Why doesn't the igloo melt from the inside?
The igloo is a forced invention of the North American Eskimos. If the Arctic had an abundance of firewood, the Eskimos might have invented wooden houses. But the miser-nature provided them only with snow, however, in unlimited quantities. The Eskimos sighed and sighed and turned ordinary snow into extraordinary construction materialAn igloo is a dome-shaped building made of snow blocks with a diameter of 3-4 meters and a height of about 2 meters. In deep snow, the entrance is usually arranged in the floor, a corridor breaks through to the entrance below the floor level. With shallow snow, the entrance is arranged in the wall, to which an additional corridor of snow blocks is being completed. Light enters the igloo directly through the snow walls, although sometimes windows are made of seal guts or ice.
The interior is usually lined with skins, sometimes the walls are also covered with skins. Grease bowls are used to heat the dwelling and its lighting.
Nice tent and windbreak wall quite satisfy in the northern campaign, but there are no special winter tents for sale.
Wind-compacted snow is much lighter than ice. This means that about three-quarters of the volume of bricks is occupied by air, and it does not conduct heat well. Snow brick is similar to a piece of foam and has high thermal insulation properties. But built in hard frost the hut must be thoroughly warmed up. When a fire is lit in a hut, its inner surface quickly melts and becomes smooth. And immediately the melting stops. This film makes the hut warmer, it also strengthens the roof
The scourge of a winter tent is moisture. The warmer the tent, the more damp it is. The roof of the hut absorbs moisture like blotting paper, even if the hut is too hot.
A hut with room temperature inside should melt, but it doesn't. Melting requires excess heat in the snow layer. Snow at the inner surface of the arch has a temperature of 0 degrees, and, in contact with warm air, does not melt, because it cools enough through the thickness of the snow walls. Suppose cooling is slower than warming up. Then the inner layer of snow begins to slowly melt, but when wet, the wall passes the cold more easily from the outside - it quickly removes heat from the inside, and the melting stops. The snow dome itself resists melting when heated from the inside. Of course, in light frost and calm, a hut warmed to room temperature will melt, but a strong frost and wind, having exhausted the skier on the way in a day, will preserve the walls of his hotly heated snow house at night.
When civilization had not yet reached the Eskimo possessions, many tribes did not know a winter home, except for the "igloo", and were quite satisfied with it as a permanent home and lodging for the night on the way. A building slab made of snow is easily cut with a knife, and hardened in the wall of the structure. The Danish ethnographer Knud Rasmussen writes that an Eskimo alone builds a snow hut for his family in three quarters of an hour.
Here is one of his descriptions:
“Twenty people could easily accommodate in the main housing for the night. This part of the snow house turned into a high portal like a “hall”, where people cleared snow from themselves. Adjacent to the main housing was ... a bright extension where two families settled. We had fat enough, and therefore seven or eight lamps were burning at the same time, which is why it became so warm in these walls of white snow blocks that people could walk around half-naked to their fullest pleasure.
Before finishing his seminar at McGill University, Peter Sidgpick gave his architecture class a very unusual homework. "I'd like to have a drink at the snow bar this Friday," the teacher said, and his students immediately set to work. They had enough snow, ice, and the right skills to build a snow structure for 50 people.
Sigpike is originally from Holland, where winters are usually warm and slushy, and therefore, when he moved to Canada, he was fascinated by snowy expanses and blocks of ice. According to him, frozen water is an amazing, and completely free building material. He himself built several very impressive structures from snow, among which was even a model of the Roman Pantheon in a ratio of 1:5. The 10-meter structure, which was also 10 meters in diameter, was made from 400 tons of snow! 125 students and teachers joined the work.
Now Sidzhpike will share the secret of how to build an igloo - the winter dwelling of the Eskimos. According to him, the spiral structure, on which the blocks of this unusual spherical house are stacked, is one of the best architectural solutions. There are many ways to build an igloo in your backyard, but here is the easiest and most reliable way:
1. Make sure you have enough building materials, i.e. snow. According to the architect, many people underestimate the required amount: you will need at least a 30 cm layer, taken from the entire site. 2. Use the right snow: not light grains that cover the crust, but a dense mass of snow underneath.
3. Draw a correct circle. To do this, you can stick a stick in the center of the future circle, tie a length of rope to it and go around the stick in a circle. For novice builders, it is not recommended to build an igloo whose diameter exceeds 3 meters - making a reliable dome for such a building is a very difficult task.
4. Use a mold to ensure that the bricks are the same size. Traditional igloo blocks are 1 meter long, 40 cm wide and 20 cm high, but smaller igloos can be used.
5. Next - laying. The blocks should go in a spiral, so it would be most reasonable to make a small notch on each brick so that the adjacent brick fits into it. So the structure of the house will be much more durable. You will need to support some blocks until the structure is complete and their weight is evenly distributed - you can use regular sticks for this.
6. The higher the walls - the smaller and thinner the blocks. Do not forget to take care of ventilation holes, otherwise there is a risk that your chic ice house there will simply be nothing to breathe. As a cement for ice bricks, the same wet snow is suitable - at night frost will grab it and the bricks will not collapse.
7. As a doorway, you can simply make a hole in the wall, or you can build a small canopy so that heat does not leave the igloo so quickly. The lower bricks, lying at the very base, are best sprinkled with water: ice is stronger than snow, which means that the foundation will not crack under the weight of the building and it will not warp.
Indian tribes live not only in warm places. Read about the igloo - the ice dwelling of the Eskimos!
The igloo is a typical place of residence for the Eskimos. This type of building is a building that has a domed shape. The diameter of the dwelling is 3-4 meters, and its height is about 2 meters. Igloos are built, as a rule, from blocks of ice or blocks of snow compacted with the help of wind. Also, the needle is cut out of snowdrifts, which are suitable in density, as well as in size.
If the snow is deep enough, then they break through the entrance in the floor, and also dig a corridor to the entrance. In the case when the snow is still not deep, then the front door is cut into the wall, and a separate corridor built of snow bricks is attached to the front door. It is very important that Entrance door in such a dwelling was below the floor level, since this ensures good and proper ventilation of the room, and also retains heat inside the igloo.
Lighting in the dwelling comes from snow walls, but sometimes windows are also made. As a rule, they are also constructed from ice or seal guts. In some Eskimo tribes, entire villages of igloos are common, which are interconnected by passages.
From the inside, the igloo is covered with skins, and sometimes the walls are also hung with the igloo. To provide even more illumination, as well as more warmth special devices are used. Due to heating, part of the walls inside the igloo can melt, but the walls themselves do not melt, due to the fact that the snow helps to bring excess heat out. Thanks to this, the temperature in the dwelling is maintained at a comfortable temperature for the existence of people. As for moisture, the walls also absorb it, and because of this, the inside of the igloo is dry.
The first non-Eskimo to build an igloo was Williamour Stefanson. It happened in 1914, and he talks about this event in many articles and in his own book. The unique strength of this type of dwelling lies in the use of uniquely shaped slabs. They allow you to fold the hut in the form of a kind of snail, which gradually narrows upwards. It is also very important to take into account the method of installation of these improvised bricks, which involves the support of the next slab on the previous brick at three points at the same time. In order to make the structure more stable, the finished hut is also watered from the outside.
Today, igloos are also used in ski touring, in case emergency accommodation is needed, if there are problems with tents, or if it is not possible to continue on the road in the near future. In order for the skier to be able to build an igloo, a special briefing is carried out before the hike.
The igloo, translated from Inuktitut (as most Inuit Canadian dialects are called), means "the winter dwelling of the Eskimos." The igloo is a domed building with a diameter of 3-4 meters and a height of approximately human height.
They build it from what is at hand, and in the winter tundra, only snow is at hand from building materials ... From snow or ice blocks compacted by the wind, they erect an igloo. If the snow is deep, the entrance to the igloo is made in the floor, and a corridor is cut through to the entrance. If the snow is not deep enough, you have to make an entrance in the wall, and an additional corridor of snow blocks is completed to it.
Construction process:
1. Using a cord, draw a circle-floor of the hut. The diameter of the igloo is determined by the number of group members. However, it is desirable to start learning how to build it from a small size.
2. The place for building the igloo is selected depending on the availability of solid flooring. Plates for the first row are cut out in size 60X40X20 cm, and for the next - somewhat smaller. They are placed on the inside surface.
3. The slabs of the first row are set at an angle of 20-25° and cut obliquely in order to lay out subsequent rows in a spiral with an increase in inclination per turn by about 5°. In this case, the angle of inclination of the upper rows will be about 45 °, and the diameter of the hole will not exceed 50-70 cm.
4. The reliability of the igloo design is achieved by the spherical shape, the laying of plates with a spiral and the shape of the plates, the outer edge of which is larger than the inner one, which prevents the plate from falling inward.
5. The stable position of the slab (for example, No. 36) will be at three points of contact: along the bottom face - two corner points (A and B), and with the previous slab (No. 35) - the upper right corner (C). A noticeable convergence of at least two of the three contact points deprives the plate of stability.
6. Before installing the next plate, it is given the shape of a trapezoid of the desired dimensions. Fitting the plate is made on the wall: side faces adjacent plates are trimmed so that reliable contact is achieved at all three points.
7. Finally, the slab is placed as follows: first, vertically on the lower edge, then, slowly tilting it up into the hut, they achieve a snug fit of adjacent slabs at the top point (B). The desired inclination is achieved by cutting the edge or lightly tapping the plate from the outside.
8. All vertical joints of the plates of the lower row must be overlapped by the plates of the upper row, and some plates (for example, No. 37 and 45) overlap two joints, otherwise, with a decrease in the diameter of the helix, the plates decrease so much that the reference points approach each other and the plates in the upper rows lose stability.
9. The hole at the top is closed with a plate - after leveling the upper edge of the last spiral.
10. The gaps between the plates are plugged with pieces of dense snow and clogged with loose snow.
11. Traditionally, the entrance to the needle is made in the form of a hole below the floor level. In our practice, the hole is arranged at floor level and closed from the inside with a backpack or a curtain (material, foam mat, etc.).
Experience shows that it is less laborious to build two small interlocking igloos than one large one for the whole group. In any case, beginners should disregard this advice.
As a result of heating, the inner surfaces of the walls are melted, but the walls do not melt. The colder it is outside, the higher the heat that the needle can withstand from the inside. After all, wet snow loses its heat-shielding properties and passes the cold more easily. Having made its way through the thickness of the block, frost freezes the inner surface of the walls that has begun to melt, and the temperature pressure outside and inside is balanced. It is known that Finnish snipers and mountain rangers of the German Wehrmacht were trained in the skills of building an igloo. Today, igloo huts are used in ski touring as emergency shelter in case of problems with a tent or a long wait for the weather to improve.
An Irish explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic, Shackleton, once complained about the difficult fate of the explorers of the southern mainland: “There are no Eskimos in Antarctica whom we could hire, as Peary did, to build snow houses for us.” So Amundsen, according to Shackleton, although he experienced a temperature of 62 ° C during an expedition to the North Magnetic Pole, was much happier: “It should be remembered that there were Eskimos with him who built for him every night snow house". The Eskimos cover the bed with a double layer of reindeer skins, with the lower layer laid with the skin up, and the top layer with the skin down. Sometimes under the skins they put old skin from a kayak. This three-layer insulation serves as a comfortable soft bed.
The igloo is a forced invention of the North American Eskimos. If the Arctic had an abundance of firewood, the Eskimos might have invented wooden houses. But the miser-nature provided them only with snow, however, in unlimited quantities. The Eskimos sighed, sighed, and turned ordinary snow into an extraordinary building material, confirming in the most unexpected way the original Russian proverb - the need for inventions is cunning. Judge for yourself.
Snow is easy to handle. From it you can cut any building construction- bricks, blocks, panels, beams, etc. n. If you wish, you can fold a typical nine-story life-size house with entrances, benches at the door and even baths, bathrooms and gas stoves, fashioned all from the same snow. creative possibilities limited only by the imagination of the author. No equipment is required to carry and lift the blocks - a snow brick measuring 100 × 60x20 cm can be lifted by one person. Let him try to do the same with concrete! Another important detail - complete absence shortage of building material, which in the central regions is offered in unlimited quantities from November to April, in the Arctic almost all year round. You don’t need to break through funds, write out outfits, stand in line—and even then you don’t have to! Take a shovel and rake yourself as much as your soul asks for! The only negative is the impossibility of exporting to countries with a hot climate.
So, the building material was found. Now I will bring to the attention of the reader the project of the dwelling itself. What kind of house is this - an igloo?
Imagine a huge, three meters in diameter and a little less in height, a cup fashioned from snow, turned upside down. Neither the wind is terrible for her - thanks to the spherical shape, the wind flow does not crush the walls, but, as it were, flows around them, nor frost. Strength? At least the three of you get in. Eyewitnesses say that such a snow house visits polar bear withstands, and it has five centners of weight!
Dimensions? Not limited. Here is how the Danish traveler-ethnographer Knud Rasmussen describes the igloo-house: “In the main dwelling, twenty people could easily accommodate for the night. This part of the snow house turned into a high portal, like a hall, where people brushed snow off themselves before entering the living quarters. On the other side, a spacious, bright annex adjoined the main dwelling, where two families settled. We had plenty of fat, and therefore 7-8 lamps were burning at the same time, which is why it became so warm in these walls of white snow blocks that people could walk around half-naked to their fullest pleasure.
And this is about thermal comfort. In the igloo, if desired, you can arrange the tropics. You can plant stoves in an igloo, kindle fires (if you are not afraid of smoke), install potbelly stoves, you can even arrange a steam room! But how is it? Why does an igloo, heated from the inside, not melt? After all, even near-zero temperatures are disastrous for snow.
Very simple. Let's say the temperature inside the igloo has risen to + 20 ° C. It is quite natural that the walls flowed. But wet snow, as you know, loses its heat-shielding properties, it passes the cold more easily. Having made its way through the thickness of the block, frost freezes the inner surface of the walls that has begun to melt. The temperature pressure outside and inside is balanced. Therefore, the stronger the frost outside, the higher the heat that the “needle” can withstand from the inside. "Floating" walls
Of course, if you raise the temperature inside the needle above + 30 ° C, then it will drip from the ceiling. But this is not the biggest inconvenience: it is enough to build an impromptu gable roof by throwing a rectangular piece over a stick stuck into the walls. polyethylene film to keep people dry. Water will roll into corners and freeze on the snow.
The best for building an igloo is medium-density snow, which is slightly pressed by the foot. It is easy to cut, durable, not heavy. Most often, this brand of snow is found in open, wind-blown spaces, on the tops of ridges, bare hills, near uneven terrain, near large stones, slope bends, and sastrugi. The depth of the snow cover at the site of the future quarry should not be less than 0.6–0.7 m. construction site side, and if the needle is being built on a slope - above the construction site, which will greatly facilitate the transportation of finished blocks (they can simply be rolled down).
The quarry is a pit 1 × 1 m in size and 50-60 cm deep at the edge; with a long knife, brick blocks are cut out with the heel of the ski. We once as cutting tool used an ordinary spruce stick, but in this case, of course, productivity drops by 2-3 times. If the snow is evenly dense in depth, it is convenient to cut narrow, vertically standing bricks. If only the top layer of snow is strong, the blocks are cut horizontally.
The block cut from four sides is separated from the snow monolith by a light kick along the bottom edge. As the quarry lengthens, the blocks are trimmed only on three sides. The first 15-20 blocks, which will serve as the foundation of the future igloo, are made as large as possible, up to 100x50x30 cm.
After harvesting the blocks on a horizontally trampled platform, a circle is drawn using a rope compass or a long stick. The diameter of an igloo designed for one person should be at least 2.4 m, for two - 2.7 m, for three - 3 m, for four - 3.6 m. The indicated dimensions will provide the person with the greatest comfort, but in emergency cases such an igloo can accommodate a double number of residents.
Along the perimeter of the outlined circle with outer side the first row of blocks is laid out, after which it is cut diagonally, along the entire length, up to the bottom edge, so that the beginning of the spiral is formed. The first block of the second row is installed on the formed step. The laying of blocks of the lower rows goes with a 25-30-degree collapse inside the circle. The slope of the blocks of the upper rows can reach 40-50% deviation from the vertical.
When building, you need to remember a few little secrets. In no case should adjacent blocks touch the lower corners, otherwise they will be in an unstable position. Vertical joints of blocks in adjacent rows should not match. It is not recommended to move the installed block back and forth along the wall, as it wears out ^ and loses its original shape. Bricks-blocks are du4sche to lay a more durable, nastovoy.khtoronoy needle inside.
The upper opening in the dome is closed with one polygonal slab or 2-3 flat ones.
long blocks laid close to each other on the last row of bricks. Large gaps between the blocks can be filled with fragments of crust, small ones can be covered with loose snow. The cracks and through holes in the dome are best seen in the evening, when a candle is burning inside the igloo.
Under the finished igloo dome, a laz-tunnel breaks through from the leeward side. As with the construction of a cave, one must strive for it to be located below the floor level. If the igloo is standing on fine snow, it is permissible to cut an inlet in the wall at ground level and close it with a door block
Inside the igloo, especially if the entrance is punched at floor level, you can arrange a couch 30-40 cm high.
If it is planned to make a fire in the igloo, then in the upper part of the dome it is necessary to cut a hole with a diameter of 10-15 cm, to which a pipe cut from a strong crust with a through hole for extracting smoke should be attached. At the same time, a fire in an igloo must be made from dry, low-smoking firewood and very small in size. In case of strong smoke, an additional window can be cut out in the dome, which is subsequently closed from the outside with a block.
The igloo is one of the most reliable snow shelters that can protect a person from any vagaries of the weather. Suffice it to recall that the Eskimos, living in the harshest conditions of the polar Arctic, until recently did not know other winter dwellings at all! Perfectly mastering the skills of snow building, any Eskimo, according to Knud Rasmussen, could single-handedly build a spacious igloo that can accommodate 4-5 people in just 3/4 hours! Modern man, of course, cannot afford such speeds.
Even a well-equipped traveler with experience in the construction of blockhouses takes 1.5-2 hours to build a medium-sized igloo. For beginners and etrt, far from Eskimo, the result should be increased by at least 2 times. When the construction of the igloo is carried out by 2 people - one cuts and transports the blocks, the other lays out the dome - the time costs are reduced by 30-35%, but no more.
In any case, the construction of the igloo should be started long before darkness, fatigue, weather changes. Saving time in such cases is unacceptable!
Let me give you a few more tips.
You should never try to build a large needle at once. The complexity of building an Eskimo snow hut increases in direct proportion to its size. If the construction of a 2-meter needle is available to any beginner, then even an experienced professional cannot always master a 3-4-meter needle. When it gets into trouble large group people, it is much easier and faster to build 3-4 or 10 small needles than one large one.
A person who undertakes the construction of an igloo for the first time can be advised to first fold a small - 1.5 m in diameter - snow hut. This will help you understand her. design features, to master the technology of construction, will save you from many mistakes typical for beginners. In case of emergency, you can always spend the night or wait out the bad weather in such an experimental igloo.
You must always be prepared for the fact that the construction of the needle will have to be repeated many times. And don't give up and don't despair! And work as much as it takes to build warm housing. At least twice as long as you have to stay in it.
We once moved a similar snow hut seven times, taking a total of six hours to build! Almost finished construction crumbled at the slightest touch. And I had to start all over. And on the street, by the way, it was night, -38 ° C and the strongest wind was blowing, with snow drifting. And we were on a bare rocky patch inside a cloud that had crawled onto the ridge. And we also had a burnt out bulb in a flashlight, and we had to highlight the fire of three cigarettes simultaneously put into our mouths. I really wanted to retreat then, because it seemed: it was impossible to build even a doghouse out of such a crust. But we continued to cut and put blocks. And the eighth attempt was crowned with success. It was then that we realized that the success or failure of snow construction depends not on the quality of the snow, but on the builder's obstinacy!
If the classic spiral needle for one reason or another does not work out, it can be advised to build according to a simplified, non-spiral scheme. By the way, travelers very rarely build a correct spiral needle, usually each group develops its own, simplified construction scheme for a circle. To build an igloo, first of all, you need to choose a flat area with dense and deep snow. Loose, fluffy, snow is not good.
With the help of a rope and a knife, draw a circle that will determine the size of your home based on the following calculation: for one person - 2.4, for two - 2.7. It must be remembered that the larger the hut, the more difficult it is to build. If there are many people, then it is better to build many small igloos. Each Igloo brick "falls" not so much down as sideways, leaning on its neighbor in a spiral below. Thus, you can assemble a sheer vault large diameter, if you accurately maintain the pitch of the spiral and the curvature of the circumference of the hemisphere, which is convenient to control with a knot on a regular rope from a peg in the center of the building. Windblown snow is an excellent building material, like Styrofoam. Having a long thin knife, a light duralumin plate and a hacksaw, you can build a warm cozy hut - an igloo from it. I was struck by the strength of fragile snow, turned into a needle! In the morning, leaving the place of spending the night, they tested it for strength. The snow dome easily supported the weight of four hefty men!
In a seemingly small igloo, five to seven people, the entire tourist group, are accommodated with great comfort. When a candle burns inside, you can read a book. When the stove is on, the thermometer under the dome shows +20 degrees. It is quiet and warm inside in any blizzard... To learn how to build an igloo, I had to read a bunch of books, diaries of famous polar explorers, advice and recommendations from tourist authorities. At first, we took advantage of Berman's vague recommendations. Construction took more than 5 hours, physically and mentally exhausted 12 people, and only seven fit inside. Before practical application the igloo was far away: - (Here is what the famous Piri wrote in his diary: ... There were two Eskimos with me. Every evening, armed with long knives, they chose a snow puff, and rather quickly built an igloo ... - Meager, but very helpful information. It remains to take an interview with his companions :-) Once I came across an amazing book by William Stefanson "Hospitable Arctic" (If you find it - be sure to read it!) In order to adopt the survival techniques of the Eskimos, he lived for six months in their tribe. And then, he led a series of awesome polar expeditions. Everything is laid out in the book...
The four of us built the "fastest" needle for seven in 45 minutes! This is commensurate with setting up a tent, but of course, much more comfortable.
The initial stage of building an annular igloo is no different from building a spiral igloo - a quarry is laid, a circle is drawn in the snow, and the first row of blocks is laid out. Just don't cut it diagonally. It is enough just to put the last brick in the row non-standard, 30-40 cm higher than the rest. To it, tilting and slightly pushing it inside the circle, lean the first block of the second row, to that, in turn, another one, and so on. To installed blocks under their own weight did not collapse inward, they must be supported.
It is most convenient to work with three people - one person brings the bricks inside, the other sets, adjusts, grinds them to the already standing blocks, the third keeps the entire unfinished row from falling. The last laid brick wedged the finished row-ring, preventing it from collapsing. When working alone, the task is somewhat more complicated. In this case, it is necessary to lay the pre-prepared blocks inside the needle. Each block installed on the bottom row, as well as any other block that is in an unstable position, should be supported from the inside with a ski or a stick stuck into the snow. With some skill, you can adapt to keep the row from falling with your knee, hip, shoulder, while simultaneously setting the next block. Fixing the last brick ensures the immobility of the entire row. Due to the 30-40° inclination and protrusion of the snow bricks inward, the rings of the rows gradually narrow, forming a regular hemisphere igloo. You can push the blocks when the row is completely finished.
To do this, literally millimeter-by-millimeter sawing of the joints of the blocks, shifting them towards themselves, inside the needle. With some skill, it is possible to achieve that the top row will protrude deeper than the underlying one by more than a third of its thickness. The hole remaining in the upper part of the dome is closed in the same way as in a classic igloo. The protruding corners of the blocks inside the needle can be cut off with a saw (Fig. 196).
If the igloo dome cannot be closed, you can complete it in the same way as when building a snow hut. Lay improvised beams on the edges of the walls, which are covered with a piece of cloth or plastic wrap. The resulting flat roof cover with a layer of snow. In a German place with a brain-crushing name - Mitterfirmiansreut, people went even further. Here, in December 2011, an entire church was built from snow and ice. The construction of such an object was not a simple experiment. It had its own history. In 1910, a severe storm prevented parishioners from reaching the local church. Then they decided to build a temple from the most affordable materials. And so the idea of the amazing snow church was born. Snow and ice were enough durable material. During the month, the church receives a large number of parishioners. However, after this period, it begins to collapse.
In cases where it is not possible to prepare a large number of blocks, and there is enough snow
To do this, a circle with a diameter of 1-1.5 m is outlined on the surface of the snowdrift. Snow is raked out of the circle to a depth of at least 1.5 m. A deep round pit is obtained. Along its perimeter, a small dome is constructed from blocks laid in rows according to any of the described methods - spiral, annular. Of course, such a shelter turns out to be very cramped, but its internal volume can be increased by undermining the walls to the sides. And the largest number snow should be chosen in the lower part of the pit adjacent to the floor, the smallest - with a wide base and a narrowed neck, closed from above by a small dome. There is no need to fear that after construction is completed, the cut edges of the pit will not withstand and collapse under the weight of the walls. The built dome, gradually sagging and thawing, acquires solidity, due to which the pressure on the “foundation” is balanced. But, of course, you should not overdo it with undermining. The most convenient, in terms of organizing everyday life, and at the same time, a strong shelter, where the angle of the walls of the pit equal to the angle the inclination of the walls of the dome (approximately 40-50 °), that is, in fact, one wall is a continuation of the other. But, of course, each construction is individual, and the angles of inclination of the walls depend on the strength of the snow.
Finally, if the crust has not yet properly caked and has a layered structure, you can build a needle from flat, 10 cm thick or less, pancake-shaped blocks. To do this, the bricks are laid flat in such a way that each upper row protrudes into the circle a third deeper than the lower one. The rings of the row will gradually narrow until they close. The hole in the center of the dome is covered with one flat plate with a ledge at the bottom.
However, it should be remembered that an igloo built from flat blocks is not sufficiently stable, and therefore its diameter should not exceed 1.5–2 m. Otherwise, the dome igloo-zhet just collapse inward. Increase inner dimensions shelters can be by undermining the walls to the sides and removing a 30-50-cm layer of snow from the floor
In the mountains on large slopes, in the presence of a strong crust, it is possible to build a block half-cave. To do this, you need to find a natural niche-depression in the rock and lay its open part with a wall of snow blocks. It is better to dig the entrance from below finished wall
On snowy slopes, a niche is dug with the help of an improvised tool and is also closed with a wall of blocks.
The described designs are far from exhausting the list of snow shelters used in the practice of emergency situations. Victims often use shelters that include elements of the most different designs. It all depends on the specific conditions of the accident and the capabilities of the victims.
The use of open fire inside snow shelters is fraught with a certain danger. Incomplete combustion of certain combustible materials in ambient air may stand out carbon monoxide deadly to humans.
Cold night in a snow shelter
Sit close to each other, trying to reach the maximum area of contact between the bodies.
Fasten all buttons, zippers, tighten the cuffs of the sleeves and legs, put on the hood.
Wring out wet clothes. Drink hot tea, coffee, broth. Keep your feet and head as warm as possible. There are sugar and fat-containing foods. Mark the location of the shelter. Sit on an insulating pad. Have a tool in the shelter for clearing the inlet.
Warm up your hands if necessary. Perform other physical activities, warming up the muscles.
Focus on shelter. Leave people unattended. Undress in the shelter. Stay in wet clothes. Drinking alcohol. Sleep at risk of freezing. Leave unattended open fire. During construction, locate the entrance to the wind. Lie down and sit in the snow. Overheat and sweat while building shelters.
Rebuild the shelter at night. Leaving the shelter in the dark of Feu & Urgent Necessity.
For a long time, people have been using any material suitable for this to build their homes: someone has wood of various species, someone has clay, and someone has even found a use for snow. Yes, yes, we will talk about those very snow houses of the Eskimos, called "igloos", and so unusual for the perception of most people.
Translated from Inuktitut, "igloo" means "winter dwelling of the Eskimos". Such houses are dome-shaped buildings, the diameter of which reaches about 3-4 meters, and the height is 2-2.5 meters. The main material for the construction of the igloo is ice or snow blocks, compacted by the wind. With a large depth of snow cover, the entrance to the room is equipped in the floor, breaking through a small corridor to it. If the snow cover does not have the required depth, then the entrance is equipped in the wall, completing an additional corridor with the help of snow blocks.
Each Eskimo camp has several buildings, where up to four related families are located. Eskimo housing is divided into two types: summer and winter. The first is stone buildings located on a slope, the floor of which is deepened into the ground. From below, a long passage of stones leads to the house, partially buried in the ground. The last part of the passage, which is located above the floor, is covered with a wide slab of stone, and is at the same height as the bunks in the hut.
The house made of snow has a quite ordinary layout: sleeping bunk beds are located in the back of the room, and bunk beds for lamps are equipped on the sides. When walls are built above ground, stones or whale ribs are used, whose arcs are arranged in such a way that their ends intersect with each other (or both materials). Sometimes, when building a roof skeleton, whale ribs are used, adding props to the structure. Seal skins are tightly tied to the finished frame (which allows you to qualitatively insulate the house from ice), on which small heather bushes and another additional layer of skins are then laid in a thick layer.
Scheme of construction and arrangement of the igloo house When erecting an igloo, snow or ice slabs are used. Blocks are stacked in a spiral, from right to left. To do this, two blocks are cut diagonally in the first row to the middle of the third, after which the construction of the second row can begin. During work, each row is slightly tilted so that a neat one is obtained. A small hole that remains at the top is closed from the inside with a wedge-shaped cut block. Then the builder, who is inside the hut, closes up all the cracks with snow.
The entrance tunnel digs through the snowdrift from the outside, ending with a hatch in the floor of the building. In the event that the layer of snow is shallow, then an inlet is cut in the wall of the igloo, and a corridor of snow blocks is laid out to it.
In this video you can see the process of building a snow igloo house
The outer entrance to the tunnel has a height of about 1.5 meters, which is why you can only walk through it with your head bowed. The entrance to the tunnel is even smaller - you can find yourself in it only if you crawl on all fours. But in the hut itself, the ceilings are quite suitable for moving freely around the room - their height reaches about 2 meters. A large Eskimo snow house can reach a diameter of 9 meters, and the height of the ceilings in it reaches 3-3.5 meters. Usually such large structures are built much less often and are used mainly for big holidays.
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To make the final decoration of housing, a lamp-bowl filled with seal oil is lit inside the room. The heated air causes the snow to melt, but the resulting moisture does not drip, but is absorbed by the snow layers. When the inner surface of the hut is sufficiently moistened, cold air is let in, due to which the walls from the inside are covered with a strong layer of ice. This technique increases the safety of heat and the strength of the walls, and also makes staying indoors more comfortable. In the event that the ice crust is absent, one careless movement is enough, as the snow begins to crumble.
In order for the strength of the dwelling to become even greater, it must stand well in the cold. Due to heating with warm air, the seams in the hut are reliably soldered, snow shrinks, and the structure itself, made of several blocks, turns into a solid solid structure.
The secrets of building a reliable igloo
- When working with blocks that are located next to each other, contact of their corners should be avoided, otherwise the structure will turn out to be unstable. For convenience, it is recommended to leave a triangular hole at the bottom of the junction of adjacent blocks small sizes(it can be easily repaired with snow in the future).
- It is strongly not recommended to move the block installed on the wall in one direction or another, as this can cause it to wear out and lose its original shape. You can simply place the block, cut off strongly protruding parts from one side and bottom, and then carefully move it as tightly as possible to the neighboring block. Then, with the help of a saw, it is made final finishing. It is recommended to lay the slabs with the "nasty" side inside the structure, as it is more durable.
- To facilitate the work process, the upper hole in the dome can be carefully covered with one of the plates. Large gaps that are between the blocks are sealed with pieces of crust, and small ones are treated with loose snow. Through holes and crevices are easiest to see in the evening, by the light of a bowl of seal oil burning inside the needle. Besides, warm air will slightly heat up the joints, which will improve the quality of the processing of holes and slots.
- Before making a fire inside the needle, it is necessary to make a hole with a diameter of about 10-15 cm on the leeward side in the upper part of the dome and attach a smoke exhaust pipe made of strong crust to it.
The interior of the igloo
The inside of the igloo is usually lined with animal skins. Traditional fat bowls act as sources of light and additional heat. When arranging a bed, the Eskimos use two layers of reindeer skins, one of which is laid with the skin up, and the other with the skin down. In some cases, in addition to deer skins, old kayak leather is used, which makes it possible to obtain a very soft and comfortable sleeping place.
In the daytime, the Eskimo hut is so light that you can easily read or write in it without resorting to help. additional lighting. However, in sunny weather, ice walls can cause such bright light that causes so-called snow blindness. When the polar twilight begins, the Eskimos can insert windows from thin lake ice into the walls of the hut, cutting out small holes for them above the entrance. Zhirniki, used for heating and lighting the housing space, give a soft and diffused light, which is enhanced by the reflection on the ice dome.