Upper Body Clothing for Lake Untersee
I've been frantically packing for Lake Untersee. I got most of the science equipment together a week ago, and I'll write about that soon. Today, I finished pulling my clothing together. This trip, we have to bring all of our own clothing, so I'll provide a detailed list and my motivations. This blog will focus on my upper body, and we'll move down with future posts.
My past experience has shown that I like wearing bikini tops or Patagonia sports tops more than bras, so I'm bringing two of the first and three of the second. These provide some extra insulation for the most cold-sensitive part of my body.
On top of these, silk or wool long underwear will be great. This year, I'm taking one very thin silk top, two lightweight Icebreaker wool tops with baseball shirt type sleeves, and two mid-weight SmartWool tops with collars and short zippers. With this combination, I can wear up to three tops at once going from silk to lightweight to midweight. The shoulder construction of the Icebreakers and SmartWool tops keeps the fabric from bunching up in my armpit and gives me a good range of arm motion. That is why I initially chose these two models, and I was very pleased with them last year.
I have several options of what to wear over these base layers. I was at REI this morning and saw a Mountain Hardware hoodie with a great hood design: the two sides overlap in front, keeping the neck well insulated. It's the hood that sold me on it. It is made of a very thin fabric (with a light blue swath), so it probably should count as a base layer, but it's new, so I don't know how I'll end up using it. I'm also taking my fleece hoodie and a jacket-type one (light green).
My absolute favorite new purchase is a Patagonia NanoPuff in bright orange. It is lightweight, very warm, and silky. It can layer under or over almost anything. The sleeves are plenty long for me to tuck my hands into. It will be fun to see how it works in Antarctica.
I'm taking an old friend as an outer layer, my dad's orange wind shirt with an insulated hood. I had to come up with my own warm outer layers this year, since they won't be provided by the National Science Foundation. Last spring, I found an end-of-season sale on a The North Face Destiny down coat (brown and I sure paid a lot less than the list price!). It is long and warm. Again, it was the hood that sold me on it. It is deep and has a small stiff bill. I can adjust it to close down around my face or to provide good visibility. It also has good cuffs, so I think it will bring me lots of warmth.
I didn't find an anorak that I liked, so my dad suggested I take his Excalibur indestructible megacoat that my brother bought him in Alaska years ago. It is insulated with down. The outer shell is a very robust woven material that will resist abrasion, unlike my down coat. It has a fur ruff around the hood. The sleeves are so long, it's hard to get my hands out the ends of them, but if I have to stand around out in the cold, this is what I'll want to be wearing.
I looked briefly on the web to see if I could track down some information on the Excalibur. I didn't find the manufacturer, but I did find another blog that describes the use of Excalibur parkas in Alaska:
"When I wear mine, I feel like I’m about 5 feet in diameter; I hate going into shops wearing it, as I feel like I’ll sweep items off the shelves on both sides of the aisle! Nonetheless, the garment’s warmth makes it worthwhile in extreme conditions. The snorkel hood can be zipped almost completely closed. The pockets carry so much gear, I make some crossings without a backpack, a practice almost unheard of in our neighborhood. They’re not waterproof, but highly water resistant."
These are clearly the same coats. They don't know where they come from either. We've added some copper wire to the opening of my hood so I can shape it however I want.
With these clothing options, I have confidence that I'll be warm at Lake Untersee!
My past experience has shown that I like wearing bikini tops or Patagonia sports tops more than bras, so I'm bringing two of the first and three of the second. These provide some extra insulation for the most cold-sensitive part of my body.
On top of these, silk or wool long underwear will be great. This year, I'm taking one very thin silk top, two lightweight Icebreaker wool tops with baseball shirt type sleeves, and two mid-weight SmartWool tops with collars and short zippers. With this combination, I can wear up to three tops at once going from silk to lightweight to midweight. The shoulder construction of the Icebreakers and SmartWool tops keeps the fabric from bunching up in my armpit and gives me a good range of arm motion. That is why I initially chose these two models, and I was very pleased with them last year.
I have several options of what to wear over these base layers. I was at REI this morning and saw a Mountain Hardware hoodie with a great hood design: the two sides overlap in front, keeping the neck well insulated. It's the hood that sold me on it. It is made of a very thin fabric (with a light blue swath), so it probably should count as a base layer, but it's new, so I don't know how I'll end up using it. I'm also taking my fleece hoodie and a jacket-type one (light green).
My absolute favorite new purchase is a Patagonia NanoPuff in bright orange. It is lightweight, very warm, and silky. It can layer under or over almost anything. The sleeves are plenty long for me to tuck my hands into. It will be fun to see how it works in Antarctica.
I'm taking an old friend as an outer layer, my dad's orange wind shirt with an insulated hood. I had to come up with my own warm outer layers this year, since they won't be provided by the National Science Foundation. Last spring, I found an end-of-season sale on a The North Face Destiny down coat (brown and I sure paid a lot less than the list price!). It is long and warm. Again, it was the hood that sold me on it. It is deep and has a small stiff bill. I can adjust it to close down around my face or to provide good visibility. It also has good cuffs, so I think it will bring me lots of warmth.
I didn't find an anorak that I liked, so my dad suggested I take his Excalibur indestructible megacoat that my brother bought him in Alaska years ago. It is insulated with down. The outer shell is a very robust woven material that will resist abrasion, unlike my down coat. It has a fur ruff around the hood. The sleeves are so long, it's hard to get my hands out the ends of them, but if I have to stand around out in the cold, this is what I'll want to be wearing.
I looked briefly on the web to see if I could track down some information on the Excalibur. I didn't find the manufacturer, but I did find another blog that describes the use of Excalibur parkas in Alaska:
"When I wear mine, I feel like I’m about 5 feet in diameter; I hate going into shops wearing it, as I feel like I’ll sweep items off the shelves on both sides of the aisle! Nonetheless, the garment’s warmth makes it worthwhile in extreme conditions. The snorkel hood can be zipped almost completely closed. The pockets carry so much gear, I make some crossings without a backpack, a practice almost unheard of in our neighborhood. They’re not waterproof, but highly water resistant."
These are clearly the same coats. They don't know where they come from either. We've added some copper wire to the opening of my hood so I can shape it however I want.
With these clothing options, I have confidence that I'll be warm at Lake Untersee!
