How To Build A Quinzee or Snow Cave - All You Need To Know!

The quinzee is a Southern version the the Igloo and works with powdery snow which packs and bonds together be destroying the snow crystals and allowing them to re-bond together before hollowing it out.

[tibone]

Another very informative video. I respect that you always go into great details. Me and my son build one every winter, they are lots fun and indeed lots of work. As for the Candle Ray Mears and Lars Falt suggest burning a candle to help monitor ogygen levels...if it goes out, there is a lack of oxygen since Fire needs oxygen.

[IBurntMyWaffle]

You’re a great dad! Continue doing activities with your son! I wish I would do stuff with my dad

[missingMBR]

You can save a lot of time digging out the mound by building your mound on a pile of packs. Once the mound has sintered, dig to the packs, pull them out, then you've already dug a good portion of the snow out.

[HamsterLife_EnglishLearning]

Awe how cute is that making one together. I made igloos as a child with brothers and neighborhood children. Fun times for sure! We never slept in them though. We were warned by parents never to make one alone, unless we made them in groups of 3 or more. One to go get help and at least two or more to start digging you out by hand, as not to cut into the person with a shovel until an adult got there. The igloos had to be built in our own back yard in case of a collapse.

[wildwillyprepper]

The can be used as a survival shelter if you have 4 or more.
Four adults can build in 2 hours

[alexm.]

This is my sixth period class up here in canada. XD

[ClintZold]

I almost did one of these and then all the snow melted! Well done and informative video Chris.

[MarkYoungBushcraft]

This has been a good realistic review of the snow quinzee. I have heard too many people say they would make a quinzee if lost. That never made sense to me. Thank you for the guidelines for making and using a quinzee safely and effectively

[logiconabstractions]

After building numerous such things, I've found that you don't really need to wait for sintering. The fact is that this naturally occurs already as you pile it on, and keeps happening as you dig it out. I've personally found that adding branches for thickness is useful - I did accidentally go through my structure once. I've found the policy insurance against this is well worth the ~30 extra minutes & little effort needed to collect & place them. But that's just me. Nonetheless, it provides extra time for sintering as well. The only exception might be really, really cold temps, though I've done that in 20C below and still never had an issue.

Humidity can be a factor while building. Mitigation that I found worked well for me was removing most layers, especially while digging (so I can keep them dry). Typically just keep one base layer & a shell (which doesn't get wet if it's just an outer, semi-waterproof windbreaker thing). Ultimately just the base layer ends up being sacrificed plus this limits sweating as well. Then if you can make a fire, you can even dry that out. I haven't found that to be a huge drawback, albeit one that needs special management.

With digging out, the best strategy I have found with 2 person is one inside that cuts out blocks, pushes them out, with the outer person removing them. Working with blocks, instead of loose snow, is much easier. Inside, this work best either with a saw or a shovel whose head and be detached - you then just use the shovel head to carve out 4 side, leverage the block from under so it detaches at the back, and just move it out towards the entrance. The other person, even without a 2nd shovel, can easily manage this.

I sort of agree about it not really being a survival shelter. Unless you're lost and the plan is to wait for rescue - in that case, it is a much warmer shelter (and durable) than most other options, in which case I think the investment is worth it. But the time it takes to build makes it not viable for one-nighter, imo as well.

[kevtownoutdoors]

Great video! Really good job on the Quinzee! I just built one for the first time a couple weeks ago.

[sippinonnaeighth]

If you don’t have a shovel you can use a strong, thick branch for the hollowing process.

[psalmdeblois]

I'm watching this even tho I'm living in a tropical country

[brcnv]

Ahh yes, I'm watching this just a reminder how to do this with the mound I made in my backyard. What I like about this video is same as the dad, I'm about to blow several hours of energy to make my boy happy.

[ec]

Lol I was just telling my 7 year old we were building these long before we knew they were a survival shelter too. We also used to dig out huge snowplow piles and make tunnels into different areas, furniture carved in to the snow. Extremely frowned upon by parents for obvious reasons but we just listened for the plow lol And whoever had to use sticks didn't know how these were built lol

[jiujitsu]

Excellent video my brotha! I used to build them as a child when we lived in Truckee, Ca. I didn't know what they were called either. They were fun. We moved to Az when I was in 6th grade. Ha ha... No more of that for me. Have you heard anything from Alone? I haven't. I hope all is well for you! Have a beautiful day. Thank you for the video!!

[gayleanderson]

Your videos are great. Appreciate the time and effort you put into them. Jam-packed w/info.

[campingfortheclimate]

Thank you so much for the tips! I am trying this out today in colorado 😊

[RasOntario]

I gotta tell ya man, it's fun to build em for the kids, and your son- but even more fun for us! haha! I'm still a kid at heart i can tell you are too, after all we are still building cabins and forts under the guise of "survival shelter" ; ). Cheers man another nice video, you have come into your own style on youtube. Very informative, relaxed paced, calm well thought out narrations. i can appreciate the level of effort you are putting in the quality comes through. Sap started flowing again here yesterday afternoon after a long hard cold spell that made a lot of lake ice. Got way more spiles out and am ready to rock!

[abncaveman]

Awesome vid. I pack a mountaineering snow shovel for this stuff, but it's nowhere near as efficient as what you're using. Same as you I prefer a snow trench with overhead cover, less work and still pretty effective. Anything that keeps you out of the wind is my main goal. Thanks for another extremely informative video.

[FranklinNewhart]

If you build a structure of poles first then cover it with evergreen boughs than make your snow pile over that you will have your Quinzy built with very little snow to remove and the building has more structural integrity. Always put a small roof vent in it and that will keep air flowing.