How to Build an Outdoor Shelter Hut
When you are faced with a survival situation, there are a few absolutely necessary skills you must have to survive. That list of skills includes water and food gathering, first aid, fire craft and the ability to create a shelter. One of the most primitive shelters is the basic hut. Crafted of materials collected from your surroundings, the hut will keep you safe and dry in the wild landscape of your long-term survival situation. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Large survival knife or machete
- Wooded area with a water source
- Baling twine
- Bucket
Instructions
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Explore the wooded area to look for hazards, building materials and a suitable location for your hut. Collect dead wood from around the building location and stack it into piles according to size to use for firewood later.
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2
Chop down 12 green trees that are at least two feet taller than you and as big around as your wrist. Cut away any branches from your small trees with the machete. Set the leafy branches aside for use later in the construction.
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3
Lay out four of the small trees into a square on the ground. Overlap the ends to make a square that is a little longer than you are tall. Wrap the junctures of the ends of the trees with a few layers of twine and tie them securely.
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4
Cut a section of one of the green branches to get a stick about as long as your forearm. Sharpen one end of the stick and stab it into the ground to loosen the soil just inside of each corner of your square construction. Loosen the dirt with the digging stick and scoop it out with your hand. Make each hole as long as the digging stick.
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5
Slide one of your trees into the first hole, pack dirt back around the upright pole and tie it to the square on the ground with twine. Stand and bury a tree into the hole at each corner of the square. Pack the dirt back into each post hole, and tie each firmly to your foundation square.
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6
Tie one of your four remaining trees in a horizontal position between two of the upright poles about a foot above your head. Tie another tree on the opposite side of the structure about a head lower than the first. Tie the final two into place so that they slope between the first and second crossbars. Wrap and tie these four trees to each other and to the uprights to firmly secure the structure.
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Gather long grasses and green branches and put them with the green branches you have placed aside. Form bundles about the size of your torso and tie them together. Build these bundles and stack them around your structure to form the walls. Leave a gap for your entry in the middle of the tallest wall. Tie each bundle to the one below and above it as well as to the frame if it is touching the bundle. Stack and tie in the bundles to the top of each wall. Overlap the layers of bundles to lock them into place.
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Lay loose branches across the top of the frame. Overlap the branches to form a thick mat to make the roof. Throw the twine across the top of the roof and tie off the ends in several places to secure the branches to the roof. Gather water with your bucket and mix it with dirt to make mud. Throw mud onto the walls and roof to seal the structure. Replace the mud as necessary to secure the hut while you need to use it.
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References
- Photo Credit hut in the jungle image by Maciej Zatonski from Fotolia.com
