Jungle survival shelters: working with bamboo
“You’ve made your bed, now lie in it”
In the jungle the cold and wind are not the main concerns when making a shelter, but getting off the ground and keeping dry are.
Bamboo is the best resource available for shelter building – it sometimes feels like it has been designed specifically for that purpose: not only is it strong, easy to work with, hollow and plentiful, it is also ideally suited for joints, pins, lashings and can be bent and flattened if necessary.
In this video I cover some of the basic techniques that are worth knowing if you’re going to work with bamboo. If you are interested there are some very skilled workmen who use bamboo to make everything from houses to bicycles (search the internet for images) and it is truly amazing what can be done with this material.
When constructing any type of shelter there are compromises to make: given enough time and skill you could construct a magnificent bamboo palace, but normally we just want to make a reasonably comfortable shelter as fast and efficiently as possible…particularly in an emergency. Armed with the knowledge of how to work with bamboo this is something you can be confident of being able to do.
Another great video, very informative and detailed. Unfortunately it makes me jealous as I’m in central Canada and we have snow right now.
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the comment – funnily enough I kind of miss snow, what with Christmas on its way and all that!
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Yet again a very good film about what you can do with the natural materials you have. I have been looking for a demonstration on how to build an “A” frame bed for a while. I was shown once when in the army as a nice to know back in the late 80’s but never was allowed to use it due to the fact we had to hide. Will you be showing how to set up the roof of this shelter or do you plan on always having a basha, tarp or poncho to use with it? The hammock film was good and did you know you can get zips added to the Hennessey hammock now from a team called 2QZQ http://www.2qzqhammockhanger.com/index.html , I have the same one as you and have had the mod done and the bottom entry sewn up. It is a massive improvement to what is already a great hammock in my eyes. Should over next year doing something with MYCAT so put the kettle on.
Lee
HI Lee,
Thanks for the pointer about getting the Hennessy hammock modified – I checked out the website and they look like they do a very good job of it – I might try and get mine done over here one day as it would make a big difference. The thing I do like about Hennessy hammocks is that they are lightweight and if I can get it modified I’ll be using it again…
Just posted a video on an A-frame with shelter and I am going to do another on building waterproof(ish) roofs with leaves and natural materials soon.
Thanks again.
Cheers!
Paul
Another awesome video. I learn something new on everyone. I loved the A-frame bending technique. Do you learn most of these skills and techniques from the natives or more from good ol’ ingenuity? Or a combination or both? Have a good one.
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the comment – the bamboo bending technique is something I saw used for roofs over here and then adapted for the A-frame…and you’re right some techniques from the Orang Asli, some adapted from bushcraft/survival books, some made up, some are ideas that people write in with….bit of a mish mash really!
Cheers!
Paul
Excellent stuff. Some of the best videos around.
The “bending bamboo” technique is used in parts of Indonesia to form the roof rafters too.
Ash
Hi Ash,
Thanks very much for the comment – I think I first saw this technique on a documentary where the natives were, indeed, using it to make the roof of a makeshift hut.
I really like working with bamboo and there is a lot of it round where I live – sometimes I worry that I might be getting a bit too reliant on it! But it really is amazing stuff and infinitely useful…
Cheers!
Paul
How do you gather the bamboo that you use? Is it from a common area that is available to everyone or since you own property in the area(I assume) you are allowed to gather from your own jungle plot so to speak. I would think that if it is a local resource it would be managed in some way, or do people just not care anymore with the increased clearing of the land due to farming, industry, etc.
Very good videos, there is just no substitute for someone with local knowledge instead of all the “military tactical jungle guy” videos out there.
Hi Losmandy,
thanks for the comment and an interesting point you make.
I am lucky in that I have bamboo growing on my land so it is easy for me to harvest. My understanding is that in the forest reserves in Malaysia only the Orang Asli are allowed to harvest bamboo/rattan/petai etc for commercial use/building and handicrafts.
I don’t like cutting anything in the jungle but bamboo is a plant that doesn’t get harmed by limited cutting back – after all it is a grass and it grows back fast….so cutting bamboo is a bit like cutting the grass.
The real damage down to the rain forest is not so much done by people with parangs but by large companies with bulldozers and chainsaws – and in Malaysia the forest is being cut down alarmingly fast to make way for massive palm oil plantations.
As Stephen Fry remarked when flying over Malaysia’s expansive oil plantations, “The future for Malaysia’s rain forests isn’t good” and, when asked how he knew this, replied “I can see it in her palms”.
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Would you be able to suspend the platform like a hammock using paracord at each corner? Might stop the creepy crawlies and avoid building the posts??
Much repect for the work you selflessly put in to these videos also. I hope someone from the BBC picks you up so you can reach a wider audience. Nice to see real experience at work without the hyperbole and ego, much less distracting and easier to learn from for me. I’m about to get a local parang following your videos too and hopefully help the villagers a bit as well as myself.
Hi Big Dave,
Thanks for the comment and for the support. One of the things I wanted to do with these videos is to try and show how some of these techniques really work (or not) in practice and, I know, this sometimes means that the videos get a bit too long, but I get frustrated by some of the TV programmes that give a rapid, edited sequence that shows, say, fire starting and misses out some of the (very) important details. I know this is because they are making programmes to entertain and a lot of their viewers are not interested in the details… but some of us are!
I liked watching Les Stroud for this very reason as – although he gets stick from viewers who seem to think survival techniques should be done with more ease and panache – the setbacks and problems he shows are a very real reflection of what actually happens when you try these techniques out in the wild (as opposed to in your backyard). I remember one show where he was fire starting with a rattan thong – it quickly snapped and proved useless – and I’ve been there too and had exactly the same problem (which is why you need a thicker piece of rattan, by the way).
Anyway, back to the bamboo shelter – ‘yes’ you could suspend it with paracord, why not?, and it would certainly keep a lot of the bugs away. Some people spray the cords of their hammocks with permethin to discourage ants etc from crawling onto them from the trees.
I can’t remember whether I mentioned this in the video, but one way to stop insects climbing up the posts is to surround the base in ash from your fire (but be careful not to set your bed on fire!).
Personally I would go for a hammock type arrangement every time, but then I’m a die-hard hammock fan!
Cheers!
Paul