Tree swinging shelter

[nifty]

Whilst cleaning up the files on my USB drive i came across the
Ten bushcraft books by Richard Graves. A classic collection of Bushskills and survival related topics which should be a must have in any collection.

One of the projects was a tree swinging shelter using the fork of a limb to pivot from a base to keep you off the damp or wet ground if you dont have anything to lie down on.

So off i went back to the wetlands and proceeded to make my tree shelter. This is the result!!!!!!

After completing this task i would probably not build this again but it was good to know i can. It took too much cordage to hold everything together. I used 550 paracord for the main support and 140kg breaking strain venetian blind cord for tying off struts and supports. i rate it highly for size, strength and cost.

DID IT HOLD MY WEIGHT???????????

I tip the scales at 100 kg. It held but just!!!!!!!!!!
You couldn't really turn around or move to much as i heard cracking along the wishbones so i got off quickly before me and it ended up in a pile of rubble.

As i mentioned before i wouldnt build it again and much prefer the campbed and maybe use the base from the swinging shelter up on rocks if i didnt have bags to slip over the poles.

 

[Greatbloke]

Well done, nifty.
If and when we do a BushcraftOZ Bushcraft certificate /class. I think this project would be a worthy inclusion.

 

[Joe]

It would be interesting to try to sling a hammock under the ridge pole. Might be handy to know if that would work incase you could only find one tree and or trees were too far appart?

Nice to see someone testing these shelters.

Joe.

 

[nifty]

Thats a very interesting idea Joe. That piece of ripstop would do the job nicely. The more i think of it the more it becomes a viable alternative. Less cordage, less materials and sawing. You might be on a winner there mate. Its always good to get another set of eyes to look over a project. Thanks

 

[auscraft]

Nice work
I have used hesian bags for the bed in that setup and strong end bracings. I found this alot more comfy than trying to make leave/even bed from sticks

 

[Walker]

Comfort level?

 

[hillbilly]

 

[nifty]

Comfort level?

O

 

[Aussie123]

Nifty, fantastic effort.

I saw that bed in the book and was a little dubious about it. I wonder if anyone has ever really used it, or if its more of a bushcraft exercise, (it would certainly be fun for a bunch of scouts) ?

Thanks for the thread

 

[darren]

Great job mate, it looks like it should be on the freeway comming into melbourne.

 

[Wentworth]

great job nifty!

 

[nifty]

Thanks for the feedback guys,
In the next few weeks I'll get back up there and try joes idea of the hammock under the (Boom) and see how that goes.

 

[john]

thats cool

 

[Corin]

Sweet! Love it!

 

[bubba5603]

Very cool to see the attempt. BTW - help out the Canuck here...what type of trees were those that you used for most of the construction?? Is that the Paper Bark trees that I have heard about? Secondly, would a different type of wood have worked better (if available??) Here I would not ever try this with a popler or sumac, of which there are alot in my area, but it might work with something like maple or oak...not sure what your equivants are there.

 

[nifty]

It's Paperbark Bubba, There the only trees in the wetland area i practice in. They're quite strong but i did start to hear cracking in the wishbones as i tried to move around on it. It was an exercise in construction and the camp bed with rock or tripod support i displayed in another post would be the preferred option for me.

 

[bubba5603]

I would guess that that might be one of the worst sounds in the world...your bed about to break as you are laying in it! Still a good use of natural material...goes back to "use what you can see instead of trying to see what you can use."

 

[J.K.M]

It's always great to see theory being put in to practice. I love these threads. Thank you!