Ice bath/cold water tub

Thinking of getting an ice/cold water tub for the patio due to an increasing amount of aches and pains. I’ve read that regular use can have real benefits. Does stw have any real world experiences before I hit the buy button.

Something like this

Add a waterbutt tap to the bottom for when you want to change the water, jobs a goodun

Make sure you check the dimensions and they don’t just send you a champagne bucket instead, cos that’s what it looks like.

TRIPLE LAYERED FABRIC FOR INSANE COMFORT

DRIFT OFF TO DREAM LAND

I am struggling to believe that you will be drifting off to Dreamland as you enjoy the “insane” comfort.

Unconsciousness and then death due to hyperthermia sounds more likely to me.

I have a genuine interest in this thread as friends are thinking of buying one for Mrs S . My first question is; how do you create enough ice to fill a body-sized tub? Assuming you’re only filling it from a tap, it seems like a waste of fresh water. Even assuming you are scrupulous about covering it, seems like it will become a minging, stagnant, tepid pond if you’re not refilling it every couple of uses, in which case see my previous point.

FWIW, Mrs S and I both dip/swim in local lochs all year so we’re no strangers to the benefits of cold water immersion or of the ability of some companies to jump on the band-wagon.

I have been wondering about similar, but the amount of energy needed to keep the temp cold is stupid.
I saw a freezer conversion a while back, but the ones actually designed for the purpose are insanely expensive and getting a bin or a barrel down to 4° will be near impossible in the summer

Heat exchanger with a sex pond. Am I onto something?

Do you have a bath ?

Also I thought the latest research was that its not necessarily beneficial from a sports perspective?

Are you looking after yourself properly in other ways ie stretching, good diet, plenty of water, low alcohol etc?

I am struggling to believe that you will be drifting off to Dreamland as you enjoy the “insane” comfort.

This women appears to be achieving it?

I jumped on the bandwagon at chrimstas with one as pictured above, but Lumi branded.

The whole thing has become a bit macho, with MOAR ice, and long times in the water. Fully freezing temps aren’t required to get the benefits, according to Susanna Soeberg, and only 11 mins per week. I forget what the upper temp limit she metioned was, but ambient winter temps in the northern UK will do the trick.
I doubt I’ll bother filling mine with ice in the summer. The Scandis have a winter swimming season, so if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me. Perhaps most benefit comes from doing this over the winter and isn’t so important in summer.
That said, I’ll miss it.
The first few goes, I stared at for a while before forcing myself in, utterly horrible, but supposedly beneficial. Now, I really look forward to it and don’t find it unpleasant at all really.
As for the many reported benefits, the only one I’ve noticed is that my circulation has improved so my feet don’t get so cold. This has been really noticeable, in a short time. I don’t doubt the other benefits are there, but just not so immediately obvious. One of my wife’s pals reports the same, with reynauds in her hands disappearing this winter since taking up regular sea swimming with a group of her pals.

My main reason for getting the pool was for cardiovascular health reasons. My BP has been sitting at the high end of normal and I’m on a mission to improve that.
I do a mix of using it first thing in the morning, and alongside sauna.

I fill mine with a little splash of dettol, and change it fortnightly. In the warmer months it would need done more often i suppose.

EDIT – of course someone added apic of an actual Lumi one while I was typing!

Mate of mine has one of these recycled barrels https://www.barrelsofjoy.co.uk/

It’s a jolly good idea if you accidentally buy a pack of undies one size two small. The resulting shrinkage of your gentleman’s accessories means the undies will now fit.

On the other hand it may be cheaper to buy undies that fit. 🙂

On yet another hand, if you ride a bike in the Highlands regularly, an ice bath may be seen as a good way to warm up…

Also I thought the latest research was that its not necessarily beneficial from a sports perspective?

Only in one specific scenario. The Huberman podcast on it is excellent and explains this, as does Feel better Live more #322.

Did anybody else look at the photo and think it was for a recovery poo?

@bedmaker – thanks for the real-life feedback. We’re Soeberg fans too but haven’t made the investment in a sauna either. Ideally I’d like to install one at Loch Morlich but not sure FLS would approve 😉

ambient winter temps in the northern UK will do the trick.

My first thought was this^^
See rise in open water swimming an all that.
My second was along the lines of,lets kill the planet quicker with consumerism of more and more unnecessary tat that requires wasting energy.
But hey ho,we all need our hopes and dreams.🙃

My wife does the open water stuff most weekends from March to October when we at our Caravan (by the sea)- sea temps around 10c on average.

We’ve ‘turned off’ our hot tub, for winter, but the water remained 10c or above for much of it – your ice tub will be at this temperature unless it’s cooled, especially with the black walls – any sunshine will heat the water. One thing you’ll also need to do is purify the water, and it’s probably more difficult with cold water to get the balance right – we find heated water in the tub uses the chlorine more effectively, leaving the tub to cool, the chlorine doesn’t get ‘used’ so you’ll need tiny amounts.

10c might be enough for a cold dip though !

Be prepared for a big bill once switched on. Pumps consume about 50w (not too bad), but any cooler will be expensive, up to 2kw, – On for 12 hours a day would be £7-£8 a day – if we use our hot tub, water remains at air temp – 15c-20c all week, then costs us £7 for one evening use of maybe an hour as they take time to heat – 12 hours.

I go open water swimming all year, but i find the summer much less enjoyable as i don’t get the cold effect. Hence wanting something that will let me get cold.
Been looking at a recycled barrel and a chiller. Might even connect it up to a battery and solar panel

Hmmm, we have a very well insulated hot tub which is lovely to relax in but still uses a fair bit of electric. I guess we could turn it into a cold tub by just filling it from the tap. not turning on the heater and slinging in the occaisional sack of ice. Hygiene and cleanliness witht he normal hot tub cleaners.

Still not sure I want to submerse myself in very cold water though.

I take it a cold shower isn’t going to have any impact? Apart from using cold water it should be a very low cost method as you aren’t heating water…you are using water so water bill may rise.

Forgive my ignorance, but why not just run a bath with cold water??

I’ve done it a few times, and get the effect. It’s cold enough…that…you… can’t..quite …talk…in…full…sentaccesssss

I don’t find it cold enough. Def not in the summer. Have the river for cold water in the winter

barrysh1tpeas
Free Member
Forgive my ignorance, but why not just run a bath with cold water??

1. My bath is quite small and hard to fully immerse in.
2. I’d have to run it, then empty a full bath of water into the sewage system multiple times a week. Bad.
3. The tub at the back door is waiting to plop straight in with no prep or hassle.
4. I can saunter dripping wet from sauna to tub outside, rather than up and down a carpeted stair and hallway.

@scotroutes have you seen the one on a trailer the guy sometimes parks up at Morlich? Looks right nice.
I wish we had the sauna/ lake culture of the Finns.

Anyone else with the ‘**** that’ jumping in cold water. I just go grab a pint from the beach side bar when MrsF jumps in the sea !

I was looking at buying one of the various options but decided the place to start was a cold bath, see if I could stick it and see if it helped me aches and pains, especially my back.

Ran a cold bath on day 1, soaked for a few minutes and jumped into a warm shower. Day by day the shower got colder too. Just left the water in for a few days and it was usually cold enough.

Seemed like a good starting point, if I’m still using cold baths/showers in the summer I might look at other options.

I’ve found it hard to get warm the last few mornings after getting out, hoping it doesn’t mean the heating bills rise!

@bedmaker – There’s one on the shore at Elie in Fife too. Bit far for a regular morning session though 🙂

https://www.welcometofife.com/view-business/elie-seaside-sauna

I have a couple of friends use them regularly, one for hip pain and one for depression. They both feel a benefit.

We’ve eschewed one in the basis that we also do cold water swimming/dipping and, for us at least, the experience of being immersed in a loch is part of the mental benefit.