Icy Lifeline: Five Life-Saving Uses for Snow in Your Fiction

In this episode, we explore the practical and ingenious ways snow can be used to enhance your characters' chances of survival in extreme conditions.

Join us as we delve into five essential survival uses for snow:

1. Igloos - Discover the age-old art of building igloos to provide shelter in the harshest climates.
2. Pillar for Signal Fire - Learn how to create a snow pillar to elevate a signal fire for better visibility.
3. Snow Cave - Understand the benefits and techniques of constructing a snow cave for warmth and protection.
4. Puts Out Fire/Fire Control - Explore the versatile role of snow in extinguishing fires and controlling their spread.
5. Reflector of Heat - Find out how snow can be used to reflect heat and enhance warmth.

We'll also delve into our segment "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" where we discuss various pitfalls and complications these uses can create in your story. Perfect for fiction writers aiming to add realism and tension to their narratives!

Keywords: fiction writing, survival uses, snow uses, character development, writing tips, story ideas, fiction podcast, writing podcast, survival techniques, writing realism

Transcript

Does your character live in a cold and snowy area of the world? Have they found themselves in a survival situation? Do they need to stay warm in subzero temperatures? How can they utilize snow, most often one of their greatest resources at hand? Learn about all of this and more in today’s episode. 

Welcome to Writing Rural with Alley, the fiction writer’s weekly inspiration station for rural life and lifestyles, from historical to post-apocalyptic, helping you bring your rural stories to life! I’m Alley, and this is episode #91, Top 5 Survival Uses For Snow. Stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong. Now, let’s get into this.

1) Igloo 

One of the most basic needs of survival is a shelter for protection from the elements and predators. Igloos fit the bill, and have been around since caveman times, originally from the Inuit tribes. Yes, there is more than one of these types of tribes. Many people believe they use igloos as their homes all year round, but as far as I can tell, this is not true. They were used more for hunting and fishing trips, or as a home during the winter months. These are normally longer term shelters. 

Igloos are essentially domes of ice that have been constructed from blocks of snow in the shape of bricks and stacked to make a dome. These bricks were most often a trapezoid shape, with a Hexagon keyhole at the top. They were not packed by a person, but cut out of the already naturally packed snow and stacked from there. At least traditionally. I do know they can be constructed. There will also be a raised platform (inside of the igloo) for the people to sleep on. Since hot air rises, your character wants to be in the warmer air. 

Now, how does this all work? Great question! The packed snow acts as an insolation to the outside world. Your character will be the human heater. Ok, yes, your character can make a fire on the inside if there is a vent hole, but I have to admit, I have no idea how the vent hole works, and frankly, most of the places (not all) that igloos have been made, don’t have a lot of trees, hence why they built with snow. 

The inside of an igloo can be up to 40 degrees warmer than the outside. That might not sound like a lot, but it has been keeping people alive for thousands of years. Not only is it warmer, but it blocks the wind. Wind chills can be dangerous and lead to frostbite and hypothermia. If you would like to learn more about writing hypothermia, I have a whole episode about hypothermia. 

There are many things you can use an igloo for in your story. These include, but are not limited too;

* A home 

* Base camp when hunting or fishing

* Shelter when ice fishing 

* Emergency shelter

* Temporary housing

* A gathering place in a village or for a family

* Storage of equipment or food to stay out of the elements and away from predators

* Resting spot on a journey, or even a quest

* Shelter for cooking or to prepare food out of the elements

* Animal shelter, for animals such as a dog sled team

More modern ideas include;

* Educational purposes such as teaching students

* Tourism. This makes a great set up for a romance story. 

* Observation post for studying wildlife. 

2) Pillar for signal fire 

If your character is lost, and trying to signal for help, fire is a common method to get help, that has been used since the discovery of fire, and will likely be used after the apocalypse. The higher up a fire is, the farther the light will reach. At least in theory. A dense forest could make this difficult to see even in the best of circumstances, and then they are more likely to see the smoke than the fire. 

One way to get the fire higher is a snow pillar. Ok, I know you are thinking the same thing as me. “But Alley, snow melts when it gets hot!” Yes, it does, but there are ways to slow that down, because your character doesn’t want to put out their fire with melted snow. 

Some of the ways this can happen is with an insulating barrier. Logs, or branches, are the most common. Ever green branches would be good. The moister content in them is high, and would be difficult to light on fire, keeping an insulating layer between the fire and snow. 

Also, the temperature can play a role. If it is consistently below freezing, there is a chance that it won’t melt. Wind is another. A wind chill that refreezes the snow before it can put out the fire, keeps the fire going. A mix of temperature and wind is the most common thing to cause this. 

3) Snow cave 

Snow caves are temporary shelters, usually used in survival situations. This takes less skill than constructing an igloo. A snow cave is a cave type of structure dug out of a snow drift or a snow bank that a person can burrow into. These are usually only for one to two people. They are made small to be the easiest to heat with body heat because there is less air space that needs to be heated. 

A few things to note. The snow cave is made small, and there will not be a lot of turning room. Another thing is that unlike the igloo, there is no platform, and the cave entrance will need blocked to stop the outside air from getting in. This can be done with a backpack, or even some branches from outside that are pulled over the entrance. 

A couple of downsides of a snow cave are that they are not as structurally safe as igloos, and could collapse on your character. Although, from what I know, a collapse usually happens during the digging, and not after they are inside of the cave. Also, since there is no ventilation, it’s possible for condensation to build within the snow cave, making things wet. We all know how deadly being wet can be in freezing temperatures. 

4) Puts out fire/ fire control 

Snow is frozen water, and as such is great for putting out fire, or stopping it from spreading. It is a method that has been used since fire was discovered. 

First, snow can be thrown on a fire to put it out. This is great for campfires, but could be used for other things. Although I admit tossing snowballs at a house fire is unlikely to do much good. 

Snow can, however, be used to prevent the spread of fire. This can be done by adding it around a campfire, making a fire break, or even helping with a controlled burn. Controlled burns are used in farming to this day and will likely be used after the apocalypse. Not only does the ash from the fire add nutrances to the soil, but it gets rid of any weed problems, and destroys the weeds seeds. 

5) Reflector of heat 

Yes, snow can be used to reflect the heat of a fire. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but trust me, it works. You see, heat from a fire is called radiant heat. With the highly reflective surface of white snow, the majority of the heat is reflected off the snow. Yes, heat will melt the snow if it is too close, but if the fire is higher up than where the snow will be melting, or if it is far enough away not to melt, then this is very useful. 

So why is this important to survival? Because your character wants to retain as much heat as they can on cold winter nights. If your character digs an area out of the snow to make a wind break and reflect the heat of the fire, they have upped their chances of survival. This is helpful to survival stories, and even people who live in none traditional homes, such as tents, teepees, lean-tos, caves and more. 

Fun fact: During WW2, there are accounts of soldiers in snowy terrains making snow caves as a survival technique and as a way to let the troops rest and regroup. 

One quick reminder before we get to the best part:

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Likely to go wrong: Your character was not careful as they dug out a snow cave, and it collapses before they are done digging. 

Likely to go wrong: Your character uses snow to reflect the heat of a fire back at them. However, they made the fire too close to the snow, and as it warms, it melts and drips down into the fire, extinguishing the flames. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character has no idea how to make an igloo and tries to cut powdery snow to make the bricks for an igloo. As they try to lift the powdery snow, it crumbles in their fingers. Powdery snow doesn’t stick together well. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character tries to make a signal fire on top of a snow bank. They place the fire directly on top of the snow. As the fire starts, it melts the snow under it, and the flames sink into the water, putting out the fire. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character hears snow can help control a fire. They decide to burn off a field in a controlled burn. However, there is not enough snow to control the spread, and it soon grows into a wild fire. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character makes a signal fire on top of a snow heap. They use tires to elevate the fire. However, tires burn, and soon the platform is also on fire. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character is cooking over and open fire outside, and has a grease fire. They try to put it out with snow. Just like with water, this only causes the fire to get bigger. It could burn your character, or even light something else on fire. 

Before we go, don’t forget my extended black Friday gift. If you email me at Alley@alleyhart.com (Spell it) and type in free one year membership, I will send you a free link to join my buy a coffee membership. My membership includes exclusive behind-the-scenes access to my projects, opportunities to influence the content you want to see, bite-sized pieces of rural wisdom, and unique and entertaining personal stories that you won’t find anywhere else. I hope to see you all there. 

Thanks for listening! Until next time, happy wordsmithing.