Using a Basha with Natural and Debris Shelters

It makes sense to use a basha in combination with the natural and debris shelters we discussed in the previous chapter. For instance, a basha could be used to roof a stacked debris wall structure or cover a smoke hole when a fire is not in use. Using a basha in this manner can combine the best from both methods of shelter construction or improve on what might have been possible using only one method, while also cutting down on time and energy spent.

SCANDINAVIAN LAVVU

The tent we’re about to build is a very mobile and easy-to-build shelter inspired by the Scandinavian “lavvu.” The lavvu is a type of shelter that has been in use by the nomadic Sami people, an ethnic group with an ancestral range covering northern Scandinavia, for hundreds of years. The Sami people traditionally revolve around the herding of reindeer, which have to migrate regularly for food, necessitating a convenient and mobile form of shelter that can withstand the arctic conditions of the far North. The lavvu is similar to a Native American tepee in shape, though is generally a bit smaller in diameter and has a lower pitch to the roof, causing the structure to be quite a bit lower to the ground than a tepee. This lower profile helps keep the structure more stable in fierce winds, which would destabilize a full-size tepee. The lavvu is also round, while the tepee usually has a more elongated form.

The smaller size also means that no special roof poles have to be made and carried around, as the length of poles required can generally quite easily be sourced in the wilderness.

The lavvu we will be describing here is about 13 feet in diameter and 6 feet high in the center. This should give you plenty of space for about 4 people and allow you to have either an open fire or a wood-burning stove in the center.

Materials

For the lavvu canvas:

•21 yards of fire-resistant and waterproof canvas (I use a 5-foot, 2-inch wide waterproof tent canvas.)

•Scissors

•Pins

•Thread

•Sewing machine

•Measuring tape

•Permanent marker

•Long piece of straight timber

•String

For the lavvu poles:

•Three 11-foot poles, about 3 inches thick at the bottom with a fork about 6 inches down from the top (These do not have to be perfectly straight, but should not be longer than intended.)

•Eight 11-foot poles without any forks, about 3 inches thick at the bottom (Again, these do not have to be perfectly straight and can be longer than 11 feet. You can use more poles if you wish. The more poles you use, the more stable your lavvu will be.)

For the lavvu door:

•Three slender, straight branches about 1 inch or so thick and 4 to 5 feet long for the door flap

•Buckles and webbing

Creating the Canvas

Sewing the material together in order to cover the shelter will require the use of a sewing machine. I promise you that it won’t hurt to try this, even if you’ve never used one before. Simply grab a couple of inches of the material you’re using and make some practice stitches.

1.Cut and pin bands. Cut three bands of cloth 21 feet long. Lay the first and second band on a flat surface so the first band overlaps the second band lengthwise by about 1/2 inch. Pin the edges together at regular intervals to hold the two bands together.

2.Roll and repeat. Roll one of the bands up from the longer edge to the pinned edge, and repeat for the other band. You now have two rolls with a pinned edge between them. This makes it easier to feed through the sewing machine.

3.Sew the first seam. Place the pinned cloth on the sewing machine and run a line of large stitches through the middle of the overlapping seam, or 1/4-inch away from the visible edge of the band, all the way from the top to the bottom, fixing the two bands of cloth together. You can remove your pins as you pass them. The stitch can be quite large, because it is only temporary and non-load-bearing.

4.Hide your seams. Once finished with this seam, place the two bands on a flat surface and fold the seam over itself so that the sewn edges are both hidden away within the fold. You want to do this neatly so you end up with a half-inch wide “strip” of 4 layers of cloth along the entire seam.

5.Re-sew the seam. Pin the new seam in place and roll the material back up the same way you did before. Place it back into the sewing machine and sew one line of neat and small stitches about 1/8-inch away from the left edge of the folded seam. Repeat this to make a line of stitches to the right side of the fold so you will have two lines of stitches roughly 1/4-inch away from each other. You’re going to have to be careful as you’ll be going through four layers of material and the stitches have to be strong and they will be visible.

6.Attach the third band. Once you have finished with the seam, remove the canvas from the sewing machine and attach the third band to the rectangle in the same manner (following steps 1 to 5) so you end up with a large rectangle roughly 21 x 15 feet.

Measure and Mark the Canvas

1.Measure and mark. Place the cloth on a flat surface. You’re going to be measuring and drawing now, which will require standing on the cloth, so if you don’t want to mark it (besides with the pen), wear clean shoes or take them off. Stand along the longer edge (21 feet) of the rectangle running from “left” to “right” of the canvas. Make a small mark along the bottom and top edges of the rectangle, exactly in the middle of the edge, or 101/2 feet from either the right or left side.

2.Mark the center of the smoke-hole. Use a long piece of straight timber and lay it across the center of the canvas so that it aligns with the top and bottom marks, essentially dividing the rectangle in half. Measure along this timber 101/2 feet from the bottom (where you were standing during step 1) and mark the spot clearly with a large X. This marks the center of the smoke hole and will be the mark used for all the other measurements.