5 Primitive Shelters That’ll Keep You Safe From the Elements When the Collapse Takes Place

primitive shelters

debris hut

Photo by Steve Sanford

1. Debris Hut

Heap up a big mound of duff and detritus from the forest floor, then excavate a pocket that is large enough to crawl into. After getting inside, partially block the doorway to minimize air circulation. If it isn't cramped and dirty, you've made the air space too big for your body to heat it sufficiently.

When SHTF you're going to need a shelter you can count on. Whether it's a long-term shelter or temporary one to keep you dry from the elements, a primitive shelter can give you some ideas on what you can build in the future when you're in need of some protection.

Wondering what some of your other options are? On the next slide check out more shelters that are relatively easy to build, but can easily save your life.

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87 Comments

  1. Harold Nunez said:

    Yep…if nobody is attending to the plants…a meltdown will eventually happen

  2. Art Rogel said:

    Snow shelter saved my$#%&!@*in North Dakota. Thanks to my USAF training

  3. Rob Hartel said:

    David Collins..were you born a$#%&!@*or did you take lessons to become one??

  4. Pat Thompson said:

    Yeah but when the bombs start dropping, you’d want to be outta the fallout zone.

  5. Andy O Brien said:

    The problem in a situation like this is knowing the good guys from the bad. There are a couple of good books out there.

  6. Lon Dizzle said:

    don’t forget your medicine & I don’t mean later, I’m talking like today

  7. David Forbis said:

    Gotta look out for yourself and your kin. You are the first line of defense. I’d venture to say most people cant even build a fire.

  8. Ernest Levesque said:

    In the TV show Jericho there is a scene were they find a path of ripped up ground coming from one city and it is going off to who knows where it was filled with mud, trash,$#%&!@*and dead bodies. If that mob found your town I am sure you would not stand there with welcome arms and feed them.

    • William Wilson said:

      thanks for the link to Lehmans

  9. Greg Hoffman said:

    When insulated from the air, ground temp in the arctic is +16f. That is below freezing, but well warmer than ambient air might be. Not sure why they’d want you on a bed of snow? Bed of boughs would protect your body heat. And at severe temps I’d get as much snow on top of me as I could possibly move, or dig into.

  10. Dana En said:

    “Genius is simply the art of planning ahead.” Biovisor Brison

  11. Richard P Houghton said:

    The stuff you post might be good…it might be…I wouldn’t know…

    Because I’m not going to swipe through multiple pages of micro-info to get the overall picture.

  12. Aaron Warchild said:

    I’ll prob just post up in one of the millions of foreclosed homes in America… thanks for the new fort ideas for the kids though!

  13. JP Kruchten said:

    So after the ‘collapse’ we’re all to believe that all the existing structures are just going to disappear? Why stay in an igloo when there’s an abandoned house or barn or rv or even an abandoned vehicle to stay in. Survival is about common sense, unfortunately most of society lacks this and they will die quickly.

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