The ICEBOX®-built igloo is also a superior alternative to building snow caves. The three most beneficial aspects of building igloos using the ICEBOX® over the dogged shoveling building snow caves are work, work, and work. It takes 50% or less time and effort using the ICEBOX® to build a shelter that is more convenient to locate and less taxing overall to winter camping.

Here are some other advantages of building an ICEBOX® igloo versus a snow cave:

No Sweat - Dig, dig, dig. The effort required for building snow caves generates fatigue and sweat. While a person's internal body temperature heats up from the exertion, external skin gets cold and damp from the wetness of sweat and melting snow that soaks gloves and coats. People digging out a snow cave quickly become uncomfortable and tired, and perhaps a bit grouchy as they fluctuate back and forth from being hot from digging to standing around and freezing while taking a breather. A good thing to do in this situation is to wear Gore-Tex clothing and take care not to get wet. But, with snow flying and dripping, you are going to get wet, whether you like it or not, and you won't. So a better thing to do is to avoid this situation altogether. Enter the ICEBOX®. Building the ICEBOX® igloo takes less time, less energy, and you won't be grouchy when you're done. Indeed, you'll still have plenty of stamina (and probably daylight) left to organize the camp, cook, and set up your sleeping bags. Which, by the way, you won't collapse into, totally shot and utterly fatigued. When building the ICEBOX® igloo, you'll be outside the entire time, until the very last block. Your body heat is cooled by the outside temperature and stays constant, while overhead the snow isn't melting onto the top of your head. So your winter camping trip doesn't become winter survival. The ICEBOX®, it's the cooler way.

Location, Location, Location - Prime real estate is not always easy to come by when scouting out a spot for a snow cave. The snow isn't always deep enough and drifts aren't always in the most desirable of places. Snow caves built into drifts are already smack dab in the middle of nature's vengeful path. The word "drift" brings up images of wind, and that wind isn't going to cease just because there's a new hole in the snow. The wind will still blow, will seek entrance into your snow cave sanctuary, and has predetermined that where you decided to make your home for awhile is where it will continue to stack up more snow and attempt to bury you and your efforts. Do the words winter survival come to mind? Snow cave doors and vent holes will also pile up with new snow, snow will continue to invade and penetrate, and you'll probably get all grouchy again. But not as grouchy as if some unsuspecting passerby or fellow camper walks over the top of your snow cave and, quite literally, drops in on you. Not so with an ICEBOX® igloo. It's above ground, wherever you want to put it, and highly visible. So pick yourself some prime real estate. A nice calm spot. A sunny exposure. A scenic view. Freedom of choice, yet another ICEBOX® advantage.

Physically and Environmentally Friendly- When building a snow cave, powder typically sits atop the older packed snow. Having to dig much deeper than ICEBOX® users, snow cavers will soon encounter the hard-packed core stuff. Digging out this stuff, especially at higher altitudes, creates fatigue in the shoulders and causes joints to ache. The result of this fatigue is a lessening of muscle control and the higher possibility of accidentally bending the shovel while continuing to dig. In addition, not knowing what's beneath the drift or mound of snow, building snow caves can cut into trees and unintentionally damage the underlying landscape. With the ICEBOX®, light powder is used (though any snow conditions will work) and the snow is gathered from the topical and visible environment, not dug into who knows what. So take it easy on yourself and the earth. Grab hold of an ICEBOX®.

See The Light - A snow cave can become like an earthly black hole, sucking up available light and zapping your energy, making you feel like a human collapsing star. Inside an ICEBOX® igloo, you'll see the light. The snow used to fill the ICEBOX®, whatever type, is re-mixed, making it airtight and creating a strong bond. It's brighter inside because the igloo walls are thinner, allowing light through, in contrast to the snow cave's black hole effect. Even full moonlight can penetrate an ICEBOX® igloo. The benefit of this additional light is a saving of valuable candle and flashlight resources. It's warmer, too, because with the airtight bond, cold air doesn't seep through the snow crystals like it would in a snow cave. You won't have to sleep with your water bottle as your bedmate to prevent it from freezing. See the light. Feel the warmth. Fill the ICEBOX®.