Up next in Wilderness Survival Skills (40 videos)
Conquer the wilderness with the survival tips in these Howcast videos. You'll learn how to make fire, build a shelter, boil water with hot stones, make a bow and arrow, avoid poison ivy, purify water, track animals, make a solar still, tan a hide, sharpen a jackknife, avoid a snakebite, tell directions without a compass, and much more.
You Will Need
- 25-30 green tree saplings
- Cord or rope
Select a site
Select a site for the wigwam. Use a clearing or clear an area yourself.
Stretch the saplings
Find 25 to 30 green tree saplings that are 10 to 15 feet long. Use your knife to cut points at their ends so they will go into the ground easily.
Draw a circle on the ground
Scratch out a 10-foot circle on the ground and place the pointed ends of the bent saplings into the ground along the circle. Situate the saplings so that they make uniform arches, all bowed outward.
Wrap a girdle around the structure
Wrap a second set of saplings around the structure as a girdle for support.
Tie the saplings
Tie the two sets of saplings together with lengths of cord, leaving an opening for the entrance.
Cover the structure
Cover the structure with sheets of bark from fallen trees, leaving a smoke hole in the roof. Now move in.