2012 bcuk Advanced Arctic Expedition

[Tony]

Brilliant stuff guys, great pics and it looks like a great time had, looking forward from hearing from the rest of you and of course we'll need a write up for the articles/reviews section of the site good job

[Into_the_wild]

Big shout out! to Bushcraft expeditions & all the people I met on the Arctic trip for making it a good one
Cheers guys
Shane
ps Wayland hope you made back in time for work mate, & hope you get bags back in one piece

[tedw]

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The laavu - first night's accommodation.

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My basha - the first, high-profile version with log fire in front. Unfortunately, it was not suitable in rain or with swirling winds and spindrift snow filling every surface!

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My basha - the final, low-profile version.

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Travelling through the forest

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ImageDude and CdaC by the fire.

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Building the quinzee

[Teepee]

What a trip!

Some more taster pics.......

Shane and myself's party shelter for the course


Hard at work


Our fire pit that Wayland built and 3 of us cooked on;


My Trangia Omnifuel snow melting factory;


The gang at the mountain hut;


Fishcakes Om nom nom;


Cheese and Reindeer on a Clipper -Double om nom nom


P for pride


Arctic hammocking;




Toboggan with 50 kg;


Through the round window;


Arctic survival smoking;






Thanks everyone, it was a trip of a lifetime and a fantastic experience with great company.


Wayland, I saw your bag in Oslo safe and sound on a trolley.

[Ivanhoe]

Bloody hell, that made me depressed.


I wish I could have been there... There's a big difference between those who talk
and those who acctually goes up there, learning new stuff for a whole week.


Absolutely brilliant pics, guys! One can almost hear the banter in those photos.



We expect more reports, stories, pic's and more pic's.

[Chris the Cat]

Banter is the word Ivanhoe!
Much more later from me but I must say, these are some of the nicest Cats I have met!
Some of the hardest and yet funniest bushcrafting I have ever done!
And Woody, our instructor and 'The Boss ' is second to none.
da C.

[Imagedude]

My photos will be hosted at the link below.

http://imageevent.com/imagedude/norw...0&m=24&w=0&p=0

[Wayland]

Hi guys, got back last night, bags still in Oslo but I should get them in a few days.

Thanks to all involved from the B.E team to the guys on the course. A great trip that I will remember for many years I am sure.

I will try to get my pictures up at the weekend with a full trip report as well.

Glad to be home but sad not to still be there.

[Imagedude]

Hi guys, got back last night, bags still in Oslo but I should get them in a few days.



.

They looked forlorn going around the carousel alone!

[Imagedude]

OK, we've all had time to reflect on the week, what kit worked and what didn't. What working practice worked and what didn't?

[Chris the Cat]

More later ( just in, need some food! )
Trangia not viable for sub- zero temps, far too slow and heavy on fuel to melt snow with!
However, no problems lighting at -10.
Wool layers, an absolute must have.
Wool mits with Swedish leather over mit, fantastic ( again!)
Hestra guide gloves worked better than the first trip ( Not as cold this time.)
Simple DPM gortex over jacket ( Brit issue 90? 95? ) Simple, no fuss, got the job done. £20 from Kev at Endys.
Dutch 80/20 wool Helly Hensen zip jacket ( Endys £20-£30 ) fantastic.
Ration pack meals, a mixed blessing, too reliant on water, need to fry more next time.
Axe, SFA or bigger.
da C.

[Chris the Cat]

Merino and Possum beanie ( Woodlore )
Warmest beanie out there, great to wear in your slug at night!

[Chris the Cat]

Woodys tuition ( and Ross ! ), that worked.
BcUK members kindness and willingness to share and give of themselves.
Top companions!
THE BEST VALUE EVER.

[johnboy]

Nice photos thanks to all for sharing... Looks like a great trip. I wouldn't have minded a trip up that local hill.

More later ( just in, need some food! )
Trangia not viable for sub- zero temps, far too slow and heavy on fuel to melt snow with!
However, no problems lighting at -10.

So that seems to end the Trangia in the arctic viability discussion....

Cheers

John

[Teepee]

Stuff that worked;

Wool. It has little limitations out there. A Chris says, essential. The charity shop Cashmere sweaters were great
Paramo waterproofs. Keela waterproofs. The built in gaiters even kept snow out my booties whilst wading through knee deep stuff. Awesome ventilation and condensation control.
Cheap bomber hat
Thermos 1l
Primus omnifuels in trangia 27 set-jet powered snow melting performance
Beards
Synth sleeping bags-my Wiggys bag was unbelievably good.
Exped downmat 9
Exped shcnozzle
Alcohol to drink-essential
Nalgene bottle
MEC hut booties-they laughed at rain and snow.
Iodine spray
Hand moisturiser
Non stick frying pan
Klattermusen gere trousers-laughed at everything. Same material as Ross's trousers.
Mora clipper
DC4
Karrimor liner gloves-cheap as chips and super quick drying
My roll up dyneema toboggan-worked fantastically
MSR Lighning ascents snowshoes-every snowshoe you'll ever need, if a bit trippy!




What didn't;
Hatchet-too small. Decent sized choppers do the do better.
Food that needs added water. Save it to drink.
Snow smock-too warm for it this time. It just got wet.
Coyote fur ruff-not cold enough for it this time but would have been amazing.
Meindl Soelden boots- not warm enough underfoot without modding the insoles and a strange fit.
Army bivi-not breathable enough. It worked to keep the wet and ice out but wasn't ideal.
Firesteels-petrol/gas lighters are much better for a main user.
Powerbait maggots-wed have starved




Could be better;
Karrimor SF sabre 80-130-2 of them ripped at the seams, not impressed but did the job.
Trangia 27-should have taken the bigger 25
RBH VB socks- they delaminated. Thery are replacing them FOC although it didn't affect the performance. I only had cold feet when I took them off and wore 2 wool socks. (My feet are sweaty though which is the main issue)
Voile telepack-the t6 blade is far better and is the shovel of choice.
Trangia non stick pans-terrible quality coating but cleaned up much quicker than ally.
Amsteel-not as good as UK made lines in the snow.

[Imagedude]

Worked

Exped Mat
Mora knife
Zippo lighter
Primus Eta 1.7L pot
Paramo kit if treated with care. I suspect prolonged use would not be viable though.
Army tarp, small and heavy but rugged.
Mountain cap
Buffalo shirt
Buffalo Parka
Buffalo mittens (suffered damage but repairable. Warm when wet and dry quickly)
Bahco 21" bowsaw
Alladin insulated mug
Uco candle
Thermos flask
Merino baselayers
Julbo glacier glasses
Voile pro snow shovel



Hit and miss

Sorel Caribou boots (liners damaged and not very warm)
Evernew meths stove (did the job but needed lots of time and fuel)
PHD down bags (struggled to stay warm at -5 in a bag rated to -21, had to use a 2nd bag as a liner)
Army bivi (big and strong but there were condensation issues)
Pod rucksacks (narrow bodied alpine sacks don't help with camp admin, a wide bodied sack with pockets would be better)
Smartphone (It's amazing where you can find wifi but battery life is a major issue)
Compo (OK but heavy)
Soldier 95 gloves (OK until they get wet)

Not So Hot

Cheap Karrimor foam mat (lost pressure overnight)



Things to take in the future

Gaiters (built in gaiters don't cut the mustard)
Leather outer mits
Pots suitable for camp fire useage
More bog roll
A big axe or maybe a billhook
A decent 'belt order' system (the constant adding and removing layers often made it hard to locate lighter, knife etc)
A 2nd tarp
More antiseptic wipes
Small diamond sharpener
Studded wellies or crampons
Lots of paracord

[DUCky]

Of the top of my head
What worked:
- Rho Bottoms Arcteryx (when not so cold or wet, just wore a shell over it)
- Merino base layers (nice and no smell)
- Haglofs goretex mitts with leather grip (warm enough and tough enough to handle pots and pans etc)
- Exped downmat with Exped cover (tough enough to sleep straight on bedding/twigs)
- Schnozzel (very easy and fast inflation of Exped mat)
- Wool pants (Codet 210) /jacket (Mackinaw) --> snow does cling to the fabric, but it can be brushed off easily
- PHD down bag --> I was cold at first but after using the collar and hood properly I was toasty
- Rab Event Bivvy --> enough room and breathable enough to even close the bag up completely (to cover the face)
- Snowpeak snowminer lamp/torch --> headlamp with combi of concentrated and dispersed light
- Wool socks --> dry feet every day
- Exped down booties with shell --> walk around in the slush, take off the shell and wear the booties to bed
- Snowshoes Salewa 999 --> they just worked well and have enough spikes for icy surfaces
- Merino buff --> exellent at keeping the wind out your neck/back/face
- Goretex shell (pant and jacket) --> kept the sleet and wind out
- Cheese, hartkeks, sausage --> just nice
- Or bottle parka --> lightweight, sturdy and makes an excellent sleepingbag heater
- Collapsible nalgene container as pee bottle --> worked well

What almost worked (could be better)
- pocket knife instead of fixed blade --> when used with an axe you don't need a fixed blade, but I still prefer to take a fixed blade next time
- Seil Marschall pack boots --> nice and warm but leather uppers and laces froze during the night making it harder to put them on
- OR PS150 liners --> excellent liner gloves (warm and good dexterity) but didn't stand up to stripping branches and the like
- Kifaru MMR packframe with waterproof bags--> did the job and good for organising stuff, but at times wanted to just have one big bag to stuff all my kit in
- Rab Photon --> brilliant, tiny and warm, but doesn't handle sparks or thorns well (excellent as a midlayer though)
- Eagle products 3.2 liter pot --> worked well in the fire but seemed to be unstable when filled with snow/water (perhaps bail handle was misaligned?)
- Fry Bake alpine --> good pot but when frying over the fire things tend to stick (will bring my Muurikka Picknick next time)
- Dried ingredients --> I actually ate quite a bit of vedge, but the recipes I wanted to make turned out to be "stuff it all in a pot and add cheese"
- Gransfors hatchet --> worked even for cutting down reasonable size trees, but could have done with a SFA or larger for two handed work
- Cord --> worked well but didn't have enough of it

What didn't work
- MSR Dragonfly --> always used it with unleaded without any issues but on Meths/Coleman it choked and coughed (didn't use it during the course at all)

[Tony]

great stuff guys, this is the sort of things that's invaluable to people

[DUCky]

Of course it goes without saying that Woody has been a champ, taking us through the course mostly by himself (as unfortunately Megan was ill) even though he was not firing on all cylinders himself. He is one tough cookie

[widu13]

Glad you enjoyed yourselves- gutted I missed out. Where did people find their schnozzles? I can't seem to find any in the UK!

[Teepee]

Glad you enjoyed yourselves- gutted I missed out. Where did people find their schnozzles? I can't seem to find any in the UK!

Lennart was the man for the Scnozzle. I found that a bottle of the drinking yoghurt from aldi has the same dimensions as the schnozzle. If you can team it to a stuff sack, you've solved it.

I'm going to make a longish tube from zero porosity parachute nylon and join it to the aldi bottle with seam grip.

[Imagedude]

Glad you enjoyed yourselves- gutted I missed out.

There's always next year.

[widu13]

Thanks guys.

[Wayland]

Woo Hoo... My luggage has caught up with me today.

[Chris the Cat]

Happy to hear that Gary, hope you are well fella!
Chris.

[udamiano]

Nice one guys hope you all had a great time. look forward to all those stories and pictures

[Bodge]

Hi guys, got back last night, bags still in Oslo but I should get them in a few days.

Thanks to all involved from the B.E team to the guys on the course. A great trip that I will remember for many years I am sure.

I will try to get my pictures up at the weekend with a full trip report as well.

Glad to be home but sad not to still be there.

Looking forward to your photos and write up Gary. There is already some great images appearing from other attendees.
The 'worked' and 'didn't work' lists are fantastic guys, keep it up. Did you have any camera issues because of the cold?

[Wayland]

What worked well:

Wool layer system with windproof tops. (Canvas or synthetic according to need.)
Downmat and thin foam mat from mountain pack as an anti puncture layer.
Plastic space blanket/tarp thingie; really useful.
Big cooking pots for snowball soup.
Pulk; worked well but suffered when used on gritted roads. (Unavoidable at times.)
"North Face" style duffel bag. Snow resistant but easy to access and packed well on the pulk.
Trailhawk, better than my Leuko but a heavier axe would have been better still.
Canon G10; Constant companion and delivered the goods on just two batteries.
Disposable hand warmer sachets; taped to the hand grip of the Canon 10D to keep the batteries warm in the cold.

What didn't work:

Fishing kit; not a nibble.
Poly cotton tarp; did the job but ice stuck to it too much. (When frozen they are just as noisy as plastic tarps but heavier and demand more care.)
Cheap brand camera batteries; not worth a damn.

The cameras worked well with the proviso of the cheap batteries being rubbish. I have over a thousand photo's to sort out at the weekend and some of them look stunning.

A heartfelt thanks here to "Bikething" for the loan of his 10D which looks to have delivered some excellent results with the Aurora shots.

[johnboy]

How did you home made arctic jacket perform Wayland?? Also did you use your wooden snow goggles??

[Chris the Cat]

I can vouch for the snow goggles! ( forgot my shades, a so had a wee go !)
da C.