Shelter
Shelter is a very important part of shielding yourself from the elements. Rain and wind can sap heat from your body and leave you very vulnerable. Even the dirt underfoot is out to get you, draining away warmth as you rest! Insulating yourself from these three factors will keep you alive and warm considerably longer. There are hundreds of ways to build an effective shelter, and hopefully our examples will help you to create one as well, should the need arise.
There are many different kinds of shelters a person can build out in the forest. The first of these would be a tepee made with a parachute and something to use as poles, such as sticks of wood.
To build this tepee, you first need to gather a parachute and at least three poles. You need to place the poles on the ground and lace them together, perhaps using rope, shoelaces, tall grass, etc., to use as a framework. Now, you need to stand this framework up and spread the poles out to form a tripod, like in step two of the figure above. If you want more support for your framework, you can place additional poles against the tripod. It is best if you only add five or six additional poles. Next, you should determine the wind direction and make the entrance to the tepee at at least 90 degrees from the average wind direction. You should lay the parachute against the back of the tepee and find the loop at the top of the parachute canopy. Place the loop over a pole that you placed against the tripod, then place the pole back against the tripod so the the top of the canopy is at the same height as the lashing of the three poles. Then, you should wrap the canopy around one side of the tripod, and the rest of the canopy will encircle the tripod in the other direction. Make the entrance by wrapping folded edges of the canopy around two of the free-standing poles.You can place the poles side by side to close the entrance. If you have any extra canopy, you can place it under the tripod to create a floor for the tepee. If you want to have a fire inside the tepee, you should leave a 30 to 50 centimeter opening at the top for ventilation.
If you find yourself lost without useful tools like a poncho, rope, or parachute, these shelters are just as functional, but require the gathering of natural resources.
Additionally, you may have noticed that a good number of these example shelters require lashings, in order to bind sticks and trees together. Wild Grape vines make a good short term lashing, but are thick and grow brittle as they age. The stalk of a Stinging Nettle plant on the other hand, can be cut and dried into thin strips, which can even be woven together to make a strong cordage. You can also shred and braid plant fibers from the inner barks of some trees to make cords for lashing. The trees you can use include linden, elm, hickory, white oak, mulberry, chestnut, and red and white cedar trees. You should test the cord to make sure it is strong enough for lashing. If it isn't strong enough you can braiding additional fibers onto the cords to strengthen them.
Images courtesy of wilderness-survival.net, which contains many useful guides and images.