Sigma just completed our first shelter building class and we got rave reviews from the guys who participated. They seemed to enjoy the experience and I was even told by a guy that he learned more about survival in that one weekend then he had learned in his entire life. And this was not a rookie in the woods. We really do strive to go the extra mile to teach you as much as we possible can in each course. I believe in coyote mentoring to a degree but I also want people to feel they learned a hell of a lot when they come out! So, I find a happy medium!
Anyways, now that I’ve plugged the school, lets get down to the brass tacks of what went down at this survival course. The first and most important shelter to learn for any survivalist to learn is the debris hut. If you don’t know how to build this shelter then you haven’t even scratched the surface of wilderness survival. This is the shelter that will save your life if you become stranded in a cold weather enviroment. The insulation on a well built debris shelter is so thick that you can sleep in below zero conditions with no sleeping bag! We added a little something different to this debris hut. The number one complaint in debris huts is that you don’t get much sleep because you are completely cocooned in leaves and aren’t very comfortable.
Comfort is a relative statement depending on who it comes from in my opinion. But I wanted to teach people how to build an internal heating system in their shelter that was not only efficient but extremely warm in the coldest of conditions. The shelter temperature can be controlled by the amount of heated rock, insulation, and air opening you leave in the shelter. You can always raise or lower the temperature by adding more or less hot rocks to the rock pit. At the front of the shelter is a rock pit that is roughly a foot deep and completely encased with stacked rocks around it. When you put the heated rocks into the pit and close the door behind you, it will radiate heat into the space and get it cookin in a real hurry! The rocks will stay heated for a very long time, usually till morning and into the next day.
Comfort is king in survival! Discomfort decreases your chance of thriving and that increases your chances of not surviving. A comfortable survivor is a happy survivor and a happy survivor is one with a positive attitude. It is absolutely essential to retain a positive state of mind in a survival situation. The brain is like a computer and if you continually program it with negative thinking then you will create a self fulfilling prophecy in your survival scenario! So freakin stay positive no matter what and use your head!
Just remember that shelter is numero uno! Then you need to worry about water, but you always build your shelter within reasonable distance of water. The two go hand in hand! Fire is the next key variable in the equations and one of the more difficult to master. Food is the final element that you must be concerned with, but of least importance in the short term. Master the sacred order of survival and you will be fine anywhere you go.
I’m not going to talk about the jungle hooch construction to much but I want to tell everyone a little bit about. Its based on an A-frame design that keeps you off the ground in a platform debris bed. This is bar none the most comfortable survival shelter I have ever constructed and I think people even with the worst of backs could sleep comfortably in one of these. It is a foot thick leaf bed and the debris conforms to your body. I call it primitive survival memory foam and its patent pending :)! I personally like it better than my mattress at home but I am a survival school instructor, so you might take that with a grain of salt! But to back up my claims we have had others sleep in it and they gave me great reviews. So I’m self proclaiming it worlds most comfortable Sigma Survival Shelter!
We all had a lot of fun that weekend and all the students said they were definitely coming for the next course. I want to thank everybody for coming out and it was a pleasure to host something that’s been a dream of mine for many years now. My hope is that we can create an unsurpassed training environment for those interested in survival-ism in all its forms. Whether you are worried about being lost in the woods, or handling an altercation in an urban environment; Sigma III Survival was designed to meet that need. If you have a desire to train the skills necessary to survive in a hostile world, then come join us today! Please help support Sigma so we can create something for everyone to enjoy!
Andrew McIntosh said on 11/3/10 – 02:01PM
Comment: The shelter class was great. As a former member of the SWAT team I can say that all my survival skills were very short term and mostly tactical. In this class I learned how to think about turning a short term survival situation into a long term prospect. Another words plan for long term and hope for short term. Also Robert instructed us in some tactial shelters that could be used by anyone ( Hunters or Combat ). The point is that I learned more in this class about surviving than I have any where else.
Recommended Shelter Gear:
Warbonnet Shelter System
Aqua Quest Tarp Kit
ENO Eagles Double Nest Hammock
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