Tarp Camping- Winter Snow Storm. Bushcraft / Wilderness Survival Skills

Come with me as I load a sled with gear and hike into the New Hampshire forest. I build a lean-to frame from dead trees, and cover it with a tarp. I build walls from dead trees and debris. I shovel out the floor. Then I gather leaves, and haul them to the shelter using the sled. Several loads of leaves becomes my insulation from the ground. The tarp shelter is designed with a flap to open as an awning, or to close when the weather gets bad. I start a fire using flint & steel. Later I unroll my sleeping bag- It's a summer weight mummy bag inside a mid range rectangle bag, and that inside a bivy sack I made from a small tarp. It keeps me warm, and I get a good night's sleep. In the morning I shake the snow off the awning, and open it up. I get the fire going again, and cook breakfast. Then it's time to load up the sled and get going.

[@mikedooly7769]

Awesome, love the Psalms and the scenery thank you

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. God bless.

[@daleperron3865]

Video number 4 for me . Love watching 😊

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment. There's lots of videos on the channel, and I'm working hard to create more for you.

[@iamgroot8631]

Thanks for keeping it real, no bs , no small talk I liked it 👍👍

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

thank you!

[@AaronfromEngland1989]

Class video mate cheers.

[@johnhebert3855]

A pretty great shelter. It shows how valuable a resource a tarp can be.

[@Yffud1999]

I'm very happy I found your channel 😊

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

It's nice to meet you.

[@Yffud1999]

@DougShoeBushcraft nice to meet you as well! Your videos are excellent and helping to motivate me to get out do some camping this winter. I'm looking forward to watching more of them. Your knowledge and skills are very impressive and I believe I can learn much from you. Keep up your most excellent work.

[@hazaiahpuan8984]

Your vedio very gerat my friend ..nice ..be careful and take good care

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. God bless.

[@anders1685]

Thanks for video, I enjoyed much

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I'm glad to hear it. Thanks for your support...

[@NavyAssassinOnBLAST]

Great build. No fuss & a good heavy duty shelter. New subscriber here! I'm in Burlington, Vermont. We're neighbors! Glad I found you. KZbin algorithm got it right 👍

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I'm glad we found each other. The algorithm gets it right some times. Thank you for the kind words.

[@BakerBaker1-9]

Great stuff man 👍

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you! Have a nice Christmas!

[@amypeterson4615]

I love this video and I love New Hampshire woods. It is a long one but every second shows the construction of your shelter, making a fire, and nice outdoor shots of the shelter in day and night. I very much appreciated that nothing was shown of cooking up some gourmet meal like most bushcraft videos do today. No one would pack in that much food for a single overnighter and it wastes too much valuable video time for the important stuff you showed. I just wish you would have shown an interior shot of you in the sleeping bag so as to give us an idea of how cozy it must have been and the amount of space available space inside the shelter. Thank you for this fine piece of work.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you for the detailed comment and all the compliments. I am particularly thankful for the info about what you wish I had done. I'm trying to make videos that people enjoy. So I'm glad you liked this one, and I'll try to get more interior shots in future videos. It can be a challenge with a small shelter (limited filming angles possible). And, some times footage doesn't come out. But I'll keep trying....

[@vazsurvival7539]

Great video! Fellow New englander here. It’s great finding other wilderness survival enthusiasts/youtubers from around the area. Keep up the great work!

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Nice to meet you! Thank you for the kind words

[@texasfarmer3367]

Brilliant.

[@jenniferbauman4802]

Good video. God bless. From Glenn CATT. In Massachusetts.

[@BBQDad463]

Thanks for sharing this video. It was very interesting. 😎

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you

[@rayleeeastlick3989]

Klamath falls Oregon is listening and watching

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Nice to have you here.

[@thomastesh1639]

Great Channel- I Really Enjoy The Way You Do These Video's-They are Most Informative!-Keep "em coming"-Tom T. From North Carolina.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you so much. It's nice to meet you.

[@nancyadkins7191]

Enjoyed your video, thank you for sharing 😊

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Nice to meet you. I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. More are on the way, so please visit again....

[@mariaotero5601]

Hello iam looking forward to enjoy your Vidio

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Hi. I hope you have a great time. God bless.

[@GMSurvival]

Awesome video man 👏

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you!

[@markbir7979]

Thanks Doug. Another great video. Looks cold up there. I live in upstate SC & we are lucky to get a small dusting of snow about once every winter. Stay safe friend.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. Snow has been surprisingly light this year in NH. I can't remember a year with this little snow. But the winter isn't over yet. We could still get pounded.

[@Jimbo171000]

I spend many winters working outside and leaning how to stay warm. Air infiltration can really make it hard to get a good nights sleep but having a few tarps for using from front to back and then using another tarp from side to side really cuts down on air infiltration. Plenty of pine bows help from the ground sucking the heat out of your body also help.

[@canastasiou68]

Thanks for sharing your adventures ✌❤

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I'm glad you like them. God bless.

[@peterfardell1564]

Hi dog I’ve just found your channel really enjoying it and I’m really pleased that you left the shelter up for another day keep up the great work look forward to the next one

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

thank you

[@ahadubaidahadubaid8089]

Nice

[@ahadubaidahadubaid8089]

🇵🇰👍

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thanks, brother

[@rajibjoshi9647]

I kind of go with the leen too template my self allows fire in front visibility good protects from precipitation easy to remember and build both with tarp or vegitation

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Nice.

[@MikBar-nj8jq]

You can place pine boughs on the ground for insulation also I would check for widow makers

[@mariaotero5601]

Awesome vidio

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you, Maria. I'm happy to hear that you liked it.

[@JSM-tx7ju]

This guy is a beast! The way he tore into that woodpile i was expecting to hear grizzly bear growls and grunts.Great video,i like the quiet ones

[@dakshatakadam7840]

👌video

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

thank you

[@vladopytlak457]

👍💯👍 tenk iz CZ.

[@MikBar-nj8jq]

You can also use thick plastic sheet in front of your shelter

[@pleitrap7073]

Doug, you are doing well, persistence counts, you may want to account for the prevailing wind when protecting your shelter though. You do need to smile once in awhile...

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you

[@MikBar-nj8jq]

You can place pine boughs on the ground for insulation

[@SouthernPatriot1]

Rewatching, well I’ve watched this many times...and I’ve never left a comment?! I cannot believe it my friend...I apologize and as soon as I noticed I didn’t comment...I decided I needed to let you know this video was awesome and was one of your best and love the new one you recently made when you went back to this shelter! You are by far my most favorite Bushcraft channel! But I think you already knew that lol and I will tell anyone and everyone about your channel! Anyway I’m babbling as usual lol. Take care and may God bless and keep you my good friend! 🙏🏻✝️🛐💟🤟🏻

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

thank you very much for the kind words. No need to apologize for anything. You are a great help to my channel. God bless.

[@SouthernPatriot1]

@@DougShoeBushcraft 🙌🏻😊

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

I've slept on frozen ground in just 4 layers of cheap cotton clothing, a beanie, unlaced shoes, one pair of socks, gloves and an army field jacket. woke up with a dusting of snow on me. All of the debris was wet/rotten/useless. 30F aint all that cold at all, IF you have the proper clothing and the right shelter/sleep gear, 0F aint that bad, even without a heat source. I prefer to carry my shelter, so that I dont have to waste a day or more making one and I dont have to return to one. I just set up for the night wherever I end up at dusk.

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

make your tent 8 ft long, triangular in cross section, 3x3 ft dimension at the foot end and 4 ft high at the head end. Make it 3.5 ft wide across the base of the head end, This leaves room for you to squat or kneel and use the basket of dirt as a chamber pot. Then you need not go out into the rain, wind/cold every few hours. When you DO have to exit the shelter for some other reason empty the chamber pot into the latrine-trench, cover the mess, replace the loose dirt in the pot with what youve got stored with you inside of the shelter.

[@IAMMASED]

Doug how can you have 121k views and only 3k subscribers... Thats criminal... Start asking for your viewers to sub... Thats ridiculous... Your content is awesome...

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you so much. Yes, I believe you are right. I could be asking more for people to sub. I'll keep at it.

[@stannelson2582]

I remember when leaves were useful. Now that ticks are so bad I don’t trust s single leaf. Treat them like politicians. Lol

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

LOL!

[@jimoconnor6043]

A lot of good stuff here. I enjoy it, but curious about the time spent (not recorded) to get those structure logs ready for the build. I'm sure we don't want to watch the tedious footage, but a comment on the labour time would be appreciated. Thanks for your knowledge & informative vids!

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I wanted "Y" -shaped posts to support the ridge pole. I had to walk some distance to find them- Maybe 300 yards. They weren't difficult to cut and prepare since they were dead and dry. The other timbers used were smaller diameter and easier. Those were also dead and dry. The amount of time varies more with the area (what is available close by). I believe the shelter was built in an afternoon. It's been some time now. 7 months? So, things are not fresh in my mind. I hope this gives you enough of the info you want. Thanks for watching! & thanks for the comment & question

[@MikBar-nj8jq]

I would make a long fire and reflector

[@miked9383]

Nice video. Would have closed the open front more.

[@MikBar-nj8jq]

I would close both ends and the overhang is to high it should drop over to act as a rain cover

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

The bed should be 5 ft long, 30" wide and about 8" tall. Use compacted debris under your feet, where they hang off of the bed. This lets you shove the bed towards the foot end of the tent when you need to use the chamber pot.. You can then have a foot thick layer of dry debris all around you inside of your tent. Later, when it's colder, you can have a 6" thick layer of dry debris on the external pole frame of the tent and then 3 layers of 2" thick wet-frozen debris, 2 ft of debris, SEALED all around you, plus a reflective tyvek bivy, an 'envelope' of 2 taped together drum-liners, debris between the bivy and its envelope and between each of your layers of clothing, and you'll have no need of a heat source all the way down to 0F, as long as you have bodyfat to create metabolic heat. i stuff my packs with dry debris and use them as pillows/debris stuffing between my head and the tent's door flap.

[@markc6207]

Must have been a cold night.

[@clivedunning4317]

Doug , I really like the down to earth honesty of your videos. Please try and catch those put out by RobEvans Woodsman, I'm sure the two of you share a similar ethos. A trans-atlantic co-production by the two of you would, IMHO, be a real treat. Keep safe in these troubled times.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. I subbed to his channel just now so I can check it out....

[@slick7209]

Doug shoe I just came across your KZbin channel. Seems to be great I have a couple of questions where are you videos being made and how old are you . Your doing great work thanks

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. I'm in New Hampshire. Videos so far are in New Hampshire and other New England locations. As far as age, I'm crowding 60....

[@slick7209]

Doug Shoe Bushcraft wow Doug your doing great I’m 57 soon to be 58 hard to believe sometimes lol

[@patrickgarrett8341]

These are proper videos of being outside. The next would be to have absolutely nothing no shovel boat etc.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Yes that would make for a good video. But in the winter I might need a safety crew because I don't want to die. I did film one where I only had the things in my pockets.

[@FresnoJoe2]

Amen~!

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

God bless you

[@markduncan6690]

The bottom of the leanto needs some leaves and wood to cut out further drafts!

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. I agree. It was just the time and energy I had that day. I was hoping there would be enough snow to cover the bottom draft. It wasn't bad though.

[@topsmokie2251]

Would like to know if the tree posts that were cleaned of bark were made on scene ?

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

the furthest dead trees (that I cut into posts) were within 200 yards of the completed lean-to frame

[@anniejones1839]

What bushcraft skills you have, how long did it take you to cut and prepare the structure. I felt very chilly watching from my cosy bed brrrrr

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thanks so much. It was one day. -I believe one afternoon, but it's been some time since then.

[@rrcaniglia]

I noticed you didn’t build much of a reflector behind the fire. Was there a reason?

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

A storm was coming. I decided to let the fire die down and stay warm in the sleeping bag. In other videos, I've demonstrated surviving a winter night without a sleeping bag.

[@kenflowers9271]

Just curious. Where are you? I'm out in the Rockies , Colorado

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

New Hampshire, USA

[@solitudeinthewild82]

Great video, my friend! Great winter camp! Enjoyed watching, your and bushcraft skills are terrific! And the surrounding nature is amazing. Cheers from Russia, Doug, and welcome to my channel about special Russian bushcraft tips and hacks! Kind Regards, Yuriy!

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you, Yuriy! I will check it out. I would love to visit Russia some day, but your videos will be something I can enjoy now.

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

the open shelter and fire approach aint worth much when it drops below about 30F, or if the winds change direction and it's raining. I've never had any luck with it at all. I want complete enclosure when it's below about 50F. and if I need a heat source, use hot rocks. It's much more efficient and safer than open flames/smoke/emphysema-risk., fire-hazard to your hair, clothing, gear and shelter. Keep the shelter small, insulated, SEALED and reflective. like an igloo. The Innuit had no warming fires in their igloos, at -30F for months on end, out on the ice pack. They didn't have the seal blubber to waste and couldn't risk glazing over the inside of their igloos. That would lose them the reflectiveity of the snow. walls. They used a raised "shelf-bed" of snow to sit/work on, so that the colder, denser air could go down into a "sump area", where they were not sitting/lying.. They preferred to have a trench entryway to the shelter, which further "vented" the cold air away from their living quarters. The sealed "bubble" of warm air inside of the igloo forced the cold air to stay out of their living area. you can do something similar with your raised bed. lots of debris on that bed.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

30F isn't that cold. Innuit had no wood in the arctic circle. Video filmed in NH and Abenaki did have fires in wigwams.

[@Alan-uw6ik]

Hey there Doug. You always look so grumpy. Perhaps you need a dog to help cheer you up! Just sayin'.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Yes. I love dogs, but don't have one right now....

[@joelmoreirarosa1706]

minha resposta so

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

thank you for watching & commenting...

[@paulmillard1070]

Why build a half shelter in the dead of winter

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I set up the lean-to with a flap on the front that can be closed during bad weather, or when the shelter is not attended. At other times, the flap can be opened to make an awning.

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

Neither fire nor shelter are any help to you when you're hiking. You have to have enough clothing to keep you warm as you hike. You only need a way to stay 50F warmer, and block, wind/rain (and allow for it cooling off at night) in order to let you sleep. That 50F (or so) difference normally doesn't take all that much in the way of clothing/gear/heat-source to get done. I dont think much of wood fires as heat sources. They are more of a pita and health-threat than they are worth, most of the time. You'd better have enough clothing to be able to exercise your way thru a cold night, cause fires are unreliable and CAN burn down your shelter. The you're in a world of hurt if you lack enough clothing. You have to be out in the weather getting fire wood, have to have a way to keep-dry that wood, etc. Pain in the butt.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

When you hike, your muscles generate a lot of heat and you don't need as much insulation. Of course NH is hilly and I have large leg muscles.

[@briankulig7962]

You should check out Joe Robinette. He's got a KZbin channel and camps up in Canada. U could learn from each other. Nice job on your bush craft. From a Massachusetts Man.

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

Thank you. I know him. It's nice to meet you, as well. A lot of my ancestors moved up here from Mass.

[@briankulig7962]

That's awesome! Keep building brother!

[@ahadubaidahadubaid8089]

👍🇵🇰

[@robertknechtel5391]

Why does a person go out into the woods in winter and set up a shelter that looks like a homeless camp and stay in it overnight or longer. Is this fun? What is the purpose? Make money on KZbin?

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I'm having fun. & also trying to make videos of the kind that I would like to watch. I'm happy with the feedback I'm getting. Lots of people do like it. Not everyone does, and that's fine. If no one did, I wouldn't keep posting it here. In that case, I would still be in the woods a lot, but wouldn't bring video equipment. I'm not opposed to making money. But so far it's an expense. It will be an expense for the foreseeable future. I'm not putting ads on the channel. If you are seeing ads it's because KZbin has started putting limited ads on everything, I think. I'm not an expert on their policies, but I can say at this point it's not me. I believe the channel would be eligible, but I haven't done it.

[@eschneider8799]

It's a beautful place to be & there's a feeling of self sufficiency in being comfortable with very little. The more you know the less you need. Cheers & give him a thumbs up;)

[@pauljohnston3332]

I know theese comments a d video was a while ago, but I would also say that not only is it peaceful and liberating to survival camp go back to nurture and live of the land. And by doing videos it isnt all about making money, it's about passing on knowledge that might one day save someones life. And also sharing with others your experiences. Giving people the opportunity to experience the great out doors when they might no get the opportunity to do something like this. Or just experience the tranquility of it from the comfort of your home. I sometimes use videos like this as a sleeping aid not because it's boring but because it give me peace and clears my mind. Great job with the video dougshoebushcraft.

[@薫小原]

す

[@DougShoeBushcraft]

I can't read Japanese characters. I think you mean it's a simple shelter in the woods. Or peaceful?