Trip report; advanced arctic survival course.

[turnerminator]

Wow! Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing.

It was epic

Hey turnerminator,

That must have been a truly awesome trip ! I really enjoyed the photos. What an experience to do a course like that in the Arctic Circle.

I spent 5 months in the Arctic Circle on an Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker about 20 years ago. A trip I will never forget.

Thanks for posting your photos.

A pleasure Bluefin. I will never forget it either. I fell in love with it and am planning a return.

Wow! That's another world!

It sure was Mad. It really makes you think about what your doing, especially with the temps we got. It nigh on impossible to stray dry-moisture management is the key.

That looks like an intense course, you should be proud you completed it. Good for you.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us warm people.

I'm soooo glad I went. It was intense, the rain and melting snow sapped all our morale at times.

Wow, nice trip. ;-)

To be repeated sometime too

Thanks for the great photos. It must have been quite an experince. Hope you can let us know what equipment worked and what you might do different when you camp in the winter again.

No problem Albertan, gear list and review coming up.

I'm putting a trip like that on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing a great experience.

Do it Silvr, you wont regret it. It made me realise I had no place being anywhere cold without the skills we learnt.

Great pic's. Looks like you had a blast.

Thanks Bondo. Its been the trip of a lifetime and a precursor to more adventures in the freezer

Spent a few times under the artic circle while in the navy on a US submarine and never imagined the beauty above. Here we are 1/3 a world apart doing the same thing in totally opposite conditions on the same weekend. Amazing!

Pictures just cant do it justice. I've visited a lot of Norway, but the artic boreal forest in the winter had a distinctly different feel. It was jawdropping at times, heckle raising at others.

[moski]

Great report !
Nice pics !
Looked like fun !

You must have worked hard with that fire, you where in T-shirt mode

[Redoleary]

What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing.

[turnerminator]

More pics;












My kit that really worked;
Klattermusen Gere trousers-they laughed at snow, rain, wind, dirt and abrasion. The instructors wore the same fabric in Haglofs gear.
Wool underwear and jumpers-miles better than fleece.Cashmere is amazing.
RBH VB socks-dry boot insulation makes life much easier.
Mora clipper.
Pertex DIY hammock with velcro closure-keeps all spindrift off hammock gear and coped with heavy snow with no tarp.
Primus Omnifuel-3 of us with them, they outperformed all other stoves.
Exped downmat-not perfect in the hammock but good to low temps and great on the ground too.
Wiggy's sleeping bag-faultless and super breathable
KarrimorSF Sabre 130 L-can carry 50kg comfortably.
Army kit holdall-perfect for the toboggan
Dyneema toboggan-very practical way of hauling heavy gear.
Dutch gear-all was faultless
Thermos flask and nalgene bottle-essential for keeping a hot drink handy and water for melting more snow
Non stick fry pan-cleans up in snow easily.
Paramo waterproof jacket-again, the waterproof of choice. Awesome breathability and moisture management. Digging in snow all day and sweating was no problem for it.
MSR lightning 30" ascent snowshoes-very capable.
MEC hut booties-laughed at knee deep snow and rain. How these things perform so well is amazing.
Povidone iodine spray and alcohol gel-deals with almost everything.

Things that didn't work;
Hatchet-too small. A medium size axe is essential.
Hobo stove-not enough ooomph
Amsteel blue-very catchy at low temps and freezes up. Marlow D12 is much better.
Pots that dont work on a fire aswell.
Food that needs water. Forget rehydrating food unless liquid water is available. Fried/ ready food rules.
Cotton outers-it wasn't cold enough for them this time.
Non waffle boot insoles-any dampness results in cold feet.
Baffins-3 pairs leaked-useless
Sleeping on the ground-I didn't enjoy that part, couldn't wait to hang again.


Things to take that I didnt;

Big axe
Stainless billy set
Blow poker
More bogroll and wipes
Snow stakes-deadmen are great until you have to dig 16 of them out in a blizzard.
Underquilt- Oh how I missed my down UQ.
Spare VB socks-the smell was awful after a week and I got trenchfoot.

Things I learnt over and above what we were taught;

Its impossible to drink enough fluid or eat enough food. Getting as much as possible in is the goal.
If you can't make a lifesaver fire or shelter quickly, you have no business outside in the arctic, especially around frozen lakes or rivers.
Always plan your next move.
Cuts take ages to heal up out there and blood flows very quickly out of cuts.
Never put anything down that could be lost under snowfall. 5 minutes will cover anything.
Wet cold around freezing point is by far the hardest temps to deal with. Synthetics/wool rule at these temps. Cotton clothing/ mulkuks great below -10.

[turnerminator]

Great report !
Nice pics !
Looked like fun !

You must have worked hard with that fire, you where in T-shirt mode

Thanks Moski I learnt that I run hotter than most. I managed 4 hours at -10 or so without getting into my sleeping bag. That fire was seriously hot too and took literally 2 minutes to get to that stage from lighting the birch bark.
I got a bit of a rep for overheating on the course.

Now its time to plan the return, theres nothing stopping me going back now, I'm much more confident I can stay alive if the fan gets sticky. Its a nice feeling

What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing.

Glad you liked it Red

[jayf124]

Great report, Turnerminator! What an amazing experience. Those pics are incredible too. Thanks for taking the time to share your lessons learned too, lots of valuable information there.

If you don't mind me asking a couple questions.....did the extreme conditions affect you at all psychologically? Find yourself getting frustrated at all when the cold forced things to take longer than usual? Did the conditions affect the dynamics of the group at all.....people get cranky with each other? If so, how did you deal with it?

Thanks!

[raiffnuke]

Great report! Thanks for posting! That type of trip is something that I have always wanted to do.

[turnerminator]

Great report, Turnerminator! What an amazing experience. Those pics are incredible too. Thanks for taking the time to share your lessons learned too, lots of valuable information there.

If you don't mind me asking a couple questions.....did the extreme conditions affect you at all psychologically? Find yourself getting frustrated at all when the cold forced things to take longer than usual? Did the conditions affect the dynamics of the group at all.....people get cranky with each other? If so, how did you deal with it?

Thanks!

Great report! Thanks for posting! That type of trip is something that I have always wanted to do.

Thanks Jay
We got affected phsychologicallyby the freeze thaw cycle, thats just the worst. Slight narkiness crept in but was immediately solved with some good malt
We were all frustrated at going to the arctic and getting rained on but it was probably the best thing that could have happened in hindsight. Its much easier to stay dry and comfy in much colder conditions.
Drinking nothing but melted snow for 10 days left us all dreaming of running water from a tap!
Honestly, I couldn't have gone with much better people. Firm freindships were made and life was good. We all got on pretty good and were all going back.

Cheers Raiff It wasn't a dissapointment. Our instructor was a legend, and told us straight. It speeded up our learning 10 fold. I learnt more in that week than I've been able to teach myself in all my winter camping trips and I've had a few of those.

[fourdog]

[

Things I learnt over and above what we were taught;

Its impossible to drink enough fluid or eat enough food. Getting as much as possible in is the goal.
If you can't make a lifesaver fire or shelter quickly, you have no business outside in the arctic, especially around frozen lakes or rivers.
Always plan your next move.
Cuts take ages to heal up out there and blood flows very quickly out of cuts.
Never put anything down that could be lost under snowfall. 5 minutes will cover anything.
Wet cold around freezing point is by far the hardest temps to deal with. Synthetics/wool rule at these temps. Cotton clothing/ mulkuks great below -10.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like a great trip!!!
I realy like what you listed above and couldn't agree more with you.
I think that wet cold is by far the most dangerous temps.
Looking forward to your gear reports.

fourdog

www.fourdog.com

[bluejeans]

Sounds and looked like an excellent adventure. Thanks for sharing.