DIY CANOPY ON A BUDGET

If you’re a do-it-yourself type of survivalist (most of us are), you may be interested in hacking your own lightweight canopy shelter. One of the best makeshift canopy materials I’ve ever worked with is Tyvek house wrap. This is a waterproof and tear-resistant fabric used as a moisture barrier beneath the brick and/or siding on homes. Often, contractors will happily give scrap pieces of Tyvek material to those who ask. It is also available by the roll from home improvement hardware stores. The edges do not fray, and it is incredibly lightweight. The addition of strategically placed grommets (also available at hardware stores) will create a survival tarp canopy as good as any store-bought variety. Note: A dye solution made from water and black walnut husks will color Tyvek to a very proper woodsman tannish brown color.

SHOCK BAND HACK

High winds can be devastating to even the best of canopy shelters. Such shelters are like sails in high winds, and if you don’t use really strong guylines (such as paracord), the lines can easily snap in surging wind gusts. When using less-than-preferred-strength guylines for canopy shelters, consider implementing a shock band along the guyline. This is a piece of rubber or bungee cord strategically placed along your guyline. In high winds, the shock band will take the brunt of the stress and keep your shelter safely in place. Overhand loops can be tied along the guyline to allow a modern bungee cord with hooks on each end to be quickly and easily installed. Strips of tire inner tube, slingshot bands, surgical tubing, and even exercise bands can be used as well.

BUG OUT BICYCLE SHELTER

Bugging out on a bicycle has certain advantages. It can weave in and out of congested traffic jams, and it can’t run out of gas. It can also act as an independent canopy shelter frame in the absence of trees or anchor points. While many different configurations are possible, this illustration shows a classic arrangement, using the tires as front pillars with guylines stretching to the front. A smaller canopy strung from the handlebars makes a convenient gear storage vestibule or a dry spot for firewood. See the Bicycle-Powered Slingshot hack in Chapter 4 to find out how to convert the front fork of a bicycle into a powerful small-game slingshot.

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK GUYLINES

I’ve seen even the most experienced woodsman trip over his canopy guylines during a late-night trip to the latrine. A careless fall over guylines can have devastating consequences in a survival scenario, including eye gouges, broken bones, sprained wrists or ankles, and pulled muscles. A very simple gear exchange can help prevent such an event: Replace dark or earth-toned guylines with glow-in-the-dark paracord. Dark guylines can be difficult to see at night even with the use of a headlamp or flashlight, but glow-in-the-dark lines are not only much more visible, but they glow even brighter when struck by a beam of light. Bonus hack: Replace backpack zipper pulls and gear lanyards with glow-in-the-dark paracord as well to eliminate unnecessary guesswork in low-light conditions.

6" TENSIONING STICK

This is a cool trick that replaces a tensioning knot when stretching a ridgeline for a canopy shelter, rain fly, dining fly, or clothesline. It allows for quick and easy tightening (or loosening) of a rope stretched between 2 trees or anchor points.

Start by cutting a 6" stick about 1" in diameter. A wooden dowel or old broomstick works perfectly for this. Next, drill a hole through each end about the same diameter as your rope. Thread the working end of your rope through the right-hand hole and then circle the rope around the tree or anchor point. Finally, thread the rope through the other hole on the opposite end of the stick and tie a simple overhand knot on the other side to act as a stopper. This configuration allows you to slide the stick up and down the ridgeline to tension.

SHELTER AND HEATING HACKS

PALLET SHELTER

You can find discarded wooden pallets around almost every industrial park, dumpster area, dockyard, or retail establishment. Their durability, size, and shape make them perfect for an infinite number of shelter configurations. The quickest to erect is a simple A-frame shelter. Place a layer (or two) of pallets on the ground as a bed frame. This not only gets you off the ground and away from moisture, but it also creates dead air space that can be stuffed with insulation materials such as leaves, hay, or newspapers. Once the bed frame is finished, lean pallets on each side to meet in the middle above the bed in an A-frame shape. You can cover this structure in debris or a tarp, or even stuff the hollow interior spaces of the pallets with insulation to form semi-solid walls. Because of their panel-based construction, pallet shelters can be completed in a fraction of the time it would take to construct normal primitive shelters.

See the Pallet Bow hack in Chapter 4 for how to make a hunting bow using a pallet.

FRAMEWORK COLLAR CONNECTOR

If you need a long pole, you’ll have to lash together 2 limbs or saplings for the right length. This is the case when making a dome framework for wigwam-style shelters. If cordage is in short supply, a hack using an energy bottle from your trash may be the solution.

After slicing off the top and bottom of the bottle, a very strong cylindrical tube remains. You can use this tube as a collar for connecting the ends of 2 limbs. Taper the ends so they slide into the tube opposite each other and form a snug fit when wedged together. This collar will hold them together surprisingly well and will not stretch with moisture as many lashings will. If the collar’s a bit loose, heat it over coals or a flame and it will shrink and tighten the fit.

A $1 SLEEPING PAD OR FIRE REFLECTOR

Available at most dollar stores, a reflective vehicle dashboard protector can be easily repurposed into a sleeping mat with the addition of a few inches of leaves or grass underneath. It isn’t thick enough to be an insulator, so the additional natural or manmade insulating materials underneath are necessary. Its construction makes it much more durable than an average emergency survival blanket, so it is also reusable and repackable. The shiny silver Mylar (designed to reflect sun rays away from a car dash) is equally effective in reflecting and recycling body heat. It can also be used as a wind block and to reflect heat from a fire when hung from the back of a shelter. When folded and rolled, this product is about the size of a pop can.

A QUICK AND DIRTY CAMP TABLE

This isn’t as much a shelter hack as it is a camp furniture hack. Survival camps can be crude, and the need for furniture often arises. One of the easiest table hacks I’ve ever used starts with erecting a quad pod framework. Lash 4 sticks together at the top, using a tripod-style lashing. This creates a quad pod with 4 legs. Now lash 2 horizontal sticks to each side to create a very nice tabletop frame. Then lay either individual sticks, found boards, or flat plastic or metal scraps across the horizontal frame to form a tabletop. This table is quick to erect, requires few materials (only rope and sticks), and can be broken down to transport if necessary. It can serve as a kitchen prep area or as a table to get gear and tools off the ground.