rarely find one of these magical, readytosleepin, treewell snow shel
ters. They are predominant, however, in the mountains of the North
American West Coast, but finding one takes a lot of searching and
wastes your time and energy. You’ll likely have to make a treepit shel
ter, which I discuss later in this chapter.
If you can’t find a cave, the next best natural shelter is an overhang.
Making Your Own LongTerm Shelters: The thing to remember about
these shelters is that they can be built in many geographic regions,
depending on the natural features and materials you have on hand.
Your ability to construct a viable longterm shelter, as with so many
survival tasks, depends on your adaptability and ingenuity.
The AFrame: Unlike the leanto, the Aframe is a longterm shelter
that, if properly constructed and maintained, can serve you well for an
extended period. Aframes can be made to be strong, to adequately (if
not completely) repel the rain, and, when well enough insulated, to keep
heat in and wind out. One of the best things about the Aframe is that
you can continually improve it by adding more roofing, insulation, and
waterproofing materials every time you return to your camp.
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