subject: Lean To Guides To Make A Temporary Shelter [print this page] If you are an avid hiker or camper, then you like to "rough it" in the great outdoors. If you are one of those who have the confidence to go on long hiking trips through dense wooded terrain with just the bare necessities, you are a fortunate person. You may end up on a trail and have miles to go and the night is getting closer, or the weather is about to turn bad. You need to revert to lean to plans to make a good shelter.
A good shelter to keep you warm and dry is not hard to do. You can do it all with just what the woods offers. There are plenty of trees with large and small branches and leaves, not to mention fern bushes. Find a good spot for your lean. Don't put it out in the wide open or in bushy areas. Just put it right on the edge of the bushes and thicket. That will work just fine.
Put it close but not too close to a body of water or stream. You don't want to end up with some water in your lean to after some heavy rain if you put it too close, and not too far away from the water source either. Water that evaporates at night makes the air close to it much cooler than further away. You don't want to get a chill if you get too close.
To make things quite simple, see if you can find a large fallen tree or a large rock to build your lean to against. This will help with making the lean to structurally sound as you can get it while adding protection against the elements. There are so many factors that go into making a lean to, but the most important thing is to have a solid foundation like a large rock or tree to build it up against.
You will want to hunting for large branches to lay against the large tree or rock in a horizontal fashion. You will want to check to see if there is enough space for you in there, so get in there and test to see if you can crawl around. If you can't crawl around, make sure the branches stand up a little more for some extra room.
Since you can crawl in and be able to sleep with some comfort, start piling smaller branches on top of the structure with twigs. You will want to leave an opening at either end free for you to get in and out of.
Now that you have the basic structure in place, start piling all kinds of leaves, moss, some pine needles, and any ferns on the top of the lean to. This is going to help you with the protection from any rain that you may encounter while you are out in the woods.
Lean to plans are simple to follow. When you have done this you will have made a good lean to that will keep you dry and warm. You will have made a great little shelter to sleep in and be safe.
