How Izba Cabins Kept Russian Families Alive in Deadly Winters

Comments · 258

• RE

  @redfields5070 · 11 months ago

  I'm 73. Glad to hear that I would get the warmest spot for sleeping. The rest of you just have to make out the best you can.

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• DA

  @darilynkrupp6309 · 11 months ago

  All homes should be so intelligently built with the right tools and materials by those who, by necessity, have mastered their craft.

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• GH

  @ghall-r2i · 11 months ago (edited)

  There is a lot to be said for pride in workmanship. It seems to have faded into the past. The Izba is to be respected and admired.

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• V7

  @v7735 · 11 months ago

  My grandparents in the former Soviet Union had a large house. (~2600sqft) 4bedrooms, bathroom, large cellar, huge attic.<br> All were heated by 3 large woodfire and coal fired stoves. Clay bricks, firebrick and regular brick on the outside.<br>Stove was used for heat and warmth. Stove was large and lond and had a place for a bed on top or side of stove, all upon bricks. Elderly had dibs on sleeping on the <br>stove for warmth.<br>House is still alive and well to this day.

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• TI

  @timothykeith1367 · 11 months ago

  The Russian masonry stove has versions for other Northern European societies. &nbsp;You can find plans online. There are kits built with precast ceramic castings.

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• CO

  @cookbookHistory · 11 months ago

  Omg. My family home ...my grandma sleeping on the ledge of the stove...the smell of baking bread...and music, always music...summers full of barriers &nbsp; fall picking mushrooms...oh the memories...<br>Enjoyed this segment to 😢tears. Thank you.

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• WH

  @whitehorse1961 · 11 months ago

  I was lucky enough to sleep on the stove when I was a kid when we visited grandma. Good times.

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• GL

  @glebarhangelsky4351 · 11 months ago

  It was extremely unusually accurate material about Russia coming from western sorce. I have an izba of my great-granfather built in 1903, and everything is very close to what you have shown.

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• AT

  @athousandlittlesteps601 · 11 months ago

  As someone who legitimately grew up on a homestead under similar conditions, the stove is nice, and does have several advantages. However, it is also very expensive and labor and time intensive to build. As to the foundation, yes, that does work and in fact, space-frame foundations on permafrost do the same thing. But the real reasons these structures aren&apos;t as popular are kind of obvious: they are fucking tiny. I grew up in a 2 room cabin with a closet bumpout to accomodate twin bunkbeds. No sane person is gonna want to hunker in a survival dwelling when they could at least have a small two bedroom house. The small size is what allowed that foundation to work, and also offset the lack of insulation, WHICH STILL DOES MATTER, GUYS. Also, log cabins are fucking ridiculously wood-heavy and demanding in terms of log quality, compared to modern stud construction. And, finally, though the burn is hotter, and the stoking is less frequent, the stoves still needed to be stoked daily, or (if you did have running water, we did &nbsp;not, we had an outhouse and carried in buckets of spring water for washing) your pipes would freeze. Always remember, we lose some, we gain some, and only accurate and objective discussions will reveal what we gain and what we lose.

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• TÚ

  @Túrin_Mormegil · 11 months ago

  that fireplace is a technological marvel, it&apos;s only natural the whole house was built around it.

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• FI

  @FidoHouse · 11 months ago

  This is quite fascinating. &nbsp;I&apos;ve lived in a log house in Yukon, but it was poorly contructed by these standards. &nbsp;Thank you for prducing this video! &nbsp;Sharing &nbsp;and subscribing.

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• GR

  @GregoryMcDonald-o7k · 11 months ago

  Same as Exclusive Brethren here in Australia. The family that lays together, says together!

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