I've made survival shelters for practice, but never have slept in one until last night...

So I had a group of friends that wanted to practice building these shelters and we decided to sleep in them when we were done to actually test them. We made very nice shelters. Mine had a raised floor with several inches of leaves on top of it. I then made the shelter just slightly bigger than my body. I slipped into it using a mylar blanket wrapped around me and taped to make kind of a mylar bivy. I then loosely packed the remaining volume of the shelter with dry grass.

It was only 44deg and the shelter was barely adequate. I was shivering all night and the bedding I made felt like it was pulling the heat away from me. The grass on top of me slid to the sides even though I did my best to not move around. The fire died down after an hour. It rained all day so keeping the fire burning all night would take a lot of effort. Because of the difficulty getting into the shelter it was not practical to maintain the fire. It did not seem to provide much heat inside the shelter anyways.

I have my doubts that I could have went much below 44deg in this shelter. The part that sucked was we spent most of the day making it.

My conclusion is traditionally made survival shelters are not practical. I would rather spend my time moving. I could cover quite a bit of ground in a day, enough to get to a forest road from basically anywhere in my state. If I got to a road I would rather walk it all night to keep warm rather than waste time with one of these shelters.

What would I rather do?

I just ordered a 4 pack of mylar ponchos. I am going to tray to attach 2 of them inside each other and bond the edges with a hair straightener. I'll leave a small area unbonded that I can use to pack the area between the ponchos with grass or something to provide insulation.

I think this will be more expedient and work better. I will sit up in the poncho all night to minimize my contact with the ground (still might build a smaller platform to sit on). Since I have less contact with the ground I'm hoping it will work in lower temperatures.

I was wondering. Does anybody know if what I am describing with the ponchos already exist? Something the size of a mylar blanket or 2 when packed, but can be filled with insulating material?

Something you might consider.  I don't remember the name of them and personally never used them, can be used for overnight survival, rain shelter in cold weather, etc.  In-between a tent and a big bag.  Think of a small tent with no pole, you are the pole (or your backpack).  Several sizes.  Used to have them on Ebay.

Not trying to be snarky but learn to build a better setup

Mylar blanket and a poncho can do wonders. Proper fire setup to radiate heat towards you is key,  build a debris wall or mylar blanket on opposite side of fire to direct heat to you.

Also did you go to bed/sleep in sweaty clothes? Were you hydrated and fed ? These play a role in heating the body etc

With multiple ppl, you should have done a commune shelter , this is "survival" after all, body heat, and proper shelter along with a "fire watch",. So fire stays lit,  its "survival", not a hotel  if you can get an hour or two of sleep,  your doing good.

Also with a fire you pack wet stuff around it to dry out  etc

Might be worth it to spend the coin on actual cold rated bags. I don’t live anywhere cold enough to need it but they aren’t crazy expensive. Cover with a poncho to kee water off and just be a little hot pocket in there

To add further,  there might be situation where you are forced to shelter in place.

If anything,  this should motivate you to build a better, quicker shelter.

Shelter is vital and needs to be effective. There are piles of resources/ info. on the net.

You had the right idea about the size,  only make big enough to fit. Have no idea what design you used. But lean-to is effective with a fire in front with a "wall" behind fire to direct heat.

Ponchos make good shelters, military ones can be used with a poncho liner. Spent many nights sleeping with one.

Another option is a good bag with bivy bag.

Not taken as snarky, appreciate your reply. Not well fed, but hydrated. We did this only using our survival gear and stuff we EDC. Spent our time on shelters and not catching food. I did gather some wild spinach, but it was pretty bitter and not appetizing.

Could have done a commune shelter, but we were doing individuals shelters just as a group. I don't expect a hotel. I'm just saying I don't think I could have gone much below 44 in this shelter since I was already shivering all night.

A lean to is not a very good shelter in Oregon IMO. We get lots of rain (including yesterday). I wanted good waterproof coverage from all angles.

I got cold weather bags. I spent the night at 10k on Mt Hood in the winter a few years ago

I do a lot of hiking, but was kind of focused on survival shelters.

Definitely. That's the point of this thread. I think the mylar poncho with stuffing in it will be what I try next.

I don't think of sleeping bags and real bivy's as survival gear. I spend plenty of nights in those every year. When I am hiking I keep my backpack with me at all times (don't ever let it leave my sight). The only time I could see using this gear is if I wasn't carrying my full backcountry camping setup and was relying on what I carry in my pockets (think altoid tin survival kit which is just a little smaller than the survival kit I normally carry in a pocket when in the wilderness).

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Gotcha. One thing is learning the area your in, like wind a d rain direction,  etc..

These would work,  maybe drop them lower. And cover the sides.

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I have done traditional A frame with the same poncho and used esbit stove and burned lil twigs and sticks. Kept shelter warm, ( burning candle idea)

Another idea we've done on trips was a "Dakota pit/hole" makes a low profile fire in high wind area

As a yout a plumbers candle kept me warm in mutiple tents and constructed shelters as well as igloos.

how did your buddies make out with their shelfters?


i like good cold weather and rain gear and would prefer to just wear it than build a shelter out of leaves and such.   i have done it as part of some survival courses, but not a fan.

Something light & easy to pack is some Paracord & a "tube tent".

It will keep you DRY & wind free (depending on orientation)

Bigger_Hammer

God on you for getting out there and trying things out.  Thanks for the AAR.

Poncho liner, bungee cords, & a sleeping bag are all you need...

I’ve spent the night in a pretty cozy shelter from natural materials. It was a five years ago, so I might not have this quite right. Essentially you form a tepee around a tree with pine branches. The branches get weaved into the tepee so that they overlap like shingles, water running down the outside shouldn’t get wicked inside. From the inside no light should show through.

As for the Mylar blanket, it going to be tough but not impossible to stay warm with one. I’d rather have a real, lightweight sleeping bag.

A good fart sack makes all the difference in the world.

Yea. OP has all that, they were testing primitive type camping,  easy to be comfy with a mountain of gear,, more challenging when you don't.

Would love to seen pics of ya'lls setup.

Bravo for getting out and testing your setup.

I've been down this road and long ago settled on carrying a proper bivy bag, a USGI poncho (a bit heavy but durable and flexible) and an insulated inflatable sleeping pad.  Absolutely worth the weight penalty for me.  Natural shelter builds take a lot of time and energy and here in the Midwest we can get 3 seasons of weather in a day.  I also don't want to need a fire to make it through a night and a bivy helps maintain warmth.

I currently carry a Sierra Designs Backcountry Bivy and it is AMAZING for 1 pound.  Lots of room inside for bigger folks - especially the long model at 40 inches wide.  Also, if the temps are going to be at least high 30s I can get by with a hooded puffy jacket stuffed into a waterproof bag and it is less half the size of any moderate temp rated sleeping bag.

SOL’s no-frills Escape Lite Bivy

These are the bomb

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Brits call these a bothy bag.  Used in ski mountaineering and mountain trekking for lunch stops and unplanned seated or standing bivies on ledges, belay stances, any place too small or tenuous for a tent or proper camp.  Three people in a small bothy can warm the interior noticeably above ambient and keep wind off, but personal body insulation is still needed. Coated single wall shelters work ok for short stops on the move to conserve body heat, but longer dwell is confounded by condensation even with vents oriented to take advantage of wind.  But stopping to melt snow, rest, etc, a bothy envelope can be worth messing with.  Usually a bright color for dual use as a signal panel.  Much more durable than reflective Mylar blankets that don’t help much since convection and conduction to ground or through wet clothing are bigger paths to heat loss than radiation.

Garbage bags. I couple can be used and filled with "dry" leaves and grass.  I know we were always taught that you want twice as much below you as on top of your.  I used two large trash bags as my ground insulation and they were stuff to the brim and before I laid on them, they were like two feet of dry debris.  Hell, we had an instructor that just raked a massive pile of leaves and climbed inside (it wasn't raining).

I do commend you for trying it out. Your shelter should do three things:

Keep the rain or precipitation off you

Block the wind

Provide insulation and/or reflection of heat (exothermic or your own)

It's hard to find what works without trying it out. Academics is great, but you really need to experiment to find out what works best for your area. I've always found the hardest or most important to deal with is conduction, or loss of body heat to the ground; wind, and staying dry.

Depending on the temps and precipitation, it does take time and calories to build an effective shelter. While it's good to practice, it's also a good reminder of why a few modern essentials are absolute game-changers for such conditions.

ROCK6