Product Description

Originally published in 1914, Shelters, Shacks and Shanties presents step-by-step tutelage on all aspects of outdoor accommodation.

D. C. Beard explains how to construct a variety of worry-free shelters appropriate to a natural environment that is by turns both friendly and foreboding. Included are a sod house for the lawn, a treetop house, over-water camps, and an American log cabin. Fully recognizing that the outdoorsman builds a shelter with the intention of inhabiting it, Beard explains how to build hearths and chimneys, notched log ladders, and even how to rig secret locks.

Illustrated throughout with instructional line drawings, Shelters, Shacks and Shanties harkens back to the can-do spirit of the American frontier and belongs in the knapsack of every modern scout, young and old alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #374599 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

From the Back Cover
Shelters, Shacks and Shanties presents lively, step-by-step tutelage on building all types of temporary and long-term accommodations from both natural and man-made materials. Originally published in 1914, this practical classic is as essential a guide for today's modern homesteader as it was at the turn of the century. Here are instructions for dozens of worry-free shelters including a sod house for the lawn, a treetop house, over-water camps, a bog ken, and much more. Satisfying the builder's need for the creature comforts of home, it also provides tips on how to build hearths and chimneys, notched log ladders, and even how to rig a front door with a secret lock. Illustrated throughout with a bounty of helpful line drawings, Shelters, Shacks and Shanties harkens back to the can-do spirit of the American frontier that still thrives today. (41/2 X 71/4, 264 pages, illustrations)

Customer Reviews

Broad coverage from emergency shelters to log houses
An interesting collection of plans to build everything from emergency shelters to a log home without using purchased building materials. Contains much information on building authentic log structures of numerous designs. Plans for building authentic doors and latches, windows, and furnishing for "rustic" homes are also included. A chapter is included for those of us who have always wanted a log home but can't get the spouse to agree--a rustic log room or den "hidden" inside a modern home. I had a copy of the original for years before losing it in a fire and look very forward to replacing it. Thanks Amazon.com

For "boys" of all ages
When I was a child, I would look for this book when I went to the public library. I checked it out frequently and marveled at the lined drawings of various kinds of wilderness dwellings, especially the "Boys Hogan"-a type of hidden shelter built into the side of a hill. No doubt this book became the inspiration of the "forts" we built in the woods and the lean-tos constructed in Boy Scouts.

The tree house recently built for my own children, caused me to remember this little book and so I ordered it from Amazon. It not only brings back great memories, but also has inspired me to think about building a log cabin. This is a great book for those who love the idea of building or living in primitive shelters.

If you love the woods you need this book!!!!
I have lived in a very rural area my whole life. I love the forest, and because of this book I've been able to enjoy it even more. "Uncle Dan" Beard has lots of great ideas and illustrations to show how poeple used to, and still do, build shelters in the forest. It's great to have a historical resource to all of these techniques and ideas that are from the past - which otherwise might be forgotten about. GREAT BOOK!!