For the Americans, the time of Great Depression is unforgettable. It was the nation’s most serious economic tragedy during the time of modern history. The biggest misfortune was the fact that the nation’s working class had the full burden of it squarely on their shoulders due to which they wrestled badly for their survival during this most difficult period. The following great depression foods helped them survive when nothing else was available.

Indeed but sadly, many could not survive while all suffered. Each American life was shaken up completely by this tragedy in different ways. The Great Depression forced the affluent empire to bend on its knees. Not only money and industries but also the food resources waned almost overnight. This marked the worst time for all Americans.

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Will This Worst Time Strike Back?

In reality, the likelihood of such a tragedy shaking the country again is certainly not as low as you may forecast or envision. Certainly, there are new poises and checks acting as safety measures to prevent the nation’s stock market from crashing quickly. However, no one can deny the fact that the economy was badly shaken in 2008 and was sinking again through what was termed as the Great Recession.

The next economic decline can either match or surpass that of The Great Depression. It is a fact that history usually repeats itself. This is where the famous quote of Edmond Burke should be recalled, which says that those who are unfamiliar with the history are destined to repeat it. Here are 23 survival uses for honey that you didn’t knowabout.

So, How Do We Prepare for Survival if Such Period Turns Up in Future?

It is actually simple! All you need to do is learn from the survivalists or survival techniques of the past to become a smart prepper. The most reliable way to keep the past suffering at bay is to learn from the experiences and mistakes of our ancestors and hone them to prepare ourselves for a more challenging time, which is yet to come.

It is hard to believe that the big authorities did not actually learn from the past. The lessons of the past were somehow ignored. Well, the good news is that each American still has time to become a better prepper.

One of the most challenging but must-have skills of such a prepper is to arrange for food. It is truly a challenge to ask your kids to eat a dandelion salad, bizarre grass soup, or a stew of some less favorite veggies. However, if you know what our forebears did to make their family members survive, it certainly makes the same challenge easier for us. Thus, the key here is only to know the ‘where’ and ‘how’ aspects of the food arrangements or preparations during this depressive period.

What Our ForeBears Did to Survive During The Great Depression?

This was the time of scarcity-instilled invention, where families had no other option for survival except for to use whatever they get. They had to manage without several household staples and utilize their ingenuity to plan for alternatives, which were based on readily available products.

Right from using dandelion in salads to mending shoes with a cardboard, the people of those days used whatever they get to make up for scarcity of practically each good and food. Initially, desperation took over ingenuity in the average kitchens.

Urged by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who cheered families to save as many resources as possible by practicing savvier home finance management, there were some seriously disgusting food combinations that the Americans followed during the Great Depression. However, even this is true that not the recipes of this time were transient. Big companies such as Kraft used the modern norms and preferences to turn those recipes, such as mac ‘n’ cheese, into a modern household staple.

Many recipes of that time are not for a weak stomach or a faint heart. They tend to reflect the true national spirit of resiliency and adaptive creativity. For countless families, preparing a meal without using any processed or ready-made foods was no longer meant only for a weekend party. It became a skill for people to learn and master how to make those great depression foods.

People who survived and recalled what was it like to have meals during this economic disaster talked about frugality, growing produce on their own and sharing with others, and coping with what they had. It was the time when leftovers were precious.

Anything that could be grown was on priority. Unbelievable pot pies, salads, soups, stews, dumplings, and margarine wrappers all found their way to be in kitchens for several days. Well, these recipes today are unlikely to be seen in kitchens. However, in the 1930s, those recipes were a part of kitchen art, refined by inevitability.

Recalling Top 10 Great Depression Foods

Many Americans did not learn to prepare food as they grew up. This is the reason why they are dependent on packaged food. However, the food preparation experience was totally different at the time of economic depression in the late 1920s. Here are the top 10 Great Depression foods to learn and remember for being a better prepper.

Mock Apple Pie

This was perhaps the most common recipe of that time! You may be thinking how come apples would be available? Well, the most interesting aspect of this recipe is that it was made without apples. It is a fact that apples were not so readily available during that tough time. Nevertheless, this could not force the Americans to live without their treasured apple pie.

This recipe replaced apples with crushed crackers, cinnamon, and a flavored syrup, all of which were baked to form a crispy crust. There are many versions of this recipe but the most famous ones were published on the rear of the 1934’s Ritz cracker box.

The Ritz Mock Apple Pie was perhaps the most famous deceitful treat. It contained sugar, butter, cinnamon, lemon juice, and Ritz crackers to feature a distinct texture and a creamy taste for gratifying your senses.

Prune Pudding

This recipe may sound quite logical, as prunes were widely available. In fact, they are easy to store, and were more affordable than other fruits. Further, they have all the nutrients for being a Great Depression diet, ranging from fiber and 1/3^rd of daily needs of Vitamin K.

This recipe got popularity as a simple dessert during that time when Eleanor Roosevelt convinced her consort who was the President to serve it to the White House’s guests. The honorable lady was simply not going to sit back and allow the bad time to bring down the prestige of her nation down.

She was an early patron of the movement called, the home economics, and she sincerely followed what she advised. Well, the food served in the President’s house was notably the most boring one in the history. The poor guests had to eat those eggs in a tomato sauce and crushed potatoes with prune pudding.

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Mulligan Stew

This was the name of many stews that the homeless people made at the time of the Great Depression. The recipe varied as per the ingredients or food items on hand. Nevertheless, you can imagine it to be the result of tossing in the pot all that the maker has to feed the belly.

The stew is certainly not an ordinary dish of the tough time! It is a traveler food, which is usually also made using stolen onions, potatoes, corn, mixed scavenged greens, and some navy beans stored in pocket or wallet for months.

Here are two more secret ingredients in it that you cannot imagine. A bit of lint and Bull Durham tobacco for making the broth interesting.

Dandelion Salad

Okay, the dandelion is believed to be an annoying weed. However, at the same time, it has a long history of acting as a therapeutic herb for healing swelling, upset stomach, skin issues, eye issues, diarrhea, and heartburn. It is also a richer source of Vitamins A and C than spinach and tomatoes, respectively. Moreover, they are full of Vitamins B and D, potassium, calcium, and iron.

This is perhaps why it got an esteemed place in the Great Depression diet. The dandelion salad was the favorite of preppers and wild experts. It was a nutritious option that includes simple greens sought from any neighborhood, vinegar if available for taste, pepper, and salt. It was also a tasty dish to add to the daily menu without spending any money.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Onions

Well, this name may appear surreal to you, as both the items in the name have nothing to do with each other. They are also nowhere correlated with each other. However, this bizarre blend of baked onions and peanut butter was common during the Great Depression.

The Bureau of Home Economics made it for the first time and since then, it was popular just for its strange taste. Onions were baked and scoops of peanut butter were filled inside them, resulting in a highly disliked recipe. The maker itself urged the housewives to serve this recipe to all family members and become budgeteers.

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Vinegar Cobbler

Both the name and taste sounded weird! Well, this is a dessert that replaced a huge amount of vinegar for costlier fruits and contained sugar, water, butter, nutmeg, flour, and vanilla on the baking plate. Rather than the pieces of apples, the apple cider vinegar was used to forge the real taste for all budgeteers.

Interestingly, Chris Shepherd, an award-winning chef is serving this recipe at his Houston restaurant. Its flavor is much like a custard of vinegar chips and salt that triggers a tingling sensation in the roof of your mouth.

Spaghetti and Carrot Casserole

Casseroles were madly famous during this tough period. The recipes involved mixing all types of leftovers to form a single dish. This is how families were able to get a variety in their daily menu without looking for difficult-to-find ingredients.

While meat was an unaffordable indulgence, spaghetti casserole was commonly made. The hard workign moms were using boiled carrots covered in a white sauce made up of butter, salt, flour, and milk. The First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was the pioneer of this item. She promoted some truly dull dishes for supporting the savvy home economics.

Meatless Loaves

Meatloaves, as dietary staples, were no longer available when the food scarcity commenced during the Great Depression. Thus, a meatloaf was twisted as per the available ingredients. It then became a meatless loaf made using any item that was available ranging right from raisins to peanuts. People used their ingenuity to make this item their weekly favorite.

Potato Pancakes

Potato is one such food that is widely available even during the tough times. It is also among the most affordable foods, whether it is a good or a bad time. Thus, it was no wonder why potatoes were widely used during the period of Great Depression.

Depression-era chefs highly relied on potatoes as alternatives in their different dishes. One of the commonly cooked dishes was a potato pancake. This was a simple recipe, in which grated potatoes were fried or cooked in a pan. Mostly, all meals had this dish. It is one of the most common great depression foods that people still remember.

Milkorno

In Cornell University, a few scientists came up with a dish called milkorno in 1933. It is a blend of cornmeal, powdered skim milk, and salt, a recipe that was made for families to fulfill their nutritional needs without increasing their budget. Upon boiling, all ingredients of Milkorno become a part of a porridge. The recipe promised a fulfilling experience for the family of five members for $5 per week.

Again, this recipe of combining corn and milk was what that guests of Eleanor Roosevelt probably ate and made. Another two variations of this recipe were Milkoato and Milkwheato, of which the latter gave scope for big business for which dystopian dust was purchased by the government for use in the recipe.

Conclusion

For the younger generation the foods described here are most likely uneapeling. They cannot imagine eating something like that even during a crisis. Our generation is no longer familar with the outcomes of a widespred famine. The time of distressing economic uncertainty has taught some great cooking skills to Americans. It is up to us how sincerely we master it and how dedicatedly we improve or learn it! Remember, future is uncertain and the economy can become volatile at any point in time. So, readiness to face it is indispensable!

The natural instinct to survive and to protect family runs strong in human beings. In the 20th century alone, from Jewish families in Nazi-controlled Europe to Soviet dissenters in frigid Siberian gulags, the will to live burns deeply.

So when a major disaster strikes, the instinct to survive will trump all other considerations. Exactly how far people will go depends on the type of disaster, but an understanding of how they will react will help you prepare to protect yourself and your family in these circumstances.

Let’s look at two kinds of disasters. The first is when there is a regional catastrophe, like an earthquake, tornado or temporary failure of the power grid. In this case, although there will be hardships in the first 24 hours and likely for weeks thereafter, those affected will believe that FEMA and local aid is working hard to help them.

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For example, if there was a moderate earthquake in San Francisco, then FEMA and the California National Guard and 100 other agencies would immediately respond. People would be evacuated from the devastated city and relocated to nearby shelter. They would have a place to stay, dry clothing, and enough food to live in relative comfort until they decide to relocate or move back into the city after rebuilding has occurred.

Although there would be localized violence and crime in this scenario, most people would know that aid was coming and the nation would do everything it could to help.

The situation would be vastly different with the second type of disaster. This is when catastrophe strikes and there’s little hope for aid from the government or anyone else.

For example, terrorists or a rogue nation launch an EMP attack, and the nationwide power grid is down long-term. Or, a major solar storm takes out the grid.

In those scenarios, police won’t arrive because the pumps don’t work and there is no gas. The government can’t help because it, too, is without power and gasoline. Millions of people would be desperate, and most of the nation’s food would spoil in a matter of days.

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As the EMP Commission to Congress said in its report:

Essentially every aspect of American society requires electrical power to function. Contemporary U.S. society is not structured, nor does it have the means, to provide for the needs of nearly 300 million Americans without electricity. Continued electrical supply is necessary for sustaining water supplies, production and distribution of food, fuel, communications, and everything else that is a part of our economy. Continuous, reliable electrical supply within very tight frequency boundaries is a critical element to the continued existence and growth of the United States and most developed countries.

In this type of scenario, where there is a total breakdown in society, there would be no hope of the government swooping in and providing food and shelter. People would quickly realize that it’s everyone for themselves, and the survival instinct would kick in.

Many survivalists believe that in the weeks after this type of disaster occurs, people in urban areas will form groups for mutual survival. Many of these groups will be run by the strongest —the person with the most weapons, supplies and charisma. They will form roving bands and prey on the weak and those who can’t defend themselves.

But in the first 24 hours, before these marauding bands have time to form, individuals will have the immediate goals of water, food, safety and shelter.

Although everything depends on where a person lives (in an urban environment or rural property), let’s assume it’s a typical suburban location is near one of the major cities. Within hours, stores will be empty.

Water

Most water in suburbs is pumped to households from water treatment plants. In many large urban areas, like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, there are no local sources of surface water. That means water in storage tanks or from stores is the immediate goal. Survival instincts will kick in and the strong will take water from the weak. Bottled water will vanish.

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Food

Most people will have at least one or two days of food that can be eaten, but those strong enough and desperate enough will probably take food from the weak and from stores the same time they’re looking for water.

Fleeing

In the first 24 hours, millions of people will realize there’s simply not enough resources to survive. They will decide that they need to flee to surface waters, and head out to lakes or rivers, whether they be 10 miles or 100 miles away. In the case of an electromagnetic attack, most vehicles manufactured after 1973 would not operate, but if you have a bike or old diesel tractor, someone with a gun will be coming to take it. In those scenarios where vehicles still work, the strong will commandeer vehicles and any stored gasoline they can find.

Anyone in the path of these people will be in danger.

A dreary and negative picture of humankind is painted here, so let me acknowledge that during the first hours and days of a society-changing disaster, many people will band together and try to help each other and make sacrifices for the good of the whole. However, these worthwhile people are not the threat, and therefore not the point of this article.

Instead, realize that a fraction of humanity will not band together in a Christian way for mutual benefit, but will revert to the most basic instincts of survival and protection of loved ones. It is against these people that you need to be prepared to defend against in the first 24 hours, and the weeks thereafter, once disaster strikes.

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If doctors are scarce and medicine becomes even scarcer, this one little weed, found all over North America and similar to morphine, could be a saving grace.

Imagine if at any given moment, you could see 24 hours into the future. Obviously, you could make a killing trading stocks, but another thing you could do is rest assured that when the SHTF, you’ll have time to prepare for it.

For example, if you knew a disaster was going to occur later today or tomorrow, you’d have time to get out of town, gather some extra supplies, get your family together, or just prepare to hunker down until the crisis passes. Being able to do this could literally save your life.

Fortunately, there are several ways to tell that a major disaster is about the strike, and that is the topic of this video by City Prepping. He lists 10 signs that things are about to get really bad. With how crazy things have gotten lately, you should really keep an eye out for these things.

Here’s his list:

1. When you see normal people lose it (fighting, looting, rioting, etc).
2. Loss of electricity on a regional scale for more than one week.
3. Media blackout (the censorship of certain topics, whether voluntary or government mandated).
4. When isolating parts of society is key to fixing whatever is wrong (like a pandemic).
5. Stock market takes a dive of 10% in a single day and they halt trading the next day.
6. You are not allowed to remove any money from your bank.
7. When you know something acute is coming (like a hurricane).
8. Obvious government lies (not just political bias, but verifiable lies).
9. First responders, infrastructure workers, and healthcare workers do not show up for work.
10. Martial law (which usually means the disaster has already happened, but it could also mean the government knows something bad is about to happen).

Be sure to watch the video below for more details about these signs and how to recognize them.

The Ultimate Guide To Building, Finding, and Deploying Survival Shelters

There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

And there even more ways to find, build and deploy survival shelters.

But only if you know what you’re doing.

In this guide, we show you our 10 favorite simple-to-build survival shelters.

And we don’t just show you, we teach you with how-to videos.

During a SHTF situation, pain could become an annoyance for some, but unbearable for others.

If doctors are scarce and medicine becomes even scarcer, this one little weed, found all over North America and similar to morphine, could be a saving grace.

So in this article, we’ll cover the following survival shelter topics:

• Why Learn How To Build A Survival Shelter
• 3 LifeSaving Shelter Tools
• 10 Best Survival Shelters
  • Simple Tarp Shelter
  • Variations Of The Tarp Shelter
  • Debris Shelter
  • Spider Shelter
  • Ultimate Wickiup
  • Survival Hut
  • Snow Cave
  • Igloo
  • Juniper Tree Shelter
  • Dug Out Shelter
• Survival Shelter Action Plan

Why Learn How To Build A Survival Shelter

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I love the great outdoors but I hate feeling exposed.

Wait, don’t those two statements contradict each other?

Yes, they do if you don’t know how to build a survival shelter.

But if you can build one…then the answer is: No.

Let me explain.

Riding out Mother Nature’s worst without shelter is not only a crappy time; it’s also deadly.

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When unprepared humans go up against extreme weather, weather wins. You lose.

And even if the weather decides to “play nice,” it’s comforting to know how to build a safety barrier between you and the rest of the world.

Cold, wet, heat and dangerous animals all reduce your chances of survival.

And at the extremes (blizzards, torrential downpours, heat waves, and attacks), you’re survival window slams shut.

So if you can’t build, find or deploy a survival shelter fast in the harshest conditions, you’re done for in mere minutes.

That’s why sheltering is essential to your survival.

Whether you’re planning a wilderness bug out or just want to be ready for an unexpectant emergency.

Everyone should learn the skill of building, finding and deploying survival shelters.

Now before we continue:

Not all survival shelter designs work in all environments.

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For example:

A good forest survival shelter will not work in deep snow or the hot desert.

So I’ll also break this article into the following categories as well:

• Forest Survival Shelters
• Snow Survival Shelters
• Jungle Survival Shelters
• Desert Survival Shelters

So let’s start things off with the simple lifesaving emergency shelter tools.

Because you should never make survival harder than it needs to be.

3 Lifesaving Shelter Tools

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Emergencies are, by definition, unplanned events:

“A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action.”

The most important word here is UNEXPECTEDLY.

You were caught off guard. You didn’t expect the event but never-the-less; stuff happens.

We cannot prevent all emergencies situations from our lives, however, we can prepare for the unexpected.

Or as they say “expect the unexpected.”

So how do you do this in regards to survival shelters?

1 – A Quality Survival Tarp

By purchasing several good survival tarps and stashing them in your vehicle, your bug out bag, your day pack, etc.

I’m often asked which survival tarp I consider the best.

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Aqua Quest Defender Tarp

It’s 100% waterproof, extremely durable, lightweight, compact, and includes over 20 reinforced loops for versatile setup in any situation.

Remember, when it comes to survival tarps, you get what you pay for.

2 – Paracord

And as we’ll cover in more detail shortly, you’ll also benefit from having a bit of paracord with you at all times.

TITAN WarriorCord

Paracord has many survival uses, but with shelter building, it’s essential for securing tarps and lashing wood together.

And while some paracord is better than others, most will work for building survival shelters.

I recommend getting some Titan Warrior Cord. It’s proven, tough and is ideal for survival.

Have you ever thought about living without electricity, internet or mobiles? We can guarantee that the majority of our readers can never imagine this kind of scenarios.

However, there are chances that this type of conditions arises in your life due to flooding, tornadoes, draught or even war.

How could you survive in this type of dangerous condition? We believe you should stay prepared by learning the essential skills needed to deal with these disasters, watching this video

3 – Tact Bivvy

The third item I recommend you invest in for survival is the Tact Bivvy

Tact Bivvy Survival Sack

It’s the ultimate solution to keeping you warm under your survival tarp.

Sleeping bags are too bulky to stash in small spaces and take with you for random emergencies.

However, the Tact Bivvy fits in your hand and is designed with NASA Mylar heat reflective technology.

It’s worth investing in one for each of your vehicles.

So with just these three simple items (a survival tarp, some quality paracord, and a Tact Bivvy), and a bit of shelter knowledge, you can protect yourself from even the most severe weather emergencies.

10 Best Survival Shelters

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Forest Survival Shelters

We’ll start off with wilderness survival shelters in a forest setting with little to no snow. This is the sort of environment many people find themselves stranded in every year.

Whether it’s getting lost of a hike or getting injured on a hunting expedition – the following forest survival shelters will keep you protected and alive.

1 – The Simple Tarp Shelter

Here’s a video sharing an easy way to build a tarp shelter if you have a high-quality survival tarp with you.

Now, there are more elaborate survival shelters you can make (which we’ll get to shortly), but they require more of a time and calorie commitment.

They’re not something you will build for a single night in a rare emergency. But a night or two is exactly where the tarp survival shelter excels.

A couple of key takeaways before we continue.

If you have some extra time, and you’re not minutes from hypothermia or dehydration, you should look for a good base location.

You want the natural surroundings to help reinforce your shelter.

There are good shelter locations and bad locations. Take a few minutes to find a good location.

Also, you need to figure out the prevailing wind direction.

For most of us in the United States, that’s going to be from West to East. So you’ll want to have the back of the tarp facing to the west.

That way, driving rains and howling winds will be deflected by the tarp.

If you build your shelter’s entrance facing the prevailing winds, the winds will enter and push rain with it into your shelter. Not fun.

Pro tip: Understanding prevailing winds is key for all survival shelter setups and not just for tarp shelters.

Ok, so what about some other tarp survival shelter variations?

2 – Several Variations Of The Tarp Shelter

Here’s a video that focuses primarily on camping undetected, but it also shows several simple tarp setups you can use in an emergency.

So as you just saw, each of these designs is simple to set up and serve the purpose of keeping you warm and dry.

They will help keep the rain and wind off of you, and that’s about it.

Nothing luxurious about them but emergencies rarely are.

You can combine any of these setups with fire if hypothermia is a concern.

Before we move on; a quick note about tarps:

• Not all tarps are created equal. Cheap tarps rip.
• Cheap tarps have don’t have any grommets.
• You need lots of grommets to make all the tarp shelter variations.
• And the grommets cheap tarps do have, will rip the tarp under very little tension.
• Cheap tarps will quickly deteriorate under UV light exposure.
• Cheap tarps are not good for survival. Don’t buy cheap tarps.

The Aqua Defender Tarp

So, again, get a tarp like The Aqua Quest Defender.

It’s completely waterproof, is highly durable and includes 20 reinforced loops.

It’s a survival tarp perfect for creating any of the tarp configurations we’ve shown you in this guide.

Now if you don’t have a tarp, building a one-night survival shelter becomes a more labor-intensive task!

However, it’s worth learning these skills for a worst-case scenario.

Forests offer an abundance of resources you need to build a strong survival shelter.

Trees provide ample amounts of logs and sticks. They also provide pine straw and leaves.

These are your basic building blocks to many survival shelters.

Note: If these resources are not readily available, then these survival shelter won’t work very well. You’ll need to check out some of the other survival shelter options later in this article.

3 – The Debris Survival Shelter

The simple debris shelter is your next best bet if you are without a tarp.  

Here’s a quick video showing how to build a debris hut shelter.

Now before we move on to more sophisticated survival shelters, I want to talk about the often overlooked but absolute simplest survival shelters; Natural Shelters.

Take advantage of what nature can provide. I’m talking about outcrops, caves, large burrows, or natural depressions.

If you can find a natural area that’s protected from wind and rain, then by all means, use it. Take what nature gives.

Don’t spend hours or days building a complex shelter when there’s an empty cave nearby.

To make the most of a forests resources and to build a stable structure, you’ll want to have a few essential survival tools with you.

At a minimum, you need a high-quality survival knife.

And for the more heavy duty survival shelter builds, you’ll need a Survival Hatchet, a Pocket Chain Saw, and a Portable Tactical Shovel.

Assuming you have these items you’ll be able to construct the following survival shelters with some knowledge and practice.

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The best thing is that you’ll save money on you electric bill.

To build your own solar panel almost for free, you’ll need to watch this video

4 – The Spider Shelter

This first series of videos goes over a spider debris shelter.

It’s a modified debris hut with an extra dome at the front to provide enough space to sit up in it.

Followed up with a couple of videos on how to make some upgrades to this type of shelter.

This kind of survival shelter is ideal for solo survival for both the medium or long term.

Now if you are staying for the long haul, then you might as well make your house a home with a few upgrades.

Every day, add a few small upgrades to your shelter and in a few weeks, you’ll have yourself a longer-termer term shelter.

Upgrades such as a sleeping mat, a fire hole, and more layers of debris for more insulation.

The spyder debris shelter is a relatively simple design and it’s proven.

5 – The Ultimate Wickiup

An Ultimate Wickiup shelter is more elaborate and will take extra time and energy to build.

However, you can scale this survival shelter design to include larger survival groups for long-term stays.

Now, if you’re planning an extended stay in a Wickiup, it makes sense to invest some effort making life a bit more comfortable.

You’ll also have time to add upgrades to your shelter over the weeks or months that you’re living there.

So here’s a 4 part video series with ideas on how to upgrade your wickiup from surviving to thriving.

Jungle Survival Shelters

For emergencies in a jungle, your best bet is a tarp shelter.

If you don’t have one, then you can build a debris survival shelter similar to the ones we previously covered.

The trees species and debris will be different in a jungle, but the concept is the same.

So let’s move on to my favorite long-term jungle survival shelter: The Survival Hut.

6 – The Survival Hut

Jungles provide unique materials you can use to build with. They have thick vines, hollow shoots, large leaves, and the ground is often made of clay.

Plus, you’ll likely have an abundance of water available to work with.

A survival hut starts by using the wattle technique to interlace shoots and sticks.

Wattling creates a simple fencing structure. Then you use the duab technique to smear a clay-like substance onto the wattle and allowing it dry.

These two methods create a substantial survival hut.

Now, feel free to use tools to make your hut. But to show you what’s possible, in the next video the entire hut is built with no brought tools.

He makes tools with just the resources around him.

Worth watching the entire video!

Snow Survival Shelters

So far we haven’t discussed shelters for winter and snow. They don’t work in deep snow.

Forest shelters can still work if they’re trace amounts of snow, but if you’re dealing with multiple feet of snow, you won’t find the wood or debris necessary to build them.

So instead, you’ll need to take advantage of the snow.

7 – A Snow Cave

Snow caves work well as emergency survival shelters. You dig a snow hole and get in. It’s fast, quick, down n’ dirty.

The reason this works is that snow has insulating properties. So while snow itself is cold, it also does a fantastic job of trapping heat.

So if you dig a hole in the snow and then bundle up inside, the air temperature inside the snow cave will rise over time due to your trapped body heat.

When built correctly, the air temperature inside the snow cave will rise several degrees higher than the outside air temperature.

Plus, it will protect you from the wind, which is the biggest concern in a severe blizzard.

However, you still need to be careful when building a snow cave. There’ are some dangers you need to be aware of.

First, you need to remain dry at all times. Avoid extreme sweating while building because wet and cold can lead to a hypothermic situation.

Second, cooking in a snow cave has been attributed to several mountain climber deaths over the years from carbon monoxide poisoning.

This video shows you the basics of building a snow cave.

Now in an emergency situation where time is of the essence, you wouldn’t make it as large. Just big enough to get in it fast.

While snow caves are relatively straightforward to build, they’re not suitable for longer-term situations.

Snow caves will eventually collapse in on themselves.

A full out collapse typically takes several days of warm weather or rain, but they are not meant for months of sheltering.

And that’s where the iconic igloo comes in.

7 – An Igloo

By design, igloos are made to last. Obviously, snow melts in warm weather, but the integrity of an igloo (if properly built) is impressive.

To show you just how strong and durable igloos are, check out this short video.

So how do you correctly build an igloo by yourself?

Here’s a step by step video showing you how to build your own survival igloo.

Note: Cold weather survival skills include more than just building snow caves and igloos. Make sure you understand all aspects of cold weather survival.

Next up, the opposite of cold and snow; heat and desert.

Desert Survival Shelters

Desert survival takes a unique set of skills. Many people make the mistake of thinking a shelter isn’t necessary for a desert.

They think “it doesn’t get cold in a desert”; which is false.

Deserts at night can get brutally cold. For example, America’s most infamous desert “Death Valley” often drops into the 30’s over the winter months.

And many people also forget about the need for shade in the heat of the day.

In one study, they found an average difference of 27.5 degrees in shade vs. direct sunlight.

27.5 degrees a big deal in the brutally hot desert.

So while it’s blistering hot during the day, you need a shelter to help shade you from the sun. But as evening sets in you’ll need shelter to keep you warm.

The bottom line is, you need shelter in a desert survival scenario.

So it’s best to learn how to make one.

Now, if you’re stranded in the desert due to a broken down vehicle, then you already have a decent shelter; the vehicle itself.

So in most cases, it makes the most sense to stay with your vehicle instead of abandoning it.

There are expectations, but if you’re stranded, lost, and hoping for rescue then use the inside of your vehicle as your desert survival shelter.

If you’re stranded on foot, a good tarp will work wonders in a short-term desert survival situation, but if you don’t have a tarp with you, then you’re going to have to improvise.

You’ll have to use what the environment gives you. Which in the desert often means miles and miles of juniper trees and sagebrush.

9 – A Juniper Tree Shelter

Here’s a video showing how to use a Juniper Tree to improvise a survival shelter in the desert.

10 – Dug Out Survival Shelter

And for a long-term survival stay you could build a dugout survival shelter in a sandy area of the desert like this one:

Of course, this one takes quite a lot of work, so if you plan on building this sort of shelter in a desert, you’ll want a shovel and plenty of water available. Otherwise, you’ll quickly suffer from dehydration.

You also need to think carefully about the location of a dugout shelter.

Flash floods in the desert are extremely dangerous.

The last thing you want to do is build a dugout shelter in a washout basin.

Survival Shelter Action Plan

It’s time to get outside!

No matter what environment you live in or what season it is right now, you can build yourself one of these survival shelters.

Practice making them today in a safe location, when you’re not under extreme stress.

Make them close to home, where the consequences of a screw-up are not life-threatening.

Practice makes perfect, and mistakes help you learn.

Just make sure you’re making safe mistakes before you put your skills to the ultimate test.

Also, as we discuss at the beginning of this article, get some tarps and paracord to help make your survival shelter builds easier. Also, invest in lifesaving Tact Bivvy.

Then add these survival shelter tools to your car emergency kits, day packs, get home bags and bug out bags.

If you begin prepping for TEOTWAWKI, and a good stockpile is on your list of preps, it will quickly become evident just how many different items are useful to stockpile for a SHTF situation. Your list can be short and sweet at first, but once you really get into things, you’ll see just how enormous a list of gear to stockpile can really get.

Every once in a while, it’s good to go back to the basics: to make sure that out of all those things you’ve already stockpiled, you’ve got enough of the stuff that you’ll really miss the most. Here’s 10 items that instantly make the cut.

Preparedness Hacks: Once a nuke is heading your way, you might think that there isn’t much left to do, but you would be wrong!

Because we will show you America’s natural nuclear bunkers that are also EMP proof. When the sirens start wailing, all you need to do is pick the closest one to your home, where you can take cover before it hits.

10 Things You’ll Really Miss When the SHTF

1. Alcohol

There are many reasons why alcohol is an excellent resource. The top two are obvious: its physical impact on us when we consume it, and its ability to disinfect wounds. Whether you’re personally into drinking alcohol or not, you’re going to regret not having enough alcohol when the SHTF. After all, think of all the people who would be willing to trade almost anything for a bottle of their favourite whisky or beer.

2. Soap

Along the lines of disinfecting, you’re going to really regret not having enough soap post-crisis. Without basic sanitation, you’re going to get sick fast, and ill is something you definitely don’t want to be when medicine is in short supply and you need as much energy and strength as you can possibly have. The best tip you could possibly have in terms of soap shopping for post-crisis scenarios: try to stock up on soap that’s anti-bacterial.

3. Can Openers

It’s great to have a high quality can opener, but if you lose it or break it, you’re in a lot of trouble. The majority of stockpiles will have a very large number of canned goods, and without a can opener, it’s going to be difficult to get what’s in the can out without wasting a good chunk of the insides or cutting yourself trying to get that can open. Do yourself a favour and get a backup or two, just in case.

4. Lighters and Matches

Really and truly, you cannot have enough of these lying around. Sure you can make fire without them, but it’s hard: really hard. Unless you have apt practice in the fire-making field, stock up on these as much as possible. They’re so inexpensive you might as well. Spare wicks and flints for your gas-fueled lighters wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

5. Toilet Paper

There’s a reason why this one makes it onto pretty much every list like this. Yes, it’s a simple thing, and yes, of course you can live without it, but you probably really won’t want to. Do yourself a favour and make sure you’re always (and I mean always) heavily stocked up on toilet paper. You can keep a back up of tissue paper and paper towels to use when the toilet paper runs out, just remember not to use them elsewhere or that back up plan will go flying out the window.

Experts predict that an EMP strike that wipes out electricity across the nation would ultimately lead to the demise of up to 90% of the population. However, this figure begs an important question: if we were able to live thousands of years without even the concept of electricity, why would we suddenly all die without it?

6. Scissors

You can have as many knives as you want, but when your last pair of scissors breaks, you’re going to be sorry. Scissors make cutting hair, nails, and a slew of other things one heck of a lot easier. While you can often substitute scissors for knives, it’s always nice to have at least one pair of scissors lying around that you can use. I personally have at least 5-6 pairs in the house at all times, as I find they’re also easy to lose.

(Here are 23 survival uses for honey that you didn’t know about.)

7. Screws, Tools, and Building Materials

You’re definitely not going to regret having stocked up on hardware materials post-collapse. In fact, you’ll probably wish you’d stocked up on more. Nails and screws are essential hardware materials. They go fast and are a giant pain to make from scratch. Make sure you have enough lying around while you still can.

8. Painkillers

Now, I know what you’re thinking. A bit of pain here and there is the last thing you’ll worry about when the SHTF. Maybe when it comes to a little pain, yes, that’s true, but what happens when you get a cavity and that tooth absolutely has to come out?

Get some reasonably strong over-the-counter pain meds, and make sure you have enough to last you if the SHTF. Though painkillers have expiration dates, they don’t really expire. They get weaker instead, so don’t be afraid to stockpile pain meds just because of the expiration date. Try to mix and match since many painkillers like Ibuprofen (Advil) and Acetominophen (Tylenol) have different uses, and can even be take simultaneously. Stronger pain killers like Codeine will become useful too, as medicine will run out pronto, and there’s no real SHTF substitute for the strong painkillers without going for more risky natural opiates. It’s also beneficial to keep quite a few of these in a bug out bag if you happen to have one.

9. Ammo

This one’s obvious. Even if you’ve got the guns to hunt with, you can’t hunt without ammo. You’ll probably need more than you expect, so really, you can never have too much ammunition.

Along the same lines, it’s also beneficial to stockpile arrowheads and bow strings. Just remember that in a SHTF situation, you probably don’t want to advertise your position and the fact you have guns.

10. Bleach

What happens if your septic tank overflows and you’re left with contaminated waste everywhere? Need a quick way to disinfect water so you can safely drink? One simple and effective way to fix both these problems is by using bleach. It’s as cheap and easy as a cleaning agent gets. Once you’re out of bleach, you’ll definitely notice. Get your hands on as much as possible while you still can.

In this video, i will unearth a long-forgotten secret that helped our ancestors survive famines, wars, economic crisis, diseases, droughts and anything else life trew at them.
So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

What Items Will You Miss the Most if the SHTF?

A violent and horrifying life in a concentration camp is what you may face one day under martial law.

We’re not talking about a regional or short term enactment of martial law. We’re talking about martial law under a government with an agenda to root out and destroy any elements that are not in line with their specific agenda.

How many Jews learned the hard way in World War II that the Nazis hated Jews and wanted to exterminate them?

In a government collapse following any number of disastrous events that might befall a nation, we can bet that the next government to come to power in this day and age will need force, and a lot of it, in order to quell a rebellious people.

Force shows power and overwhelming violence spreads fear across a population. And there’s no better way to show force and enact fear into a people than to violently enforce martial law.

Making Sense of All These Cyberattacks

In World War 2, the Nazis set out to conquer Europe; it was part of the Nazi agenda before World War 2 ever began.

If it’s going to happen to us, we can bet that extensive planning and military operations that include secret government agents, computer hacking, weapons smuggling, and covert alliances are already taking place.

In the end, who will be the governing party that will enact martial law? It won’t be under an American flag.

Not the flag of our founding fathers that is. Don’t get me wrong. The American flag may still fly — but if it does fly, it’s going to be dwarfed by a larger flag with any number of national or foreign symbols poised above it.

Escaping Martial Law

1. Run, Don’t Walk, Run

With death bearing down on your community, on your neighborhood, on your front door, it’s better to make a hasty retreat for the countryside than to wait too long and find out the hard way … that you waited too long to evacuate.

Right now, be prepared to ensure that you have access to news, even following a loss of the power grid. The latest emergency AM/FM and weather alert radios now have multiple alternative power sources, from handcrank to built-in miniature solar panels, while still also taking rechargeable batteries and standard AA batteries, which you can have a supply on. This can help ensure you have access to news, which may be a lifesaver one day if you hear (on your emergency radio) that a rogue military faction is seizing communities and setting up martial law.

Finally, Ham radio is another option for news from the local region especially if you’re on the move, and if you have family or friends in the region with two-way radios. Note, U.S. law currently requires a license to operate Ham radio, but if government collapses, who’s going to enforce that rule? (U.S. law will be no more.)

However you get that news of approaching martial law, you can now make a hasty retreat before your neighborhood is locked down. What if the first step of a rogue faction is to seize and interrogate (torture) healthy adult men who they see as a possible threat to their power?

Imprisonment, Executions, Torture

The Nazis did this to the Jews in World War II — and there were a lot of executions if you remember (the Bible tells us that it’s going to happen again in the end of days — imprisonments, executions at the hands of the Anti-Christ — but on a bigger scale than what the Nazis had in store for the Jews … Islamic Jihad anyone? They hate Christians; that makes them a candidate for Anti-Christ in my book; aren’t they right now wiping out large numbers of Christians in the Middle East? And now they’re in America, recruiting for Jihad on U.S. soil… Is it possible that right now Bible prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes?…)

Back to that escape from martial law…

From the countryside, you can hide safely under the cover of the forest, and make plans and preparations for the next leg of your journey.

A large number of Jews were able to escape the Nazis by fleeing into the forests, surviving the weather and foraging for food (or just handouts of free food), and eventually escaping. Sometimes they had the help of “underground” elements, resistance fighters and their supporters.

2. Seek Cover and Stay Camouflaged

Jews who waited too long to evacuate, or moved too slowly, or didn’t do a good job hiding out, were rounded up, or simply shot where they were found. The key to not being found is to:

– Stay under cover (you don’t want to be spotted from a drone, helicopter, or plane circling in the air)

– Avoid “line of sight” (position yourself so that your path of travel isn’t visible to anyone scouring the land with binoculars; trees and tall brush can provide concealment from every direction; avoid meadows and open spaces).

– Be ready to belly crawl … slowly (not getting caught is of utmost importance; be ready to drop to your belly and crawl on all fours, stomach and head low to the ground, and move at a snail’s pace; moving extremely slow will help you avoid snapping twigs and also avoid shaking the brush or tall grass around you, movement which can give away your position to anyone close by).

– Be patient (if you have any questions or suspicions about a possible searching party trying to track your position, be ready to stop moving completely and simply lay right where you are for the next several hours — until the cover of dark perhaps — or when you feel it’s safe to start moving again).

– Hide well off trail (the further you can get from any noticeable trail to hide, or just to sleep, the better; if these are just soldiers acting on orders, they may not be too excited about slugging through a swamp or wetland, or climbing a steep hill of dense brush, which brings us to…)

3. Choose the Path of MOST Resistance

From your starting point, what is the hardest way into the wilderness? What has the most brush, the steepest gully, that is still passable? If authorities are not right on your tail, and you have a head start, consider taking a path that no one in their right mind would be likely to take.

It might take you 30 minutes to climb a 200 yard hillside through the woods, but if that hillside climb puts you on a path off the beaten track, you can increase the odds that you’ll never be found, and that no one is going to follow the path you have taken.

4. Cover Your Tracks

Soldiers acting on authorities to round up evacuees might not be well trained (or have any real training) in tracking. That said, you should be cautious along whatever path you take not to leave signs of your presence, and especially not to leave signs revealing the direction you are traveling.

Signs to avoid are:

– Broken branches (avoid breaking branches; even twigs breaking off brush as you pass by are tell tale “white” signs pointing to your presence)

Flattened grass (crawling through an open area of grass comes with a danger; you may leave a trail of flattened grass pointing in your direction of travel; if you have time, and you have to travel through grass, for a short distance into the grass, turn at repeated points, and use your hands to stand the grass back up, so that it’s no longer flattened and conceals your path of travel)

– Foot marks in damp soil (be ever cautious about open areas of soil, especially damp soil; damp soil is a fast way to leave a shoe print revealing your direction of travel; step cautiously over and around open areas of soil to avoid leaving shoe prints).

– Camp fires (smoke from camp fires can alert people from miles away to your location and ashes from a camp fire on the ground can tell trackers just how long it’s been since you were there; as much as possible, avoid any camp fires until you are a very safe distance away; keep them short, brief, and very small when you do need one)

– Litter (don’t drop anything to signal your presence, from an empty matchbook to a cigarette lighter to garbage from your food supplies; bury everything you don’t want well off trail where it won’t be found)

5. Fool Any Pursuers

So you plan on entering the woods near a highway? Cross to the other side of the highway and break a number of branches and clear a path of brush and create what looks like a trail leading in the opposite direction you actually plan to travel.

Continue forward along that false trail you’ve started, and leave additional signs giving pursuers the impression that is the direction you or others are traveling.

Now go back to your original planned starting point, perhaps “choosing the path of most resistance” (see above), and head off in the opposite direction.

Pull this off and you’ve just made a safe getaway and any pursuers will be shortly later on a wild goose chase leading to nowhere.

– Now is a great time to litter. Remember that rule above about avoiding littering — well there is a time to litter, and that is when you want to use litter as a way to fool pursuers into believing you went one direction, or crossed a river, when you actually doubled back and went another way.

Consider dropping an empty matchbook and arranging things to look like a temporary camp site.

In one area, urinate (or pour water) on the ground, and then make foot prints in the damp soil, that look like you are walking in a certain direction.

Got an old shirt? Cut a length of paracord and tie it securely to a rock, and then tie both to a shirt. Wrap the rock in the shirt and then throw both over a narrow river you have no intention to cross (choose a point in the river where it would be a dangerous crossing) so that the rock and shirt fall on the other side of the river where the shirt is visible to anyone searching from your side of the river (dunk your shirt in the water to give it more weight prior to your toss — it should travel a few feet further than it might if dry)

In a short while any pursuers who see your shirt may be fooled into thinking you crossed over the river. By the time they cross (if they are even able to cross, remember this is a fast point of the river we’re talking about) and discover the rock tied to your shirt, and possibly realize they’ve been fooled, you may be far off in a different direction.

Make it more believable by making foot prints in a damp area of sand or dirt near the river bank that point to the river.

6. Only Carry the Essentials

If you’re prepared, and in reality everyone should be prepared, you would have had a Bug Out Bag packed and ready to go, though a lighter weight Bug Out Bag may be called for if you find that you need to make a hasty retreat and have a tough road ahead of you.

What are some ways you can shed pounds from your backpack?

When it comes to the outdoors, it’s common for people to bring more changes of clothing than they actually need. The more time you spend in the outdoors, and the more time you spend on any treks of any real distance, you’ll realize that you can get by in the same set of clothing just fine. Having a second outfit you can wear as an additional layer is recommended, as evening temperatures can drop, and you don’t want to freeze. The point of all this is that too many outfits will only bulk up your bag and add extra weight and only slow down your travel time.

Additional ways to shed pounds —

– Avoid carrying a tent — instead, carry a simple waterproof bivy sack.A bivy sack is a thin yet rugged bag designed to fit over a sleeping bag and keep you sheltered from the elements.

– Carry less water into the wilderness (unless traveling through dry areas where natural water sources are few or non-existent for several miles at a time — then you’ll want to carry a lot more water than normal); be sure to have a plan for procuring drinking water along the way (Lifestraw’s personal water filter not only quenches thirst in a hurry, but only takes a few seconds to operate, with no additional waiting time as opposed to other methods of water procurement).

– Choose a smaller flashlight that takes smaller batteries (but always have a few extra) — a headlamp is a great choice because it gives you free use of your hands, allowing you to climb or pick your way through brush if you have to escape during the cover of night (of course be smart about when you use it as any kind of light can give away your position to someone trying to track you).

– Cut your emergency candle in half (have a 55 hour emergency candle? Take a hacksaw to it, and cut it in half to 22.5 hours of burn time)

– Pack calorie-rich freeze dried food or light weight emergency ration food bars that do not need any water to prepare (stopping to collect water can cause you to lose precious minutes when you are making a run for it, thus a non-perishable meal that is ready to eat as soon as you open the package is a good idea to keep stored in your vehicle and your Bug Out Bag).

– Include a plan to snack on edible insects; some of you are squeamish at this idea — but edible insects can provide enough calories and help you get by for a few extra hours or even days at a time, adding time and distance to your escape from otherwise captivity and possible death in a concentration camp.

Right now your goal is to just get away — you can hunt, fish, and trap once you are dozens of miles away or more into a remote area.

– As you move along the forest floor and or along a rivers edge, be ready to collect edible plants, roots, nuts, and berries — but be careful, many are poisonous and not edible. It may be a lot easier for you to recognize edible insects and make do with these instead of risking your life with plants, roots, nuts, and berries found in the forest.

Remember, the wrong plant or berry can be a fast way to an early death. Foraging is a skill that today can be learned by reading books on foraging for wild plants, taking classes, and then practicing what you have learned so that you are ready for a survival situation.

7. Be Careful What You Tell People

If you come across strangers, keep details about your travels to yourself. Unless they’re part of your group, no need to share details just in case these strangers you’re talking with are soon after caught by authorities and give up your location.

What about tracking dogs?

While tracking dogs may be a threat for some evacuees, a large scale evacuation into the countryside is likely to leave authorities short handed and short on adequately trained canine teams.

8. Press On and Keep Traveling

Feel like there’s enough distance between you and them? Don’t take any chances and be ready to spend a few more days and even weeks traveling into remote areas. Better safe than sorry.

Hunting pressure and large numbers of evacuees fleeing into the wilderness in several regions of the country will send native wildlife fleeing for remote areas where there is a lot less human activity. It is these remote areas that the hunting is likely to be best — especially hunting for bigger game like deer, elk, antelope, and moose.

9. Seek Out Remote Wilderness

The difference between the World War 2 Jews vs survivors from a tyrannical government that may one day come to power today is that the Jews had allied nations that they could flee to. In fact many fled Europe completely and made it to the U.S. and of course millions had help being relocated to the present day nation of Israel in the years following World War 2.

If we have to run from a tyrannical government that one day comes to power and enacts martial law, we may not have any allied nations to flee to at all, and so the only real way to survive long term may be to seek out remote wilderness far off the beaten track, well under the cover of forest (gotta hide from those drones), as well as lands shielded by mountains (where there’s no roads, there’s no easy way for armies to move enemy soldiers in and out, putting the odds of escaping the clutches of tyranny and martial law in your favor).

Conclusion

In war torn nations in the modern day, and regions turned to ruins by natural disasters, many have died from starvation and disease, and others from drinking contaminated water; others have fallen victim to gangs or been killed by rogue armies that have come to power, perhaps enforcing their own version of martial law.

Could martial law under a tyrannical government come to the U.S.? Could it come to the UK, Canada, and other Western Nations? Best to be ready and not caught off guard, should martial law one day arrive soon.

Perhaps Jesus said it best when he said:

“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Having in your survival bag a versatile item like a tarp will come in handy during an emergency situation. It will help you gather water, camouflage your supplies and it will provide an excellent shelter in case nothing else is available. Improvising a basic tarp shelter can keep your head dry. It will help you conserve heat and it provides a sense of comfort and safety.

A polyethylene tarp will go a long way and you should definitely get one for your bug out bag. It is lightweight, durable, draft-proof and waterproof. They come in a variety of sizes and color, and they won’t burn a hole in your wallet.

Making a tarp shelter is easy and there are dozens of different ways and patterns to construct a suitable shelter with only a single tarp.

Before you make your tarp shelter you must consider the following:

• The location of your shelter is crucial and you should stop and think about it before building your shelter.
• The direction from which the wind is blowing should be taken into account or your shelter will sail away.
• The ground should be comfortable enough if you plan to get some sleep. Pointy rocks will keep you awake.
• The ground should slope slightly for the water to runoff.
• If there is no slope, you will have to dig some trenches around your shelter to aid drainage.
• Take into account the purpose of the shelter and make it as large as it needs to be.
• Consider the weather and chose a model that is stable and won’t collapse if rain or snow are expected.

Tarp Shelter Designs:

For all the shelter examples provided here, you can use a 10X10 foot tarp.

1. The A-frame tarp shelter

The A-Frame shelter is probably the most common shelter one can make. It can be made by stringing the paracord between two trees. Draping over the tarp and staking it down are the final steps required to make this standard shelter.

The 30-degree angle of the tarp’s roof will create a ten-foot-long living area. The shelter will be 8.6 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall. This shelter provides a good rain and snow runoff and a proper wind deflection.

The downside of the A-frame shelter is that there is no floor and if you haven’t stretchered the paracord tight enough, there will be sagging in the middle.

2. The Sunshade tarp shelter

To create this type of shelter, you will need four anchoring points to which you will tie the paracord. This is a shelter parallel to the ground and it’s designed to provide 100 square feet of shade against the sun.

Some people use this type of shelter during the rain because the water will pool in the middle and it’s easier to collect it. To make it sturdier, you can add support poles to the corners.

This basic sunshade tarp shelter will provide maximum protection against the sun, but it’s not suitable for cold weather and it can’t support rain for long.

3. The Lean-To tarp shelter

This is another shelter that it’s simple to make and it’s excellent for deflecting wind or providing sunshade. To make this shelter, you need to secure the tarp to the ground on the windward side and support it with the paracord between two anchor points.

A 30-degree angle of the tarp will provide five feet of height and 8 feet of width under the shelter. This is an “on the go” shelter because it’s easy to erect and you can quickly take it down. It provides excellent wind deflection and it will keep you safe from rain or sun heat.

The downside of this shelter is that there are no sides and no floor to offer protection against other elements.

4. The tube tent tarp shelter

This is a sturdy shelter that provides a floor and, if suitably secured to the ground, will prevent rain from seeping in.

To make it, you will need to secure the paracord between two trees and drape over the tarp with the opposite ends secured together.

The sixty degrees walls will provide 3 feet in width and almost 3 feet of headroom. This should be enough room for a single adult.

5. The mushroom fly tarp shelter

This type of shelter is very similar to the primary sunshade shelter but it adds a central support pole at the tarp’s midpoint. It is designed for rain or snow runoff and it’s pretty sturdy if you secure the four corners of the tarp well enough.

You can make it as tall or as short as you need depending on the length of the pole. This shelter provides an excellent runoff for rain or snow, but it doesn’t have any sides to protect you from the wind or cold.

6. The cornet tarp shelter

This shelter utilizes the entire length of the paracord strung from a tree to the ground. The tarp is draped over the paracord diagonally, while the leading edges fold under to form the floor. The corner of the shelter must be faced towards the direction of the wind.

You will also need to tie off some drip lines above the entrance of the shelter to prevent rain from running down the paracord and into the shelter.

This is a good design for wind deflection and rain/debris shedding. The downside of this model is that it doesn’t offer too much headroom and if you are a tall person, you might not have enough room for you and your gear.

7. The dining fly tarp shelter

This is the favorite design for many campers and it’s a simple open-air cover. It provides a good sunshade and enough headroom without sacrificing too much space. It keeps away rain but it offers limited protection against the other elements due to its lack of sides.

When properly tied down and staked, the dining fly becomes a sturdy shelter and the height of the support pole will dictate the amount of headroom.

This is a good model for desert survival because it provides proper ventilation and adequate coverage.

8. The wind shed tarp shelter

This type of shelter requires a little practice to get it done the right way. You will need to fold the tarp into thirds and make sure the leading edge of the roof hangs over the groundsheet for adequate rain runoff. The main ridgeline has to be secured with paracords while stretched between two trees.

A length of paracord must be added to the bottom fold, where the back panel meets the groundsheet. It provides excellent wind deflection, but it requires a lot of secure points.

The hanging roofline could also sag under rain loads and channel the water onto the groundsheet.

9. The Fold-Over Wind Shed tarp shelter

This design is similar to the traditional wind shed, but it provides more coverage by sacrificing the groundsheet.

The height of the paracord ridgeline determines the angle of the roof and the footprint of the shelter.

It offers excellent wind deflection and rain runoff, but it doesn’t protect entirely against the elements due to its lack of floor, flaps or sides.

10. The diamond fly tarp shelter

This shelter is suitable for two persons and it’s easy to make. You will need to secure the paracord to a tree and the ground and drape over the tarp at a diagonal. The length of the paracord and the angle with which it is tied to a tree will determine the overall headroom and width of the shelter. The steep walls will shed rain and will deflect wind if they are well staked. This model will require drip lines, just like the cornet shelter.

Depending on the size of the tarp, this shelter can accommodate more than two persons or more equipment. However, the lack of a floor and flaps won’t keep out the elements. If the wind changes direction frequently, the shelter can be compromised.

11. The arrowhead shelter

Start the construction of this shelter by supporting the center of two perpendicular edges with five foot long poles or by attaching those edges to trees using a paracord. You will need to stake to the ground the opposite corner so that it creates a series of four triangles.

This design will provide 35 square feet of living space and five feet of headroom at the opening. The flap will hand down and make a partial closure. The poles need to be supported by paracord tie-downs.

This shelter deflects wind with its low profile and it’s very roomy.

12. The half box tarp shelter

This shelter will require some time to be built and you need to use at least four support poles and as many or more tie downs to hold it all up. The footprint provided is 25 square feet and it has two sides of protection from the elements.

If not supported in the middle or kept taut from the sides, it will sag under the weight of water or snow. A full one-quarter of the tarp goes unused and folded up behind the rear corner.

This type of tarp shelter provides good sunshade throughout the entire day if you position it correctly.

13. The barn stall tarp shelter

To make this shelter, you can either use four five-foot poles for support or two poles and a paracord attached to two anchor points. The front is supported by poles and the single 90-degree wall provides enough protection, although strong wind can damage the entire structure.

This shelter produces a 50 square feet living area but it has no floor. It’s simple to build, but it doesn’t provide adequate protection from the weather.

14. The Square arch tarp shelter

As the name implies, this shelter is an arch with a square top. Starting with two parallel lengths of paracord attached to anchor points approximately 3 feet apart and 3 feet high, drape the ground cloth over the two lengths of paracord and secure the long ends of the tarp with stakes.

This is a good shelter for narrow spaces, but the odds of finding four anchor points in the needed proximity is quite low. To allow rain to runoff, make sure you secure one paracord slightly higher than the other.

This shelter is three feet wide, three feet wide and ten feet long.

15. The shade sail tarp shelter

This is an easy and quick to build shelter and it requires to diagonally drape the tarp over a length of paracord attached to two anchor points. The opposite corners of the tarp are staked to the ground.

This is an open and airy shelter and the lower the angles of the sides are, the better it will deflect wind and the more shade will provide.

It provides all-day shade and it requires minimal stakes and set up, but it’s not weather resistant and it will not keep you dry.

What not to do when building a tarp shelter:

• Don’t make your shelter over an ant nest or any type of burrows
• Never set up your shelter beneath a dead tree or in the vicinity of one
• Don’t attach tarp lines to a tree standing alone or too tall trees. Always go for the short tree in a group of taller trees.
• Never set up your shelter below the high tide mark of a shoreline
• Don’t set up your shelter on top of a hill or ridge.
• Don’t set up your shelter on a river bank

Making a proper tarp shelter also depends on what you bring along. Things like a backpacking knife, durable paracord, and one or two space blankets will help you improve the quality of your shelter. It takes time to master the art of making a proper shelter using just a tarp. However, once you manage to do so, you will be able to build various shelters in all sorts of environment.

Conclusion

Making a tarp shelter is not rocket science. With a little bit of practice, anyone should be able to make one. Learning these tarp shelter patterns will come in handy during an emergency preparedness situation. If you are looking to buy a tarp explicitly designed for the backcountry, I recommend going with the Sanctuary SilTarp or Aqua Quest Safari models.