Solo Igloo Winter Camping

PineMartyn has posted five videos on YouTube describing his approach to winter camping.

 He states; I’‘ve always been a cold camper and in the last two winters I’ve come to appreciate the pleasures of igloo-building and camping in them over quinzhees and cold-tenting. This is a video of an overnight solo igloo camping trip I took to some crown land.   I conceived it as a kind of low-level intro to cold-camping. Once you have built a few practice igloos with the Icebox igloo tool you can build a solo igloo (7′ wide interior) in about 4 hours and you can build an 8’ (for two) in the same time. Larger igloos take longer, but you can involve more people in the build. A properly built igloo has walls of uniform thickness and a shape that balances the downward/inward pressures against outward pressures, resulting in shape that will eventually shrink, but rarely sag. Essentially, you put in more time and technique (initially) with an igloo, but it’s less work, less wet, and you have a superior, long-lasting shelter. They commonly last all winter. 

Getting to camp ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUusSijfjQ ) Pinemartyn demonstrates his method of transportation using snowshoes, rather than skis, and pulling his gear on a small DIY pulk.

Igloo building & setting up camp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GwKOvRYha4

Winter cooking and other gear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXSjsxAFX7M  Pinemartyn demonstrates hydrating and cooking his meal. Other alternatives are to pre-cook pasta/rice at home and then de-hydrate and warm up the cooked pasta. Another option is to re-hydrate the meal in a ziplock bag and boil the meal in a ziplock freezerbag method, You can rehydrate right in the bag that is carrying the dehydrated ingredients, or, if you’ve prepared and dehydrated a whole meal, you can rehydrate, prepare and eat right out of the same bag, and you’ve only used your pot to boil water. if you’re using freezer bag type ziplock bags, you can pour the boiling water straight into the bag and rehydrate your food without having to dirty extra pieces

Sleeping & dressing comfortably http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxRE62WlvJI Includes a discussion of clothing and prices.

Boots, keeping warm, & final thoughts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kPmPvkohFo 

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March 13th, 2012 | Category: Winter Camping

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