Snow Day - Natural Shelter
It's always fun having a snow day, especially when you get two in a row. Thankfully, most of us get to spend our snow days lying in bed inside a nice, heated house. However, there are some people who are not as fortunate. Thousands of people spend the frigid night on the streets, struggling to find some warmth. For this assignment, we were tasked with making a hypothetical shelter for these people using only elements from nature. As I soon found out, this would make for a very interesting challenge that I ended up having a lot of fun with.
Firstly, I used the morning to find the ideal spot to begin constructing my shelter. I decided that a group of trees adjacent to my house (pictured below) would be a good idea
I begin building my shelter directly in front of the trees. I figured that the trees would help to block the incoming wind and provide some cover from precipitation. I thought about making my shelter directly under the trees, but there just wasn't enough space and having to shovel snow while crouching down would've been a pain!
Next, I started the physical constructing by clearing out some snow with a shovel. I wanted to create roughly a 7' by 7' square so that my shelter would be able to accommodate for taller people as well as provide more room for everyone. Below is a picture of my progress.
As you can see, the shelter is very unprotected at this point. To fix this, I decided to build up the walls on the exterior to block wind and allow people to lay down. I also wanted to clear the interior of snow so that one would not have to sleep on it. It ended up looking like this:
Unfortunately, I had to make it a bit smaller than I planned because I wanted the roof (which would be made from branches/sticks) to cover as much as possible. I didn't have any plastic on hand either so the roof had to be made from scratch. However, the walls turned out pretty well and the floor is mostly clear of snow.
At this point, snow had gotten into my boots and my feet were turning to ice cubes, so I went inside for a bit. While warming up, I had a good idea: I could put some leaves on the floor of my shelter to act as a "pillow" of sorts and provide further protection from the snow. So, when I came back out, I got a garbage bag and collected leaves around my yard to dump into my shelter.
I also gathered various sticks and branches to create a roof for my shelter. The idea was that I would stick them into the walls around my shelter and they would protect you from precipitation. But with the ground being covered in snow, I struggled to find enough branches. Thankfully, one of the trees next to me had several large branches blown off by the strong winds, so I was able to use them. The end result turned out pretty nice.
Although it's not Bear Grlyss-esque, I think this shelter would do a great job of keeping you warm during the night time. It's deep enough to protect you from the deadly wind chill and also does a decent job of keeping one dry from precipitation. If nothing else was available, this shelter would be a great option for anyone trying to keep warm. Just grab a blanket and a couple of good movies and I'll guarantee you won't even notice a difference from the indoors!
Firstly, I used the morning to find the ideal spot to begin constructing my shelter. I decided that a group of trees adjacent to my house (pictured below) would be a good idea
I begin building my shelter directly in front of the trees. I figured that the trees would help to block the incoming wind and provide some cover from precipitation. I thought about making my shelter directly under the trees, but there just wasn't enough space and having to shovel snow while crouching down would've been a pain!
Next, I started the physical constructing by clearing out some snow with a shovel. I wanted to create roughly a 7' by 7' square so that my shelter would be able to accommodate for taller people as well as provide more room for everyone. Below is a picture of my progress.
Unfortunately, I had to make it a bit smaller than I planned because I wanted the roof (which would be made from branches/sticks) to cover as much as possible. I didn't have any plastic on hand either so the roof had to be made from scratch. However, the walls turned out pretty well and the floor is mostly clear of snow.
At this point, snow had gotten into my boots and my feet were turning to ice cubes, so I went inside for a bit. While warming up, I had a good idea: I could put some leaves on the floor of my shelter to act as a "pillow" of sorts and provide further protection from the snow. So, when I came back out, I got a garbage bag and collected leaves around my yard to dump into my shelter.
I also gathered various sticks and branches to create a roof for my shelter. The idea was that I would stick them into the walls around my shelter and they would protect you from precipitation. But with the ground being covered in snow, I struggled to find enough branches. Thankfully, one of the trees next to me had several large branches blown off by the strong winds, so I was able to use them. The end result turned out pretty nice.
View from above
Side view
View from inside
View from above 2
Me and the finished shelter
Although it's not Bear Grlyss-esque, I think this shelter would do a great job of keeping you warm during the night time. It's deep enough to protect you from the deadly wind chill and also does a decent job of keeping one dry from precipitation. If nothing else was available, this shelter would be a great option for anyone trying to keep warm. Just grab a blanket and a couple of good movies and I'll guarantee you won't even notice a difference from the indoors!
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