Ice Fort Building: From Year 1 to 3

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    Building Ice Year
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the construction of ice forts, detailing the evolution of designs from the first to the third generation. Participants share their experiences, techniques, and the social aspects of building these structures, as well as related anecdotes and recommendations for winter activities.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the dimensions and construction process of their ice forts, noting the thickness of the walls.
  • Another participant humorously questions a bandwidth warning related to photo-heavy content.
  • A participant discusses issues with telecommunications in Canada, highlighting data limits and costs compared to the U.S.
  • Several participants express admiration for the ice forts and share their own experiences with similar structures, including sleeping in an igloo.
  • There is a light-hearted exchange about the motivations behind building ice forts, with one participant emphasizing it was a conscious decision rather than boredom.
  • Recommendations are made for attending winter carnivals, with links shared for further exploration.
  • Participants engage in friendly banter about becoming friends and the fun of activities like beer pong on ice.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express enthusiasm for ice fort building and share positive experiences, but there is no consensus on specific techniques or the best practices for construction. The discussion remains informal and exploratory without definitive conclusions.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about the comfort and thermal properties of ice structures are based on personal experiences and may depend on specific conditions and materials used.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals who enjoy winter activities, outdoor construction projects, or those looking for creative social gatherings in cold climates.

FlexGunship
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So, my friends and I build ice forts each year (well, not last year... not enough snow). Each year they get a little more ambitious as we apply our previously learned trade-skills to the next generation. I thought I would share a bit here; we just started work on the third generation over this last weekend. Dimensions given are the outside wall dimensions and the walls are fairly thick (anywhere between 2' and 4' thick).

Sorry ladies, Flex isn't in ANY of these pictures.

First Generation (15'x25'):
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Second Generation (18'x30'):
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Third Generation (In Progress - ~20'x~45')
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Awesome forts! Haha, is the bandwidth warning for Canadians?
 


Kevin_Axion said:
Awesome forts! Haha, is the bandwidth warning for Canadians?

Meh, just trying to be polite. Some people don't enjoy the feeling of opening a photo-heavy thread only to have to wait 3 seconds.
 
Yea, I was just wondering because there has been a lot of discussion over the past week with our telecommunications oligopoly. They have restricted the growth of U.S telecommunications companies into Canada and then they charge maximum amount with giving the least possible. Last week they reduced our internet usage from 60 GB to 25 GB and charge $2 for every 1 MB over. I know in the U.S it is common for people to get up to 500 GB, it's really unfair but I'm sure we have it better then other countries.
 
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FlexGunship said:
Meh, just trying to be polite. Some people don't enjoy the feeling of opening a photo-heavy thread only to have to wait 3 seconds.
Ever heard of dial-up? :mad:
 
Impressive structures FG!
 
Astronuc said:
Impressive structures FG!

Thanks! They take a lot of man-hours. We did the base of the long wall in about 3 hours with 8 people working.
 
The LEOs look happy. They just stop by to say hi?
 
berkeman said:
The LEOs look happy. They just stop by to say hi?

Kind of... they got a noise complaint. Told us to quite down, then, of course, wanted to hang for a few minutes. Also... how did you know what their signs were?
 
  • #10
Ok, so I find that to be super cool! If I lived in an area where I could do that, I soooo would! Did you guys just get super bored? lol
 
  • #11
mcknia07 said:
Ok, so I find that to be super cool! If I lived in an area where I could do that, I soooo would! Did you guys just get super bored? lol

No, not really, actually. Boredom didn't play a part. It was a pretty conscious decision.

"Let's do something awesome."
"Like what?"
"Build an awesome ice fort and throw a party."
"I'll get the paper and pencils."
 
  • #12
FlexGunship said:
No, not really, actually. Boredom didn't play a part. It was a pretty conscious decision.

"Let's do something awesome."
"Like what?"
"Build an awesome ice fort and throw a party."
"I'll get the paper and
pencils."

I find that super cool! Can I be your friend?? :)
 
  • #13
A good ice cave/fort can be quite comfortable! I built a bona-fide igloo in Washington during the month-long January snow records of 2003. It lasted a month, and I spent a week of days roughout the month sleeping in it. I almost always had a small fire going, and used a thick thermarest pad beneath my sleeping bag. I don't think the temp got below 40 degrees on the inside, even when the temps on the outside was in the teens. Even more importantly, the internal thermal radiation is highly reflected back to the inside. When the fire is just to one side of the center, and the person is just to the other, the fire's heat reflection is fairly well focused on person.

It's little wonder a family snuggled in nothing more than bear-skin rugs in an iglo can survive 50 deg F below blizzards in style.
 
  • #14
mcknia07 said:
I find that super cool! Can I be your friend?? :)

That would be great! Would you like an application?
 
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  • #15
If you ever get the opportunity, I recommend you check out Michigan Tech's winter carnival.

[PLAIN]http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/01-wd1209-fairy-tales/836701-1-eng-US/01-wd1209-Fairy-Tales.jpg

[URL]http://www.upfirst.com/UPfirstNaturalFridaysPictures/amtuice2.jpg[/URL]

I think you would fit in very well there.
 
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  • #16
FlexGunship said:
That would be great! Would you like an application?

Yes please! :)
 
  • #17
Beer pong on ice...YES.
 
  • #18
Topher925 said:
If you ever get the opportunity, I recommend you check out Michigan Tech's winter carnival.

[PLAIN]http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/01-wd1209-fairy-tales/836701-1-eng-US/01-wd1209-Fairy-Tales.jpg

[URL]http://www.upfirst.com/UPfirstNaturalFridaysPictures/amtuice2.jpg[/URL]

I think you would fit in very well there.

Brings back lots of memories. :smile:
 
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