directly above it or close enough to catch fire. Oxygen should be able enter
the shelter to get to the fire without blowing across your body. Finally, cre
ate a space to pile and protect your collected firewood. See “Fire,” Chapter
6, for more on building fires within your shelter.
The benefit of a fire in your shelter is that it will keep you warm and
comforted at night or when trapped inside due to storms. Although the fire
will not be big (a long, narrow fire along a rock face will keep the length
of your body warm), it requires serious effort. Shelter fires need to be fed
constantly with small pieces of dry wood, so you’ll sleep very little. You
sleep 20 minutes; the fire dies, you get cold; you wake up and feed the fire
. . . and so on until the first rays of sun bring you the relief you have been
praying for all night.
stroud’s Tip
Build your shelter big enough that you fit comfortably in it
without feeling claustrophobic, but to maximize your shelter’s
heat retention, don’t make it so large that you have extra air
space to keep warm. Also, build your door as small as possible and
lower in elevation than your bed (particularly important in the cold).Heated Ground Shelter
An aggressive and calorieburning (yet effective) way to keep your shel
ter warm without a fire inside is to build a fire in the place where your
shelter will be (on a large, flat rock is perfect). While your large fire burns
throughout the day, prepare the materials you will need to construct your
bed, walls, and roof.
As day turns to night, let your fire die down and cover the hot coals
with an inch (2.5 cm) of soil or sand. Construct your shelter and mattress
directly over this spot. Heat will emanate from the coals throughout the night,
keeping you toasty and warm. If you have built your shelter on a large, flat
rock, push the hot coals off to the side (they will become the small fire that
you keep inside your shelter all night). Then put your forestdebris mattress
on the heated rock. I have often done this so efficiently that I can’t even crawl
into the shelter for two or three hours because my bed is too hot!
Shelter (^) | 153