{"id":18287,"date":"2024-08-04T07:31:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T19:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=18287"},"modified":"2024-08-04T07:31:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T19:31:16","slug":"gearing-up-for-an-arctic-photography-expedition-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/18287","title":{"rendered":"Gearing up for an Arctic Photography Expedition – Clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Selfie in the ice in full cold weather gear. My parka was unzipped to access my phone which I keep in my fleece chest pocket.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Some years back I wrote on gearing up for an Antarctic Photography Expedition<\/a>. After a recent Arctic trip, I thought I would post an update as I have made some minor adjustments. The biggest difference is that on this occasion I was travelling to the ice alone so needed to be able to manage all my gear on my own, getting it to train stations, on and off trains and onto flights. This meant that my long used Tatonka XL 110L barrel bag was not a realistic option as it needs to be carried along with a heavy camera bag and laptop bag. I needed a rolling barrel solution so after extensive research opted for the Osprey Transporter 120L<\/a> rolling duffel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This proved a great success, accommodating what I needed and being easy to pull along streets, airports and train stations. It survived all airline handing unscathed but interestingly was flagged as oversize (marginally too long) at Norwegian airports (Oslo and Longyearbyen) baggage drops so had to be dropped at the oversize baggage counter – no problem once I had achieved it the first time, but a bit disconcerting on the first occasion at a crowded Oslo Airport. With subsequent flights it was expected and easily negotiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Arctic trip we were going to be far closer to the pole than on our Antarctic trip so even though it was mid summer I was expecting potentially colder temperatures but needed to accommodate warm summer temperatures en route. Leaving Oslo for Longyearbyen is very similar to the Buenos Aires to Ushaia transition so you need to leave dressed for heat but have ready access to cold weather layers. My usual flying wear is a thin Columbia shirt with a Kathmandu soft-shell vest which gives me more pockets and a degree of layering. My Kathmandu vest is old and no longer produced but this Macpac <\/a>option<\/a> is similar. My main insulating jacket now is a Rab Valiance<\/a> waterproof down jacket and I carried this in a compression sack looped onto my laptop bag on the flight to Longyearbyen. This worked perfectly and was easy to don before leaving the airport building to board the shuttle bus.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Rab Valiance compressed in stuff sack attached to laptop bag as carry-on departuring warm location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Rab Valiance quickly accessed on arrival at cold destination<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Clothing list;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Base layers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n