r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Dec 17 '23
Video Ice shipping
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u/PM-Me-Your-TitsPlz Dec 17 '23
Farmed ice isn't the same as wild caught.
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u/skybike Dec 17 '23
The conditions are horrible, usually kept below freezing temperatures, kept outside day and night.
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u/artieeee Dec 17 '23
If you're cold, they're cold! Bring them in!
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Dec 17 '23
I love snuggling with my ice blocks. They warm up next to me and melt in my arms.
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Dec 17 '23
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u/SeriesXM Dec 17 '23
Seems like they're packed in there pretty tightly too. Very inhumane.
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Dec 17 '23
How else do you suggest we meet the current ice demand?
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u/azsnaz Dec 17 '23
Ice cubes from Pluto?
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u/OrphanedInStoryville Dec 17 '23
ONCE AND FOR ALL
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u/CheapMonkey34 Dec 17 '23
R&M and Futurama crossover episode! I love it.
Edit: and Pluto is a planet!
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u/KungFuAndCoffee Dec 17 '23
Don’t believe the pro-Pluto propaganda! Stop shilling for Big Outer Plants.
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u/Relevant_Winter1952 Dec 17 '23
“If you’ve got a better idea, I’d like to hear it”
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u/Pipupipupi Dec 17 '23
I only buy artisan, sorry
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u/Llama2Boot2Boot Dec 17 '23
Hand chiseled from a glacier by bearded, bespectacled hipster wearing a longshoremen’s cap, flannel “shacket”, and skinny jeans rolled up just enough to show off the ironic print on his socks.
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u/Trutzsimplex Dec 17 '23
For real. Unless my ice has been hunted off a wild iceberg I do not want it anywhere near my old fashioned thank you.
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u/SpaceSteak Dec 17 '23
There are tours around icebergs where the selling point is being able to cut a chunk and use it in a drink on the boat. People pay serious money to take a selfie with 500 million year old ice cubes.
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u/PM_ME_STRONG_CALVES Dec 17 '23
They feed them all those chemicals
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u/umusec Dec 17 '23
And added preservatives so that the ice would last longer.. As I thought, organic ice is best.
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u/lpalokan Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Actually, farmed ice is not naturally clear. It's naturally grey because of the particles in the air, but the farmers put additives to ice to make it clear. The clear color of natural ice comes from ice consuming fresh air that has ingredients that makes it clear. Think about this next time when you are in the box store buying ice.
Edit: "box market" was apparently a derogatory term - I didn't mean to upset the red light district specialists.
Edit 2: adding the evidently necessary /s.
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Dec 17 '23
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u/---Blix--- Dec 17 '23
It's not. Clear ice does not have additives in them. Making clear ice requires directional freezing as well as a slow process of freezing the water so that all the impurities are pushed out, causing the ice to be crystal clear. There's a dozens of websites that explain this.
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u/furcryingoutloud Dec 17 '23
You mean, dozens of websites pushing fake information. Fake news I tell you. The government is adding tracking particles to the ice so they can track your every move!
How's that for my first conspiracy theory, huh? Huh? Uhm... guys?
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Dec 17 '23
What's the use of this ice?
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u/CoffeeLorde Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 18 '23
Harbin ice festival. they build huge ice sculptures and put lights in them.
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zjy-9arS0 Here is a video from a recent one.
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u/billion_lumens Dec 17 '23
Why don't they just make it there???
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u/CoffeeLorde Dec 17 '23
They make sculptures big enough for people to walk inside of them. Need a lot of space
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Dec 17 '23
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u/magical_midget Dec 17 '23
But if they already live in a place with freezing winters is it not easier to just fill a big container with water and leave it a few days?
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u/BigBootyBuff Dec 17 '23
I would assume no, otherwise they wouldn't go through these lengths to do it.
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Dec 17 '23
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u/itranslateyouargue Dec 17 '23
This is how a lot of these threads unfold.
Professionals putting a lot of money and effort into something.
Random redditor with 0 knowledge of the operation makes a simple observation: "Why not just...?"
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u/yieldingfoot Dec 17 '23
Those questions aren't necessarily saying that they know better than experts. They're very good questions asking to better understand the tradeoffs of different approaches.
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u/Thee_Sinner Dec 17 '23
Is a lake not just a big container filled with water?
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u/akaizRed Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Where would they get a giant container for the amount of ice they use, when they can just get ice from the river right next to the city - a free readily available water container
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u/jld2k6 Interested Dec 17 '23
I like that some people think it's possible that in the entire time they've been doing this they just never thought to freeze the water on site. Someone somewhere is smacking their forehead going "of course! So much time wasted..."
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u/JUSTICE_SALTIE Dec 17 '23
They'd still have to cut it and move it around from the container to the place where they use it. All they're really cutting out is the truck, and surely that's not more expensive than constructing and removing a huge watertight container.
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u/Gurgelurgel Dec 17 '23
To make ice you have to cool down water. To cool down water you need a lot of energy, time and some machine which makes so nice blocks. But you need thousands of these ice blocks. So you need huge machines. And the ice should be rather clear and not foggy
Wait, we have this machine: the nearby lake/river and we don't even have to add some energy and it's practically free.
Ice machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gm5rGLunBU
Just 4t/day and it takes 7h to create a few blocks, lots of electricity and manpower. The truck in the video carries probably >4t and they produce this in a few minutes.
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u/ClosPins Dec 17 '23
Because gigantic portable freezers cost a lot more than nothing at all...
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Dec 17 '23
It’s generally not a good idea to build structures made of ice on a lake/river
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u/dear_island Dec 17 '23
I like it when someone who has zero knowledge on an event or topic spends about two seconds rubbing their brain cells together and thinks there must be a better way. As if they haven’t been doing this for decades. Gee, why didn’t they think of that?! You are so smart!
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u/Taniwha_NZ Dec 17 '23
A further phenomena of this type is when someone, let's say a plumber, is laughing at some amateur trying to do a plumbing job. They will spot mistakes a mile off, talk about all the regulations involved, and generally make it clear that there's centuries of knowledge they have had distilled into their brains so they can be good at their job, and they find it hilarious when rank amateurs think they can just do it themselves to save money.
Then, they change the channel to Fox News and complain bitterly that the country is being run by complete idiots and they could do a better job themselves.
The cognitive disconnect is impressive.
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u/runonandonandonanon Dec 17 '23
The brain is great at this because it spends most of its time rearranging reality to a narrative that pleases you. All of our brains do this.
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u/Conlaeb Dec 17 '23
Everyone is listing the practical uses, but not the reasons why it is harvested. River ice tends to be bubble free and glassy, making it perfect for sculptures and other display pieces. I used to take place in an ice/snow sculpture competition and we would harvest river ice for windows/other details that requires perfect consistency.
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u/borgdrone79 Dec 17 '23
Any photos of your work?
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u/Conlaeb Dec 17 '23
https://www.doe.mtu.edu/winter_carnival/2008/slides/IMG_0049.html
This is a photo showing how the natural ice was used for windows.
https://www.doe.mtu.edu/winter_carnival/2008/slides/IMG_0048.html
This one gives more of an overview with some more window glass on the ECTO-1.
https://www.doe.mtu.edu/winter_carnival/2008/slides/IMG_0064.html
Completely forgot about this really cool detail piece.
Please keep in mind I was just a cog in the machine, not one of the students responsible for design on this project. It was a lot of fun!
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u/ahuramazdobbs19 Dec 17 '23
As a college hockey fan, my initial instinct brought me to the thought of …”he knows a bit about ice sculpture…wonder if this guy is from MTU.”
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u/StayAway1234 Dec 17 '23
Same question, that water can’t be potable. So what is the ice used for, ice sculpture? Igloos?
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Dec 17 '23
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u/raltoid Dec 17 '23
Yeah, that's only partially a joke. As depending on where in China or Taiwan you are and how shady the businesses in the area are, you might be eating food cooked in sewer oil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil
There's a famous video of a woman literally skimming oil out of a drain in the street.
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u/beachwhistles Dec 17 '23
I used to get them for parties, prop it up on an angle carve channels and pour shots down it.
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u/FlimsyTry2892 Dec 17 '23
Ah yes, Jägermeister ice luges were very popular at WVU house parties back in the day.
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u/-SaC Dec 17 '23
The last block: "I'M FREEEEE! So long, fuckos!"
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u/GratefulForGarcia Dec 17 '23
shatters & kills itself
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u/Affectionate_Walk610 Dec 17 '23
to shreds you say?
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Dec 17 '23
What are these ice for? Hope its not for consumption or anywhere near food items. lol
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u/Arkhamina Dec 17 '23
Betting it is for either ice sculpture, or one of those ice hotels.
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u/nekonight Dec 17 '23
In ye olden days, it would be used to cool food then refrigerators replaced them. Ice cutting during the winter use to be a huge industry with ice being shipped around the world. I think it was one of the largest export industry in the US for a while in the 1800s too.
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u/Callidonaut Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
There was also an intermediate period where refrigeration technology did exist, but wasn't compact or safe enough to make domestic refrigerators, so there used to be industrial-scale factories that made artificial block ice like this to meet demand. (prior to this, block ice cut from lakes in Winter used to be stored in huge thermally insulated warehouses for use the following Summer) The first artificial block ice factory in the UK finally halted production around 1984.
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u/davesoverhere Dec 17 '23
They used straw as in insulation for ice for a long time. It’s a surprisingly good insulator.
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Dec 17 '23 edited Apr 15 '25
puzzled sink tender forgetful yam chase dam direction skirt attempt
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Lazy_meatPop Dec 17 '23
This is for the Harbin Ice festival. It is a really cool place to visit.
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u/ravenrhi Dec 17 '23
Here is a link for those who are curious
https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/harbin-ice-and-snow-festival.htm
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Dec 17 '23
This is the Ready-Ice Company. Where else did you think they got there 10 & 20 lb bags of ice from. /s
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u/PM-Me-Your-TitsPlz Dec 17 '23
Global warming won't let it survive in the wild too long.
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u/-SaC Dec 17 '23
David Attenborough can narrate its final few moments.
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Dec 17 '23
We observe the frozen captive, a solitary ice block, delicately balanced upon the precipice of its frigid enclosure. After a period of confinement within the mechanical vessel, our frozen friend is on the cusp of a daring escape.
In a spectacle akin to the grand migrations of the animal kingdom, the ice block, yearning for freedom, decides to make its daring move. Slowly, it shifts, its crystalline structure quivering with anticipation, as if the ice itself held the ancient knowledge of the world beyond.
And then, with a leap that rivals the graceful bounds of a gazelle on the African savannah, the ice block takes the plunge. Its descent, while seemingly triumphant, is fraught with danger, as the unforgiving force of gravity pulls it towards an uncertain fate.
As our frozen protagonist meets the ground below, the impact resonates like a gentle heartbeat, a fleeting moment in the grand symphony of the natural world. Alas, the ice block, once a prisoner of its own icy confines, now lies shattered and broken, its dreams of freedom cruelly dashed upon the cold, unforgiving pavement.
Yet, as the pieces begin to melt and merge with the warmth of the surroundings, one can't help but marvel at the ephemeral beauty of this delicate dance. The ice block, though short-lived, has contributed a momentary spectacle to the eternal ballet of nature, reminding us that even in the face of inevitable demise, there exists a certain grace in the fleeting journey of frozen water on its quest for liberation.13
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u/LuminousRavenn Dec 17 '23
It's the quivering with anticipation that did it for me. 😅
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u/Ten7850 Dec 17 '23
Why aren't they playing the song at the beginning of frozen?!
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u/subject_deleted Dec 17 '23
"born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining."
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Dec 17 '23
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u/subject_deleted Dec 17 '23
Cut through the heart, cold and clear. Fight for love and fight for fear. There's beauty and there's danger here. Split the ice apart! Beware the frozen heaaarrrrtttttt.
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u/False-God Dec 17 '23
Stronger than one; stronger than ten; stronger than a hundred men; Ha!
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u/StitchFan626 Dec 17 '23
My personal favorite part.
To recreate it, I picture a guy shoveling his driveway, a snowplow clearing a street, and a train with a plow clearing tracks respectively.
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u/Koh-the-Face-Stealer Dec 17 '23
I live in a place where it snows a fair bit, I play this song whenever I have to shovel the driveway
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u/Jizzraq Dec 17 '23
You want Disney to sue them? /s
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u/jbcraigs Dec 17 '23
At this point(after 10M reruns with two young daughters), this song is part of the folklore and should not be covered under copyright law! 🤷🏻♂️
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Dec 17 '23
You've got to start charging more than a dollar a bag. We lost four more men on this expedition!
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u/Schumi_jr05 Dec 17 '23
If you can think of a better way to get ice I'd like to hear it.
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u/fart_fig_newton Dec 17 '23
For those downvoting this, it's a Simpsons reference. Not an asshole comment.
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u/ep193 Dec 17 '23
Looked like a very professional, well organised business till we get to the last second 😂
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u/rawker86 Dec 17 '23
You didn’t see that other block just casually slide into the forklift?
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u/23x3 Dec 17 '23
That was the best part. Well the forklift chasing the ice like a little weasel made me happy
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u/discostud1515 Dec 17 '23
Cut through the heart, cold and clear Strike for love and strike for fear There's beauty and there's danger here Split the ice apart, beware the frozen heart
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u/Fish-Weekly Dec 17 '23
Warning, old person comment coming…
My mom used to tell a story that when she was little, a man would come up the street singing a song about “the ice man” and she would go out and buy a chunk from him and they would use it for their icebox (non-electric) in the house to keep food cool. I guess they would harvest ice from the Great Lakes (this was in the US) in the winter and then pack it in sawdust and store it in warehouses for use all summer. After WW2 ended, they eventually got an electric refrigerator and they no longer needed ice like this.
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Dec 17 '23
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u/VagueGooseberry Dec 17 '23
https://web.archive.org/web/20230127175954/https://www.thejuggernaut.com/india-america-ice-trade
In the summer of 1833, a 7.9 earthquake shuddered through South Asia, its epicenter in the Kathmandu Valley, and its tremors traversing all the way to Bengal. Weeks later, after a four-month journey on the Tuscany, nearly 100 tons of ice from the frozen lakes of New England had arrived in the port of Calcutta. Local papers, gossipy and speculative, were quick to draw a link: was the earth trembling in anticipation of this strange new import? Or, had these “crystal blocks of Yankee coldness” arrived earlier, perhaps the earth would have cooled off and not quaked?
Such was the wonder and whimsy that accompanied the arrival of ice in India. When the first cargoes landed, Calcutta-walas gathered on the docks to squint and gape at this glistening oddity. All they had ever encountered was slushy Hooghly ice, the result of freezing water in shallow pits. This was different: solid, sharp-edged, glittering. One man reached out to touch a slab and, mistaking the sting of cold for the scorch of heat, yelled and leapt back, then hurried home in fear. Another asked the captain where the ice had come from, whether it flowered on shrubs and trees. And yet another excitedly carried a block back home but, neglecting to wrap it in cloth — “lest the ice become too warm” — arrived at his destination with a mere sliver.
The Mughals had long imported ice from the Himalayas. But New England ice was something different. The ice trade between India and America didn’t last long. The first shipment of ice arrived in 1833; by 1878, the Bengal Ice Company, India’s first artificial ice manufacturer, had begun production, throttling the trans-oceanic ice trade. But this quirky blip in the history of global trade not only continues to fascinate all those who stumble across it, but also carries lessons for our world today: about patterns of globalization and the implications of unfettered demand.
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u/rugbyj Dec 17 '23
Big blocks of ice will keep for a long time in good conditions! Bury them in a reasonably insulated container and you'll have a cool box for months.
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u/Fallout97 Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
I’m not an old person, but my little farming hometown self-produced some history books over the years and recently I found a passage from my great grandfather describing what it was like helping his parents making and storing ice and working as butchers the rest of the year. The two trades would have gone hand in hand back then I suppose. Would have been around 1900-1910 in rural Manitoba - so cold, cold winters and hot, hot summers.
When conditions were right they would ride with horse and sleigh to a certain spot in the local river, and spend a long time cutting chunks out and hauling back to town to store with sawdust. The sawdust was collected from everyone in town, who donated it, seeing as how they would all benefit from the storage of ice.
And, in the late summer they would have to quickly do their butchering/processing either before bedtime or very early in the morning before the sun rose, because otherwise the flies would be “awake”. Talked about having to hold the oil lamp just right so that his dad could see what he was doing, but also not drip oil on the meat. This kid went on to see man land on the moon. How times have changed!
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u/Saskatchatoon-eh Dec 17 '23
So even back in 1910 kids were gettin yelled at for holding the light wrong haha
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u/Spirited_Elderberry2 Dec 17 '23
kids were gettin yelled at for holding the light wrong
Aziz! Light!
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Dec 17 '23
Im just here for the comments from people who watched the entire vid lol
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u/rugbyj Dec 17 '23
ratchet strap: i'm doing my part!
ice block: the fuck you are!→ More replies (1)
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u/borgdrone79 Dec 17 '23
A shout out to the fork lift driver .. going for moving targets. I have seen some struggle with stationary pallets
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Dec 17 '23
Dude driving the truck at the end does not give a flying fuck. You had one job!
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u/weirdgroovynerd Dec 17 '23
Manager:
What are you going to do about all that broken ice?!
Truck driver/Dad:
Well, igloo it back together!
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u/wdm81 Dec 17 '23
I imagine this is what happens inside my freezer when I push the ice button
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u/bselko Dec 17 '23
How do they decide who gets to harvest and how much? Is it a free for all?
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u/woolcoat Dec 17 '23
It's state-sponsored for a major annual tourist attraction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zjy-9arS0
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u/PropertyBeneficial99 Dec 17 '23
I had no idea this was still a thing. Is this cheaper than just freezing water?
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Dec 17 '23
If you can think of a better way to get ice, I'd like to hear it
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u/PropertyBeneficial99 Dec 17 '23
I would have guessed by using an industrial freezer. Seems like a more predictable environment, controlled quality of water, and less labor intensive.
I suppose this way is less capital intensive.
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u/ChimoEngr Dec 17 '23
Is this cheaper than just freezing water?
Artificially freezing water costs money. The lake does that for free.
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u/milanganesa Dec 17 '23
That's Harbin, in the northeast of China. Each year theres a ice festival where they build different kind of building and other stuff with ice and lights.
Its a beautiful festival, also they take ice from the river, some take it manually and others with some giants machines, its quite impressive.
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u/Effective_Explorer95 Dec 17 '23
Should be played with the opening sounds from the first frozen movie.
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u/Practical_Maximum_73 Dec 17 '23
Strap guy had one job...!