Resources

Outdoor Skills

106 bite-size wilderness tutorials — the kind of things you want in your head before you need them. Each skill is one screen: three to six steps, a tip, and any real warnings.

11 skills

Shelter
90 min
Build a debris hut
A debris hut is the warmest one-person shelter you can build with no cordage.
1. Prop a stout ridgepole (twice your height) between a low fork and the ground.
2. Lean ribs of sticks along both sides at 45°, packed tight enough to hold leaves.
3. Pile leaves, ferns, or grass on the outside — three feet deep everywhere.
4. Stuff the inside with dry leaves until you have to burrow in.
5. Plug the entrance behind you with a backpack or a bundle of debris.
Tip: If a raccoon couldn't push through the wall, it's thick enough to hold body heat.
Tom Brown III — Survival Shelter
Shelter
20 min
Site a tarp for wind and rain
Where you pitch matters more than what you pitch.
1. Skip valley bottoms — cold air pools there overnight.
2. Skip ridge tops — wind hammers exposed sites.
3. Look mid-slope, back into a treeline, with the closed end into the wind.
4. Check overhead for widow-makers: dead branches, leaning trees, loose rock.
5. Pitch the low end downhill so water runs away, not under your bag.
TA Outdoors — 15 Tarp Shelter Setups
Shelter
30 min
Insulate a sleeping platform
The ground steals more heat than the air. A bed of debris is warmer than any bag on bare dirt.
1. Rake a bed area longer than you are tall and twice as wide as your shoulders.
2. Lay a base of small logs or thick branches across the bed.
3. Pile springy conifer boughs, dry grass, or ferns on top — four inches compressed, eight before you lie on it.
4. Frame the sides with logs so debris doesn't squirt out overnight.
5. Add a hot-rock heater at the foot if you have a fire going nearby.
Botanik Bushcraft — Shelter Build
Shelter
45 min
Dig a one-night snow trench
A trench is faster than a quinzhee and warmer than a tarp when you have snow but no time.
1. Find snow at least chest-deep. Test-probe with a stick for hidden rocks and roots.
2. Dig a body-length trench slightly wider than your shoulders and knee-deep below the trench floor.
3. Roof it with skis, poles, or sturdy branches laid across the top, then blocks of cut snow.
4. Leave a small vent hole for CO₂ and mark it from outside with a ski or stick.
5. Line the floor with a pad or thick bough bed before you get in.
Warning: Never seal a snow shelter completely — suffocation is a real risk without a vent.
Gone Feral — Snow Trench Shelter
Shelter
60 min
Build a lean-to shelter
A lean-to is the fastest heat-retaining shelter when you have a fire — one wall reflects, the other opens to the flame.
1. Find two trees 6–8 feet apart, or set two forked uprights, and lash a strong ridgepole between them at head height.
2. Lean straight poles from the ridgepole to the ground at roughly a 45° angle, spaced a hand-width apart.
3. Weave finer branches horizontally through the poles to create a lattice.
4. Thatch from the bottom up with overlapping bark slabs, boughs, or leafy branches — each layer overlaps the one below like shingles.
5. Build your fire and reflector wall parallel to the open face, about 4–6 feet away.
Tip: Face the open side away from prevailing wind and toward your fire. Even a small breeze on the opening kills the shelter's warmth.
Shelter
45 min
Build an A-frame emergency shelter
An A-frame sheds rain from both sides and is the go-to when you have no fire — it retains body heat inside a compact space.
1. Lash or wedge a ridgepole between a low tree fork and a shorter forked stick driven into the ground.
2. Lean pairs of ribs against the ridgepole from both sides, angled at about 45°, spaced a hand-width apart.
3. Add a horizontal lattice of finger-thick sticks over the ribs.
4. Thatch heavily with leaves, boughs, or grass — at least a forearm-thick layer to shed rain and hold heat.
5. Stuff the interior with dry debris to sleep on and pack extra debris against your body once inside.
Warning: Never run an open flame inside an enclosed A-frame — this is a body-heat shelter only.
Shelter
15 min
Rig a plow-point tarp shelter
One corner tied high, opposite two staked low — the fastest one-tarp storm shelter for a solo camper.
1. Tie one corner of a square tarp to a tree or pole at chest height.
2. Stake the diagonally opposite corner directly to the ground with a stout stake and taut cord.
3. Stake the two remaining side corners out low on either side to form a wide triangular opening.
4. Adjust tension until the tarp is drum-tight — a loose tarp flaps and collects water in bellies.
5. Aim the tall opening 90° away from the wind, then build your fire in front of it if conditions allow.
Tip: If the wind shifts, loosen the high corner, rotate the whole shelter, and re-tension in under a minute — no need to rebuild.
Shelter
45 min
Thatch a shelter to shed rain
Thatching by shingle principle — bottom up, overlapping — turns loose vegetation into a working roof.
1. Build a lattice frame with horizontal ribs no more than a hand-span apart.
2. Start at the lowest rib and lay bundles of boughs, grass, or bark with tips pointing down and butts pointing up.
3. Overlap each new bundle at least halfway over the one below.
4. Work all the way to the ridge, packing each course tight against the one under it.
5. Test by running a hand along the outside — you should not feel any gap where sky is visible through the thatch.
Tip: A rule of thumb: if you can see daylight through your thatch when you lie under it, it will leak in a real rain.
Shelter
15 min
Anchor a tarp or tent for a storm
Standard stakes fail in wind and wet ground. Storm anchors keep your shelter down when weather turns.
1. Replace stakes with deadman anchors — bury a stick, rock, or stuff sack full of gravel horizontally with the guyline tied around it.
2. In snow, dig a T-slot: cut a channel across the guy direction, lay a stake or stuff sack horizontally, and pack snow over it.
3. Add secondary guylines from mid-panel tie-outs on every wall — not just corners.
4. Angle guylines at 45° from the tarp to the anchor for the strongest pull-through-shear geometry.
5. Re-tension every 2–4 hours during a long storm as ground softens and cords stretch when wet.
Tip: Cut short (4-inch) toggles from sticks and larks-head your cord around them — they hold better than tied loops when guys need to be adjusted repeatedly.
Shelter
90 min
Dig a snow cave
A snow cave traps body heat and blocks wind, turning a deadly storm into a survivable night.
1. Find deep, stable snow on a lee slope or drift — not avalanche terrain.
2. Dig an entrance tunnel lower than the sleeping platform so cold air sinks away from you.
3. Hollow out a domed chamber large enough to lie in; keep the roof at least 1 foot thick.
4. Poke a vent hole through the roof with a stick to prevent CO₂ buildup.
5. Line the floor with pads, packs, or boughs and mark the entrance from outside with a ski or branch.
Warning: Never seal a snow cave airtight. Suffocation from exhaled CO₂ is a real risk without ventilation.
Ray Mears — Building a Snow Cave
Shelter
120 min
Build a wickiup
A wickiup is a dome-shaped shelter of poles and brush that sheds wind and holds a small fire's warmth.
1. Set three or more stout poles in a tripod and lean additional poles around them in a cone.
2. Tie the poles at the top with cordage or green bark strips.
3. Weave thinner branches horizontally between the poles to create a lattice.
4. Thatch the outside with grass, reeds, bark, or boughs, overlapping like shingles from bottom to top.
5. Leave a small smoke hole at the apex and a low doorway you can close with a hide or brush mat.
Tip: A wickiup is stronger and warmer than it looks. Pack the thatch thick enough that no daylight shows through.
UglyTent Bushcraft — Wickiup Shelter

Educational reference only. Wilderness conditions change fast — practice in low-stakes settings, take a certified wilderness first-aid course, and confirm regional regulations (fire, fishing, foraging, snaring) before you rely on any of these skills in the field.