How to Build a Lean-to

This easy-to-build shelter will help you stay warm and dry in the wilderness.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 14-function Pocketknives

1. Select a good spot to build your lean-to. Build in a fringe area, neither in the center of a field nor a dense thicket, but somewhere between these areas. Choose an area at least 50 yards from a body of water, as evaporating water tends to add extra chill to the air.
2. Find a fallen tree or a large, long rock to build your lean-to against. You can also tie a branch horizontally between two trees a few feet off the ground. There are hundreds of variables to making a lean-to; the important thing is that you have a sturdy brace to lean your structure against.
3. Lean stout sticks along the horizontal brace of your lean-to. Crawl beneath them to make sure there is enough room to sleep under. There shouldn't be too much extra room, but it should be long enough to cover you completely.
4. Pile smaller branches and twigs on top of your stout branches, leaving only an opening at either end exposed.
5. Pile all manner of debris - moss, leaves, pine needles, dried fern or whatever nature makes available - on top of your structure.

Tips & Warnings

• The more brush and debris you pile on your lean-to, the more insulated it will be inside.
• Obviously you want to be very careful with fire around your lean-to. Dry brush is very flammable.
• Make your lean-to recognizable from the outside, so someone looking for you will not pass it by. Lean-tos tend to blend in with surroundings.