Customer Reviews

Snow Caves for Fun and Survival

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"How many rabbits have you seen sitting by a fire to keep warm?"

So begins Snow Caves for Fun and Survival, in which Wilkinson demonstrates how people can learn from nature and survive in the wilderness without a fire by using materials at hand- snow, fallen logs and tree branches, whether it be on a winter camping trip or during an emergency situation. Rabbits and birds burrow in the snow and so can humans! Diagrams and photographs aid in the explanations of how to build snow caves, igloos, and other temporary shelters that could save your life.

This book would appeal to two groups: those interested in winter camping and those interested in learning basic survival techniques. For the serious camper there are chapters on Food, Clothing, Tools and Gear. The author draws on this experience as an outdoorsman and describes his own close calls: how to dry out your clothing after accidentally falling into freezing water, etc.

This reviewer spent the first 25 years of life in Minnesota and thought I knew all there was about snow, but I learned a lot from this book. I wish the topic of cave-ins had been dealt with in more depth, since as a small child I was instructed by my parents about the danger of snow collapsing on me.

This book offers very specific advice on how to build shelters in snow of from snow. I found it very useful and accurate, but do not depend on this book alone for snow survival. Another good book for young people is the Opkik:Cold Weather Camping book. I think the 2 together make a great pair. The shelters do work and the designs are proven, but make sure you practice these in a controlled environment before you try to build on in an emergency.

This book and a couple shovels are all you need to dig a snow cave. After reading this book I purchased several other "winter survival" books and they hardly cover the subject at all.

Cave collapse will be on your mind no matter what, but if you build according to his guidelines there will be minimal sagging.

The gear discussion is a little dated but snow is pretty much timeless.

If you travel/ski/snowboard in snow you should know the methods described in this book in case of an unplanned overnight stay.