Camping Mastery
Menu
  • Home
  • Tents
    • 1 Person
    • 2 Person
    • 3 Person
    • 4 Person
    • 5 Person
    • 6 Person
    • 8 Person
    • 9 Person
    • 10 Person
    • 12 Person
  • Tents I love
  • Sleeping Bags
  • Tent Camping
    • Beginners
    • Family Camping
    • Tips
  • Solo Camping
    • Men
    • Women
  • Hiking
Menu

How To Build A Shelter – Is It Necessary For Survival?

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Brandon

a-frame survival shelter

Surviving out in the wilderness is a huge achievement, and without the help of Mother Nature to help us in an extreme situation – we would be dead. Trees, grass, rocks, water, it’s all there for us to use, humans are adaptable creatures so we are able to ‘adapt’ to natures way of living, and ultimately survive. I’m going to be showing you how to build a shelter for survival, different types of shelters for different uses, and explaining the utmost importance of having a shelter in the first place because a short day hike through the wilderness can turn into a life threatening situation in a wrong turn of events.

 

Start With The Barrier You Have On

The clothes on your back are your first line of defense, keep your clothes loose and ventilated to stop condensation buildup, but pack on the layers for extreme warmth.

 

The Importance Of A Survival Shelter

A survival shelter is your sense of well-being, it will protect you from the elements, especially the COLD. 3 hours without shelter in the freezing cold and you’re setting yourself up for excessive fatigue and weakness, which will bring on exhaustion.

Being exhausted in a survival situation is highly dangerous, an exhausted mind will not think properly – and you will lose your will to survive.

A shelter will keep your mind at ease as well as your sanity. Your shelter will not only protect you from element exposure but will also give you a mental boost, because without a shelter – there is no sanctuary, and your chances of surviving are at an all-time low!

 

Types Of Shelters

There’s a wide range of different shelters you can build, each have their pros and cons. I will list the commonly-made 1 person shelters below and let you decide which one will suit you.

 

Leaf Hut

leaft hut

The leaf hut is designed for great waterproofing and insulating quality and is more than enough to keep you safe from the weather and temperature changes.

  • Choose a 9 – 12 ft log
  • Lean the bottom end up against a tree, rock or stump
  • Fork the front of the log with branches to hold it up
  • Place tree branches up against the side of the shelter, acting as ribs (on an angle)
  • Put the tree branches fairly close to avoid your insulation (leaves) from falling through
  • Add 3 feet of insulation, such as grass, ferns, leaves, brush
  • Create your bedding with more vegetation, preferably clean ferns, leaves or brush – 8 inches high

It’s best to keep this shelter as small as possible, but enough room to move around. This shelter will hold in heat very well, and can still be heated by a fire at the entrance if you choose to have one.

 

The Lean-To

lean-to shelter

Not something I recommend but if you’re pushing for time, this might be your only choice. It’s a perfect choice if you want something quick and easy.

IMO, it’s good for temporary shelter and that’s it. It will protect you, but in the off-chance that the wind changes direction, you’ll no longer be sheltered, and it’s not that good for holding in heat.

  • Secure a long, strong pole between two trees
  • Cover one side with tree branches, acting as ribs much like the shelter above
  • Jam as much vegetation as possible on top of the shelter, maximizing your protection to stop rain from leaking inside

One upside to this shelter, is that it reflects fire very well, if you can get a fire burning near your shelter it will heat you up and keep you warm.

 

Wiki Up Shelter

teepee enclosed shelter

This shelter is more of a long-term sanctuary, HOWEVER if you have enough time on your hands this can be put up within 3 hours if you take action and get to work asap.

Your rewards will be doubled, by providing you enough room to sleep and more room to have a fire blazing away.

This type of shelter is sturdy, comfortable, homey, weatherproof and has enough potential to become your sanctuary! Which is what you need if you’re out in the wilderness trying to survive day-by-day.

  • Tilt three solid logs in a tripod shape, tie them up in at the top using either piece of string, rope or vines if you don’t have any of those
  • However if you can find a log with a Y shape, this can eliminate the need for cordage by tilting the other logs up against the fork
  • Now that you have the structure up, it’s time duplicate what you just did by adding more branches against the wedges, until you have covered the entire tripod, leave them close enough so your foliage won’t fall through. Leave an opening area to get in and out, and also a vent at the top for smoke to get out
  • Add your foliage around the wiki up shelter to create a thick wall allowing you to keep well-insulated no matter what the whether is

The finished reward

wiki up shelter

Note: You don’t have to create your wiki up shelter this big, this is just a good example of what you can build using this method 🙂

 

What Is The Ideal Shelter?

Since it’s most likely to be yourself surviving in the wild, I would recommend you choose a shelter that won’t take too much time and energy to set up. You’re on maximum calorie-saving mode, so spending more energy than you have to is going to make your situation even worse.

Of course it’s completely up to you.

A good rule of thumb to follow:

Lean-To – Your best shelter to make if it’s heading into nighttime and you’re pressed for time

A-frame leaf hut – A great shelter to use if it’s the afternoon and if you still have enough time to spare

Wiki Up – A more long term shelter, however if you can get this bad boy up fast enough, the rewards are huge! Can take 3 hours, maybe more if you’re still a beginner.

 

What Do I Typically Like The Most?

I’m more interested in long-term shelters, which will keep me sane the entire time I’m lost and give me a home to come back to every night or when it’s time to get some shelter from the rain.

My preferred choice is the Leaf Hut, OR Wiki Up shelter if I have enough time.

 

Important Notes To Remember

Of course there’s hundreds of different survival shelters that you can try. Above, I have put together a basic outline which you should first follow and try for yourself – try out the waters before you decide to build a bigger and more advanced shelter.

Master what I have prepared for you in this article, when you can get these built fairly quickly and by yourself then I encourage you to try harder and more stable shelters.

 

Conclusion

If you want to survive in the wild, alone and without any equipment, your first line of defense against the environment IS a shelter.

With no shelter, your odds of surviving have virtually diminished which is why it is important to make your first task (shelter building) a #1 priority.

Learn the basics and your chances of surviving in the great outdoors will improve drastically.

If you enjoyed this article please leave a comment below.

IMG SRC: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

3 thoughts on “How To Build A Shelter – Is It Necessary For Survival?”

  1. Sam says:
    September 16, 2016 at 1:54 am

    Great Article Brandon,

    I used to camp quiet often when I was younger but don’t have time to anymore and I miss it. I watch Bear Grylls all the time to make up for it 🙂 The shelter I like most is the Leaf hut as long as it’s not too windy out 🙂

    Reply
    1. Brandon says:
      September 16, 2016 at 8:38 am

      Hi Sam, that is my favorite shelter as well. It’s nice and warm, not to mention cozy. But what I really like about it, it’s totally camouflaged, especially in the night time. So if you are someone that gets paranoid this one might be for you.

      Cheers,
      Brandon

      Reply
  2. Clint Jivoin says:
    August 21, 2020 at 2:38 am

    im the guy who actually built and lived in this wiki up during the winter of 2014-2015 in southeastern Indiana. thanks for the credit

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Where Can You See Beautiful Fall Foliage While Hiking On The East Coast?
  • Backyard Family Camping – The Ultimate Guide
  • The Ultimate Guide to Tentsile Tree Tents
  • The Ultimate Family Camping List
  • Super Sparrow Water Bottle Review
  • 5 Awesome Water Bottles to Take Outdoors
  • Hydro Flask 32oz. Wide Mouth Review
  • Nalgene 32oz Wide Mouth Water Bottle Review
  • Platypus Platy 2.0L Flexible Water Bottle Review
  • Klean Kanteen 20oz. Insulated Classic Review

Categories

  • 1 Person
  • 10 Person
  • 12 Person
  • 2 Person
  • 3 Person
  • 4 Person
  • 5 Person
  • 6 Person
  • 8 Person
  • 9 Person
  • Backpacks
  • Beginners
  • Boots
  • Camping Hammocks
  • Camping On A Budget
  • Family Camping
  • Gear
  • General Camping
  • Getting Started
  • Hacks
  • Hiking
  • Knives
  • Meals
  • Men
  • RV Camping
  • Sleeping Bags
  • Solo Camping
  • Survival
  • Tent Camping
  • Tents
  • Tips
  • Tips and Tricks
  • Uncategorized
  • Water Bottles
  • Winter Camping
  • Women

Archives

  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016

About Camping Mastery

Contact
About Me
Privacy Policy

Logo

Travel graphic by Freepik from Flaticon
is licensed under CC BY 3.0. Made with Logo Maker

Affiliate Disclosure

campingmastery.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

©2025 Camping Mastery | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb