This could be us seeking shelter from a tornado in a tornado shelter or seeking high ground from a flood. Remember we need to put something between us and the elements. In most cases this is a temporary situation but one which could cause us issues if we do not take proactive and positive actions during the situation. Elements will kill you! Nature does not care about you. Wind does not care if it saps the heat from your body, rain does not care if you did not pack properly and the sun does not care if you have no shade or air conditioning.
This may sound weird, when you are forced to find emergency shelter think or imitate the homeless. What? Yes, think what you have seen homeless people do. I do not mean the homeless guy passed out on the sidewalk laying there at the mercy of the elements. Think of the homeless person you see with what could be termed a “mobile home”. The one who obviously been in the situation for a while and has adapted to their situation. They use the environment around them. They improvise with what most of us would consider garbage but they follow some rules even if they do not understand they are.
First thing they do is deal with the major element. If it is windy, move to the side of a building which is away from the wind. Sun beating down on a hot day; use the shadow of a building to protect yourself from the sun. A doorway protects you on three sides from the elements simply by the construction of the entry. Dealing with the major element affecting your life is the first thing you have to do when figuring out shelter during an emergency.
Once you are out of the rain or have strung something up to keep the sun off of you then you can improve your shelter. In an emergency situation you should work to improve your position. Never just sit and wait for help or whatever. Always work to improve your position.
Again think of the homeless. What do they all seem to do when sleeping? They put something between themselves and the ground. Anyone who has ever done some camping will understand why. The ground is hard and does not care! Also the ground will suck heat from your body. They may not ‘know’ what they are doing but the homeless are stopping or trying to stop the transfer of heat from their bodies to the ground by placing cardboard or other items between themselves and the ground. If you have a choice between sitting on the bare ground and sitting on some discarded milk crates, sit on the crates! Heck, make a couch out of several crates and knit a blanket while you figure out what to do next.
Blankets, what do they do? They keep the wind, the air off of your body, which stops the air from stealing the heat from your body. Because the air does not care if you are cold the air does what it does regardless if you exist or not. Blankets also keep your heat in. Allows you to utilize the heat your own body generates to keep you warm! Once you have separation from the ground and the air you have made your shelter. This can be simply wrapping you in a blanket. You have separated yourself from the elements, which could care less about you or your situation.
Now we can discuss all sorts of shelters we could make in the wilds of the jungle or in the forest of Siberia but, yes there is always a ‘but’, each of us live in different environments and to discuss one environment only would leave us lacking if we found ourselves in a different environment. Instead we will keep thinking the way of a homeless person. This gives us guidelines we can use anywhere.
Cardboard, we have all seen homeless people using cardboard for shelter. A piece might be between them and the ground. Maybe they have utilized the whole box to curl up in. What are they doing with the cardboard? They are putting another layer between themselves and the elements. These added layers allows your layers to work better at keeping you warm and dry by each layer only having to work a little at keeping you warm and dry. If you curl up in a cardboard box your jacket no longer has to keep the rain off of you while also trying to keep your body warm. The box keeps the rain off while your jacket keeps you warm. If your blanket stays dry the blanket will do the job of keeping you warm. This is the purpose of most emergency shelters you can learn about. The shelter is to keep the elements off of you.
Do the homeless construct large shelters? No, why? Because the less area you have the less area you have to heat. The larger your house the harder it is to heat and cool. In an emergency a smaller shelter is much more useful than a large one. Your body heat can heat a tent or cardboard box and in an emergency every bit of heat could make the difference. If you have a candle with you a small shelter can be heated by a single candle. Of course we must be extremely careful when utilizing heat in any shelter! You can easily burn your hut down and find yourself standing out in the elements.
Think of your shelter building as adding layers. Each layer helps the underlying layer. A tarp strung up over your cardboard hut keeps the rain off your cardboard. Your cardboard hut is not wet; the card board is dry and can keep the wind at bay. The card board is dry which means your blanket is dry and the blanket can help keep you warm. With a dry blanket your clothes stay dry which means you can stay warm. Each one of these layers helps your body to regulate its own temperature and keeps you alive.
The next time you see a homeless person’s shelter take a moment and appreciate what they have done. This person may have issues but they have adapted to their situation and are living. Something you should keep in mind if you ever end up in an emergency situation.
As Always,
Stay Safe!!!
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