Getting lost in the forest is easy, even if you have been there many times. If you have no idea how to go back, and the sun has long passed over the zenith, then the surest thing is to set up camp. For the most protected and safe overnight stay in the forest, build a temporary shelter, it will make you invisible to forest dwellers, shelter you from rain and wind.

If you break such a shelter in an open area, equipping it with signal signs, then from the air it will be much easier for rescuers to notice him than a lonely standing person.

Location selection:

• When choosing a place for your shelter, try to avoid river banks, low-lying banks near water, dry river beds, and other places where your shelter is likely to flood when the water level rises due to rain. Any lowland is a place of accumulation of cold air currents, camping in such a place is a bad idea.
• In order to avoid trouble during a thunderstorm, you should also avoid high places, such as the tops of mountains and hills. On them, in addition, your shelter will be exposed to strong winds.
• Don't camp near animal trails - you'll get in each other's way. Try not to litter around the camp, this can also create a lot of problems with the locals. Store your things in a place inaccessible to animals, for example, by hanging them on a tree. Stay away from anthills and rotten or hollow tree trunks that can fall in windy conditions.
• Try to choose a place so that you have access to both water and firewood.

The choice of shelter also depends on the nature of the terrain:

• In the tundra and taiga, choose the most dry places away from swamps, preferably on rocky or sandy elevated soil.
• In the steppe, your task is to protect yourself from the wind, so choose places behind a hillock. If mosquitoes pester and the weather is hot, then you can choose an elevated place blown by the wind.
• In deserts and mountains, day and night temperatures vary greatly, so you need to provide protection from both heat and cold.

To save time and effort, you can use the features of the area as an aid in organizing shelter, for example, the trunk of a broken tree. Just be sure to check that the tree does not fall on you completely.

Here are some visual ways to make a very simple canopy:

• Unilateral:

• Bilateral:

• Inclined- its advantage is that such a canopy retains heat better and protects from the wind, while there is no need to build a third wall:

If you have an awning available or, then you can build a more reliable shelter. To maximize the windproof and heat-preserving qualities of the shelter, you can combine plant material and an awning.

More options for installing shelter using an awning:

You managed to make a roof over your head, but on what to sleep?

In no case do not lie down on the bare ground! You risk not only freezing, but also getting serious illness due to hypothermia.

Surely in the radius of your parking lot there is dry grass or moss, cattail stalks or sedges - these soft materials will serve as both a mattress and a blanket. For maximum distance from the cold soil, thin elastic branches can be applied under the soft layer. The more of them, the softer it will sleep.

Most importantly, remember that such a shelter is a way to save your life in extreme situations, breaking off branches and cutting bushes for fun is not a noble cause!

Take care of the forest, and one day it will help you out!

Imagine the situation, you are behind your group on a ski trip, you are lost. You do not have a tent, but only a sleeping bag and matches. Evening, blizzard. You need to do something to keep warm.

Or you deliberately went into the forest without taking a tent with you (I decided to save weight).

What do you need to know?

1. How to build a snow shelter (snow caves, igloos)
2. How to set up your bivouac
3. How to make a long burning fire
4. How to make a shelter from what is (booth, canopy, etc.)

So, the tourist got lost, wandered for a long time in search of a trail and decided to spend the night. How to arrange an overnight stay?

Overnight campfire

1.Choosing a place to sleep

• The bivouac must be protected from the wind (the slightest wind increases the frost)
• It is best to arrange an overnight stay in dense forest or a small hollow.
• Avoid glades, forest edges, hills (there is a strong wind)
• If the snow is not deep, then dig a place for a fire to the ground;
• Prepare more firewood (so as not to run and search at night) or, if you have an ax, fill up sushi(dry tree on the vine) thicker

How to identify a dry tree (dry land)

• knock on it with an ax, the tree makes a characteristic ringing noise
• the bark of such trees often peels off in pieces, wood is visible
• Pay attention to the top she is "naked"
• Do not use trees lying on the ground (snow), they, their wood is wet
• Do not use sushi without a top, as a rule such sushi is unsuitable

Harvesting firewood (how to fill up dry land)

• From the side where you will bring down the sushi, make a cut
• On the opposite side, about 15 cm above the first, a second cut or cut is made

• When the tree leans, rest against it with a stick (horn) and start swinging
• The tree must fall

Option for a large group and for singles (BALAGAN)

You can spend the night well in the forest, making a kind of "booth" a suitable place for the camp, the snow is raked to the ground. A snow rampart is poured around the cleared place in a semicircle, 2 long poles are prepared, which are stuck into the snow rampart; their tops are shifted crosswise and tied with twine.

Then, skis are stuck along the entire shaft, the ends of which rest on the cross of connected poles. After that, the whole structure is covered with blankets, and a kind of "wigwam" is obtained, open in front. Inside, the entire floor is covered with a thick layer of needles; if there are no needles, then a flooring is made of poles, which are stuck at the bottom of the snow shaft at some distance from the ground. Pine needles or flooring are covered with two blankets - and the "booth" is ready. Backpacks are brought inside and placed near the snow bank. In front of the "booth" on a piece of land cleared of snow, a long taiga fire is made of thick trunks of cedar, fir, resinous spruce, dead wood, etc. When a fire burns, it is very warm inside such a room, even in severe frosts. "Balagan" of the sizes indicated in the figure can accommodate 8 people. Of these, 6-7 people. sleep, covered with a blanket, 1-2 people. they are on duty, putting firewood on the fire. Settle down for the night in the "booth" should be feet to the fire. This method is good for both large groups and for one person.

"Balagan" (or rather, a barrier) can be made from sticks and covered with needles. In front of the barrier, a “nodya” is bred (if there are 2-3 people in the group), or a large fire of the taiga type.

When building "booths" should take into account the direction of the wind. It is forbidden, for example, to cut wood for a fire on the windward side of the bivouac, thus destroying the protection from the wind. To adjust the thermal regime in the "booth" of a simplified design, one side wall should be made of a blanket. By throwing the blanket back to a larger or smaller angle, you can use the maximum amount of heat from the fire.

The floor of the booth should be covered with spruce branches, if spruce branches are not available, make a flooring of logs. In order not to put your feet into the fire, a damp log is placed near the entrance (the supporting log is placed at a distance of 1-1.5 meters from the fire) and strengthened with stakes or stones so that it does not roll down

Fire bed (method controversial)

Industrialists of the Far East use the following method of lodging for the night in the taiga in winter. Having chosen a place protected from the wind, they rake the snow to the ground, clear a small area, build a large fire from thick resinous or dry trunks and warm up the ground for 2 hours (during this time, food is cooked, people have dinner). Then the ashes are leveled, and the industrialists, having spread the skin, settle down in this place for the night, covered with a blanket. Almost all night, the warmth of the slowly cooling earth warms the sleeping people. (I used this method, but only in the fall). He works in the fall, I don’t know about the winter

canopy reflector

First option:

stick sticks in a snowdrift and heat snow on them. The snow shaft will gradually begin to thaw and will look like a visor. It will be warm between the fire and this makeshift shed.

Second option:

Stick sticks into the snow at an angle of 50 or 60 degrees, hang a piece of polyethylene (raincoat, awning) or any other fabric on the sticks. Such a screen will reflect heat from the fire and the person will be warm both in front and behind

The disadvantage of the canopy is that you can’t fully relax near it, but you can in the booth.

However, it should be noted that these methods of lodging for the night are applicable only in wooded areas!!!

Snow caves, pits, snow huts

In a treeless area, having a sleeping bag, you can spend the night in a snow hole dug in a snow puff or in a place where there is a deep layer of more or less compacted snow. The opening of the pit is protected with snow bricks, a piece of tarpaulin, etc.. Such a snow hole can be dug for 1-2 people. For a group with a large number of participants, it is possible to dig out, if the density of the snow allows, a recess like a wolf pit, which is covered on top with skis and a piece of tarpaulin.

You can successfully spend the night in the mountains in snow cave, dug - in a snowdrift with dense snow or in slope of hard firn. The ceiling in the cave is made dome-shaped, then when the stove is ignited and the snow thaws, no water drips from the ceiling. If the depth of the snowdrift allows, it is advisable to make the entrance tunnel longer and a hole in the floor of the latter that communicates with the cave. With this design of the entrance, warm air accumulates in the cave, heated by the breath of people.

It is very warm to sleep in the snow cave, having a stove and sleeping bags. Such caves are often used by climbers during difficult ascents. With great success, snow caves were used for lodging and lodging during Wegener's polar expedition in Greenland.

General rules for building snow shelters and choosing a site for construction

• Do not dig a snow cave near a steep slope (snowy) an avalanche may come down
• Do not make shelter at the base of loose rocks, overhanging snow cornices
• You can not set up a bivouac near dry and rotten trees (the wind can knock them down)
• In a snow shelter, the warmer the higher the temperature outside (at zero, the shelter can “leak”) Protect the ceiling inside with polyethylene
• The smaller the volume inside the cave, the warmer it is (it is problematic to heat a large volume with breath)
• It is better to build a snow hole, a lair alone, while taking off your outer clothing

open shelter

1.Snow trench

Such a shelter is dug out of snow at least 1.5 meters deep. As a shovel, you can use skis, a bowl, a piece of plywood.

A very good shelter is obtained in ravines and hollows. In fact, it is just a slit-like pit one and a half or 2 meters deep and covered with cloth or polyethylene on top. The roof is made of tree trunks and branches or skis and sticks (if you are in a treeless zone). The roof can be sprinkled with snow on top (additional thermal insulation).

In the taiga, you can build a similar cave near the trunk of a fluffy spruce, cedar. Paws if they are a kind of roof. Clear the place of snow near the trunk in a circle. In such an impromptu hut, you can even build a small fire

2.Snow pit

This structure is very reminiscent of a hole. As a rule, it consists of a pit tunnel and the hole itself. The minimum thickness of the ceiling should be 20-30 cm. Otherwise, it may collapse. If the snow is loose, then a snow pit is almost impossible to build.

Closed shelters

1.Snow Cave

Snow cave digs on the slope. Remove excess clothing so that it does not get wet, fasten all cuffs, buttons, locks.

Classic snow cave

Algorithm for building a cave

1. First a hole is made
2. Breaking through a narrow tunnel
3. The end of the tunnel is expanded up to the size you need

Non-classical snow cave type 1

Non-classical snow cave type 2

2. Snow lair

The snow lair digs near windbreaks and blockages in the taiga, there are very large accumulations of snow. A snow lair is being dug, just like a cave.

Single snow hole

In cases of extreme necessity, the night can also be waited out in a single hole of small thickness. It is necessary to dig a hole in such a way that the dead end side is raised. In such a nome it will be less comfortable than in an ordinary hole, but warmer than on the street. The point is that the person who spends the night in it should be above the entrance level and be in an air cushion, the bottom is lined with a layer spruce branches or sticks.

If your feet are frostbitten or your shoes are lost, then you can spend the night in such a hole with your feet inside and cover your head with polyethylene or wrap it in a cloth.

solitary burrow

snow hut

50 cm long and 50-90 cm long. These snow "bricks" must be strong enough to support their own weight during carrying and laying on edge.

It is recommended to build a hut on a flat snowdrift with a depth of at least 1 m. With the help of 2 ski poles tied to the ends of the twine, a circle is drawn in the snow. The diameter of the circle depends on the number of inhabitants of the future hut and is established in each specific case by simple calculations. The first block is laid on edge, slightly trimming its inner edge with a knife so that the block leans inward (if a large snow hut is being built, the angle of inclination should be small, for a small hut a rather significant slope is required).

To the first block, close to one another, the rest of the blocks are laid along the line of the circle. Once the first tier has been laid, the second can be started in several ways.

The simplest of them is that from the upper edge of one of the blocks of the first tier, a cut is made diagonally to the lower edge of the same. a block or a second or third block of snow (fig. building a hut a1)

The first block of the second tier is placed in the resulting recess so that its end is adjacent to the block of the lower tier. Then, close to the first block of the second tier, the second block of the same tier is laid, etc., continuing the construction, as it were, in a spiral. The blocks of each subsequent tier should be tilted inward at a large angle, i.e., a more or less regular dome should be obtained. When the dome is ready, a tunnel is dug through the snowdrift leading to the hut and ending with a kind of hatch in the floor of the latter. With this design of the entrance, the warm air accumulating in the hut (people's breath, primus) does not allow cold air to enter the hut from the tunnel hatch (Fig. hut construction-e).

Drawing "building a hut"

I think that building a hut in the middle lane is a very laborious business.

If a snow hut is being built by 4 people, then usually one cuts the blocks, the 2nd carries and serves them, the 3rd builds the hut from the inside, and the 4th follows the builder from the outside and fills the gaps between the blocks with snow.

After the construction of the hut, it is recommended to dilute the stove inside, heat it up to + 20-21 ° and, having made a hole in the dome, freeze the hut for several minutes. After such an operation, the walls of the hut are covered inside with a shiny crust of ice, as a result of which, in case of accidental contact with the walls, snow does not fall on the floor of the hut. The hole in the dome is covered with snow (leaving only a small hole for ventilation).

Williamur Stefanson and his two comrades built their first hut within 3 hours. After some training on the construction of a snow hut for 3-4 people. (hut diameter 3 m, height 2 m) took 45 minutes.

In the snow hut, you can sleep in a sleeping bag without waking up from the cold at very low outside temperatures. If you light a primus stove or a fat lamp inside the "needle", then it becomes quite warm here, and you can sleep covered only with a blanket. Such a hut is indispensable when setting up a long bivouac (especially in treeless areas and in the mountains). If it is planned to build a snow hut at each bivouac on a winter trip, then the group should practice building it long before the trip.

You can make a snow hut of a simple design, but it will be colder than an igloo. Snow "bricks" for this hut are prepared in the same way as for the "igloo"; then a square-shaped structure is formed from them, which is covered on top with a piece of tarpaulin or blankets (see building a hut). You can also put skis on top and pile snow bricks on them. All cracks between the blocks are covered with snow. It is warmer to sleep in such a hut than in a tent.

When sleeping in the snow, in all cases it is very important to thoroughly dry the equipment (socks, ski suit, boots) before going to bed. At night, shoes should be removed and hidden in a sleeping bag, warm (fur) sleeping socks should be put on your feet, which each member of the group should have on a long-distance ski trip in winter.

If you have to spend the night without sleeping bags and it is impossible to make a fire due to lack of fuel, it is necessary, having built a snow hut or dug out a snow pit, cave, etc., take off your frozen boots, put on dry woolen socks or fur socks and put your feet in a backpack. You can't sleep in this position.

To set up a winter bivouac, you should have a snow shovel

Bonfires of long burning (winter bonfires, bonfires for overnight stays)

I have previously written an article about who is interested to see.

Building a fire requires great skill and skill; this is a kind of skill that needs to be learned so that even in winter it can be bred without problems.

In winter, before making a fire, they rake the snow to the ground with a shovel or skis, otherwise the fire will sink deeper and deeper into the snow, eventually forming a deep snow pit. Or they make a fire on the basis of logs.

Taiga bonfire(rice. bonfires-d) consists of solid or cut into two parts of woods 2.5-3 m long (cedar, resinous spruce, deadwood, etc.). Firewood is laid either along (a long fire) ‘or in the wrong well. The fire gives a large hot flame and a lot of coals; it is used for cooking food, drying clothes, for sleeping a large group in summer and winter by the fire. The taiga bonfire is a long-acting bonfire.

"American fireplace". This type of bonfire is a very long lasting bonfire. Thick short logs with chopped knots and small branches are stacked as shown in ( rice. Bonfires - e.) The fire is kindled below, at the base of the "hill". Burning, the lower log crumbles gradually into coals, the next log slips in its place, etc. The “American bonfire” is used by Canadian trappers when they spend the night by the fire in summer and winter. Cooking food on such a fire is inconvenient. Only 1-2 people can spend the night at such a fire.

Nodia (fig. fires- well ) - a fire of very long action (the Finnish fire rakotum belongs to the same type). For a node, it is necessary to find a suitable fuel, otherwise it will burn very badly. The best fuel for it is dry spruce or pine, resinous spruce, cedar, in the Ussuri region - elm. Fir, which an inexperienced tourist can mix with spruce, is not suitable for nodia. Spruce should be cut into logs 2.5 - 3 m long, 2. of them are stacked on top of each other and fixed with pegs, and the third, which serves as a regulator, is applied on the side. The node is kindled by placing kindling between the logs of the node regulator, or they cut down along the entire length of both logs of the trough, which form, when the logs are laid on top of each other, a semblance of a tunnel. Here! birch bark, dry moss, incendiary sticks (see below) are placed along the entire length of the gutter and a fire is lit.

Nodia gradually flares up and burns evenly for several hours, giving great heat. If it is necessary to weaken the heat, then the log of the regulator moves back a little. The taiga hunters of Karelia, the Kola Peninsula, Siberia, etc., use the Nodya for the night. Near the Nodya, 2-3 people can spend the night well by building a reflective barrier from branches or skis and an awning, so that sleeping people are between the barrier and the Nodya

A node can be folded from 3-4 logs. In this case, it should be kindled with a fire built at the base of the log wall of the node.

Survival in winter without a tent

In order not to be smeared by the comments, I am posting a review on the publication of Norda, and my experience in building winter shelters in the topic. First, on the shelter of polyethylene: why not? True, polyethylene causes some rejection in me because of the camouflage characteristics, and it’s uncomfortable in the aquarium. But this is all subjective. In addition, using, for example, polyethylene foam, we get protection from "teletubbies" (l / a with thermal imagers).

Now about other types of winter shelters. I’ll make a reservation right away - all options for the forest (taiga, mountain-taiga zone). Everything is tougher in the tundra. If it is impossible to make a fire (for reasons of camouflage) and the temperature is up to -15 - -20, a one-sided canopy for a group or a snow trench for a loner will do.

The snow is raked to the ground, compacted on the sides, on the bottom - spruce branches, a rug, a sleeping bag. Upstairs - a raincoat-tent, sprinkle the edges with snow, you can also insulate it from above with snow. Inside is a candle. On the one hand - a snow wall from blowing, head to the entrance. Construction time - 20 min. For security, the same trenches, only with the ability to view their sector, and not in a sleeping bag, of course.

If campfires are allowed, there are many options. In the absence of an ax / saw, we make shelter on trees bent by an arc.

Poles are closely superimposed on the support (dead wood, dead wood - everything that can be broken and collected by hand), covered with snow from above.

You can cover the entrance with a raincoat. Construction time, depending on the size - 2-4 hours.

For long stays of the group, a “chumik” is suitable - a frame shelter covered with spruce branches, raincoat tents with a fire inside. Trees arranged in a quadrangle, poles for a frame, spruce branches (a lot!) Are required. Construction time - from 4 hours.

"Chumik" for 6-8 people

At temperatures below -20 it is better to be puzzled by closed-type snow shelters. In others, the risk of frostbite is high. In general, there are many known snow shelters, probably the most famous is the igloo, or snow hut. In the conditions of the middle lane, it is very difficult to do due to the lack of snow of suitable density. We managed to either press the snow, and then cut out the blocks, or cut the already pressed one (a couple of times we dismantled 200 meters of ski tracks). There are subtleties in the construction, for example, blocks are placed in an ascending spiral. The cracks on the outside are covered with snow.

In general, hemorrhoids, and the needle belongs to block shelters (i.e., the insulation is worse than that of closed ones). A “snow hive” is much easier to build.

It is built regardless of the depth and density of snow. Capacity - 2-3 people. Construction time - 2-3 hours. First, we pile a bunch of snow on the chosen place, periodically compacting it, for example, with the help of a raincoat. The dimensions for the "troika" - the diameter along the bottom - 4 m, the height of the pile - 1.5 m. After pouring and compacting with a swarm, the tunnel, not reaching the opposite wall from the entrance, from half a meter. We expand the blind end of the tunnel, making a vaulted room inside.

Nuances: digging and starting the expansion of the tunnel is the most unpleasant. The snow is pouring, you have to rake it first with your hands from under you. Clothing should be changeable, preferably a waterproof top. Rummages lying on the rug. The most unpleasant thing is to break through the arch through, it is not closed back. Therefore, to control the entire dome, thin branches are stuck to a depth of 20-30 cm (arch thickness). How I got to the branch from the inside - good in this place. There must be a dome inside, otherwise it will collapse. The inner surface is smoothed, otherwise there will be drops.

Inside spruce branches, rugs, sleeping bags. Heating with candles. Definitely a vent hole! If it snows heavily, periodically clean the ventilation. There are a lot of eels in snow holes! Close the entrance from the inside with a RD-shkoy. The colder it is outside, the more comfortable it is inside. At temperatures above -10 it does not make sense, it thaws through ventilation and in thin places.

The same shelter can be built without piling up snow, if you find a snowdrift of a suitable depth, for example, in a pressurized ravine.

When building a shelter, do not forget: it is better to spend 4 hours building and an hour to rest in comfort than to make something in an hour and 4 hours to regret that you were born at all.

I continue to review the construction and use of winter shelters. Conditions: snow cover 20 cm, fine-grained loose snow, air temperature -8 with a decrease at night to -12, the construction of shelters such as "snow hive" for three people with the periodic diversion of one to guard. Tool - small shovels and raincoats.

The snow is pulled onto a selected flat area with the help of raincoats until a snow pile 1.5 m high and 2.5 m in diameter is formed.

After preparing the heap, a tunnel is dug downwind. Beacon sticks are installed over the entire area of ​​the dome to a depth of 15-20 cm. snow is falling from all sides. The blind end of the tunnel breaks through to the center, after which it expands in all directions. Those left outside shovel the snow pushed out.

It is necessary to ensure that the inside of the ceiling has a vaulted shape, a flat one will collapse. Upon reaching the ends of the lighthouse sticks, the removal of snow in this area stops, the ceiling is gently smoothed out. As the space increases - caution and accuracy, if the vault is broken - all over again, the holes are not closed.

At the entrance, the snow is cleared to the ground, inside the floor must be raised. There is a small ventilation hole in the dome. At the end of the clearing of the internal space, a fire is kindled in the hive for 5 minutes, after which the thawed walls freeze, increasing the strength of the dome.

Inside - spruce branches, rugs, sleeping bags. The entrance from the inside is closed by the taxiway. The temperature inside rises with candles.

At a temperature of -11 outside, the temperature inside the hives was raised to +7. The colder it is outside, the higher you can raise the temperature inside without fear of thawing the roof.

Construction time by UNPREPARED people - 3 hours. The construction time is reduced with a greater depth of snow and the presence of snow (avalanche) shovels. For comparison: under the same conditions in a two-layer tent lined with snow - +3, In a closed shed canopy - -3. In a shelter with a fire (“chumik”), the temperature was raised to +12. The temperature was measured at bed level.

1. CONSTRUCTION OF A CANOPY IN THE FOREST WITH YOUR HANDS FROM IMPROVED MAINTENANCE.

From my own experience I will tell you how to properly build a canopy in the forest with your own hands from improvised means. The article was written to summarize personal experience and will be useful to landowners who are just planning to move to the estate (or to the dacha).

How to build the first canopy in the forest.

The arrangement of your estate should begin with careful observations of nature - the plants on the site, assess the relief - understand where the depressions and elevations are (for example, how long the water stays there in the spring and whether it is worth it at all), watch the birds that fly into guests. In addition, it still takes time to understand with your soul what and where will be located. Therefore, all the first steps on the site start from the tent. But no matter where your estate is located - in the south or north of Russia, it doesn't matter - a roof over your head makes camping life easier. Under the roof, you can hide from the rain and slowly cook food on a fire, you can hide from the sun in the summer, lay out things and firewood. You can hide from the rain in a tent or under the canopy of the forest, but a roof - a simple canopy will make life in the field more pleasant. Putting together a simple canopy from boards is a simple task, but at first there is no road and the ability to get the necessary materials along it, so we take a hammer and nails and go together to build a canopy!

In an estate without a road, you can carry away: an ax, nails, a shovel, a tape measure, a hacksaw and a film - we will proceed from this.

First stage. Choosing a place for a canopy. In relation to the forest, it is convenient to place a canopy in a clearing so that the canopy is adjacent to the forest (the forest will be on the north side) and to the illuminated clearing in the south. The forest will protect from the north from wind and cold, and the glade will give the sun under a canopy, and it’s convenient to get out from under the canopy to a lighted flat place (where you can do your own business). And it is very important - on the front side of the canopy it will be possible to hang tourist equipment for drying - everything will dry quickly. The western side can be closed from winds and rain, or you can open it - a source of light in the evening (we have it open, large roof extensions will protect it from rain). Our eastern side is covered with forest (in summer, in the mornings, the air does not heat up so quickly, and in general, the proximity to the forest helps to survive the sultry heat very much in summer). In an open area from all sides there will be sun or wind in bad weather, and uncomfortable. If there is an opportunity to snuggle up to the trees, then it is better to use it.
It is also very important to choose a dry place. It is better to take a place for a canopy on a hill so that during pouring rains and in spring water does not collect under your shelter. Sometimes you want to make a canopy in a small hole, or specially dig in - to make it more comfortable. And in spring or when it rains, a small swamp forms under a canopy - so it’s better to choose a slightly elevated place and certainly do without digging a hole even for a hearth (at least in our northern places, where heavy rains are often this is especially true).

Second phase. Canopy materials. An ax, a hacksaw, nails, a tape measure, a shovel - everything is clear here. If it is possible to get lumber, then a screwdriver with self-tapping screws will help in construction, but we will build from improvised materials - round timber peeled from the bark. This option is suitable for those areas where the site is forested with a young 10-20 year old forest - where the trees have grown very densely (and therefore the trunks are very even and high - the best material for a canopy). In our young forest, gray alder grows - not very dense thickets of seed origin on fatty soils in the wren, the trunks are quite straight, 10-12 meters high and even - we built a canopy from them, and we called this alder for evenness and height as a joke " ship". Thickets of birch - the trunks are more curved and there is a problem with removing the bark (for drying). On the roof we take a reinforced film 4m wide. It is easier to find a film of this width in Moscow in the spring, but by the middle of summer it is already problematic, apparently summer residents are dismantling it for greenhouses, so you should hurry up with the purchase. A reinforced film 4 meters wide will significantly save time and effort on closing the roof of the canopy, and it will also protect it more reliably from moisture - (this width is enough for the entire canopy and there will be no need to whip two pieces of smaller width). Reinforced film is more tenacious than ordinary film, endures all hardships. Its condition is most negatively affected by exposure to direct sunlight, and in the shade under the forest canopy, the service life increases by an order of magnitude. Ordinary film quickly breaks into small pieces and scatters throughout the area (it does not withstand more than one season)! Roofing material is also not the best option - it is heavy and bulky during transportation, when it collapses, then there are even more difficulties with disposal than with film.

Third stage. Planning. Houses must be well planned before construction begins. We need to prepare the tools. The most important thing is that you need to plan the dimensions of the canopy on paper at home. The height should be comfortable and match the height of your family members (to walk almost to full height, and the flames of the fire did not burn through the roof), but, if possible, be lower if you are not going to sew up the side walls - a lower canopy roof will provide better protection from rain and wind than higher. We made the front edge under 2.1 meters (in order to walk and not touch your head), and the rear edge can be a little lower - under 1.6 meters (especially the north). In the center of the canopy, you also need to walk and not touch your head. Between the front and rear edges of the roof there is a height difference of 0.3 meters for good water and snow runoff in winter / spring. The width of the canopy: in width, you need to take into account what will be in the center of the fire, along the edges of the seating area, and between the fire and the benches - free passage. We got a width of about 2.3m. In order not to flood the roof with rain from all four sides, it is better to make 0.5 m each - this is a lot, but good weather protection. Depth of the canopy - here it is worth considering that the fire needs to be made in the center of the canopy, or a little closer to the front edge. Also in the center and a little further - a table. The total depth of the canopy was also 2.3m.

Fourth stage. Construction. All construction, which we will do with our own hands, we have divided into two stages. First, we prepare the forest - we cut down the necessary trees, saw off the length (and we know the length - we planned everything in advance - how long and how many posts are needed), and remove the bark to dry the posts. It is difficult to remove the bark from a birch, so you need to seep the trunk from four sides (make longitudinal sections of the bark with an ax - the more, the better so that the trunk dries out). We lean all the prepared poles vertically against something for further drying. If you do not remove the bark, then the tree will not dry and the beetles will damage it, the tree will rot, and the woodpeckers will start to hollow out the beetles and finally smash the canopy to pieces and the roof will fall (we saw such a miracle). Yes, and raw wood is very difficult to work with.

The next stage is that all the pillars have dried up and you can assemble the canopy. We carefully measure the places for the poles, dig holes with a shovel 50 centimeters deep, install vertical poles, sprinkle with earth to the previous level. I draw your attention: when preparing the pillars, do not forget to add the depth to which you dig the pillars to the height of the canopy! As we sprinkle with earth, we tamp each layer very carefully. Then we nail the horizontal beams with nails, and we already lay the roof sheathing on these beams. The poles that go to the roof need to be very carefully examined for the presence of knots - everything is very carefully cleaned to an even, smooth state so that the film does not cling to them and does not tear. We put the poles with a small interval of a few centimeters. If you have the strength and the ability to prepare a lot of round poles, then you can even put them close. The denser they lie, the smoother the film will lie, the longer it will last. Our task is to ensure that there are no gaps between the poles, and the film is stretched tightly, so that it does not sag, and so that puddles do not form on the roof. Then we lay our reinforced film on the poles, fasten it with small carnations around the perimeter - from the ends to the poles (so that the wind does not tear it off, it is better to fix it thoroughly around the entire perimeter). And the last - we make jibs, benches, a table and a fire pit.

Canopy built! With your own hands and with the help of improvised means!

I would like to point out a few things.
1. If you plan everything on paper in advance, then in a forest with mosquitoes, work will go quickly when you know how many poles and how long you need.
2. It is very difficult and dreary to reproach trees with an ax, but a dried tree will last a long time - it will not be eaten by beetles and woodpeckers, it will not be damaged by rot, and in winter it will not fall by weight under the weight of snow. Remember - you need to cut (remove the bark) trees immediately after they are cut down - doing this later will be much more difficult and longer.
3. Before you build - think ten times, otherwise it is problematic to move the canopy to another place. Building a canopy with your own hands from improvised means is real, but then it is unrealistic to move it to another place if you suddenly made a mistake with the location of the canopy!
4. Study the experience of building sheds, change houses, houses from your kind and experienced neighbors - their live experience will help you.
5. Having built a canopy, you are now not afraid of rain, you can start clearing the entrances to the site, and then building a change house!

From the photos: The first photo shows a canopy. To make it beautiful - they did not remove the bark from the birch, as a result, the supports rotted and the canopy fell under the snow - this is not necessary. In the second photo, we decided to make a recess for the hearth and beauty - in the end, everything turned into a swamp, so you don’t need to do that either. In the third photo - what remains of the tree if it is not dried - the beetles ate it, and the woodpeckers smashed it into chips - and you don’t need to do this either. On the fourth background - the pillars are neatly dried and ready for the construction of a canopy.

2.Hut from improvised materials.

What is bad about building instructions for dugouts and most forest shelters is that additional materials are required. Tarpaulin, for example. Shovels or scrap. In general, you need to prepare in advance. And real survival is if you end up in the forest with practically nothing. Well, there are such situations in life (they put it in the trunk, brought it to God knows where and unloaded it, yeah, thanks, at least they didn’t shoot it). And what to do when you stand in the middle of the forest, without a compass, a lighter, or an ax?

First of all, do not waste your energy on a long hike in an incomprehensible direction. Look around for possible shelters provided by nature itself. If you find a trench, a dugout, or a cave nearby, the better for you. If you don’t find it, look for a safe place and start building a hut from improvised materials. Time in the forest passes quickly in terms of light. It gets dark faster there than in open spaces. And at night, besides, it’s also cold, you can’t sleep on the ground, you will freeze completely, you will get sick right away.

So before dark, start looking for a place without anthills and traces of wild animals. Smooth: any irregularities will make themselves felt, a normal rest will not work. Pay attention to the trees around the clearing - so that there are no rotten and chopped ones, bending right over your head. It is advisable to find a source of running water and firewood (deadwood, brushwood) near the place of your future camp.

While wandering in search of all this, look out for where you can break spruce branches (especially in the cold season) or just branches covered with many leaves. From them you can build a durable gable hut. Its construction will take several hours, but who knows how many days you will need this shelter? The sooner you realize this, the better. Such a hut will serve as excellent protection from rain and wind.

First, prepare a couple of strong rogulins - they will become the basis of the hut. Drive them into the soil about a third, they should hold under any circumstances. Place the same strong stick horizontally on top, and already on it - in a row and at an angle - thinner perches; they will become rafters. Already on the rafters, spruce branches and branches with leaves should be laid. This top layer should completely overlap the bottom one - in addition, each next branch of the top layer half covers the previous one. In the same way, the back wall of the gable hut is covered. Plug the gaps in the roof of the gable hut with moss and bunches of dry grass. In winter, this entire structure can be insulated with layers of snow laid on top of it - however, we recommend building an igloo right away during the cold season

Basic rules for building a snow shelter
When organizing a winter emergency bivouac, the victims forget or do not know that they can escape from their main enemies - exhausting cold and piercing wind with the help of snow. Traditional methods of building shelters in a harsh winter situation are simply not suitable, because they do not provide the main thing - windproofness and heat retention. Snow, on the other hand, is an accessible, plastic material that can be easily processed. Do not build shelters at the base of snowy slopes, at places of possible rockfalls, under rotten and leaning trees.

With the help of an ordinary stearin candle, at an ambient temperature of 30-40 ° C in a shelter made of snow, the temperature rises to 0 °. Do not build shelters hastily, it is better to do it alone than to rebuild several times, while losing extra vital energy. If the snow shelter you have built is not strong enough, you can strengthen it in the following way: build a small fire or a few candles inside. Warm air will melt the walls, and they will “grab” a thin ice crust, which will strengthen the shelter well. . In this case, gaps may form in the shelter, which must be covered with snow from both sides. If the strength of the shelter cannot be increased, then you should start building again.

In a snow shelter, the more comfortable it is, the stronger the frost outside. This happens because, with the growth of frost, the air inside becomes drier, the heat from the fire is compensated by the cold outside, the border of snow melting is set as if inside the walls, which only gives strength. And vice versa, with an increase in the external temperature, the internal temperature approaches zero, the melting limit approaches the inner surface of the walls, as a result of which, it begins to drip from the ceiling, and puddles form on the floor. Remove excess warm clothing to keep it dry at all times.

The snow shelter is built by one person, the rest shovel the snow, break the spruce branches, since it is easier for one member of the group to dry out than for the whole group. The main rule that should be followed when building snow shelters is that the larger the interior space, the less heat. but it is much easier to heat it up. Moreover, if there are sleeping bags and warm clothes, then the shelter can be made more spacious.
Open type snow shelters

shelter type snow trench suitable for treeless mountainous area. The construction of a snow trench takes a little time and will help you save during a storm that caught you by surprise. A snow trench is dug in the snow, at least 1.5 meters deep, using skis, shovels, pieces of plywood, a bowl, a bowler hat, etc. In the absence of handy items, the pit is hollowed out with the feet. The ceiling is constructed from poles, skis, which must be covered with fabric, polyethylene, and pressed along the perimeter with stones, pieces of ice, logs or snow blocks. At the end, a layer of snow 15-20 cm thick is laid on top. As an entrance door, you can leave the end of the matter hanging freely from the roof, or each time crawling into the trench, lift the matter.

snow trench

In the taiga, a snow trench can be dug around a tree to a sufficient depth. The role of the roof will be played by the lower branches, reaching the snow. A layer of spruce branches is hidden on top of them and sprinkled with snow. It will turn out a kind of hut-cone for several people.

Trench around a tree

Shelter snow pit is built on a flat surface with a snow depth of at least 2 m. A tunnel breaks through the snow to a sufficient depth, where it expands further to the side, while the ceiling height should be at least 15-20 cm. surface through a narrow tunnel. In dry loose snow, this shelter is almost impossible to build. But of all open-type snow shelters, the snow pit is the warmest.

Shelter snow pit

Shelter snow hut is built when no deep snow can be built. To do this, you need to dig a hole in the snow to the ground. From snow bricks, they cover the shelter around the perimeter to such a height that, sitting inside, they do not touch the ceiling with their heads. From above, the shelter is covered with an awning, fabric, polyethylene and nailed with the same snow bricks, stones, logs. If the snow is sticky, then you can roll up balls of suitable size and lay them around the perimeter instead of snow bricks, filling the holes with snow. You can also build a round or triangular hut. Shelters such as the snow hut are better exposed to the wind and can withstand even uranium.

snow hut

snow chum it is built when the thickness of the snow cover is not more than 2-3 cm. First, a frame is built from poles or skis, firmly tying them at the top. After that, the frame is covered with thin snow slabs, as in the figure, covering the cracks with snow. A shelter like a snow tent can shelter no more than 2-3 people.

snow chum

All open-type shelters have several drawbacks - they do not hold the body well and the lack of free ventilation, which leads to the accumulation of carbon monoxide. Therefore, if you need to kindle a fire inside the shelter, or stoves, candles, you should constantly monitor your well-being - headache, palpitations and noise in the ears - an indicator that a dangerous amount of carbon monoxide has accumulated in the shelter.
Shelters of the closed type.

Shelter snow cave, built according to the classical scheme, is built within 1-2 hours with minimal experience, but it will warm you no worse than any block structure. Such caves dig on snowy slopes with a snow depth of at least 1.5 m and a low risk of avalanches. First of all, you need to make sure that there are no groundwater, stones, ice under the snow. Next, take off your outer warm clothes, if the ambient temperature allows, so that it does not get wet. When working inside a snowdrift, if possible, place polyethylene, spruce branches, branches under you to reduce the area of ​​​​contact of clothing with snow.
Start the construction itself with a small tunnel with a diameter of no more than 60 cm, which expands upwards by 70-90 ° with improvised means, while the rest of the group (if any) shovels snow from the outside, which is dumped from the tunnel. as you move deeper, you will have to climb inside the shelter completely, while cheering yourself on the fact that with every minute your work is approaching the end. Niches can be cut into the walls for backpacks and equipment. If a large cave is needed, then it is necessary to leave 1-2 columns with a diameter of 40-70 cm, depending on the quality of the snow, so that the ceiling does not collapse. The main advantage of the cave, built according to the classical scheme, is that the entrance is much lower than the floor. This allows cold air to escape and warm air to linger.

The snow cave, built according to a non-classical scheme, is built with the difference that the entrance tunnel is on the same level with the floor. The entrance should be closed with snow blocks, backpacks, and covered with cloth. The bed should be located with a certain elevation above the floor, for example, in a niche in the wall. if a fire is to be built, a smoke hole must be made in the ceiling.

snow cave

snow hole It is built in exceptional cases when it is not possible to build other types of shelters for one reason or another. in a hole it is not as warm and comfortable as in a cave, but warmer than in open shelters, because. not blown by the wind. The diameter of the snow hole, designed for one person, must be at least 50 cm. This will allow the person to be completely in an air cushion. The bottom is lined with yapnik, branches. During a blizzard, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that if a hole is dug deep into a snowdrift, and not parallel, then the entrance can be heavily covered, and it may not always be possible to knock out such a hole.

snow hole
Block type shelters

Block-type shelters are usually built in treeless areas, where strong snow crust is formed from winds and frosts. Such a crust is slightly squeezed if you stand on it. The most famous block shelter is the Eskimo igloo. igloo allows a person to protect himself from any bad weather. The Eskimos have been building igloos for many years. It is known that one Eskimo can build an igloo for 4-5 people in less than an hour. For a beginner, this time increases several times. You need to start by cutting snow blocks. For these purposes, a long knife, shovel or saw is suitable. Snow blocks are cut out in a pit with dimensions of 1x1 m and a depth of 50-60 cm.

The first blocks go to lay the foundation and have dimensions of approximately 100x50x30 cm. The diameter of the needle is outlined, based on the calculation for one person, at least 2.4 m, for two - 2.7 m, for three - 3 m. The first row of blocks is cut diagonally along the entire length to the lowest edge, thus the very beginning of the spiral, after which the subsequent rows are laid, the first rows being laid with an internal slope of 25-30 °, and the last of 40-45 °. Thus, the blocks are stacked with a constant slope and close at the top, forming a dome. The dome opening is closed with several blocks laid on the last row.

The main secret of building an Eskimo igloo is that blocks in the same row should not touch the lower corners, thanks to which the blocks do not fall inward and high reliability of construction is achieved. The vertical joints of adjoining rows must not coincide. Otherwise, a large crack will form, cutting the shelter to the floor. Snow blocks are best laid with the strong side inward. Large gaps are covered with pieces of snow, small ones are smeared with snow. An entrance tunnel breaks under the built igloo on the leeward side, which should be below the floor of the shelter itself. It is permissible to do at floor level, then it must be closed with a snow block. For heating, a candle or a small fire is enough, which will melt the walls and cracks of the shelter, and make it more durable. At the same time, a chimney hole is made in the ceiling.

There is also a simplified construction method, when the igloo is built in a non-spiral pattern. The first row is not trimmed, the last block in the row is made of non-standard sizes with a height of 30-40 cm more than the others. The first block of the second row is placed to this block, and the next one to it, and so on, with the last block bursting and preventing it from collapsing inward. The blocks are stacked with the same slope as in the spiral pattern, plus each row is slightly shifted inwards.

If for one reason or another it is not possible to cut a sufficient number of snow blocks, then you can build needle over hole. To do this, they dig a hole with a diameter of 1-1.5 m and a depth of at least 1.5 m. And along the perimeter a dome of snow blocks is built in any way described above. To make this shelter not so cramped, the walls of the pit can be expanded in the form of a truncated cone - the lower part expands more, the part under the blocks is smaller. To achieve maximum rigidity, the angle of inclination of the walls of the pit should, as it were, continue with the angle of inclination of the snow blocks.