>> Best winter shelter (IMHO) is an igloo -- built a half dozen and slept in three or four. Once you get your act together, it's a 45 minute proposition, and the **quiet** is incredible. Plus, all that warm moist stuff from clothes, bod, etc., condenses on the inner walls and leaves the bag relatively dry. >> Snow in Minnesota usually isn't packed well enough to build igloos, but I have built several quinzees (or quinzhees) by piling up loose snow and hollowing out the center. It's a lot more work than building an igloo, but the result is much the same. It's also warmer than a tent. My second quinzee had a raised floor to help retain heat, and the first time I slept in it, the temperature never dropped below 20 degrees F. inside on a night when it dropped to -12 degrees F. outside -- that's a 32 degree difference! Another nice thing about sleeping in an igloo or quinzee is that the walls being all white, a small candle illuminates it very well. Also, if you get thirsty in the middle of the night, you can just reach over and take a piece of the wall. My biggest quinzees have been larger inside than most dome tents. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Dec 01 1999 - 07:40:31 PST
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