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I see many bushcrafters on Youtube building Lean-to type shelters as "permanent" or "semi-permanent" shelters...
When studying history, I almost never find this type of shelter employed with any type of permanence, if at all.

What I do find is; Rock houses, block houses, wattle and daub houses, dugouts, log cabins, stick framed houses, sod houses, etc....

Thoughts?
What type of structures have you seen?
 
Half-face shelters are often mentioned in literature.

My personal favorite is a Wikiup. Enclosed and allows for a fire inside, though a little more labor-intensive than a lean-to. They have far more head-room as well...
 
I'm still sticking with Wikiup because it is enclosed and allows for a fire inside. With a 2-3 guys, a Wikiup can be built in a few hours if using natural materials to cover and an hour or so if using tarps to cover.
 
Wikiups, which are conical or round structures made of poles, brush, leaves, thatch and sometimes hides, tarps, or blankets; that often had a fire inside them, were, I think, the most common semi-permanent primitive shelter made from stuff that can be scrounged up almost anywhere. It is basically the same shelter as was described in the Encyclopedia of St. Louis, as what the RMFT trappers built in their camps. It is really the basic primitive shelter, and has been copied for literally 1,000s of years all over North America, as well as the rest of the world by other many other names.

A lean-to is kind of a nice cheery thing to keep the dew and some rain off you and reflect the light and heat of a campfire in nice weather. I would definitely call it a temporary shelter, not really suitable for permanent or semi-permanent living. It can be constructed rapidly with the prevailing wind at the time in mind. When the wind shifts, it may not work so well.
 
I don't think a wikiup would be very comfortable to winter in....Cramped, high maintenance and when the temp dropped below zero, I think I would too....
I kind of wanted to leave Native American type structures out of the equation....
Thinking more of comfort....

The pilgrims built clapboard houses........
 
colorado clyde said:
I don't think a wikiup would be very comfortable to winter in....Cramped, high maintenance and when the temp dropped below zero, I think I would too....
I kind of wanted to leave Native American type structures out of the equation....
Thinking more of comfort....

The pilgrims built clapboard houses........
Not much different from living in a Tipi, by far the most comfortable tent. I don't understand why you would consider it high-maintenance when the temps are low - beats the heck out of any other shelter. Comparing a lean-to and a Wikiup with the same footprint, the lean-to is cramped, uncomfortable and drafty.

The Pilgrims built clapboard houses and they were cold, drafty, dark, miserable structures...

Variations of the Wikiup exist the world over, so they aren't exclusively a native invention nor does it explain why you would dismiss it out of hand.
 
I lived a few years in an old clapboard house with a traditional stone fireplace as the only heat. The wind blew right through it. I burned a heck of a lot of firewood and still sat close to the fireplace with a blanket behind me and over my head when the cold wind was blowing to stay warm.

On the other hand, I visited a guy who built a wikiup with a frame just like the Apache version, made out of driftwood and limbs from brush tied together like stone age version of a geodesic dome, but covered it with modern materials he had "liberated" from a job he had at a mobile home factory. That was a roll of clear plastic vapor barrier and a roll of thin foam rubber. He put the plastic on top of the driftwood frame, then a layer of the foam rubber for insulation, then another layer of plastic. He left the roof mostly clear plastic to let the light in and also left a hole in the roof for the smoke to go out. It was as large around as a tipi, and had room for plenty of people around the small smokey fire. He had a blanket which served as a door, but left it open enough to let the fire draw. It was still pretty smokey in there, and one wanted to stay close to the floor, but it was incredibly toasty warm with only a small fire going. I would imagine a period one, thatched with tall bunch grass, rushes, reeds, beargrass, bark, or such would be just as warm and better ventilated. They were sometimes very large, the same size as plains tipis, just not portable. If you built one, it stayed there unless you burned it down. The thatching could always be added to as needed to keep it dry inside. I've seen pictures of them with mud plastered on top as well, which is getting close to the waddle and daub you mentioned. Original Navajo hogans were just wikiups that had mud plastered all over them to keep the wind and rain out. The wind does blow up there on their "res".
 
colorado clyde said:
Labor-intensive, is my main issue...Which shelter gives you the biggest bang for your effort?

I would say each situation should be weighed on it's own merits. The wikiup was popular for a culture that did not have steel blades axes or saws. It would have been incredibly labor intensive for them to build a log cabin. Some dirt is a lot easier to dig, Some dirt is suitable for adobe, some sites have an abundance of flat rocks, and in some places finding a cave or overhang makes for the easiest shelter.
 
Seems like the where would have a lot to do with which what worked best :grin: . That is to say, If I has mud/clay and a large number of willows, I wouldn't build with rock I had to haul in. If I was on the plains it would be more sod less log. Best bang for the buck is the best that can be made from the available resources at hand. Next would be the question of how it would be affected by where you are. If there is a lot of rain then wattle and daub will break down faster, but if there is clay and willows the time spent patching might be small when compared with what would be needed to get other materials on sight.
 
A hunting camp, or what was called a half-faced cabin, was of the following form: the back part of it was sometimes a large log; at the distance of eight or ten feet from this two stakes were set in the ground a few inches apart, and at the distance of eight or ten feet from these two more, to receive the ends of the poles for sides of the camp. The whole slope of the roof, was from the front to the back. The covering was made of slabs, skins or blankets, or, if in the spring of the year, the bark of hickory or ash trees. The front was left entirely open. The fire was built directly before this opening. The cracks between the logs were filled with moss. Dry leaves served for a bed. It is thus that a couple of men, in a few hours, will construct for themselves a temporary but tolerably comfortable, defense from the inclemencies of the weather. Joseph Doddridge.

What one ends up with when doing such a project is a semi-permanent "Baker tent" like structure, without the front awning. Baker Tents are know to be quite warm with a fire in front. I have sheltered in such a site, but instead of slabs for the roof, they used a very thick layer of leaves. The sides were small saplings and mud. It was pretty snug with a good fire going.

This shaped shelter was still being used when Horace Kephart penned his two volume work, Camping and Woodcraft in 1910. Starting on page 221 in Volume 2 of Camping and Woodcraft, you will find several types of shelters made out of natural materials he collectively calls "tomahawk shelters".

LD
 
I'm inferring from your post that a wikiup or wigwam constructed from a willow frame and covered with canvass would be PC for the fur trapping era @ 1800?
 
The Encyclopedia of St. Louis is not considered a source document, because it was written in the late 1890s. They did, however, describe such a structure in their description of a trapper's or hunter's camp. I would think such a structure would be likely, as a lot of trappers had visited tribal camps with such dwellings, and they are easily duplicated and similar to bull boats, which were common, in construction; but I don't know if I can make the claim they did, from the Ency. of SL alone. Remember, too, that a lot of trappers in the RMFT were at least part Indian themselves. It is an area worthy of a bit more study. I just lack a source at this time.
 
Remember too that unless you are on a private trek..., you have to conform to the standards as set by a site, and most sites frown on you using all natural materials to form a shelter, especially in a large gathering. In addition to the lawyers and the fear of fire, you have the folks worried about "what if everybody tried to make a natural shelter?"

So in many if not almost every case, folks not wanting to look like they have an actual tent, substitute something in the way of pre-made canvas for part of their shelter. I've seen small "longhouse" type shelters erected for folks doing Indian, and in one case the fellow went to the trouble of taking a moose call from Canada, made of birch bark, and had the local home improvement warehouse store make him paint to match the color. He then painted the canvas, so at least until you got right on top of the shelter, it looked like it was made of birch bark.

LD
 
Well, if we are talking permanent or semi-permanent and for mountain men... There is the Rufus Sage book that described a half dome made of willow saplings lashed together and covered with hides. Some mountain men tried to link up with local NDNs and spend the winter in a tepee. I think one group actually built ramble shackle cabins of some sort. Colter speaks about being in a cabin in the 3 Forks area.
Marcy was in the west from 1825 to I think 1858. He wrote his books in the 1850's. He spoke of various shelters but said a favorite of the old mountaineers was a conical wrapped around 6 or pole poles- a miniature tepee. This conical had no flaps like a tepee and a tepee has a door and above the door pegs hold the tent together whereas this mini-tepee was entirely open in front. Marcy said it was far better at holding in heat than a half shelter (lean to).

Go to: https://books.google.com/books?id=...QAhViHGMKHbrTDEEQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

and then scroll to page 87.
 
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In Finland lean-to shelters for hunters are apparently fairly common. Google both lavvu and laavu. One will turn up mostly Lappisch tents. The other will come up with more lean-to. I don't Remember which is which right now. Yes, these are Finnish shelters and the nit pickers will find every reason under the sun to deny they are HC/PC but the basic designs could easily have been built anywhere in North America.
 
And yet Finland is over 4000 miles away (which was practically on the next planet in the 1700s)...
 

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