Natural Shelter Solo Overnight

Description

My last required lesson for the Hardwoodsman Tab over at BushcraftUSA

Check it out if you have not yet

Tags: Bushcraftusa,TurleyKnives,Hardwoodsman

Video Transcription

alright guys this is going to be my first natural shelter sole overnighter specifically without the dog I've done a natural shelter solar overnight or with my dog but to get the full experience and as per the rules this is this is what's going to go down here with this fallen down cottonwood there's lots of bark around it and I'm going to use the bark along with some reed and grass as a bed and then machine GLE it with the bark and some some logs alright I've got that bark platform down where I'm going to lay the shadows bending away that bark is a good I don't know inch and a half thick now I'm gonna go get my other bedding that's what we're looking for right there this is the first load I've got me nice and comfy that's an extra little windbreak there those are the sticks I'm putting on the back and just starting to lean to part of it I stuck the extra hay or whatever long grass in behind there so that'll be like my back so it goes about as high as my back does so that'll be a nice little insulation thing there too for me all right there it is at the bark on it yeah this won't be bad at all so it's higher in the middle I'm ahead Connie I'm ahead of my feet kind of sink down at the bottom lower and I don't really mind if I feed you but I've kind of want my head elevated the run is on much more that grass it's so easy to collect it's just a matter of pulling it over the ground it's awesome I'm going to put some in so that my my head is elevated like a pillow I don't get me wrong I definitely brought a pillow I'm I'm the softie that way that's my one luxury item madam like wool blanket all right where's my stacked firewood and I've got some prep down in there I'm going to get some twigs for a squaw wood fire what's what's that up there I like it looks pretty good to me got all my clothes out there ready to put on and take you around so it's a t6 it's a dead cotton with them using as a as a Ridgeline I guess ridgepole came off of this big guy all the way up there and walk around that's the roof start to see the back of it and I was I'm gonna lie came and check this place out a couple days ago scoped it out to find out where it will be a good place to set it up I actually got all this bark off of this tree so it's not like it was a you see there where I stripped it off not like it was a far walk to get it or anything if I did have to walk to get it would have been a lot more labor-intensive I believe but still a really useful well it's 20 after 5 now and it's getting dark the sun's gone down it's just the residual light now my woodpile is behind me there and I'm expecting any more before the nights through as you can see I put on I put on all my clothes except for my wool my little jacket now it's getting chilly and I'm gonna wait till it gets just a little bit darker start my fire and then cook some food well I couldn't I couldn't make this up if I wanted to this is freaking ridiculous I was chopping a piece of wood turns out it was holding the whole shelter up I don't know if you can see this but my the whole thing is just done it decimated it fell there's my my my blanket there's my roof and my backing oh my god it's flattened that's the frickin lean-to part of it this is horrible oh my goodness damn this is uh this is horrible I'm gonna try I'm not leaving I'm I've got to try to move this this is like aha freaking huge piece of wood I got to move that off and then I'm going to try to put this the roof back onto there and just oh my god I cannot believe this if it was sturdy I was trying to cut a piece of cotton with limb off my saw got bounced but got stuck in it bind it up and I chopped it with a machete to get it down and as soon as it broke the whole frickin paint oh my goodness I can't believe this I spent all day out here everything was fine and I was getting one more piece of wood before I started the fire and this happened oh my god I can't believe it I was able to get that huge piece off of my stuff that's it over there but unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make this into a shelter now it's too the log is too wide around for me to lay polls across they're not even going to cover my my bag or nothing my blanket or me so I don't know I'm not I'm not moving and I'm not going home I'm going to spend the night and I got this log here as my back and out it's not going to rain I know that I want to stay relatively warm with the with the fire but I don't think that I can make this into a shelter again which really sucks because it was very good I was really happy with it alright looked at fire died down a bit and I'm cooking my gluten-free sausages on my sweet grill that dunk and Josh made for me alright I got those sausages almost done I stuffed some cheese on there delicious almost makes me forget about the tragedy that was my shelter I had so hot I had to take off my shoes and socks well I'm over the fact that the shelter broke it was a big deal to me for real spent all day doing it and I was really happy with that really thought it was gonna work good but even if this doesn't qualify for a shelter now because it's not really one it's just a windbreak with a fire reflector in front of it I did learn a lot especially about the bark the bark really really goes a long way if you can get a hold of it the big thick Cottonwood bark is what you look for in hardwoods environment in my opinion and this grass this grass is really really easy to gather and I'm sitting a good 6 inches off the ground still after the tree fell on it actually I think I imagined aside to get any more compress than that but I'm taking off layers the fires hot everything's everything is comfortable so still having a good time all right so it's 10:00 to 8:00 and I'm laying here and I'm just I can't stop thinking about the fact that I'm not really in a shelter and that's what the whole point of this thing is so I'm going to go out and I'm going to cut to why branches and a ridge pole and put them up in front of where I'm laying and then make a roof and thatch the roof with bark all right those two Y branches are the start of what I'm talking about I don't know how well you can see it but that's pretty much it the same deal that Ken did I just got fork sticks instead of tying it with vine and then get over here maybe you can see it better so there's my bed and you look up I'm all covered

there's the ridge line and sticks and bark and it's pretty good I'm just going to try and get a little bit more on this side here and then we try to close off that side a bit but I'm really happy that I decided to do this I was I was going crazy thinking that I wasn't actually in a shelter so and that's the whole point that's that's what I mean like I was fine sleeping out next to it it's not not that is the fact that I was supposed to be under a shelter natural shelter and I used still haven't used any man-made materials with the shelter the only man-made materials I have are my wool blanket and such with marshmallows I fixed my watch now it's the right time with 10:30 and I just put a bunch of wood on the fire and I'm heading to bed I keep hearing odd noises that I I have never heard before I think it's some kind of bird it's pretty cool alright guys seeing the a.m. all right so it's 5:30 in the morning woke up pretty much every hour on the hour like clockwork to stoke the fire work out really good I got a nice one to sleep i stomach tube at about 10:30 so I've got got a good night's sleep that's for sure the fire kept me warm and I didn't get down to cold maybe you go 9 or 8 degrees above freezing and as good as a good night so I'm walking out now it's just after 7:00 and that's what happens when you don't look where you walk it ok alright guys I'm a head note now it's just after 7:00 that Suns starting to come out there's going to be a nice day too

so I had a really good time I had enough sleep I feel rested and ready to go so the only thing that could make this better is if my car is still there when I get there great success