In my quest to help Austinites prepare for the harsh winter that seizes central Texas every year, I have stumbled across an
article from Wired Magazine that explains how to build an igloo. An igloo is a ice shelter that I know is very vital to everyone's survival during winter. Igloos have been used for ages, and are used now by the Inuit. This article describes the process that takes about five hours. It doesn't take many tools, as the only tool that is really needed is a knife for cutting the blocks of ice used to make the igloo. The blocks of ice are what make up the wall of the igloo, and are taken from the frozen tundra that will cover the Austin area in the coming months. Tools that could aid in the construction of your ice shelter are a saw and shovel. A saw can help cut ice in a different way than the knife can, and a shovel can help with excavating ice.
After making the ice blocks, all that is needed is to construct the igloo itself. To do that, you must layout the first ring of ice, and then cut down part of it to give the igloo its spiral shape. From there, you must just follow the new curve of the igloo and continue lining the blocks up until you get to the top. The last step is to simply fill in any holes between blocks of your igloo so that the frigid wind that blows across Texas does not enter the shelter. Now you are ready to sleep in the ice house for the long nights that come with Austin winter.
-Scotty
No comments:
Post a Comment