I just took a locally offered "winter camping" class which turned to be heavily oriented towards "how to build a snow cave".

A good snow cave takes quite a lot of time and energy/calories to build, and can leave a person not only tired but wet. I'm therefore disinclined to build one for normal winter camping --- maybe for a multi-day base camp or if very bad weather was expected.

I'm also disinclined to build one in a "dayhike gone wrong" scenario. Again, a lot of time, energy, and it also requires a bit of skill to get right.

What I'm inclined to build instead (in an emergency situation) is a snow trench or debris hut, depending on amount of snow to work with. IMO, in a true life threatening emergency, the "leave no trace" ethics go out the window and I start stripping live branches off trees, both as ground insulation in the trench, and to provide roof structure for the trench --- branches, covered with ripped open plastic bags or tarp or jacket or whatever, and that in turn covered with a few inches of snow for insulation. light a tea candle for a little warmth. Seems a lot easier and requires less experience than a snow cave.

I'm wondering if folks on this forum that have experience at this have other preferences (or nuances)? On backpacking trips and in the summer I don't carry anything that would help me cut live branches, but for shoulder season and winter day trips I think I'll start carrying a very light (1 - 3 ounce) saw of some sort as part of my emergency gear, just the minimum needed to cut some tree branches if necessary (obviously this can help too in an emergency situation in building a fire when that makes sense).

Thoughts?