Build a backyard lean-to
Two hours, a ridge pole, ten sticks and a pile of leaves. Build a toy-size shelter the way the Army manual builds a real one, then find out if it keeps a stuffed animal dry.
- Time
- 2 hrs
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 6 and up
- Where
- Backyard or woods
What you need
- One straight stick about a yard long and thumb-thick, for the ridge pole
- About ten sticks a little longer than your ridge is high
- Two forked sticks, or two chairs, to hold the ridge pole up
- Two big armfuls of fallen leaves, grass or pine needles
- A stuffed animal that can stand a little water, and a watering can
- Work gloves for anyone who wants them
Stick and yard safety: read this first
- Carry sticks pointing down, and no sword fights. Eyes are the injury to worry about.
- Look before you grab. Leave anything with "leaves of three" (poison ivy or poison oak) where it is.
- Build in the open, not under dead branches that could fall.
- Use only fallen sticks. Don't break branches off living trees, and only gather where it's allowed.
- Check everyone for ticks when you come in, if you were in long grass or woods.
Steps
- Pick the spot and feel the wind. Choose flat open ground with no dead branches overhead and note the wind direction.
- Gather the frame and the thatch. Gather a ridge pole, about ten roof sticks, two forked supports and a pile of leaves.
- Set the ridge pole. Rest the ridge pole across two forked sticks or chairs at about knee height.
- Lean the roof sticks. Lean the roof sticks from the ridge to the ground on the windward side and weave thin sticks across them.
- Thatch it from the bottom up. Cover the frame with leaves starting at the bottom and working up so the layers overlap like shingles.
- Run the watering-can test. Put a stuffed animal inside, pour water on the roof for thirty seconds, find leaks and add thatch until it stays dry.
Watering-can tests · dry?
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date