How To Build A Shelter In The Woods How To Build A Shelter In The Woods 0 0 user ratings Enlarge In this video, Dale Collett, an outdoor survival expert, shows us the steps involved in building a debris hut shelter using ridges and dry leaves. I'm going to show you how to build a shelter in the wild. I'm going to show you how to build a free standing shelter known as a debris hut which is a technique that comes from the native American Indians. They can be a really useful shelter if thatched correctly and insulated correctly. It can keep you down and keep you alive in temperatures down to even -10 or even -20. So, this is what I've been working on for a few hours now. What you need is a basic tripod structure. As you can see here, I've got two forked sticks and a ridge line, a ridge pole here. These need to be really strong and sturdy. The test is that it should be able to pull your full body weight. If it can't do that, then there is a risk that it might collapse on you. When you have got your framework set up is that you then need to put some more ridge poles down the sides. You can see them here. Make sure that they don't stick out too much. If they stick out too much, rain can land on them, run down underneath and drip on you from