Vital Elements of Makeshift Shelters

September 3, 2008 | By admin In Shelter |

If you’re out hiking and get caught by a thunderstorm or even get lost, then the knowledge of how to create makeshift shelters should certainly come in handy. The most basic information that you need is what you need for a makeshift shelter. Here are the three most vital elements of a shelter:

1) Cover – this is the most vital part of any makeshift shelter. You need to find a cover that’ll protect you from the elements. It would actually be a lot better if you can get something like a plastic sheet in order to serve as a cover for your helter, but if you can’t find something like that, you should try to gather some branches and some leaves. Just make sure that you won’t get wet. Otherwise, you might just want to look for a natural shelter like a cave.

2) Support – unless you plan on using the cover like a blanket, you should try to get your hands on some sort of support. Considering it’s a makeshift shelter, you might have to be resourceful and look around you for anything resembling a support pole.

Look for long and strong branches that can hold the roof and keep the tent shelter together. Make sure that the support poles aren’t easily snapped and that they can actually hold the weight of the cover.

3) Bindings – you’ll need a bit of rope in order to assemble the whole shelter together. Every hiker is advised to always be prepared with rope and building a makeshift shelter is only one of the reasons why.

If you don’t have a bit of rope, you should look for some vines that you can use or you can try to tear off bits of cloth from what you are wearing. When used properly, you wouldn’t really need a lot of bindings to put your shelter together.

Knowing these three components will enable you to think clearly and look around you to see how you can build a makeshift shelter during an emergency. Just make sure to think outside the box and use every resource at your disposal.