Survival Skill of the Month

SHELTER BUILDING

Did you know that between 700 and 2,500 people die a year of hypothermia in the USA? Environmental exposure is a huge factor to an individual's survival on a day to day basis, especially a survival situation, wilderness or urban. Choosing the right clothing and layering system before your excursion can immensely help you should an emergency happen. Dead air space in clothing, sleeping bags, or a primitive shelter is what holds the heat and allows you to create a micro climate against your body. If you ever have to spend the night, look for materials like dead grasses, evergreen boughs, dead leaves, and dead moss. Creating an A-frame from wood and then piling up the natural materials can keep the rain off your body, and hold your heat in. Students in Owl Eyes Wilderness Survival classes are very well versed in the art of gathering leaves! Shelters need a lot of leaves to keep warm and dry. Its best to come prepared with at least a trash bag and emergency blanket in your survival kit.

We challenge you to get out there and build a shelter! Take a pic and tag us (@owleyeswilderness) on Instagram or Facebook before the end of 2025 for a chance to win our emergency shelter kit! Have fun and good luck out there!

Check out the shelters students have made in our classes below!