Camping Supplies Search! Enter Your Topic Below:

Chapter 3. Building Huts

The Bush Hut | The Pyramid Hut | The Gabled Hut | Reed Huts | The Trapper's Roof

THE BUSH HUT

The bush hut is the simplest kind of shelter to build in the woods. It may not look like much when you start it, but it improves from year to year. Look for a bush that has long, pliable branches and thick foliage. Bend the branches down in an arch, and fasten the ends to the ground. You might use strong rope on leather thongs attached to pegs. While you are doing this try not to crack any twigs or branches. Now weave other leafy branches in between the arch so closely that the wind will be efficiently kept out. This hut has the advantage of actually growing. The network of branches will get thicker and thicker and will soon look so natural that anyone not in on the secret will not guess the existence of the hut. Unfortunately, the foliage does not completely keep out the rain, and the hut is a useful shelter only in the summer. Nevertheless, it's a fine secret hiding place.

THE PYRAMID HUT

If you don't want to wait years until your hut gets roomy, and if you want a shelter that will protect you from the rain, you can erect a pyramid hut.

Find some long, solid branches, and set them up in the form of a pyramid. Weave smaller branches horizontally around the framework of the poles. Then weave branches with heavy foliage over this. Beech leaves are the best, for the branches from coniferous (cone-bearing) trees such as pine or fir are not able to keep out the rain. Work from the bottom up, and extend every succeeding layer over the one below it. Only this way can the rain run from the peak down to the ground without leaking in. Be sure the opening of the hut faces away from the storm side. Don't forget to dig a ditch around the hut so that the rain water will run off. You can line the inside with dried moss, and add a couple of thick pieces of log to serve as stools. If you want additional furniture, look around you for ideas. There are many primitive but serviceable things you can build from materials you'll find at your camp site.

THE GABLED HUT

Setting up a hut is often time-consuming because you have to search for the suitable poles and weaving materials for the rough framework. Therefore, experienced hut builders always carry a net of tarred or waxed cord with them. You can easily weave a net for yourself. (See page 103 for instructions on how to weave a net.) The meshes have to be about 8 inches apart, and the whole net should be about 6 feet by 12 feet. With a net like this, you can build a gabled hut very quickly. Weave leafy branches between the meshes, or use grass, hay, straw, ferns, or large leaves if you are camping in a field—and, again, work from the bottom up and extend each layer over the previous one.

REED HUTS

You can make both the pyramid hut and the gabled hut out of reeds. Reeds have the advantage of being rainproof and very warm as well. To be sure, you do need a great many reeds to make a good covering. The method you use depends on whether summer (green) or winter (dried) reeds are available. If you have pliable summer reeds, take a handful with the cut edges toward the top and the tips pointing down, and bind them, once again starting at the bottom, over the first horizontal support, under the second, over the third, and so forth. Since the fresh reeds shrivel quickly and leave gaps, dry winter reeds are much better. Gather bundles of reeds by the armful, tie bunches together at the end, and then fasten them on the framework of the hut like roof shingles, pushed close to each other and overlapping. Huts covered with dead leaves or reeds dry out quickly in the sun and become parched. Therefore, it is dangerous to have a fire in the hut or even to light a fire nearby.

Summer reeds	Winter reeds

THE TRAPPER'S ROOF

This model of the trapper's roof lies about halfway between the gabled hut and the ranger's tent. It is usually rainproofed with reeds and intended as a nook to slide into on a rainy night—an emergency refuge—rather than a cozy shelter.

You can build a large, roomy trapper's roof in an afternoon, and then gradually improve it until you have built a regular hut.

You can move the trapper's roof around and place it where it will best protect you from the rain. In spite of its simplicity, it still offers good protection. It is also easily adaptable as a movable roof over cooking sites, but you'll have to be very careful that no sparks hit it.

First get two solid forked supports and stick them in the ground, then connect them with a horizontal pole. This is the crossbeam of the roof, where the upper edge will be bound. The lower edge rests on the ground or you can put it on a board, into a wood pile, or against a rise in the ground. The different examples of gypsy tents shown on page 17 may give you ideas for such constructions. The illustrations here show the roof sometimes resting on the ground, sometimes a bit above it.

It is best to cover the roof with reeds, using the same methods as for the reed hut. Complete the frame of the roof with a lattice of branches or cords, and then weave in the reeds. In an emergency, you can also use straw, ferns, and so forth, but you will have to make each layer much thicker than with reeds.

Since the slanted roof lacks side walls, you must carefully place it against the direction of the wind and rain. Set the roof at a steep or a gradual angle according to the angle at which the rain is falling.

Don't forget the ditches or drains or you'll quickly be flooded out. Since this airy hut has no walls, it's a good place to light a fire; the smoke can draw off freely.

You can spend a comfortable night under this roof with a warming glow next to you. See the illustration of the trapper's bivouac on page 15.

This sort of hut has still another advantage: you can take it apart easily and set it up again in another spot. I know some fellows who cycle out to a river in the country for swimming during the summer. The reed roof they set up there provides shade during the day and shelter at night. Before they start for home, they dismantle their trapper's roof and store it away in a little shed at a nearby farmhouse. The next time they come, they simply pull it out again and set it up.

Very cautious people prepare more than one set of vertical supports so they can immediately shift the roof around in case the wind changes. This is also advantageous when you are using the roof as a sunshade, because you can always adjust it at any time to suit the position of the sun.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...