Antarctic Clothing & Equipment

[Dudleydoright]

Following on from some requests and suggestions in other threads, here's one for the seriously cold weather nuts.

A Canada Goose Expedition parka that really has been on the South Pole... I removed the fur ruff as it was knackered.


I bought it second-hand in Galgary and used it myself in the Territories whilst doing oil and gas exploration as a seismic surveyor.


On the rear they have a large rectangle of reflective material....


The original USAP badge......


On the left a type of glove used by the British Antarctic Survey. On the right an old USAF N-3a glove also used by USARP and the US military on Operation Deep Freeze..



Mukluks ...... brilliant in cold dry weather


The newer USAP and older USARP patches.....


Orange BAS issue ventile anorak....


Lots more to post in due course !!!

If anybody has any clothing or equipment that was used at any time in the Antarctic and is interested in selling it or donating it to a good home, please get in touch. That includes other Canada goose parkas too !!

Dave

[nobodyspecial]

Thanks for posting the photos. Who makes the mukluks?

[Dudleydoright]

Hi, thanks for the kind words. I suppose you'd call me an 'Anorak' LOL

The mukluks are WW2 US military ones. I'll have to dig them out of the attic again to see the maker. I have several pairs

The modern Steger mukluks from your neck of the woods are very similar (or at least the pair I bought back in the early 90's were). They just have a rubber compound on the sole. I have a pair somewhere that were actually used by one of the Trans antarctica support crew. I'll dig 'em out too !!

I use the above ones with a single blanket sock taken from the Canadian military's mukluks. (Those are double socks so I just separate them and use one in each foot).

Dave

[gfirob]

Great stuff, Dave, thanks for posting.

I was there on a job as a journalist once for about 40 days during their summer. The US National Science Foundation, who outfitted us in New Zealand before we flew in, took our passports as security for the clothes they gave us, to make sure they got it all back. Even so, one of the scientists had his CG Expedition parka stolen while we are out at Siple Dome, an ice drilling site on the Western Ice sheet.

For mostly sentimental reasons I bought myself a new Expedition parka when I got back (I had the correct patches for it), but I have only ever been able to wear it a couple of times since. They are very warm. Altogether they gave us about 30 pounds of clothes to wear (many layers) and although it was too much a lot of the time, it was considered survival equipment so you were required to have all of it with you at all times if you were away from a main camp. At one point, one of our crew members refused to wear the issued rubber "bunny boots", insisting on wearing leather climbing boots instead. He was invited off of the aircraft...

Another time we were stranded by weather in the Dry Valleys and could not get a helicopter in to get us out and we had to hike back to the nearest science camp, uphill all the way, over rough ground. The Dry Valleys are one of the few places on the continent where the earth is not covered in snow. I would have abandoned that parka because it was so heavy, but one of my crew members took pity on me and carried it out. We had to leave all of our equipment covered in tarps and stones behind us and hope for later retrieval.

Antarctica is a fantastic place, but you are almost always in the company of loud and foul deisel machines or jet engines, since it is rare to be out in a tent away from tracked vehicles or helicopters (or C130's). We only occasionally got to places that were truly remote, that would be considered ecologically pure. McMurdo itself is like a mining colony on Mars.

We were at the south pole three times, and at various other sites across the ice sheet. Shackleton's hut at point Cape Royds is carefully preserved (unlike Scott's hut at McMurdo, which has been pretty much looted dry over the years by the military) and a lot of Shackleton's original supplies are piled up outside the hut, labels wearing off in the wind, but generally preserved by the weather. I brought home a paper label from a tin of "Birds Concentrated Egg Powder, Alfred Bird and Sons, Birmingham" that was blowing across the snow outside the hut, separated from its tin. It was amazing that a frail piece of paper like that would survive so long out in the open, but it is very dry and very cold there.

That's my story. I'm a little old now for that kind of picnic, but it was a great experience. Thanks again for sharing your great collection.

Rob

[Mike K.]

Very nice collection! I'm glad to see a thread like this started.

[Weston]

Wow, amazing stuff! Do the parkas come up for sale very often? I'd love to have one!

Also, temperatures here in Oklahoma are supposed to feel in the negatives here this week (highly unusual), and I'm thinking that Barbour jacket lining I ordered won't cut it!

[Valhson]

okay, this is the fedora lounge and I am in the outerwear section... but I have to say.

This just may be the best pictures of the coolest things around here.

I must admit though I come from the warm palm tree area of the world. I have a strange love for the Polar regions. Only got into the north slope AK for a month in Nov/Dec for work but man I was hooked.

Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed it.

[number6]

Check out www.antarctica.ac.uk to see the gear used currently. There have been a couple of changes but for the most part what is shown is correct. Alas for the traditional guys , Ventile is now history in the clothing lineup , but still used for the Pyramid tent outers.


Paul.

[H.Johnson]

By one of life's small ironies, after the Alfred Bird factory in Birmingham closed down, it became in part a vintage clothing shop called The Custard Factory...

Great thread, Dave. When I suggested it I was thinking of rather older Antarctic exploration (the early 1900s is my interest) but I always ready to learn about the newer stuff.

<Snip> I brought home a paper label from a tin of "Birds Concentrated Egg Powder, Alfred Bird and Sons, Birmingham" that was blowing across the snow outside the hut, separated from its tin. It was amazing that a frail piece of paper like that would survive so long out in the open, but it is very dry and very cold there. <Snip>

Rob

[Dudleydoright]

Well it's nice to know that there are a few other anoraks out there interested in Polar matters

Rob, fascinating to hear of your experiences. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we might tease a few more details in due course. There's definately an interested audience here ! Feel free to post any photos you might have too.

Numer 6, please see below for photos of Ventile in action 'down South'. Please excuse the repetition from the 'anoraks like Brad Pitt Wore' thread.









Weston, the parkas are available direct from Canada Goose but without the USAP badge ( I could give you one of those if you get a parka though). The ones issued to USAP stay in New Zealand as Rob said and are issued out and taken back from Antarctic Program participants normally as they are so expensive.

Mr Johnson, I do have an anorak from the 'Heroic Age' of Polar exploration. I'll get you some photos in due course. Do you have any you can share with us to get things going ?

Bon weekend all,
Dave