Arctic Ocean Expedition: March-April, 2007

[Willman]

Or...apparel sponsorship? I have a lot of arctic quilt-lined Carhartt stuff, and they've been a total life saver on warmer weather than you'll have?

Anyway, one particular piece of awesome cold-weather all-position clothing:

http://www.carhartt.com/webapp/wcs/...51&productId=32200&langId=-1&categoryId=10908

Scott & Chris,

Filson Clothing makes the warmest stuff out their in my mind!

Checkout their website...Little pricey...But you will own it for life!!! Let me know if any thing sparks your taste buds!


This is one of the warm ones in the cloth deptment!!!!

http://www.filson.com/product/index...&cp=2069836.2069837.2075070&parentPage=family

:REOutCampFire03:

 

[Scott Brady]

2/12 Blog Update

We are ready for the trip now :friday:

Blog update

Actually, lots of good progress and we have a "rolling" Tacoma again, with no rubbing. The tires are running very smooth, which will be nice over the 8,000+ miles.

The laptop mount is on the way from RAM too. That will be a fun mod.

 

[upcruiser]

And you guys thought you were going to be cold......

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=a8050326-b5ce-4ca0-a67d-74c8305bf17e&k=68725

 

[BajaTaco]

And you guys thought you were going to be cold......

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=a8050326-b5ce-4ca0-a67d-74c8305bf17e&k=68725

That is awesome!

"As far as Powaschuk knows, no one has ever driven through it in the wintertime on a motorcycle."

No matter how crazy you think you are, there is always someone who has gone before you...

 

[crawler#976]

While I was stationed in Alaska we used layers on layers with a waterproof parka and bibs over it all. We didn't have the advantages that modern materials offer like breathability, so we had to limit our activities to avoid sweating - but that's still applicable since even the breathable fabrics don't transport out that much water. Of course it really didn't matter when we were taking water over the bow while trying to de-ice the ship - we were wet anyway. Surplus moonboots were my favorite shoe when ice fishing - dunno if they are still available.

The items below are affordable and usable here as well. I've used DryPlus waders and foung them to every bit as waterproof as GoreTex and the material is a lot less expensive.

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ...parentType=index&parentId=cat21162&id=0031129

 

[paulj]

There's a difference between what is ideal for a cold, wet marine environment, and a colder, but relatively dry inland site. In the wet case the best seems to be moisture wicking synthetics (fleece etc) under waterproof rain gear. At best you control the moisture, whether from outside or inside, and limit the cooling effect of evaporation. But where it is dry but cold, you can use tight woven cottons (or uncoated nylon) as the outer layer, since they breath well, but keep out the wind. Down and other high bulk insulation can be used, especially when not active. Inner layers that wick sweat, and remain warm even when damp, are still valuable in this environment.

Interestingly, British researchers have found that the clothing used by Malory and other early mountain climbers was effective, even though it used natural fibers. They used multiple layers of wool, silk and cotton. The combination adapted well to body movements, as different layers slid over each other. BBC has had various articles on this topic.

paulj

 

[paulj]

There is a blog entry about gloves and mitts. The kind that I use most, especially when temperatures are around freezing are fingerless gloves. The first pair I bought were brown knit ones, the kind you are likely to see on the hands on an old Scottish sheepherder in a period movie. Newer ones are fleece or fleece with rubber palm.

In many cases I prefer them to liners or thin gloves, because they provide more manual dexterity, while still keeping my hand as a whole warm.

paulj

 

[BajaTaco]

Hi Paul, yes I posted that entry last night. When you need absolute dexterity, there is no substitute for naked fingers I think fingerless gloves will be a must. The issue we need to be careful of though, is frostbite. Once you get down below minus 20F or so, with any measurable windspeed, skin damage can occur pretty quickly.

 

[upcruiser]

As a ski coach I've messed around with alot of different glove types to find the right balance of dexterity and warmth. I used to use the fingerless gloves that had the flip up mittens built into them, but they got shredded up so fast that they drove me crazy. They might work for you application though and I'd recomend them. Several makers of them out there.

Personally, I use Toko (formerly the company known as Yoko) nordic ski gloves, the model is known as the Thermo Plus and is their colder nordic skiing fingered glove. They are very light and thin enough that you can do most anything you need dexterity for outside of starting a peel on a roll of duct tape. I will use them as my only gloves on days down to the single digits with no issues. I'll state though that I'm pretty tolerant of cold though. This is for being out for long periods of time. For short stints in colder weather they work great and I wear them for everything I need outside of skiing when it gets sub zero.

Another suggestion I'll make is powdering your feet, Gold Bond or something similar works great by absorbing moisture from foot sweat. Sweaty feet are no fun in cold temps, you'd be amazed at how warm you can stay for long periods of time if you can just keep your feet dry and have a good sock, like a Smart Wool, in your boots.

 

[BajaTaco]

Thanks Kristian. Yes I have a pair of Auclair ragwool fingerless gloves with the flip-up mitts (can be seen on the right in the blog photo). Only the very last digit of the fingers are exposed and the thumbs are entirely covered in glove mode.

I am pretty well set on the gloves and mitts, but I bet someone reading this will benefit from your suggestion on the Tokos.

Excellent tip on the Gold Bond, thank you! I do have some good wool socks for the trip. I love wool socks, nice and warm. :iagree:

 

[Scott Brady]

New Gauge:

New Chains:

Lots of work on the truck this week. Principally the laptop mounting and rear cargo storage. We still need to remove the water tank from the bed and install the brake controller (for the trailer). :costumed-smiley-007

 

[Willman]

Looks great you guys!!! Can't wait to find out your findings on the tire chains!!

Keep the updates coming!!

eepwall:

 

[RedDog]

Tuktoyaktuk five day weather to track through the journey. I've changed the units from metric to imperial for American viewers. Clicking the "5 day weather" on the left can access any other location on-route.

http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?nt-20&unit=i

 

[Scott Brady]

Thanks Redog,

The forcast for the 30 day outlook is "below" normal, which will help keep those ice roads happy.

 

[FortyMileDesert]

Minus 37 ! That's about 20 degrees colder than anything I've ever been in.....Take great care guys.:REOutIceFishing: