Entry 4 3/5 - Cass Polar Tents and warm gear
So these are the tents we will be living in. They are massive and its a good thing we will have Hagglunds to haul them around for us. It is amazing that they are so similar to they style tent Scott would use but as the saying goes, ” Don’t fix what’s not broken” and these tents still hold up best against the harsh winds. It was a bit of an effort to hammer the pegs in but it provided a good outlet for inner frustrations.
Andy and Phil sizing up the tents
Martina getting to work with the hammer
When it was up we entered our polar tents for the first time to find they were actually pretty spacious. So impressed was I at the pockets adoring the walls and the net at the top of the tent. The holes for oxygen were particularly reassuring. We felt that the tents were so spacious it would be a brilliant idea to see just how many students we could fit in one tent. Like clowns in a car we all clamored in to the cozy number of 16 students and a teacher. Hopefully this will be remembered when we are cramped in a tent with a smelly tent mate who snores and wishing we had more room, well it could be worse.
How many grad students can YOU fit in one tent?
And then there was one....Ah much better
Please take note of all the cool pockets surrounding the tent at my head level. Those will come in handy I’m sure. The tent had two layers to keep out the cold. The windows unrolled and then we could tie a string around them. Apparently this will be good enough to battle Antarctic winds. The outside of the tent is then secured by shoveling snow around the protruding lip. It all adds up to a lot of hard work even under the best of conditions. Trying to imagine doing this during white out conditions in freezing cold temperatures put a new light on the hardships of Antarctic explorers. In the sunny afternoon of early summer in the shelter of the mountains things were much different.
Even though the sun will never go down during the middle of summer, we will have to pretend its dark and time for bed. I’ve gone camping quite a few times but was still worried about sleeping outside in Antarctica. Would we be warm enough? After seeing the amount of bedding we will be provided with I am only pretty sure this will be the most luxurious camping experience I will ever have. There was a sleeping mat, a thin blow up air mattress, sheepskin (well hopefully, we aren’t certain about this piece yet), then a sleeping bag, a fleece liner, an outer protective sleeping bag and finally a sleeping bag cover. Talk about layers! I don’t for see myself having any problems with being cold or uncomfortable however this could exacerbate problems with waking up to go to class.
sleeping gear
During the day, we will have to make our way out of the sleeping bags and revert from hoping around like Catepillars. sigh…Have no fear! We will have plenty of warm clothes too. Layer upon layer is the key to traping warmth. Cotton is not your friend when you are cold and wet. Wool is. Polyester works very well, especially if its striped with lots of silly colors. To demonstate this, Phil stepped up to the task.
- Super model Phil!
Have no doubt that it was quite hot and we made him pose over and over again. He was such a good sport.
