In this video, I take you through my incredible seven-day journey of building a safe and cozy shelter right under a giant fallen oak tree using wild vines. This project was all about using natural materials at hand to create a sturdy shelter that blends perfectly with the forest environment. I want to share every step with you, from gathering and preparing the vines to constructing a shelter that can withstand the elements.
Using vines as a primary building material was both a challenge and a rewarding experience. I had to select the strongest vines and weave them skillfully to form the shelter’s framework and walls. This traditional bushcraft technique taught me a lot about the flexibility and strength of natural materials and how they can be adapted for survival purposes in the wild.
The shelter’s location beneath the fallen oak was strategic, offering natural protection and shelter from wind and rain. Over the course of a week, I focused on making sure the structure was safe and durable while maintaining a cozy interior space. This meant reinforcing key areas and paying close attention to how the shelter would fare in heavy weather.
The entire process was a lesson in patience, resilience, and respect for nature. Building with vines forced me to slow down and pay close attention to the environment around me, adapting to what nature had to offer rather than relying on modern tools or materials. It’s a great example of primitive technologies that anyone interested in bushcraft or survival skills can learn from.
In the end, I was proud to create a functional, natural shelter that would support a safe overnight stay in the woods. This project reaffirmed my belief in the power of traditional bushcraft skills and showed me again how much we can achieve when we work with nature, using patience and resourcefulness.
