Debris Hut
More Articles Related to ShelterI've been told that man is the most intelligent animal on earth, but I don't buy it. How many times have you heard about the lost hunter or hiker who sat down and froze to death? When it is cold and wet and windy even the lowliest mouse knows what to do. But humans? With all their brains, humans will often perish in the midst of plenty!
The mice are laughing in their warm snug nests.
Animals Are Your Best Survival Teachers
The lesson to be learned is the animals in your area are your best survival teachers. After all, the local animals have been successfully surviving for thousands of years. This makes them the experts in whatever environment you find yourself in. Watch what the animals are doing, copy their best methods and you cannot go wrong.
What do the mice, squirrels, rabbits and bears know that most modern humans do not? Plenty. And one thing nature's survival experts do when the weather turns bad is retreat into their warm nests and dens to wait it out. They burrow into the ground, find a hollow tree, or even start from scratch. Then they fill the nest with dry materials that help keep them warm through whatever cold and storm nature can throw at them. These animals are skilled in the construction of various forms of the debris hut.
Humans would do well emulating the animals when it comes to shelter making. Some people get it, and their underground homes are the easiest to maintain and keep warm or cool. Most people choose to build above ground, where the elements keep their heating, cooling, and maintenance bills high. Sounds pretty foolish to me.
Making a debris hut can very well save your life and is a key element in your survival toolkit of knowledge. Here is how it's done.
Shelter Location
Before you begin building a debris hut, scout around a bit for the best location. The structure should be built in a spot that will be relatively dry even if it rains very hard. There should be an abundance of leaves, grass, pine needles, or similar debris very close by. The dryer and fluffier the materials the better insulation it will be.
Debris Framework
Find a strong pole about eight to ten feet long for use as a ridge pole. Prop the ridge pole about four feet off the ground by putting one end in the fork of tree, on a rock, or tie two poles together in the shape of an upside down “V”.
When making a debris hut for survival try to make the inside as small as possible for two reasons. First, the smaller you make your hut the less material you will need to gather. In a survival situation the less energy you expend the better. Secondly, and this is very important, the smaller the volume inside the debris hut the easier it will be to heat it with your body heat alone. Add a small candle or hot rocks and the hut can be very warm even in the coldest weather.
To determine the size of the debris hut, lay down directly underneath the ridge pole and mark out an area around your body. Allowing for a couple of feet all around you should be enough. This will show you the volume you want to enclose with debris.
Next, gather up a number of strong sticks and lay them vertically from the ridge pole down to the ground. This is the ribbing of your debris hut. Be sure to keep an opening for a door at the upper end of the hut.
Once the basic ribbing is in place, take smaller sticks and interweave them horizontally. This will create a strong base onto which the debris will be placed.
Debris Hut Insulation
Now comes the fun part. Gather up your leaves, grass, pine needles, cattail stocks, sod, pine boughs, or whatever is at hand and pile them onto the ribbing of the debris hut. Be sure to use the warmest material (and driest and fluffiest) to fill the inside of the shelter. At a minimum the debris shelter should have two to three feet of material piled evenly all around the hut. The more the better. Loosely pack your best material inside the hut so that it is completely filled.
If you can, add a topmost layer of branches, sticks or anything that will keep your debris from blowing away. This layer will also help channel rainwater downward to the ground instead of soaking into the debris
Now climb in through the door feet first and snuggle into the warm inside. Be sure to place plenty of warm dry material beneath you so that your body is off the ground at least several inches. You may have to bring in even more material once some of it is packed down. Block the doorway with a chunk of debris.
Heating a Debris Hut
Wearing just your normal clothing, a debris hut made from dry materials can keep you warm down into the teens or twenty degrees F. and keep you out of the rain. Light a candle and the small flame will add a surprising amount of heat to your shelter.
If you need additional heat, build a fire outside the hut and heat up some rocks. Being sure there are no embers on the hot rocks, bring them inside your hut with you and place them in the corner on bare ground. The hot rocks may heat up your shelter enough to drive you out! Imagine that - while others have frozen to death, here you are being TOO hot!
Shelter Improvements
For a longer term survival hut, it is often better to construct at least a portion of the shelter below ground. This is more time consuming and labor intensive but it will be warmer and easier to heat. You will also have to be more careful in where you choose to build as you do not want your hole flooded.
If you plan on spending more time in the area, a larger hut may be better. I have found that making a smaller debris hut for sleeping within the larger shelter itself works very well. This gives you a large area inside your nest in which to be active and, off to the side, a enclosed space for sleeping that is easy to heat with just your body.
Tips on making a debris hut:
- Place the door away from the wind
- Build in a dry place
- A smaller shelter is easier to build and heat
- Dry fluffy material works best as insulation
- The more debris the better to keep warmth in and wetness out
- Insulation underneath your body is of major importance
Make a Debris Hut
The next time you are in the great outdoors, try making a debris hut using local natural materials. With a little practice you can make yourself a den that any raccoon or skunk would be proud to take over when you are gone. Have fun!
St.Helens, Oregon
I have built a variation of the debris hut a few years ago that I've stayed in off and on ever since. It's a conical debris hut,Wikiup- style with a small fire pit outside. It's about 9' high and about 6' wide inside. Inside is stuffed with dry grasses and leaves with enough room for kindling and things. I placed it upon a small hillock which combined with the cone shape wicks rain nicely. It's just a tripod with poles and plenty of debris. The other animals like it too.
southwest,virginia
Great work - we just built a 14ft x 12ft diameter debris hut that stands at least 8ft tall. It sleeps 4 or 5 comfortably. It took us about 6 hrs to make but darkness fell before we complete it. The shelter still needs another 1 to 2 hrs more. I told my cousin that it was built like a squirrels nest. We even dug a firepit. We are very proud of the shelter we made and very tired. Thank you from the BLUERIDGE MNT'S
Survival Topics - Sounds like you guys had a great time! Thank you for reading Survival Topics and feel free to email us pictures of your shelter, we would very much enjoy seeing them.
Costa Rica
The survival information on this website is very useful where you can be in the great outdoors everyday due to the weather. Thank you and we'll be trying to read all the wilderness survival articles that are very much apreciated.
CA
Great Idea. I was wondering if the sticks and frame work are strong enough could you put mud on top of the debris.
Survival Topics - Although wet mud could cause the debris hut to become a soggy mess until it dried out, a well-constructed debris hut can often take a considerable load. The thicker the material on top the better as that means more insulation from heat, cold, and wind.
the country
I have a area in the woods next to a creek in my yard. I whittle a lot in there, and enjoy nature so much. Now I can stay there for a couple hours even if it rains. If I don't have water, I can boil it over my Dakota Fire Pit and make the creek water drinkable. If it wasn't for this website, I would still be soaking wet.
Northern Maine
I don't think people realize how comfortable a homemade shelter can really be. Me and one of my buddies built a debris hut one December in the big woods behind my house, when we were freshmen in high school. We spent a good 8 hours building it with nothing but debris and bailer's twine. We then slept in it the night before Christmas eve. Mind you it wasn't a real survival situation because we had sleeping bags and plenty of warm clothes but still this was a make-shift shelter in northern maine. We woke up to 15 degree temperatures and 8" of fresh snow on the ground and we both honestly slept comfortably all night. Now I know that if i ever am in a real survival situation I'll at least have the peace of mind, knowing that I'm capable of building something that will keep me warm and dry.
Costa Rica
We do them teepee style here with bamboo or branches from Balsa or Guitite trees ( easy to cut). Then you lay on layers of the leafs of phodedron type plants as you were shingling a regular roof. It is a simple to make place to stay dry.
The hot rock is a good idea that might help dry out skivvies and socks?
You can also find a steep embankment and excavate a hole about the size of a beanbag chair then build the fire inside.
Davison, Michigan
I was looking for a survival shelter for animals and this is helpful.
Potter County
I have been building cabins and shelters for survival since i was 10 years old in the hemlocks behind my parents house. I never needed to be taught this and being older and a little more informed. People should take this advice and for sure try to build a debris hut before getting into that situation. I tried many times before successfully building a sturdy shelter that could withstand the elements and be heated. A country boy can Survive!
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Brlin, germany