Ideas for upcycled or salvage shelter material

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When it comes to material it should not be too hard to find. It is all around us. We have abandoned buildings, houses, and cars. Junk in landfills that are not actually trash at all, salvage yards and unused household items just sitting around that can be repurposed into many things. For instance, you could take an alternator from a vehicle, the belts, pulleys and battery to hook up to create yourself a regenerating 12-volt power source. This would allow you to power items like a light or allow you to bring clean running water into the house. Vehicles, especially trucks would be a great item to repurpose in general. The end of a truck bed could be used as a base or cover to a root cellar, allowing you to store food and water.
Old shipping containers make for a great location to rehome in. Take some old carpet, paper, or blankets to line the walls with if you live in colder climates as you are going to need them to insulate the metal, so you do not freeze.
Old non-functional house hold items would make of great use, things like a dining room table chair could be repurposed into your new outhouse toilet seat so that you do not have to squat over your new bathroom arrangement. Pallets can be repurposed into just about anything you can imagine, they would even be great for a structure to a smaller shelter or storage area.
Almost anything we have can be repurposed. It just takes a creative mind, the will to locate an item that will suit the project and tools to make it happen. Just because something no longer works one way doesn’t mean it works in a different manner. If staying alive and sheltered is your number one concern you will get creative with your survival instincts.

 

I like the shelter that is in the photo as well! Pallets would be a great source for a structure at the very least, and then you could definitely find good stuff at the junkyard to help complete it. Something such as clothing and fabric scraps can be used, or you could even check the trash behind carpet companies for carpet and the padding that they just throw out. I'm a thrifter, so I always look for cheap/free items that could help me out in one way or another.