My Igloo in England!

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jon r

Native
Apr 7, 2006
1,197
9
34
England, midlands
www.jonsbushcraft.com
Just finished making my very own Igloo! Inly about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground but i piled it up and then compacted it with a shovel, then let the snow settle and re-freeze for about 30mins or so. I could then cut blocks from this pile of snow with a hand saw. Hope you like the story of pics...

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igloo2.jpg


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igloo10.jpg
 

SOAR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 21, 2007
2,031
8
48
cheshire
Thats spot on Jon, looks like fun to build, are you going to sleep in it?
 

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
Nice size.

It would help to plug the holes inside and out with virgin snow, block the entrance with you inside and keep the candles lit. When the inside starts melting kick open the door quickly and the snow inside should freeze to ice. Candle use won't then melt it.

I would imagine most of the breeze is kept out by the construction in any case. Must have took some time to do that. Congrats.
 

jon r

Native
Apr 7, 2006
1,197
9
34
England, midlands
www.jonsbushcraft.com
Thanks for the compliments! Its amazing what you can do in this country if you are determined. Before finishing the Igloo i was putting the cap stone on top and it was so heavy and i fell against the structure and destroyed half of it. I had to rebuild half of the structure all over again! Putting the last block on top was hard to do and i ended up making about 4 cap blocks in the end to get it right. Once i had rebuilt the Igloo it was stronger than before.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Excellent :D Really brilliant achievement on your own :approve:

We built one, when the snow fell over a metre deep, back in the eighties, I didn't even think since then that the snow could be piled up and compacted to give enough depth :cool:

atb,
Toddy
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Nice size.

It would help to plug the holes inside and out with virgin snow, block the entrance with you inside and keep the candles lit. When the inside starts melting kick open the door quickly and the snow inside should freeze to ice. Candle use won't then melt it.

I would imagine most of the breeze is kept out by the construction in any case. Must have took some time to do that. Congrats.

Does an ice layer not then act counterproductively ? Stopping the insulating properties of the snow ? and just acting like a cold box ?
I thought that was one reason not to heat them up very much since you don't want the snow to melt into ice :confused::confused:
Happy to be proved wrong, now I'm curious :dunno:

cheers,
Toddy
 

Chinkapin

Settler
Jan 5, 2009
746
1
83
Kansas USA
Fabulous work Jon, and great pictures to match. I think you not only must be a good builder but it takes a bit of artistic talent to pull this off.

Fyi:

I believe the Inuit leave a small hole in the top to let the smoke of cooking out and to let out excess heat and some fresh air in. They stick some dried grass in the hole, rather loosely. They never seal the igloo completely. On one side they build a small snow shelf for cooking on. Eskimo stoves are kind of cool and very simple.

On the other side they build up a snow shelf big enough to sit/sleep on. Remember that cold air falls to the floor, so just raising your bed a foot or two puts you into a considerably warmer layer of air.

Disclaimer: I have no first hand experience with igloo building or living but I read this somewhere. I believe it was in "The Book of the Eskimo." The author's name escapes me but I want to say Peter Freuchen (?) It is an old book and it is a classic of the far north.
 

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