This one-of-a-kind manual compiled by a seminal Boy Scouts of America founder is full to the brim with detailed instructions and tips for constructing of a wide variety of wilderness shelters. Structures you’ll learn to design and erect range from bark teepees and bog kens to log cabins and barrel shacks, with all manner of windows, latches, chimneys, bedding, and fireplaces. With nothing more than this book and an axe, you’ll find there’s no need for delicate carpentry skills, fancy architecture, or expensive power tools when it comes to building a comfortable and practical campsite.

Containing over 300 of the author’s own illustrations and designs alongside clear, thorough, and colorful prose, Shelter’s, Shacks, and Shanties, is a one-stop resource for campers, Scouts, hikers, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes. With plans requiring nothing more than a hatchet (Half-Cave Shelter, Fallen-Tree Shelter, The Adirondack, and more) as well as permanent shelters with porches, pleasing entrances, fireplaces, and windows, D.C. Beard’s lessons will provide you with a lifetime of practical and resourceful tips for building shelter in the wilderness.

Additional chapters placed between plans provide valuable instructions for various construction methods that can be put to use in structures laid out in subsequent pages. Such topics include axe-handling, chinking, notching logs, identifying useful trees and plants, and much, much more. This wilderness guide and collection of classic camping lore is sure to delight nature-lovers of all ages and skill levels.

About the Author

Daniel Carter Uncle Dan Beard (1850-1941) grew up in Cincinnati and Kentucky where he learned to draw by exploring the forests and sketching scenes from nature. After attending art school in New York City, Beard worked as an engineer and surveyor and wrote a number of articles that eventually became The American Boy’s Handy Book. In addition to illustrating his own writing, Beard is also well known for illustrating a number of books for Mark Twain. An old friend and partner of Ernest Thompson Seton, Beard helped to found the Boy Scouts of America and served the organization for 30 years, later becoming the editor of the BSA’s official magazine, Boys’ Life.