Bushcraft Bed Building
by Kevin Wixson
Are you an outdoor enthusiast? Do you enjoy grabbing the backpack, bedroll and GOOD gear and disappearing into the wild for the weekend? What do you currently use to accommodate for sleeping conditions? Do you have a tent taking up enormous space in your survival bag? Would you like to lighten the load you carry and the equipment you use to make a weekend survival shelter? Or maybe you’re just a Cowboy that carries nothing but a bedroll and a blanket but you are tired of sleeping on the ground by the campfire every night just to stay warm during your weekend get-away. How would you like to learn a Bushcraft bed building technique that will keep you off the ground during those cold or damp evenings in the wilderness?
There are really only two tools you need to have at your disposal to perform this Bushcraft bed building idea; a Bushcraft blade and enough cordage to complete the framing. Of course having a bedroll, blanket and tarp might also come in handy, but even these aren’t absolutely necessary if the evening air is warm enough.
A sound night’s rest is worth ten minutes’ toil. Time spent in making a camp bed that will keep you both comfortable and warm is time well spent. There need be no discomfort for anyone in camping if they have knowledge of how to set up a camp in comfort. A properly made camp bed can be as restful as an inner spring mattress.”
Living off the land is not going to be as comfortable and cozy as life with the creature comforts of home. That being said it doesn’t have to be a miserable experience either. In a SHTF situation this Bushcraft bed building technique you can rest more comfortably on a raised platform. With the addition of a tarp you can make a temporary tent over the bed to keep you dry during dismal, damp and dreary weather conditions.
Find a couple of trees the right distance apart, normally about 8 feet or so, and lash 2 stout poles to each tree so that they cross near the top, make sure you tie them securely to the trees. Tie a cross piece to each support using a square lashing about 2 feet off the ground, these will support the poles that will be the mattress of your bed, so make sure you tie them at the right height and make sure they are level then set a pole on top of the crosses you have made on your main supports, this will be the ridge pole for your tarp.”
If you do not have two standing trees to use for this Bushcraft bed building technique, then grab two more logs and erect a tripod at each end of the bed as shown in the video below. Bushcraft bed building can be done a couple of different ways, depending on the resources, tools and ingenuity you have to create things out of uncommon components. Take a look at the video below, offered by Texas Bushcraft, to get a feel for how easy Bushcraft bed building can be. I will be visiting the woods here in a few weeks to put this Bushcraft bed building to the test!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O8TihuAvVHQ