Group Shelter Building
November 25/26/27, 2005

For this weekend Gathering, we originally planned to work on several shelters and take advantage of the fallen leaves and debris that the Fall had provided for us. However, as often happens, Mother Nature had something else in mind for us. We had a sudden cold snap and 8 inches of snow on the ground to contend with. This made collecting leaves and debris virtually impossible so we changed our plan.

We treated the situation as though we actually had to build a shelter based on the conditions and the available resources. The group reviewed the situation and since time and resources were scarse decided to work on one shelter that would house everyone. The shelter that was built was based on a shelter description that Eric Saunders suggested. Check out Eric's description for this style of shelter in the following article.

A-Frame Double Layer Lean-To by Eric Saunders This shelter began back in 1986, when I was taking the Back-to-Back at the Tracker School. Towards the end of the 1st week, we built group shelters. The shelters were roughly circular in shape, somewhat resembling a volcano, including an open center, the walls came up towards the center at approximately a forty-five degree angle. In the very center was a large barrel for a rather large and vigorous fire. Covering the walls from the ground to the top edge of the cone was roughly two feet of debris. There was one small opening to crawl into to get inside the shelter. Our group had 20 people shoulder to shoulder inside. The temperature the night we stayed in this shelter was below freezing, although I can’t recall how much below. Some things really caught my attention the night we spent in this shelter. The first was the fact that the fire in the barrel was so hot that its sides were glowing red. The second was how cold I was, especially my feet, in spite of the roaring fire. In the years in between then and now, when I think of that night it feels like having a burr stuck in the back of my shirt. For the resources we had, I thought we should have been far warmer. When our group (DTT) decided to build a group shelter, I really started to think about how that shelter functioned and didn’t function for the purpose it was intended. The cold feet problem was easy to figure out. The heat in the center caused the air to rise, air had to replace the rising warm air, so it drew it in from all sides, and right over top of our bodies. The walls of the fire-heated shelter may have reflected some radiant heat, but the amount was negligible. The benefit of shared body heat from people lying in a circle was non-existent. When I reflected on my own experience with individual shelters, the warmest ones had a lot of debris inside. So much in fact, they had to be burrowed into, with some difficulty. The best shelters also had a lot of debris on the outside, (fairly compacted as well). If the group shelter was made like an extended debris hut it wouldn’t shed water because it would be too flat. The solution that entered my mind was to have two layers of framing, the lower one to keep the debris close to the people sleeping underneath to minimize air movement. The upper layer would serve as a water-repelling layer in conjunction with tree bark and anything else available to provide a shingling affect. The upper layer would also take weight off the lower layer of branches in case of heavy snowfall. At our group DTT gathering, someone noted that the placement of the boughs of trees on the shelter makes a big difference in how water is shed. As an experiment, I took a piece of lego and first laid out the pieces on a piece of graph paper to mimick what we had done in the back to back class. I allowed for a group of ten people with a fire in the middle. Then I checked the ground area required using the A-frame double layer lean-to method. The method we used in the back-to-back class used up to 280 squares on graph paper, the A.F.D.L.L.T. used up 140 squares. When you think of the work required to properly cover and insulate the shelters, you can see the benefits of the smaller surface area. The shelter we made at our DTT gathering could have easily slept 14 people lying side by side and head to head. This type of shelter had the benefits of a debris hut, the benefits of shared body warmth, the benefits of shared work in the building of the shelter and the benefit of being able to shelter a fairly large group.

 

The group discussed the design of the shelter before
initiating construction. Next they built a model with firewood
and delegated the job responsibilities.

It was time to execute their plan. The group was fortunate to
have an old Cedar Rail Fence at their disposal for the ribs.

Everyone had their task to do. Cezary was responsible
for collecting as much debris as possible. He attacked
a large patch of dried ragwood.

The ragweed was placed across the ribs as the first layer of insulation.

Building the wall on the closed side.

The end was packed with snow to help insulate the shelter.

Here's a look at the closed end.

And here is the door side.

Kathy is shown here checking out the completed shelter.

Here are some of the comments from the Shelter Building Experience. We asked two questions. First, what was your favourite part of the weekend? And, secondly, what did you learn?

"My favourite part of the Group Shelter Building weekend was the walk on Sunday morning because we walked through a swamp and some of us slid in. I learned that when you have a leader and work together working is more fun because it's more organized." - Autumn Willow

Travis' Favourite Part of the weekend: Sleeping in a shelter that was built by Cole and was slept in by Cole. What Travis Learned: The Brownes are always there to clothe me.

"My favorite thing about last weekend was working together with lots of people to make a large shelter in around four hours.  It was fun to work with everyone on a common task. The things I learned are that when making a group shelter you have to have one person in charge to tell everyone what to do and to make sure they do it.  I also learned that making a group shelter has to be the right size for the people yet isn't too big to have large dead air spaces to heat." - Stephen.

What I learned: This weekend there was a large group of people all working towards the same goal, that was to create a group shelter. I learned that great things can be accomplished if people work together. Consider how the pyramids in Egypt were created, not by a hermit that's for sure. Favorite Part: I was in a clearing overgrown with trumpetweed. The air was calm and the snow was dry and soft. I stood there in reverence for a moment as I watched. It was as if I had for a moment stepped into a simpler world, a world in which there is no separation between human and the earth. - Cole

Here's the gang who attended our gathering.

Building a Group Shelter was a very exciting experience. Utilizing the resources at hand, notably the cedar rails from a fallen fence, the shelter took shape fairly quickly. The only tools that were used to build the shelter were an axe and a swede saw. Snow was used for insulation on the ends where the walls were and a couple of bails of straw were used inside to insulate from the damp ground. Binder twine was used in two places to help secure the main ridge pole and the shelter was covered by two tarps to help keep out moisture from above.

The most amazing fact is that the group constructed the shelter in 4 1/2 hours. 8 people slept in the shelter and survived the experience. The cool part is that the shelter was contructed very well and can be used at future gatherings.

Until next time... keep the adventure alive and never stop learning!