Cheap Icebox alternative?

[hikingfish]

Hi All,
Being recently introduced to winter camping, I've been looking at tools to make igloos and I came along the ICEBOX. Looks nice, if not a bit heavy. I have a feeling one could simply use a walking pole instead of their pole...I have a hard time believing the rest of the plastic adds up to 5lbs (2kg)...maybe someone can comment on that.

Anyhow, I was all into it and thought it looked pretty good...until I saw the pricetag. ~180$ seems rather excessive! Does anyone know of other alternatives?

Thanks!

Fish

 

[Pucknuts61]

$7.99 plus shipping!

http://www.adorablekidsdressup.com/...D&Store_Code=adorable&Product_Code=Snow_Brick

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I've been looking at tools to make igloos and I came along the ICEBOX. Looks nice, if not a bit heavy. I have a feeling one could simply use a walking pole instead of their pole...I have a hard time believing the rest of the plastic adds up to 5lbs (2kg)...maybe someone can comment on that.

I never weighed the pieces individually, but I think the plastic is probably most of the weight.

The construction is rather important. Maybe not if you have PERFECT snow, but most times it is. FOr example, the plastic is not just a form to hold the shape of the snow. It will open up somewhat, so that you can remove it without breaking the block. Snow is packed in, then the tension and pressure is removed so that you can remove the form.

The pole has a bunch of clickable holes, so that each row is at the proper distance. It is not a fixed lenght pole, which would produce a semi-circle igloo. It is done in such a way that it will produce a catenary shape. (I'm sure Doug Paul can chime in about the catinary's relationship to the hyperbolic cosine, in the imaginary universe).

A catenary shape is much stronger than a semi-circle would be.

BTW, fish... You're in Montreal, right? Why don'T you go here:

http://www.bougex.com/fiche_sceance.asp?act=6859

Some kind of igloo festival.

 

[hikingfish]

BTW, fish... You're in Montreal, right? Why don'T you go here:

Some kind of igloo festival.

Pete, Yup! From Montreal...I couldn't make it to the igloo-fest this weekend, but I did volonteer to go build the igloos during the week. However the entire thing has been cancelled due to bad weather. It's a shame, I could of tried first hand the Icebox, as this is what we were supposed to use to build them.

The icebox might be very good at what it does Pete, call me cheap if you must, but I really doubt there's 170$ worth of material, labor and R&D fees in it hehe.

Cheers,

Fish

 

[hikingfish]

$7.99 plus shipping!

http://www.adorablekidsdressup.com/...D&Store_Code=adorable&Product_Code=Snow_Brick

Looks interesting, but I'd probably just buy a big rectangular tupperware bowl instead!

Fish

 

[Pucknuts61]

Hey Fish,

As long as you found humor in the post....

I did find the real thing at REI for 166.....but even with the 10% back (which is now another year away), it's still pretty expensive.

Still searching for an alternative,
Bill

 

[Pete_Hickey]

The icebox might be very good at what it does Pete, call me cheap if you must, but I really doubt there's 170$ worth of material, labor and R&D fees in it hehe.

I completely disagree with you there.

R&D costs are somewhat constant, and the percentage of their cost in the product is really dependant on the numbers sold. This is a small business, with a very small amount sold. I know one of the makers/designers, and this is a product of passion, not a money maker.

It's like that with many small specialty businesses.

Now... If Xxxxmart would take onthe product, advertize it, sell thousands, I would agree with you.