Before we get to the next type of emergency shelter we got to build during the trip to the Northern Forest with Ray Mears (the quinzee) we had to learn a few more essential skills. These involved a lot of sharp tools…
Learning to use the essential tools
The third day we were introduced to some essential tools: knives, saws, axes and sharpening tools. This started off with a lecture about the parts that make up these tools, the characteristics of a good one and, of course, how to hold and use them safely.
Next up we were told about the various styles of fires that are most useful in this environment and how to make them. To our relief we then got to practise some of this theory.
Steve took us back outside to show us how to use the axe. We then used the axe to split firewood into various sizes. Cold hands made some of it a bit more like juggling than we anticipated. “How did that axe end up there…?”
The evening found us all back in the warmth of the kota where you could find us eagerly (trying to) carve fire clusters, scrape and ignite birch bark with our ferro rods and sharpening our knives.
Building a quinzee
It sounds like the start of a joke: “the snow isn’t the right type here”. Because the answer to the question that most readers are sure to ask starts with that remark. A quinzee, you see, is a bit like an igloo for when the snow isn’t right to build an igloo.
In the snow conditions we had you can’t cut blocks of snow. And without those you can’t build your igloo. But luckily there’s an alternative: when snow is disturbed and then left to freeze again it becomes solid. So making a quinzee is simple: make a big pile of snow making sure it gets thrown into the air so the crystals freeze better. Then put sticks in so that you can determine the thickness of the walls later on. Leave it alone for about three hours. Then excavate so that you can take shelter inside.
But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. For our quinzees we had to pile up a ridiculous amount of snow. To make things more interesting the sites for our quinzees were on the other side of the lake. Our first longer ski-trip…
To break the monotony, Ray also demonstrates the various fire lighting techniques. The afternoon ended with reindeer cooked over a fire.
The next morning
A day of three parts. First we went back across the lake to excavate our quinzee. Hard work but really rewarding to see our sleeping place for tonight taking shape. Whilst we were there we also spend some time preparing logs for a ‘gap fire’. Two logs are carved to create an air channel. These are then placed on top of each other with some spacers making one big channel in the middle. Once lit this is a lovely and long-burning fire.
The afternoon we spend on a snow mobile. We went towards the boundary of Lemmenjoki National Park and had a cup of tea in the cafe just outside the park. On the way back we got a demonstration of how to get a sunken snow mobile out… Not sure we’d be able to manage that without quite a bit of practise.
Sleeping in the quinzee with the Northern Lights
The evening saw us go back to the quinzee for our second night of sleeping out. We hadn’t quite finished excavating ours, so we spend an hour or so getting it ready. This had us a bit more snow covered and wet than we’d hoped so we retired a bit earlier. Whilst we were working the northern lights came out once again. A spectacular display right in the middle of the Northern Forest.
Watch the video or read more:
Woodlore Winter Bushcraft video