14 best survival shelters
When we think about surviving an emergency situation, water and food are often the first thoughts that enter our minds. Hopefully, you’ve already taken care of stockpiling both to help you and your family get through a crisis that could last anywhere between several hours and a few months.
But if you think about it, a healthy human being can survive for several weeks without food and a few days without water. What you may not be able to survive for more than a few hours are the elements. You may find yourself in a situation where you need immediate shelter from extreme heat or cold, wind, rain, snow or enemy observation. It’s important to know, in advance, how to construct shelters with little more than a poncho, canvas or parachute, some poles and rope.
I’ve managed to track down a U.S. Army Survival Manual. If you check out pages 38-52, you’ll find instructions on how to build a variety of survival shelters. Depending on how much material you have, what your surroundings are and from what you are trying to protect yourself, one of these shelters could be right for you and your situation.
Here is a list of the 14 Best Survival Shelters that you can build:
- Poncho Lean-To — Make sure the back of the lean-to is into the wind
- Poncho Tent — Provides a low silhouette
- Three-Pole Parachute Tepee — Provides protection and can act as a signaling device
- One-Pole Parachute Tepee — When you only have one pole to work with
- No Pole Parachute Tepee — You’ll need a tree for this
- One-Man Shelter — Requires a tree and three poles
- Parachute Hammock — Three trees would make it more stable than two
- Field-Expedient Lean-To — Takes longer, but provides good protection against the elements
- Swamp Bed — Ideal when in a swamp or marsh
- Natural Shelters — Look for caves, rocky crevices, clumps of bushes, etc.
- Debris Hut — One of the best shelters for warmth and ease of construction
- Tree-Pit Snow Shelter — Need a digging tool
- Beach Shade Shelter — Protects against the sun, wind, rain and heat
- Desert Shelter — Use a poncho, canvas or parachute, along with terrain features.
Let me know if any of these shelters have worked well for you. And please feel free to share information about other shelters with which you’ve had good success.
I’m 70 years old. A woman with bad feet and on about 10 medications. I guess I will stay in my house until I’m slaughtered. I have no hiding place. I think seniors don’t have a chance unless the LOrd returns. I have stocked some food but won’t last long. If someone breaks in and steals my food well then its over. The bible says those who try and save their lives will lose it.
Hi joanna email me at [email protected] so we can chat I may have some suggestions for you. Samantha
People are purchasing shipping containers and burying them where they can be reached quickly in case of SHTF.
Plenty of room and cheap.
Call me stupid . But what is a dakota fire never heard of it ? anyone !
Go to Youtube and look up Dakota Fire Pit. There are many videos that show you how to build one. They’re very simple to make.
Tarps are OK in a pinch. If you really want protection from the elements buy a small tent and pack it in your B.O.B. Tents can be closed off & have a floor so you’re not lying on dirt. More importantly they are contained & give you more psychological comfort than a tarp. It’s like having a portable room rather that an umbrella.
Can anyone confirm this?
It’s frightening when the leader of your country is potentially preparing for the end of the world. And that’s exactly the message that President Barack Obama just sent to American citizens with this recent purchase.
You need to hear what Obama’s latest large purchase was. You’ll be shocked.
SEE ALSO: Stores Cannot Keep This Barack Obama Toilet Paper in Stock
Obama recently purchased emergency preparedness and survival kits, which seems very strange and suspicious. What’s even more alarming is who he purchased these kits for: every major bank in the United States.
It seems strange that he purchased these kits for banks, but not for Homeland Security, the FBI, FEMA, or any other relevant organizations that could benefit from these kits in the case of an extreme emergency.
You might be wondering what exactly these kits contain. Here is a list of what they reportedly consist of:
2400-calorie food bar (minimum 5-year shelf life)
3-pack 8.5 oz. water (minimum 5-year shelf life)
50 water purification tablets (minimum 5-year shelf life)
Reusable solar blanket 52” x 84”
Dust mask
One-size fits all poncho with hood
12 hr. light stick
1 pair of latex gloves
Whistle with lanyard
33 piece personal first aid kit
5 Wet Naps
Dynamo rechargeable lantern with AM/FM radio
Air-Aid emergency mask
Just as a precaution, there is a tagged tracking program attached to this site that some may be interested in. I am not sure where it leads, however, it is being tracked. With that said, I have introduced myself on other blog issues and discussions. I am a 15 year Veteran of the U.S. Army. This discussion leads again to equipment. One of the best things that every soldier was issued is a poncho. In the past, the U.S. Military used to issue a shelter half, now it is a poncho. As Frank has stated, it is the most versatile, as you are capable of utilizing it as a shelter, a cover, or just protection during movement. I am not talking about the civilian bright orange or solid colored poncho, I am speaking of the U.S. Military poncho. The other versions will work, however, the rip stop nylon ponchos that are issued are much more durable and muted to provide camouflage as well. The last thing anyone wants is to draw attention to their camp or provide others with a signal of “Here I am.” Even if you are able to locate a cave, mine shaft or natural protection from the elements, being in the open with multiple escape routes is more sound advice in a survival situation. Not everyone has a parachute lying around and packing it around is bulky and long distance portability is a pain.
Your best plan is to scout an area most likely that you would retreat to, that is isolated, get to know the area, just as a hunter knows the terrain that he frequents often. Also have a plan B and C as well. In the Northwest, you will find some of the most durable survivalists around. Their secret is stashing supplies and equipment in areas that they are familiar with, for just this type of occasion. If you are confident that you can do this, it is and will be your best bet. However, if not, you have to carry it with you. Again, get training from someone that can teach you, and again, become a better tactician and survivalist to increase your survivability rate and practice, practice, practice. As most know, the arm chair survivalist wouldn’t last in most any situations any longer than 3 days. If you plan to stay in place, be prepared to defend you stores and make yourself a “Hard Target.” Either way, it comes down to equipment, training and planning. Take Frank’s advice, sit up, pay attention get training and practice your craft, if you truly want to be able to survive, even if it is for a couple of days.
FYI It’s MY tracker, Daniel. *I* want to monitor who comes to my house.
Ever read your Boyscout manual? I’ll put what I learned in Boyscouts 1967-1971 against anything. Why, because it works and has never failed me.Have great day.
Well, so lucky for you…..BSA…but guess what, not Everyone is a BS, so why would we read a mag we don’t have, you don’t want the manual…then Don’t read it.
Thank you for all of the options for survival shelters. I enjoyed the read. I try to keep a tarp with me. However some of the natural shelters will allow me to use the tarp for other purposes, Thank you again keep up the great work
If I am using a poncho or tarp, I always bring marbles or a few rocks to use to tie up my tarp. Push in from the back and tie around the tarp with the marble inside. This is easy and prevents cutting holes in the material.
BRILLIANT, thank you very kindly! I guess any small object may work in a pinch, but a few small ricks can be found (just about) anywhere.
Check out Tom Brown’s Field Guide Series, especially Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children. It gives detailed instructions on how to build a debris hut, how to start a fire, where to get safe water, what to eat, etc. Best of all, he explains it in simple terms but in detail, so that even a child (or a totally civilization-dependent city slicker) has a good chance of success. He also has field guides on tracking, edible and medicinal plants, urban survival, etc. His autobiography, The Tracker, is a good read, and is a great way to get started.
Roberta, you are the only second person in my life I Knew that Knew about Tom Brown!!!!!!!
Great informative read regardless of the subject!!
Kudos for bringing it up!
TOM BROWN! I’ve read all his books. He used to do a survival school in Alva Fl, (east of ft. Myers) GREAT BOOKS!
Great read. I had fun reading this. It took me on a fun survival trip in my head. I love this stuff and love the challenge of beating the elements.
Stay prepared fellow Americans.
1st
If you haunt the garage sales like i do, you can find plenty of raw material — CHeAP — for survival & prepping in general. Tents & camping equipment always go cheap since a lot of families do it for a year or two, probably using it a dozen times or less, and then it gets stuck in the garage when the kids no longer want to do it. I once picked up an 8×12 tent, Coleman stove & lantern, a gallon of fuel, and our sleeping bags for about 60 bucks, hardly used.
Frank, a lot of good shelters were named, The poncho shelter I have used for years while in the military. I use bungee cords to help string it up. quicker then string/para-cord. good thing about the poncho hooch is that you can see 360 deg around you and still be covered from the elements, The nice part about bungee cords, they are easier to raise lower the shelter then tied string.
The Snow shelter under a tree is fantasy, it never works, the snow in the tree branches melt with a fire and now your rained on. there is not room to move lay down or even hide very well. It is better to make a real shelter from a poncho or lean too. I could go on having taught survival in the Army but we don’t have the room. here. Another day perhaps.
Yes, window wells are very expensive, but you can get culvert pretty cheep, and big ones too.
I plan on camping out in our WHITE HOUSE because after the SCHTF Obummer will
be gone. I hope he’s hanging from a near by tree or lamp post
Bad guys always seems to escape bummer. oh wait it is a pinata. lol
I’d like to see pics of each type.
if you go to yahoo or google type in survival shelter and the show some good images of survival shelters
okay ill check it out to see if they have any good ideas
thanks….keep me clued in ,,,,,white.dog
I am living in tornado ally. How about do-it-yourself storm shelter. Might come in handy.
Depending upon how much work/fabrication you want to do v. how much money you can spend, there are many types of shelters you can diy. about the cheapest you can do that can withstand a direct tornado contact is a hole in the ground with a corrugated/galvanized metal storm/road drainage pipe about 4′ in diameter and eight feet high with a metal cap/door that you can bolt from inside. Back filled and Leveled off at the top to grade. The hole can be dug by hand over time or in about 15 minutes with a back hoe. 4′ diameter by 8′ tall can squeeze two people sitting down at the bottom, Of course if you want to spend more you can get larger diameter if you need more room. An eight foot in diameter one can actually be laid sideways in a hole, the sides blocked up, and backfilled with a couple feet of dirt over it after you fabricate an entrance hatch, and you have a very sturdy shelter for any problems. I’ve also seen a person take the metal window culverts they put around basement windows at ground level grade used. The are C or squared U shaped and the large ones, when bolted back to back, have about a 4′ by 7′ inside space, which means you sleep in it, and they are about 4′ high and you can stack them and bolt them for the desired height. 3 stacks should do it.
As i said there are many ways to do it, even poured concrete in insulated block forms. But the window wells, for instance, are almost a hundred bucks each at home depot or Menards last time i checked, and concrete is outrageously expensive now, so the least expensive might be the drainage culvert tube. They deliver it for you but it could probably fit in a full size pick up. Remember to consider rain and drain off. You have to leave the top sticking up out of grade a few inches and level for run off. You can just have a couple inches of gravel on the bottom or concrete or a piece of plywood,, and the ladder can be like a deer stand one bolted flush up against the inside wall, or half inch threaded rods bent squared U shape, about six inches of step length bolted through the metal.
Use a car hood.
I have seen photos of old school busses buried with just the door exposed that were used as storm shelters. Some had the front clip removed (from the front bumper back to the firewall). and some did not.
I have also read about using a new and unused septic tank as a storm shelter/root cellar after cutting an opening and fitting a door to it.
I downloaded a copy of the army survival manual and marine corps winter survival manual as apps to my Android Smart phone.
That will only help on the first day unless you memorize it.. cell battery’s die quickly… Unless you have a 5 volt solar film roll to go with your emergency GOBAG
Many people think they have to have a huge fire for warmth & cooking. If you don’t want to be detected, use a “tea cup” fire – less smoke, less light. This also conserves your fuel. The quickest shelter in an evergreen forest is to crawl underneath the ground hugging boughs. In summer this protects from rain & in winter the snow covering the tree make a very warm shelter & the needles a snug nest. The fallen leaves in a decidious forest can be piled up, wriggle into the middle of them & get cold protection. KISS [keep it simple stupid] is the best 1st response in most emergencies.
Dakota fire is a good fire also for low detection
Stephen, it’s nice to hear someone refer to the Dakota fire. I grew up in Montana among the Lakota and Cheyenne and learned most of my survival skills from them.
How do I take my exciting photovoltaic system off the grid?
Today, if power provider company is down, so is my Pv system.
Research Automatic Transfer Switches the company ASCO is a good switch and yes I am an industrial electrician
I know someone who made an underground shelter like John Austin describes. It’s very sturdy and warm, but won’t work for me, due to a high water table. The Debris Hut and Field-Expedient Lean-To both look interesting, or maybe some hybrid of the two. The others all seem too flimsy for adequate protection from the weather. I wouldn’t want to be trying to build one of these shelters in the freezing weather and snow, but it looks like a good project for the spring and summer months. I am somewhat concerned about a possible cave-in though, due to inadequate reinforcement or shifting materials.
We make survival shelters regularly when I teach wilderness survival in my boy scout troop. My scouts have stayed several nights in these shelters in the dead of winter ,snug and warm. They are made out of debris limbs grass and leaves. Get the merit badge book it is very informative and you might want to look at the pioneering one.
I just finished reading Chapter 5 on Shelters and found the ideal project for my teenage grandchildren to keep them occupied this Summer. I am going to assemble a pile of Bamboo poles that we can cut down from my Son’s back yard and use as the support poles.
I will purchase various sized light weight (square and rectangular) vinyl tarps from the discount store. I’ll select varying sizes and styles of rope and then have each one or set up a two person team and have them set up a shelter of their choosing. I’ll throw in a few plastic poncho’s as well.
I have several of those inexpensive lightweight car windshield sunscreens, that when duck taped together, will make a “floor mat” for the tents. These come folded right out of the package and can be packed in a backpack and the take up very little room and are lightweight to boot.
All of these items could be stored out of way in the trunk of a car or van. Hey! you never know!!!
I have a pole barn and its all metal .How can i make that a farday cage. do i have to groune the metal with copper 8 foot rodes . or can it be done. please help. thanks
In different parts of US and Mexico, some of the ancient civilizations dug holes in the ground perhaps 10-12 feet in diameter. They then constructed a roof by putting poles over the opening. In the winter, they built a small fire in the bottom for cooking and staying warm.
It sounds like the carbon monoxide from the fire would
kill anyone in the hole unless you had air intake and a
method of venting the carbon monoxide such as a
chimney. Also, a fire would be using up the oxygen.
I have seen it used several times. It seems to work well. You are able to keep the fire small and most shelters that use indoor fires usually have a hole in the top of the shelter and the entrance is open to help keep air flow to feed the fire and let the smoke and carbon monoxide to escape.
Called a Kiva
As a Hunter education instructor of 25 plus years we took a group of students into the woods at a 4-h camp to do a variety of improvised survival shelters & constructed from on hand items,& brush some serviceable & potentially livable ,survival shelters with plenty of enthusiasm, & injinuity. this was a lesson to the students on how easy ,& plentiful are the things to use on hand to construct a shelter with! ease & survival practicality! would like to purchase a copy of the U,S. Army survival manual to augment the N,H. fish & game Dept.’s survival course info, Ray Narushof
When I was a kid back in the midwest I used to go hunting in the woods along the river summer and winter. Durring the winter, I would be out all day and used to make my shelters of branches and wild grass then cover them with snow. Then build a small fire outside the entrence, they worked out quite well for a 14 /15 year old kid and I loved it.
One more comment…
Try to obtain copies of the ’60’s and -70’s Boy Scout Field books….they will have much more practical, usable and time-tested plans for quick shelters than the military ever thought of….and they will be for OUR climate(s) and terrain(s). Also, much easier to apply for non-military types.
Thanks Rambu. I mentioned that too. But someone got sarcastic with me. I still have mine from the 60’s.
A snow “igloo” is called a “Quinzee”, and practice is really a must before trusting your life to one. I know(personally) a scoutmaster who lost his life to suffocation in a snow cave that was too hastily constructed. ALSO – a hole in the roof should NEVER be attempted in a snow shelter; a fire inside will melt the roof, precipitating the cave-in already mentioned. The hole should ONLY be cut in an ICE igloo. This is from an adult scouter with over 40 years of back-country and winter survival experience.
All winter cooking should be done OUTSIDE in a lean-to type shelter with plenty of ventilation and limited to zero cave-in or avalanche danger.
BTW- A 12’x12′ piece of clear or black contractor’s visqueen or construction plastic will serve as well as any pre-purchased tent in a survival or emergency situation, and takes up less room for less weight than a tarp.
“A man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with an idea”.
I should suggest snow shelters dug into the side of hillsides and snow igloos since most of northern America has winter and snow. With Igloo shelter, snow has to be hard and leave a hole on top for a small fire. Digging into a snowy hill is an emergency shelter used many times with people lost in the mountains with unexpected snow storms, to save their lives.
99% of people don’t have a parachute. I used to have the 1950’s army survival guide book. I suggest always having a tarp on hand.Better yet, buy a small tent and have it handy in the car.