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One technique I have come across in the West Indies is to paint on used engine oil. Not only is this messy, I hate to think what the environmental consequences are. One way around this is to bore a hole in the timber at an angle and putting the oil in it so that it can soak through the wood. Not very effective on dense hardwood, but generally this is less susceptible to attack.

The other important consideration is avoiding embedding timber at all, but this is probably not appropriate for emergency shelter.

Jeff Broome