Shelter from the storm

We've touched on water purification or storage and the importance of having at least 72 hours worth of food storage at home for short term crisis.


Luckily you already have excellent shelter from the elements in your home, so for the vast majority of situations staying at home conserving your water and food is the best way to survive most situations as help is likely on the way.

But what if it isn't? 😟

There may be situations where your home isn't viable as shelter in the case of extreme events such as volcanic earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruption as happened last week
(Friday 28th September 2018) in the Palu Bay area of Indonesia that had all three, as you can see in the linked video below;

Thankfully these events are rare but even in the more geologically stable parts of the world its important to have shelter from the elements to avoid heat stroke and hypothermia etc

As this blog is called Prepared Camping its obvious that I and my family enjoy time camping and we have several tents and probably more camping equipment than we actually need!

But you can get adequate shelter from simple items such as a waterproof poncho, tarp or even the environment around you from empty buildings and bridge flyovers in an urban setting to cave or debris shelters in more rural areas.

Whilst walking with my three year old son we placed some branches against this fallen tree to make a little den, if we actually needed a shelter we would simply continue placing small twigs then cover with dead foliage and moss and you have a simple debris shelter with very little effort.

This would provide cover from the sun and a prevailing wind and depending on how thick you constructed it could even be reasonably waterproof in under an hour, this can then be improved by building a fire for warmth and cooking etc preferably with a reflector wall behind it to better direct the heat towards your shelter.

During colder periods or if fire making will be difficult keep your shelter low and small as you're trying to minimise loss of body heat.

So get outdoors and start practicing some simple skills that are also great for entertaining your little ones! 😉

Take care

Roo