GEAR

SPECIAL NOTE:

I enjoy sharing stuff on this site but I wouldn't mind making some coffee money sharing a little more. So I've put together pdfs of both my sledding and kayak expedition equipment lists. In many cases, I explain why I've chosen it, and in the case of obscure items, where to get them. Each list includes every piece of hardware and software someone needs to organize either a manhauling or kayaking expedition in the Arctic.

You can see a jpg of the first page of each by going to the Store and clicking on one of the Gear List thumbnails. The sledding list has 11 pages in all and the complete kayaking gear list has 12 pages. They are available for $15 each.

February 7

Sleeping bags are usually sold in their nice, tight stuff sacks. It's reasonable to assume that that's how you store them. But it isn't.

If you keep a sleeping bag (either down or synthetic) tightly condensed in a stuff sack for months at a time, the insulation will become permanently compressed and never achieve full loft again. Loft traps air and is what makes a sleeping bag (or a parka) warm.

Companies like Mountain Equipment Co-op sell big cotton sacks for proper sleeping bag storage. This vastly increases the storage space required, of course -- which is why retailers keep their sleeping bags stuffed away -- but a properly cared-for bag lasts 15 or 20 years, even using it as much as I do, while a bag imprisoned in a stuff sack deteriorates noticeably after several months.

When I lived in a city apartment, the storage issue was a major headache. The three (!) storage lockers were piled to the rafters with outdoor gear. Even today, our two-car garage is lined -- Alexandra might say jammed -- with storage sacks and bins containing tents, parkas and sleeping bags.

February 2

In the recent Nunatsiaq News story about our upcoming expedition, one perceptive reader asked in the comment section why I was carrying Pledge wipes in the photo. A second reader replied, "They work really well for cleaning glasses when the salt spray hits your face."

Bull's eye. Pledge wipes also remove salt and water residue from binoculars, camera lenses and other optics. Lens cleaners, tissues and lens cloths don't work nearly as well. Thanks to National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen for sharing this tip with me.

February 1

When I first skied from Churchill Falls to northern Labrador more than 20 years ago, traditional Inuit sealskin kamiks were common footwear in Nain. Nowadays, unfortunately, they're not. I've written elsewhere about how wonderful kamiks are as a snow walking boot, and Noah would like to wear a pair on our trek. So in one of those ironies, you have a white guy (me) trying to find kamiks for an Inuk.

An Inuit friend in Iqaluit, Myna Ishulutak, didn't quite have what we were looking for, but she has a kind of sealskin/sheepskin mukluk, warmer than kamiks, that are truly lovely. Ordinary kamiks typically cost about $300; these mukluks, which are more elaborate, cost $500, which is fair. They are size 11 and are 15 inches high. In terms of sizing, that 15 inches should come above the curve of the calf but two inches or so below the knee. Otherwise, they tend to slip down.

The camo duffles are soft liners that add warmth to the mukluks. Kamiks also come with duffles, usually felt.

Anyone who is interested in these mukluks can contact Myna directly at myna (at) pirurvik.ca.

January 18

Am testing an Exped down air mattress. A good time for such a test, since the Rockies are experiencing winter's first cold snap. I left the mattress out all day on the balcony at -30C; this mattress is rated to -38C. In the evening, I placed my sleeping bag on it and crawled in. My back felt cold. I tried my usual open-cell foam mattress, which is bulky but a proven performer in arctic temperatures. No heat loss from underneath. Conclusion: be very careful using down air mattresses in extreme cold.

As a postscript, I later tried to open the valve to deflate it, and couldn't get the plug out, even with pliers. The mattress needed to warm up inside before the plug could be worked open.

January 11, 2012

I've mentioned my friend Alfred Duller of Austria here before: a fine Labrador traveler, and a masterful builder of equipment. I tip my hat to these travelers with an engineering streak. Alfred built my polar bear alarm fence a few years ago; he has just made a new compass tray for me. A compass tray is a lightweight harness that holds the compass in front of you in poor visibility, so you don't have to stop every five steps to take a new bearing. It is one of those little finesses that you may use once or twice a trip, or -- on the Arctic Ocean, for example, or on the ice caps here in the Rockies -- sometimes every day.

Alfred got wrapped up in the project and built two models. One weighs 265 gm, the other 140 gm! That's barely over 1/4 lb. He used lightweight aluminum on both of them, after first testing to make sure that aluminum did not affect the compass. The Fastex on the bottom arm (only one shown) clips onto the mating pieces on my sled harness. A strap threads through the loop at the tip and attaches to my chest harness, holding the assembly at waist level.

While working on the project, Alfred decided to test other objects that might or might not affect a compass. Here are his results. The firearms may seem strange, but if you've been pulled from your tent twice by polar bears, as Alfred has, you recognize that carrying a firearm in the Arctic is necessary.

OBJECT ____________deviation, 1-5 cm from compass ___________deviation, 30cm from compass

shotgun _________________5 to 10 ° _____________________ ________ 0

357 magnum revolver ______15° __________________________________0

ammo, revolver ____________ 0 ___________________________________0

Kalashnikov, 20 round clip
with full metal jackets ________20° _________________________________0

camera battery Lith-ion,
3700 mAh ________________10° __________________________________0

satphone battery
1900 mAh, 3.5 Volt,
of Motorola Iriudium ________10° _________________________________0 ( thus ok when carried on the body to keep warm)

my (cheap) metal wrist watch_ 0 ___________________________________0

satphone without battery_____ 20- 40° _____________________________3° or more

cell phone__________________strong effect, around 40° ______________3° or more

GPS (eTrex
Garmin)................................. 15° ________________________________0 (so ok when carried in pocket)

knife (medium sized) ________10° ________________________________0 .... (so ok when worn on hip)

aluminum frame______________0 ________________________________0

foam cover for compass tray___ 0 ________________________________0

2 component epoxy___________0_________________________________0

FAQs

1. What sleeping bag do you use for winter arctic travel?

The Stephenson Triple Bag, with 20% overfill and their 2" open-cell foam pad. See warmlite.com. In 20 years I've never had a cold night, and I've accumulated half a year in it at -40 or colder. It's bulky - stuffed, it's about the size of a big green garbage bag full of leaves - but I can squash it down to a little bigger than a medicine ball with a custom-made compression stuff sack. Still, its bulk makes it more suitable for sled travel than winter backpacking or ski mountaineering.
It includes an integral vapor barrier liner that doesn't make you feel soggy but which works best when new. But its smartest feature is that it has no goose down on the bottom, just that slip-in foam pad. As one manufacturer admitted to me, goose down on the bottom of a winter bag is a design flaw, but people buy them, so they keep making them. Why on earth would you want to have down on the bottom of a bag, where it gets squished? Besides bulk, the Stephenson bag's only disadvantage are its microscopic zippers. Stephenson is a lightness junkie, but those zippers make it hard to close the unusual hood.  

European polar adventurers often use the Tempelfjorden bag from the Norwegian company Helsport. I have no experience with it but although it's a classical bag with down on the bottom, enough people have used it in extreme cold that it obviously works okay.

2. What tent do you use?

For years, I used a North Face VE-25. Recently I've switched to Hilleberg's Keron 3GT, which sets up faster and resists wind better. It's hard to get those third and fourth poles into a dome tent like the VE-25 during a gale, especially if you're traveling solo. The Keron is a little narrower for two big guys with winter bags, and like most tunnel tents it's not free-standing, so it needs secure anchors. But it's especially good in places where the wind can rip. And its vestibule is gigantic.

3. What boots do you use on sled trips?

Equipment choice depends a lot on personal style and abilities. My feet don't get very cold, and Steger mukluks, Expedition style, from mukluks.com are as warm as I've ever needed. Since I prefer to walk, not ski, while hauling a sled, I need footwear that is as light as possible. Most of the time I'm sledding in Inuit sealskin kamiks that I buy in the Arctic. I have light nylon overboots made for them that add warmth in a wind. The kamiks are fine down to about -25º or -30ºC - in other words, from mid-April through May.

4. What about skis and bindings?

Fischer Europa 99s and Berwin bindings. I don't use kites - the eastern High Arctic is not windy enough: A couple of years ago, an ill-prepared expedition that imagined they were going to kite 1000s of kilometres in a couple of months got a rude awakening. It was the most slapstick arctic expedition since two guys from France decided to gallop a couple of glue horses around Cornwallis Island in 1990. In short, you don't need technical boots & bindings up there. They're overkill and they give you blisters.
      

5. Where do you get your sleds?

If you live in Norway, you have it made, because that's where the two main manufacturers, Acapulka and Fjellpulken, are located. Acapulka sleds are great, but some of them are the cost of a second-hand car -- a good second-hand car. Then there's the shipping from Europe. There are a few molds floating around North America, though, and I use one of them. It's not my mold, and I'm not sure how public it is, so I can't be more specific. But a fiberglass sled shell, with runners, costs me $600. I then have to custom-make my own cover, then pop-rivet it on the sled. Finished, the sled weighs 19 pounds, heavier than the primo Acapulkas. It's about seven feet long and holds enough for two months. The harness is pretty easy to make: a backpack waist belt worn backwards, its buckle replaced by two loops with 'biners, plus adjustable chest straps. You don't want a pulling belt that fastens in front, because that's where you want the padding.

6. What camera do you use?

Pros secretly roll their eyes when they get this question, but most of us, including me, asked it at some point in our early days. The question is a little strange, because the underlying subtext is, If I get that same camera, I can take those pictures too. That said, I do most of my shooting with a Nikon D300s and D700. Both allow me to use an EN-EL4a battery, which works in the cold. I'd have a D3-series body if I could, but the irony is that many pros get by with less expensive gear than advanced amateurs who have a real job and can justify getting a $7,000 camera that's out of date after three years. On warmer expeditions, or on day trips, I also carry a Canon G12.

7. Where do you get your custom sewing done?

Ninety percent of my gear is store-bought but about 10 percent is custom-sewn. There's usually someone in your area who can custom-sew outdoor gear. I even found somebody when I lived in Toronto. Custom work tends to be an aside for them: Usually their main business is warranty repairs or making outdoor clothing for local manufacturers.

8. I'm planning an arctic expedition. Can I ask you some questions?

I don't mind answering the odd question, but for more elaborate consultations, I have to charge.