- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,555
well my daughter has been begging to get out and play in the snow and woods but we just haven't had the time. well we got out yesterday and built what she calls a snow fort w/ nothing but some shovels. its not the woods but she had a blast and so did i minus the sore back. usually i would have used the snow blower to stack the snow but my little voice of reason said no that would be cheating 
.
let me first say it is no joke to stack snow about 4.5 feet high x 7 feet long w/ shovels and the snow isn't sticky. total i think it took me, w/ her amazing help (usually tearing down what i put up lol) about 4.5 hours. i still need to get some better inside pics. inside i can easily sit up in it and completely lay down w/ my ruck covering the entrance door. we both slept in it and if i had to guess it stayed about 55-60 degrees inside. i didn't have the camera out cause it was so cold i figured the LCD screen might freeze and crack. we used the military sleep systems and 2 closed cell foam pads. we also had on some nice warm clothes since we just walked out the front door and got in our bags. the little one was paranoid about the coyotes trying to get in and eat us for some reason but we still had a good time. unfortunately i didn't have to use the knife to make anything but it was a good survival exercise either way.
before the pics i will definitely say if i was in a extreme situation in the snow unless i was very very fresh this would be my last choice for a shelter unless there was a ton of snow piled up by a pine tree or embankment that you i could just dig into. the digging out of the inside was labor intensive and akward. also very rough on a bad back lol. i would definitely go with IAwoodsmen snow trench. i have tried both recently and its much easier just to dig out the trench and lay your tarp over the wood and add some more snow to it. it only took me about 2 hours to make that version and it was much easier but did require the tarp and logs. link to his thread cause i didn't get any picts of my set up
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813533
anyways on to the pictures.
the dog trying to figure out what the heck is going on in his yard
the builder every so proud of her super accomplishment (making someone else do all the work and taking credit for it )
her all the way in the back hanging out.
her in the door. the opening seemed rather small to me but maybe i am just bigger than i thought
and a few other randoms.
again all and all we had a blast and though it wasn't truly the wilderness or survival we learned a lot and had a good time doing it. hope you enjoy the pics
. let me first say it is no joke to stack snow about 4.5 feet high x 7 feet long w/ shovels and the snow isn't sticky. total i think it took me, w/ her amazing help (usually tearing down what i put up lol) about 4.5 hours. i still need to get some better inside pics. inside i can easily sit up in it and completely lay down w/ my ruck covering the entrance door. we both slept in it and if i had to guess it stayed about 55-60 degrees inside. i didn't have the camera out cause it was so cold i figured the LCD screen might freeze and crack. we used the military sleep systems and 2 closed cell foam pads. we also had on some nice warm clothes since we just walked out the front door and got in our bags. the little one was paranoid about the coyotes trying to get in and eat us for some reason but we still had a good time. unfortunately i didn't have to use the knife to make anything but it was a good survival exercise either way.
before the pics i will definitely say if i was in a extreme situation in the snow unless i was very very fresh this would be my last choice for a shelter unless there was a ton of snow piled up by a pine tree or embankment that you i could just dig into. the digging out of the inside was labor intensive and akward. also very rough on a bad back lol. i would definitely go with IAwoodsmen snow trench. i have tried both recently and its much easier just to dig out the trench and lay your tarp over the wood and add some more snow to it. it only took me about 2 hours to make that version and it was much easier but did require the tarp and logs. link to his thread cause i didn't get any picts of my set up
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813533
anyways on to the pictures.
the dog trying to figure out what the heck is going on in his yard
the builder every so proud of her super accomplishment (making someone else do all the work and taking credit for it
)
her all the way in the back hanging out.
her in the door. the opening seemed rather small to me but maybe i am just bigger than i thought
and a few other randoms.
again all and all we had a blast and though it wasn't truly the wilderness or survival we learned a lot and had a good time doing it. hope you enjoy the pics