Icebox Igloo maker

[ninjapuppet]

Was wondering if anyone had any experience with these? I Just bought this new toy and cant wait to test it out this winter.
Its the ice box igloo maker. Never seen one in person nor have heard of them, but Thought it'd be fun hit the snows and have a go at building one of these.


http://www.grandshelters.com/






Theres mixed reviews online about these things, with many people complaining it takes too long. But thinking to set up a proper mountaineering tent, you need to build a proper platform, wait for it to harden, set up the tent, add bomber anchors, build a snow wall then dig a trench to make it more comfy, it will probally take nearly as long.

if your tent is not on a perfectly flat, sucked in because you'll just have to sleep in discomfort or move your tent. in the igloo, you just use your shovel to scrap the snow abit flatter.


the positives outlined on their website:
These igloo makers are cheaper than 4 season tents
much more quiet in hard wind
warmer in the snow compared to tents
more bomber
more spacious
no wet tent to pack away in the morning. You can sleep in a little more while your mates spend good time digging their anchors out and pack their (wet) tent away
And most importantly, the main reason i'm keen for this is that its a hell lot more fuN!



Ive bivied in a crevasse before, but it was on a mountaineering trip with 4 hour sleep and 3 am starts, so it wasnt exactly fun at the time.
I'm really keen to hear feedback from others who have built or slept in igloos before.


Anyone hitting the alps this winter, keep an eye out for a couple of igloos lying around!

[icemancometh]

saw this years ago and came close to pulling the trigger once or twice but figured that for anything steep you wouldn't have room for an igloo and if there was that much snow, you probably shouldn't be there.

For touring and winter walking, it's a different proposition altogether, as well as basecamp. Be interested to see how you go.

Definitely still on my shopping list but further down the line now

[Kinsayder]

I saw one of these a little while ago. They seem great. When my little girl (who is 2) is a little older I'll definitely get one to go and have some fun with. Let us know how you go!

[ninjapuppet]

Now this thing is awesome!

In our group of 7 heading up Bogong, it would have been among the lightest shelter (but bulkiest and hard to pack)
it fits onto the back of your pack but when snow camping, thats also where your snowshoes, crampons and ice axe goes. Hence it tends to stick very far back pushing you off balance abit when going up a steep track. on skis and its fine.
We started the igloo at 2pm and by not reading the instructions, scewed up the first row and 2nd row. However by 3.5 hours into building it with 2 people digging, we had 4 layers built. Another 2 rows + top would have finished the igloo.

From this experience, I have learnt alot of things and very confident next time i can get a 4 man igloo up and finsihed in under 4 hours with 3 people working on it. There is a very steep learning curve to using this. It would have helped to read instructions but we just relied on home made youtube videos for our eskimo education.
Bogong ice wasnt crash hot either, resembling more like grainy ice more so than snow. I found the best material to make the igloo out of was the soft top 2-3cm of snow on the surface. The deeper harder snow / ice didnt make the igloo very strong.


As I mentioned in this post, feel free to use the igloo if you're up this way but please dont destroy it. We plan to finish it in a fortnight or so.
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8946#p140342

[Nuts]

That's one fine looking igloo. 3/4hrs though, wouldn't you be wet, exhausted... Cactus?

[Kinsayder]

It is pretty cool but I tend to agree that it is a lot of work in terms of time. Maybe it's one of those things that simply takes time until you get the hang of it and then you can whip one up in an hour.