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walkinghorse

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There are threads underway about cold weather, snow depths, windchill, beer in the snow, etc. Temperature outside versus temperature in an igloo, heated by body, heated by a candle and so forth?

Has anybody actually stayed overnight in an igloo?
Has anybody actually built an igloo?
 
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A buddy built an igloo in his yard a couple of years ago. I went in but didn't stay long. He has done a lot of winter camping in the Boundary Waters, but I don't think he wanted to sleep in an igloo with his house right there.

I have tented in below zero temps. I have variously been warm, cold and oblivious. In the short run, oblivious is best, but it's not sustainable.
 
Igloos were hard to make, but generally worth the effort.
A good-sized snowbank worked about as well. We did try the candle thing; it was OK, but you had to eventually vent the smoke. But for a couple hours, it did seem much warmer. Never thought to use a thermometer... At the time, getting the sleeping bag into the bivy bag (and getting into the sleeping bag) was much more of a priority.
 
The Alaska Natives that explained the practicality of actually using an igloo for survival emphasized that the entrance had to be below the level of the floor. So, the user had to belly crawl down and then up into the interior. Then they use a block of snow to block the doorway from the inside to about 99%. If they were going to use the candles(s) for additional warmth, they drilled a small 1/2" to 1" dia. hole straight up to let the carbon monoxide out. With the warmth of the human breath, the atmosphere warmed a little. By keeping all those great seal skin parkas, seal skin pants and mukluks on, body heat was kept inside the outfit and not let out into the air of the igloo. If the occupants let it get too warm inside, a major melting of the snow walls and ceiling occurred and became a real problem disposing of the resulting water runoff.

It should be emphasized here that no one 'lived' in an igloo. That structure was only for survival purposes when caught out away from home during a real cold night or blizzard. I took a survival course sponsored by the Private Aircraft Owners Association (might not be the exact name, it was a long time ago) of Anchorage. We flew our airplanes to McGrath and stayed overnight. I was in an igloo that had been built for demonstration purposes for about an hour during -15 degs. It was much more comfortable than being outside in -15 degs. with a lower wind chill factor. The next day we watched a couple of AK natives build an igloo (large enough for two) in about two hours. They were as adept as most brickmasons I have watched on construction jobs in fitting the blocks of sawed snow together. ............. Big Cholla
 
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I've built a couple of them and have slept in them. The first one was rather cramped and only big enough for one guy. Not comfortable at all, but it was better than being outside with a heckuva storm blowing. I could barely sit up in it and if I accidentally brushed up against the walls, a little snow would drift down my back. It was a real chore to crawl inside my sleeping bag. Had to wake up in the middle of the night to shovel out the doorway because the snow was coming down pretty heavily and the wind was drifting it up against my door, which was only big enough for me to crawl through. Believe me, I was sure happy when morning came.

The second one was much nicer. A buddy and I made it and we made it big enough where the two of us could be fairly comfortable.

The main advantage is that they are impervious to the wind. When you have a wind chill factor that is w-a-a-a-y below zero, an igloo can be a lifesaver.

Yeah, you can heat them with a candle...sort of. But remember, even under the best of conditions, you don't want them heated more than 32 degrees Fahrenheit or you're going to have some real serious problems.

It's one of those things where you're glad you have the skill to build one if you need to...but you hope to heaven you'll never need to.:)
 
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Yeah, that's why there aren't many Eskimos. Nobody wants to take off their clothes to increase the population if you know what I mean.

Not to mention the smell that's gonna rise after you get those clothes off if you've been wearing them for awhile.:D:)
 
I've slept in them many times as a Boy Scout and later as a Boy Scout leader. We used to do winter camping on Mt Rainier every winter, usually 2 nights. They're actually quite comfortable when built right. (and not so much when they're not :eek:). I stopped doing that when I got too old to crawl through the entrance tunnel.
 
not an igloo, but when I was much younger, I was in search and rescue. as part of our winter training, we built and stayed in snow caves. I would think they would be similar to an igloo for thermal protection.
Snow caves are very effective and with a candle or small stove the interior temp is comfortable. At least when I was younger it was. not too sure I would want to revisit that experience any longer.
 
There is an old film out there somewhere, called People of The Seal. There's also a 2009 film by the same name that is good in its own right but is not the one I'm talking about. The original was made in two parts; subtitled Eskimo Summer and Eskimo Winter. It was produced by the Canadian Film Board back in the 60s or 70s and documented an entire year of one of the last fully nomadic Eskimo bands in Canada, before they were housed in their shacks and forbidden to hunt. The winter portion of the film has a detailed igloo construction and use from inside and out. Also fascinating is the complete construction of a dogsled without the use of wood. They made the rails of the sled from whole fish wrapped in a single line with wet hide and then frozen solid. The cross members as I recall were bone or antler.
This is a hard film to find but well worth the effort. Very little english, it's mostly in the native language with subtitles.
 
I used to winter camp/back pack with friends. My wife was smart enough to always be too busy with the kids after the first time she went. I never made a snow shelter, and always used a small dome tent. With two people the are 10-15 degrees warmer than outside, with three people we ran into a number of problems. It was -20F with estimated 15 to 20 MPH wind. First; it looked like a Laurel and Hardy film, when we set up the tent the first night, we all turned to grab our gear, of course the wind grabbed the tent and blew it like a tumble weed. I went after it in 2 feet of snow and caught it after about 100 yards, carrying it back was walking into the wind with a 7' beach ball. We got our gear in it and bedded down for the night. I never figured out if the heat from our combined bodies melted the snow or/and the condensation from our breath, but we had 2" of water in the tent in the morning and the tent was sunk in the snow about 12-16" from where we started. Everything went pretty normal for the rest of the trip until the last morning. We knew a warm front was coming, and needed to get an early start hiking out. One of the guys just puttered around and we were an hour or more late braking camp. There had been about 1 1/2" of powder snow during the night and it all stayed on the limbs. It was one of the worst beautiful sights I've seen. As we hiked through the woods the heat and sunshine melted the overhead snow and it fell on us. Numbnuts was in the middle of us, so every time we went under a snow laden limb one of us would kick the small tree to dump the snow on Numbnuts. It took 2 1/2 hours of almost running to get free of that mess and all 3 of us were soaked to the bone. at about 25 degrees F. Fun times! Ivan

PS For the trip my wife and I went on I bought each of us a Semi mummy bag. Hers was a large with a right hand zipper and mine was an X-large with a left hand zipper. They mated up fine and we slept very comfortably at about 5 below 0 F, and have used them on cold weather outings since. I have used mine to about 20-25 below in the tent. Ivan
 
I've built and slept in both igloos and snow caves. They are a lot of work, but well worth the effort. With 2-4 people in one they stay pretty warm, well above freezing. And one of the nicest things about them is the complete and utter silence, no matter how much the wind might be howling outside. I've never had a problem with melting or dripping. I did have a snow cave roof fall in one night, spent the rest of the night out on the open snow. That's not really a problem if you're properly equipped... gore-tex goose down bag and an insulated pad. That was my fault, the temperature on the mountain was above freezing, not good conditions for a snow cave.

My camping season always started in November and ran through March. There's nothing that beats the peace and solitude of a mid-winter night above tree line. Everyone else who may have been up there for the day clears out and you have the entire mountain to yourself. And if you have the correct equipment you will never get cold.

I am an Alaska Native, but I've never been to Alaska. I've spent my years in the Cascades of Washington State.
 
Donna: You owe it to your heritage to go for a big tour of Alaska. It is both remarkable for the beauty of the geology and for the great people that live there. The Alaska Native people have had their ups and downs since the outsiders took over, but right now they are on a big 'up'. Also, you should read James Mitchner's book "Alaska". That alone will give you a basis for digesting all the various political activities and cultural doings that are always churning there. I spent almost 5 years there and got the chance to tour the entire state. Being cold doesn't do it for me, but I sure wish I could spend every summer back there. ....... Big Cholla
 
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