My friend Gary Fujino recently taught a class at our scout meeting on building a debris hut. Gary studies all kinds of survival topics, from martial arts, shooting skills, to outdoor survival skills. He took his son Tomio out in the Sawtooths in the summer of 2011 to show him how to build a debris hut, and they slept in it without sleeping bags at a lake at about 6000′ in the Sawtooths. Temperatures in the Sawtooths can drop to the mid 20s on any given night.
The first photo shows the site they picked to build the hut, with some advantageous structure in the form of a downed tree suspended about waist high above the ground.
AFter establishing a ridgeline they started adding ribs which defined the structure.
After making a skeleton of a structure, they put what plastic bags they had on the branches, to keep some of the debris from falling through. Then they started covering the structure with debris such as grass, twigs, and pine needles.
After the structure was built and covered, they gathered wood for a fire at the front of the shelter, with a reflector which directed heat into the interior of the shelter.
Wow that looks great, and very cosy!
I’ve built a few of these over the years – Though I remember one 10 degree night where it wasn’t quite warm enough! No fire in my case though, this setup looks pretty impressive with plenty of fuel to feed the fire throughout the night.