The LEDs are a random grab of white, blue, red, orange, and green. Basic soldering is needed to assemble the Pummer circuit, while the laser-cut lantern slides and snaps together with little effort.

You can buy one ready-made, or pick up one of his fire pit kits to make your own.

We got our Chofu in the mail, and setting it up was easy; the hardest part is connecting the stovepipe parts together. It can all be done in under an hour. Stoke the fire every 45 minutes, stir the water too, and in 4 hours, a 250-gallon tank will be close to 104°F.

The Chofu setup is very open to mods: employ a lid to keep your tub cleaner, longer, without the use of chemicals, or insulate the tub to increase efficiency. It also appeals to the budget-minded.

While the stove ($863 plus shipping) and tank ($200 locally) will certainly set you back, it’s a fraction of the cost of a new manufactured hot tub, and it’ll never cost you a penny in electricity. It’s a must for the modern homestead.

Now they’ve put together this easy kit: a flexible 4.8V solar cell with soldered leads and connector pads, and double-sided tape. NiMH batteries not included.

Any type of snow can be compacted into this nifty device to quickly create hundreds of perfectly formed, slanted, stackable igloo building blocks. The Eskimold differs from other snow block kits in that one block edge is concave, the other is convex, allowing them to fit together end to end. The blocks also curve inward slightly (picture an igloo’s interior walls). The last block on each row has to be trimmed, since the igloo gradually leans in as it’s built, and the diameter shrinks with each row. The included plastic snow saw works well.

A skilled builder could mimic the traditional hemisphere igloo design, while the casual builder will end up with a taller, pointier beehive design, which you can actually stand up in. You can make the blocks in advance, let them freeze overnight on a scrap of plywood, stack them on a sled, then haul them to your building spot.

My teenage son slept in his own igloo creation one night, and was comfortable in –15°F weather. If you have a couple of kids, get two Eskimolds to avoid fighting. These plastic buckets are durable, and will last for years.

Reprinted from Cool Tools, kk.org/cooltools

These things are adaptable for snow and woodstoves, and they’re great for greenhouses (they also come with translucent panels). The tent was surprisingly easy and fun to set up (we actually had to fight off volunteers who wanted to help), and we got it standing in about 30 minutes. Let it rain!