My New Years resolution for 2014 is to exercise my survivalist skills. With all the damn snow that dump on my AO yesterday I decided to put some practical survival skills to good use. I built my first Quinzee hut. It wasn't too hard with a snow shovel. I had the pile as tall as me within 15 minutes. It probably would taken much longer with an E-tool in a survival situation. (Which I would have in my BOB) Once I got the pile set up and packed in I started digging out snow. I was a little worried about it caving in on my head but with the huge amount of snow I packed into a pile it was no problem. Carve time took about 15 minutes. (It probably would have been less time if I wasn't 6'3 and 250lbs.) Once everything was carved out I crawled in and made myself at home. Inside of the hut, it was actually warm. I couldn't believe it. Within 5 minutes of sitting in my hut, my breath was actually making the snow melt. I had the snow dripping on my head. Snow really is a wonderful insulator. The Eskimos are onto something I tells ya.
Things I would do if I built my hut for a life or death situation:
1. Try and find a fallen tree or natural shelter and pack snow around it for insulation. This will save a lot of time (especially with a small E-tool) and avoid me getting wet.
2. If number 1 is not available find lots of natural ground cover along with trying to line the wall with pine needles or what shrubbery I could find to prevent my breath and body heat from melting the snow.
On Monday I will try building a fire near the opening of my hut to see if the heat will flow into the hut without the snow melting all over my head. I update this thread If and when I do.
Overall it was really cool (pun intended) to finally put my knowledge to practical use.
Scooping it out.
Side View
Front View
Me in my hut
Inside view
Rest of the pictures.
http://http://flic.kr/ps/2M6kN4
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Originally Posted by mitunnelrat
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