Questions for Icebox owners!

[hikingfish]

Hi All!
I've recently tried the icebox at the Enfin l'Hiver (finally winter!) festival in Montreal: It was awesome! It works well! I want one! But alas, I probably won't be able to purchase one this winter. I still want to play around outside though (provided I can find snow somewhere!), so I was thinking of making my own icebox type device. I wanted to do something similar to the icebox (except cheaper, so it'll be made of coroplast and use a painting pole). I'm thinking I should be able to get away with 30-40$ (CDN) of purchased supplies needed (I can get some of the stuff from our machine shop here).

The one I haven't been able to figure out is the dimensions of the blocks that get created by the icebox. Would any icebox owner be able to shed some light on the actual dimensions of the blocks?

Thanks!

Fish

 

[DougPaul]

I doubt that the dimensions of the box are critical. Guess from memory or go to Ed Huesers website and guess from the pics: http://www.grandshelters.com.

The icebox is cheaper than most tents and lighter than many...

FWIW, Ed is very active on rec.backcountry.

You could also look up some generic instructions for building an igloo and use the suggested block size.

Doug

 

[hikingfish]

Hi guys,
Well, after spending a week in our machine shop, I came up with a fairly cheap substitute for the icebox...now I haven't made a full igloo yet (coming up this weekend), but it has passed the "it can actually make a block of snow" test (see pictures)!

The panels are made of coroplast
the pole is a painting pole
the safety pins (need 2 of them: connect pole to panel and keep poles at a certain length) are 3$ each @ canadian tires
screws / wing-nuts are 3$ total
epoxy is 6$
aluminum corners I got from our machine shop
pole holder (keeps pole @ center of igloo) is made from various junk found at my parent's place (one part is actually made from an old christmas tree)
the U shape-holder (keeps panels from expanding outwards while packing snow in) is made from aluminum I got from our machine shop

Keep in mind that each of the panels can be removed by unscrewing the wing nuts (I figured they'd be easier to remove with mitts on).

Here's what it actually looks like: http://community.webshots.com/album/557066908RPrXRE

I'd love to hear comments...

Fish

 

[night prowler]

Nice job ! I've been thinking of building one myself but with the past few winters here in Jersey I'd have to scrape half the state's total snowfall to build an igloo

 

[KMartman]

how heavy is it? Correct me if im wrong, but isnt the icebox a fabric solution?

Looks good though good luck with building the igloo this weekend.

M

 

[hikingfish]

Hi guys,
Unfortunately, I don't have a scale that could accurately weight all the components...so I weighed myself with and without holding all the components in my hands and it came down to a total weight of slightly less than 5 pounds.

I'll try to post pics of whatever I build this weekend (good or bad!).

Fish

 

[hikingfish]

Well, seeing as I couldn't get anyone to help me out, I had to divert from my original plan (and wait for actual snow to fall!) and create an igloo from blocs cut out of compacted snow. You can see the first 3 rows of blocs were done using my icebox clone though!

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2176996560053968721YMRMcw

Fish