I much prefer to find, rather than build or erect a shelter. The very best is a rock shelter - an overhanging ledge with open space below or the entrance to a cave. The good ones are deep enough that you have good shielding from wind, and are situated so that you get early morning sun and afternoon shade.

You can't find rock shelters everywhere, but in a level forest I have seen upended root balls and stumps that would serve just as well.

My worst night in a rock shelter has been as good or better than my best night in a tent, and it has been achieved with far less effort. The one drawback is that the really good shelters tend to be archaeological sites - please don't disturb the antiquities.

Talking about winter shelter building, I've been looking at adding a compact snow shovel (something like the Voilé XLM maybe) to my pack, even for day outings.

The presence (or lack therof) of natural caves and rock shelters is highly dependent on the local geology. Natural shelters are extremely common in the generally highly stratified rocks of the Colorado Plateau. Likewise, in humid areas with limestone, caves are common. In other areas, with other geology, true caves may be rare to non existant. Even there, though, one can sometimes find large boulders that can be used with a small tarp to fashion a quick shelter.

As you point out, in forested areas, one can often find downed trees that will often provide good shelter. In forested areas with deep snow, tree wells will often work good. A few minutes work with a snow shovel can turn a tree well into a veritable palace.
In snow country a shovel is a key peice of gear. There are many small, lightweight designs to choose from. If one is traveling in avalanche country a really good shovel, along with probe and beacon is absolutely essential.

Deep packed snow is not always readily available in the dense forest for igloo or snow cave building. While hunting in Siberian taiga (-10F - typically) we used to create 2-3 night open air camps in the woods, building personal or 2 people sleeping platforms around a huge campfire, surrounded by heat reflective and wind deflecting tarps. The platform consists of 2 parallel logs laid in radial (from the fire) direction, covered with smaller logs across them. Very comfortable and warm. Because the bed is elevated above the ground (about 20") it catches heat from the fire much more effectively from all sides. We had no well insulating sleeping pads back then. If you go to sleep on the snow, especially near the huge camp fire, your sleeping bag will be soaked with melting snow pretty quick.

Anyhow, that was just an example of a shelter building requiring a lot of wood cutting. If you travel with just a folding saw you can not build a huge fire, which could keep going unattended the entire night, anyway, and you would never even consider a possibility of building a serious long time shelter requiring more than a dozen cuts or so with that tiny saw.

After all, a wilderness BOB is not for pleasure hiking, it's for sustainable survival away from civilization. The only saw I can see suitable for that is this one:



But getting back to the templedog2 question: if I would face the choice of a single tool in his bug out situation, - it will be a long handle axe.

I think we've been coming at the question from totally different perspectives which does explain some of the difference in tool choices. I agree that if I was heading into the wilderness indefinitely that I'd want a proper axe.

Maybe I strayed a bit from the original question but I was really talking from the perspective of what tools I'd want to have with me in the wilderness to make survival (or general outdoors living) easier. As I alluded earlier in this thread, I don't think the idea of bugging out to the woods (indefinitely or not) is anything more than a romantic notion so it isn't something I'd either plan or advocate for. So, for the type of outdoors living and potential survival situations I plan for (other than car camping), the axe doesn't really fit my needs.

The TC subject is cost effective BOB (axe is more economical than folding saw + big knife + mini hatchet you are carrying). We also have discussed several options and several scenarios. One of them, I'm answering to, is from templedog2: bugging out/through Northern Woodlands (dense forests).

The idea of bugging out to the woods might be viable even for an urban dweller as it creates a lot more opportunities for food and clean water procurement compared to an isolated highly populated city struck by a disaster. It's also might be viable in case of hostile military forces invasion, if you'd select to get out of war zone and avoid being captured on the road blocks along the borders.

Alex, I suppose that approach would work OK in certain circumstances. In others, not so much.

However, your approach sounds like a lot of work, even with an axe. Probably OK if you have a bunch of folks to share the work, and plan to spend several nights in one spot. Since you apparently had tarps, I would just rig a shelter with those. Even without sleeping pads, you can make a pine bough bed. My experience is that properly done, a pine bough bed can be quite comfortable. I would never put a sleeping bag directly on the snow.

An "open air camp in the woods" might be OK in an area with really really stable weather. In my part of the world it would not be such a good idea. Weather can change very fast around here. Going from clear cold weather at dusk to a dump of snow by morning would not be unusual. Going overnight from clear and cold, to rain would not be unheard of. And if it comes to a real blow, you will want a lot more than "wind deflecting tarps".

An "open air camp in the woods" in Alaska would not be what I would call "sustainable survival". In any case, the discussion is about a BOB, which almost by definition is to be ready to grab for a quick get away (not what you dismiss as "pleasure hiking"). The idea of a BOB is fast and light. Cutting down trees every night to build a bed is not my idea of moving fast. The Fiskars Axe you mention looks like a nice product for some situations. I have (and use) a small wood handled axe that looks to be very similar. I like it a lot for some things. However, for a BOB, a small tent, or tarp shelter would be roughly the same weight. It goes up lightning fast, and comes down fast too. And gives vastly better protection from wind.

The whole E&E thing sounds very romantic, but is way way down my list of likely scenarios.

And even in the highly unlikely event that I had to E&E, doing it your way would almost guarantee getting caught. Freshly cut logs and big camps with wooden beds aren't exactly subtle clues to your location. And your ".... huge fire, which could keep going unattended the entire night..." would be ridiculously easy to find. A SAR helo pilot once told me about how he was able to spot a candle glowing inside a tent on the tundra while he was still many miles off by using his NVGs.

I would make a well concealed camp using a small tent or tarp, or even better use a natural shelter of some sort. When I left I would try to minimize signs that I had been there (not leaving freshly cut logs, wood chips from chopping, big fire rings etc). In fact, I would try to not use a fire at all. If for some reason I absolutely had to have a fire, it would be as small and well hidden as I could possibly make it.

If you are escaping (which means you were already caught) and/or evading (avoiding capture) you have many more serious problems than what tool to carry. If you were caught, and escaped, you will be lucky to have the clothes on your back. If you are evading, weight is a killer. One of the primary considerations for evading is leaving as little trace as possible, and that means no shelter unless you have a very concealed position, and definitely no fire.

E&E is a very unlikely scenario for anyone on this forum who is not military or working in hostile environments (where people are trying to kill you).

I'm not arguing with that. I just said, that this is one of the examples of legit (non romantic) reason of bugging out into the wilderness. With my beloved axe or without it.

"Bug out" does not necessarily means you continuously run through the woods with your BOB. You're bugging out of your current location to another, safer one. And the winter forest you are familiar with from hiking, hunting, and fishing might be your special bug out destination as well.

For the winter camp building: that's the story and facts from my early childhood. Sure thing, Alaska might be different. It's close to the water bodies from 3 sides, whilst Siberia has strictly continental climate and almost 10 times larger. But I'm not trying to force you to build a camp my way either. It was just a side note