How To Build A Survival Wiki-up Shelter.

Frame

95% Completed

Materials:

• Young saplings approximately one inch is diameter and 10-12 feet long. (Can be tied together to make longer main frame. You will need about 8 of these. Desert Willow was used for this shelter.)
• Young saplings approximately 1/4-1/2 inch in diameter and 4 feet long. (These go around the sides of the frame. You will need approximately 8-10 of these.) (Note: if you can not find green saplings you can you yucca stalks and tie them together to make them longer and form them into a tee-pee type frame instead of a half dome shape.)
• Cordage to tie the material together.
• Thick brush for the sides.
• Grass for bedding.

What you are going to use this type shelter for will determine where you want to build it. What I mean by this is if you are in survival mode and want to be rescued, then build in an area that can be seen from the sky and ground. If you are doing an escape and evasion type scenario, then build it in an area that conceals and blends with the terrain. Below is a distant photo of the wiki-up showing how well it can blend in with the surroundings.

Distant View of Wiki-up

When choosing locations, make sure you do not build it in dried up river beds or areas that appeared to have been flooded and above water line. A good place would be on the side of a hill opposite the direction of the wind. This helps keep the shelter warmer at night since cold air hugs the ground.

Start the frame work by tying two of the longer saplings together as shown in the below photo. Tie the two thinner tops together. This allows the saplings to bend in an arch. Do the same for the two of the other longer saplings. Next, cross them equally in the center in the shape of an "X" and tie them together in the middle.

Next, stand the frame up and separate the legs into 4 equal quadrants. Support the 4 legs with large stones so that the frame will remain standing. If it is windy, tie each leg to a large stone to keep it from blowing over.

Use the remaining long saplings and place them around the side equally from top to bottom to form the remaining for legs. There should be 8 legs when this part is done.

Next, take the smaller saplings and make two tiers of horizontal braces going all the way around the legs. Use the cordage to tie off each intersecting sapling.

Next, gather dense foliage, like creosote, desert willow, grasses, to use for covering the exterior. Start from the bottom and work your way to the top. This creates a layer effect. Hang the foliage over the horizontal rails with the direction of growth facing down. By placing the foliage in this manner gives you a natural hook to use to hold the foliage on the rails.

The more foliage you add to the frame the warmer and more wind proof the shelter will be. If you plan to have a small fire inside the wiki-up, leave a small opening at the top of the roof to let the smoke vent out.

You can make a door frame to place in front of the opening or you use a large bush that will cover the entrance. Gather grasses to use as bedding if you do not have a bed roll.

Be careful when using fire inside this type of shelter it could catch fire very easy. The more people you have the bigger this shelter needs to be. This not a very hard shelter to build, it is just time consuming.

Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!

Charlie