Goatrider:

Sounds like a similar joke about a Polish athlete.

An American at one of the Olympic games was walking thru the Olympic village when he saw a man walking toward him with a long fiberglass pole.

As they were about to pass each other on the street, the American greeted the man and said, "Hi, are you a pole vaulter"?

The man appeared stunned and said, "Yes I am, but how did you know my name was Walter"?

It only "yurts" when I laugh.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Susan:

The ones in the documentary were much more basic and they disassembled them everytime they moved to a different location.

Bountyhunter

Here's a link to those shelters in the Julia Roberts show:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/mongolia/move.html

Alwayslost:

Thanks for the link!

There was another documentary I saw about some guy that lived with some Eskimoes for a while. Their shelter was a hide tent within a hide tent which surprised him with the warmth (relative to the outside temperature.) it offered.

Bountyhunter

I've seen a documentary about the Native Reindeer Herders in the Coldest, Northeastern Siberia. They too had a sort of Reindeer Hide, "Shelter within a Shelter". There may even have been a Third Shelter within this Setup.

We may be referring to the same Documentary, -or we may have seen Different ones. Still, these Shelters within Shelters Idea, -is a very good one. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]bountyhunter[/email]

They're also commonly known as "Ger"s.

Let's all also remember, -that the Saharan Nomads do much the same. A Lot can be so Learned from them, as well.[color:"black"] [/color] [email]Chris Kavanaugh[/email]

In a documentary that I've also seen on Mongolian Yurts, -(Don't know if it was the Julia Roberts one or not), -They used a little boy of their Community, -as a Living Paperweight. They put him up there on it's Roof, as they were constructing it, to Hold it Down against Gusts of Wind, etc. The Boy so Darted about. My main point here is, -that in this and other ways, (At least for a Yurt / Ger over a certain size), -Setting Up a Yurt is typically more than a One Person Job, -a Factor to consider. Perhaps most Yurts can still be Set Up by one person. But it may make for a Longer, Less Efficient Setup. [color:"black"] [/color] [email]Susan[/email]

What materials and tools are available? If possible, I'd go below ground, cause it's fast, safe from fires and enemies, easy to do, cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Not very feasilble in soft sand, swamp, on rocks, etc tho.

I tend to agree, provided that you are sure that there is no chance of being flooded out of your home. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Something like this perhaps? This is one heck of an underground "shelter" this guy built. Scroll through each of the pages (7 total I think) and look at the entire process from start to finish.