yukon or barrel stove packed into an akeio (aka army sled). Sanitation is a five gallon bucket and trash bags if you want to get fancy add a toilet seat to bucket or theres the old stand by E-tool and hole. Toss out some LP/Op's on field phones at 50% security and all is well in happy land. Then again I own a surplus store and have the trained personnel and equipment that most of you guys only dream of, so my view is a little tainted.

[Lt Dan]

[QUOTE=goldie40;105406]and the OP was about stuff we had to BUILD, right???I saw "temporary shelter" and that is exactly the purpose I refurbed the old more or less salvage yard slid-in truck camper. This is not a luxury affair, no AC, refer is electric only, so if off grid it is of little use, cooking can be done on a 2-burner LP stove, but a fire pit outside is an option we sometime use. With little or no gas for the truck, there would be no keeping the batteries charged, so no light and no heater. I live in Ohio, while there is forest lands around, there are too many people around to think those areas would be any safer than the farm land areas where I live. So, our temporary situation might be more out in the open than what most of you are thinking, and sometimes the wind really blows here, so you need something that will stand wind as much as cold or whatever. Plus, while I do agree with the idea of a debris hut being an option, ya can't pack it up and move if moving is even an option, if staying in one place is necessary, I've already made plans for that situation in that old junker camper of mine. I'm old and do not really care if I live to fight another day or not. I've made my preps for the hereafter and am ready for the fight if that is what it come to.

[Russkie]

I long while ago I found a website that showed how Russian peasants would build a home. I wish I could find that link again, I thought I bookmarked it but I guess I didn't.

Basically they would find a small hill and on one side (south?) they'd dig it out leaving the sides and back of the hill to form the house, as earth is a very good insulator. They'd then build the roof part as kind of an A frame out of wood trunks/branches. They would then make a hardened floor by packing down animal dung and letting it dry out completely.

I think I'd try it without the dung though :D I've heard miners used to do something similar to build shelters in their work camps around the mine.

The English did this too, and called it a "hovel".

[Russkie]

If you had access to alot of the snow fence (with the posts) you could arrange that stuff to build debris walls.

Build a small rectangle about 3 feet high, then enclose it with another larger rectangle. Fill the spaces in-between with any insulating materials you can gather, for a nice thick wall of debris.

Use the piece of plywood as your "roof", lean-to style. Stack a bunch more insulating material onto the roof, then hold it into place with more of the snow fence over top.

Box off your bed area, fill it with a bunch of soft stuff, then cover it with the tarp for nice matress.

Dig a circular hole in a logical place for a tandoor style oven. Leave a small opening at the top of one of the corners near the roof, pluggable.

If you can line your firepit with enough rocks, concrete pieces, bricks, etc, then you can heat up the place with a reasonable fire (keep it going for a long time) then even after the fire dies down in the middle of the night, you've got radiated heat.

These are my ideas from Canadian Guerrilla's shopping list.

[Canadian-guerilla]

These are my ideas from Canadian Guerrilla's shopping list.

not really a shopping list
just castaway stuff i've seen and gathered for shelter material

i've stopped bringing " stuff " home and just put it 25 ft in the bush off the road
saves me a lot of time/effort on transporting my " shelter materials " to my BOL's