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SHTF deep wood long term shelter

23K views 38 replies 26 participants last post by  Eirinn 
#1 ·
Hey all got a couple questions. Now lets say you have done alittle prepping for an emergency SHTF where most people you meet will want to kill you and take you stuff. You get away with the minimal supplies for a long term (+10years) hide from any and everyone lifestyle in the deep woods with a full blown winter. Think NW Ontario, Canada, and be at least 30miles from any known road or "old" civilization.

Supplies you manged to gather for your shelter:

- 1000 sq tarp, try to get black.
- 400 sq 6mm clear plastic
- 1000ft coated tire wire
- 1000ft thin strong nylon rope
- small pail of screws/nails all different sizes
- pail of mortar/cement mix (help stabilize fireplace)

Basic hand tools:

- claw hammer steel shaft
- hatchet
- long arm axe
- hand drill
- anything else small


Now with those few building supplies and endless trees to fell and use as you wish. You are living alone or with 1 other person.

1. How big a forever shelter would you build? and what type?
2. How close to fresh water source?
3. Are there any key items do you think Im missing?
 
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#4 ·
I wish you the best of luck> I have lived in my home of 30+ years up here in the cascade mts of washington state. We measure snow in feet not inches, winter starts in oct and ends in may But still snow above 4000 ft until august. Temps get down into the single digits at night ponds and streams freeze solid. BEST you go and either find a cabin for sale that you can prep the way you want. You wont make it thru a winter with tarps and plastic in the mountains. Im 62 and worked in the woods most of my life so i know what its like up here.
 
#36 ·
I'm going to try and build a shelter,start a fire, while soaking wet,with nothing but the contents of my pack and spend the night to see what it's like. I got the idea from a survival blog.
I'll wait at least until spring, and I'll do it in my backyard. Most here would say my backyard is the forest. In fact it backs up to the Manistee National Forest.
I don't plan to shoot any game for food, since I haven't seen many deer
Anyone planning on bugging out into the wildnerness will have to deal with Jim and Me besides the weather, bugs and critters:thumb:
 
#5 ·
I wouldn’t do the tarp. Perhaps a couple of smaller ones to cover the huge wood pile you’ll need to have enough heat in the winter.

I’d keep the clear plastic, but only much heavier and coated to protect against UV (for windows, I’m thinking. Very small windows.)

Not sure what tire wire is. If it can be used for securing items it should work well

I’d have a little less rope, but larger size + the block & tackle listed below

I wouldn’t count on using many screws without a set of screwdrivers. Pegs would work for most fastening.

I wouldn’t worry about duct tape. Good as it is, 10 years will have it rotted.

I’d change and add a couple of tool items.

Double bit axe (for tree felling and trimming)
Roofing hammer with sharp blade (use as hammer and finer trim work than the axe)
Shovel (for digging, obviously)
Large dual edge (rip/crosscut) hand saw(for forming boards and trimming logs)
Set of wood chisels (for small work)
Wood rasp (wood rasp for final fitting of furniture, etc.)
Brace with set of drill bits and core bits for making pegs)
Block & Tackle (to handle the logs)
8” file (for sharping the axe, roofing hammer, and shovel)

Would make a couple of mallets from local materials to use with the chisels rather than use the roofing hammer, and to drive pegs. Would make a couple of log ladders to make building easier and safer.

I’d build a one room blockhouse type structure, perhaps 14’ x 14’ x 8’ tall on the sides, tapered up to at least 12' on the ends, by digging a trench and standing the logs vertically (hence the block & tackle), Small logs to cover the gap between the bigger ones in lieu of caulking. Add a ridge pole to the top of the tapered ends, and lay logs from the ridge pole to the lower sides.

I’d dig sod, if available to cover the roof, thatch it if appropriate materials are available.

I’d want close to a water source, but not right on it. At least 20 or 30 feet away. And the latrine should be on the downhill side of the stream.

Not sure what all you’ll have in the way of other preps. I was just doing the basic cabin idea.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
 
#6 ·
I would make a log type structure as well. Except the peak would be at 6 foot and the sides at 3.5 to 4 feet. With 8 feet by 10 feet dimensions, with a door on the gable end. A dugouts of sorts if feasible. A typical trappers smokehole. Sorta kinda like the rat river trappers cabin.

a long handled shovel would be nice to have.
 
#8 ·
I like Jerry's list of tools. I think I'd go ahead and have the duct tape. It may not last 10 years, but if something breaks in the middle of the night, or starts leaking in the middle of a storm, etc, duct tape might help until better repairs can be made.

I would also add a plane to the list of hand tools.

Az
 
#9 ·
If you're going to carry all that stuff. make your life a little easier, and bring a saw too.. I noticed nobody mentioned a saw.. Plus I'd just build a little 10X12 cabin, you've got lots of stuff for roofing material. spend about 30 days in a tent, and work your butt off for 30 days, and you can have a nice cabin built.
 
#10 ·
I almost like the cave Idea. My idea would depend on if there were lose rocks that could be moved into place. Build a cabin like above then find rocks or earth and start building it on the side that alot of the cold wind is coming from. The rocks would defelect alot of the cold. Also if you put stones more indward in the fireplace or make a floor of rocks it would keep you off the ground and also maintain heat from the fireplace. Just brainstorming.
 
#11 ·
I would plan on having a log style cabin, and useing the tarp as waterproofing and to help seal any drafts, less drafts less heat-loss. I wouldnt use the tarps as my main shelter that wouldnt keep in any heat.

What kinda door would you put in if you didnt remember to bring any hinges?
 
#12 ·
when i lived in the bush i dug a "root cellar" sort of ,,,it was a log cabin built under ground,,the hole was 12 x12 ,,inside was a little over 11x11 i lined the outside with plastic,,,cover the roof with logs about 7 inches ,,,it had a center beam that i could walk under easy ,,once logs were covering the top i coverd it with plastic too,,,the backfilled everything and sloped dirt away from the buildin ,,,had about a foot an half of dirt over the middle,,,even in the dead of winter it stayed above freezing in there,,im sure that a small stove would heat it easy [or fireplace],,,do the work on the shelter or spend the rest of your life fighting to keep warm cutting wood to heat something else,,if you dont have hinges i would use leather to make some or hang hides over a small crawl into entrance
 
#16 ·
If you have a site that is well drained, you could do a form of half sod house.

Dig down a half basement then build up with logs and cover the roof with dirt and sod.

I found a picture of a similar house from the Depression era - from New Mexico.

Sorry the link is a long list of color pix, the one I mention is #21. There is an inside pic of a similar one, it is # 17. They clad the walls with rough sawn timber.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/2363/
 
#30 ·
Sorry the link is a long list of color pix, the one I mention is #21. There is an inside pic of a similar one, it is # 17. They clad the walls with rough sawn timber.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/2363/
Interesting to note that there is not one single fat person in any of those pictures.

I did see one Rosie Riveter who would qualify as plump.

Compare that to today.

We now return you to the original thread. :)
 
#21 ·
Ok so...

1st of all. you better find a way to entertain yourself for a decade of solitude. Otherwise you may as well suck on a bullet.

People never spend enough time planning what they will be DOING.

If you dont have a way to generate lots of power for your laptops or ipads, then I highly recommend BOOKS.

If you dont keep your mind busy you are ****ed.

People are DOERS, they have to have something to DO.

Personally, I'd build a very small footprint above ground and a much larger footprint UNDERGROUND.

if they DO find you in a much larger facility above ground they will either burn you out of it or shoot you out of it and take it over themselves.

Much tougher to do underground.

I'd recommend Mike Oehlers underground house books if you, like I, share a less apocalyptic version of reality.

The worst thing you could have during a real SHTF issue is WINDOWS.

But if you are a 30 mile hike from a main road in any direction you had better be an awesome field medic and have plenty of pain meds.

My rule of thumb is that you don't survive without civilization... you take civilization WITH YOU.

Log
 
#24 ·
Wilderness Bushman has the right idea, dig down first as far as you can, even if it is only two feet, and then build up from there. The ground temperature is the average year round temperature, and the ground will stop all drafts.
Food is the big problem, game is scarce in NW Canada. I would consider staying in nothern U.S., somewhere with some winter, but lots of deer or elk.
Learn to hunt with a bow, and hide out in plain site, 10 miles in from lots of bush/logging roads is plenty of area to hide in.
Terry
 
#26 ·
On the subject of a saw, get yourself one of those with the big teeth like they use for timber framing. Small toothed saws will clog up on large logs and green wood making life a bear. Also take with you a small triangular metal file so you can sharpen the saw. A book on how to sharpen your tools would also be a good read.
 
#27 ·
Personally, I would build a Celtic-style roundhouse set into the ground and insulated with cob. It would be nearly invisible until you were on top of it... literally, and it would take a fraction of the wood to heat in the winter.

This isn't exactly what I mean, but something like this...


Or this...


Or this...
 
#28 ·
i would use the tarps as temporary shelter until my main was finished



prol be my first structure that i could if i had to make it through the winter and would be quickly build able for quick shelter while I engage in larger longer lasting building
 
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#29 ·
My Cherokee ancesters built a small log room with a fireplace in front of a cave about 4 miles from the farm that I grew up on. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Also had a small shed roof room on the side for the barn. My father remember being there sometime between 1910-1915. Grandfather was born in 1876. The hollow is called Indian Springs today. Pops
 
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