Some thoughts on selecting clothing for subarctic climate

[Martti Kujansuu]

Here is another clothing list, this time from the Continuation War. I discovered it from the papers of the Finnish 3rd Division. The division operated at Uhtua Front which is just south of Lapland border. Person wearing all this should be able to endure temperatures down to -30°C/-22°F. http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3642446 (in Finnish)

Norwegian string vest
Flannel shirt
Wool sweater
M/27 sarka wool tunic
(Fur coat for the night)
Fur cap
Wool neck and face mask
Wool gloves
Leather mittens

Flannel underwear
Wool underwear
Wool trousers
Two pairs of wool socks
Felt socks
Traditional leather boots

[comeonbabylightmyfire]

I love those boots and just looked at the site. At $975 they're a bit rich for my blood.

[Martti Kujansuu]

I love those boots and just looked at the site. At $975 they're a bit rich for my blood.

If you refer to the Kero boots, the prices are in SEK. 975 SEK is around 93£ or 106€.

[L8starter]

you could check out the library for a book 'siidastallan' by jukka pennanen and klemetti nakkalajarvi. its a history of the sami people published by the museum at inari. it has a section on using hides, making shoegrass (from sedges cut in mid august), reindeer fur shoes with rough patterns and other stuff, not too much but interesting. i lived up in kemijarvi for 4 months february to may a few years ago and then moved further north and over to kautokeino on the high plains of norway. living amongst the sami people was an extrordinafy experience.

http://www.siida.fi/contents there might be something on the museum site or it would be worth contacting them directly, they might send you a photocopy of the relevant pages of the book if you grovelled nicely



anyway, the wind was the most diffiuclt in the harshest of weather. without the wind the days were dry and warm with fresh snow fall every night, the real january cold was over when i arrived and the snows came. but when it was windy it was trreacherous under foot, diffiuclt to see and a real struggle to move. falling off the side of well troden paths into thigh deep snow was an extrordinary experience too, the paths just get higher and higher as the snow packs down whicle the edges stay soft and loose

[Martti Kujansuu]

anyway, the wind was the most diffiuclt in the harshest of weather. without the wind the days were dry and warm with fresh snow fall every night, the real january cold was over when i arrived and the snows came. but when it was windy it was trreacherous under foot, diffiuclt to see and a real struggle to move. falling off the side of well troden paths into thigh deep snow was an extrordinary experience too, the paths just get higher and higher as the snow packs down whicle the edges stay soft and loose

Lapland is a whole different animal when it comes to climate; whereas there is little need of windproof shielding in South and Central Finland, it is absolutely necessary in the north etc. I have extensive library of books regarding Sámi and Finnish ethnography but they are not really helpful when it comes to field experience with these kind of clothing. That is one of the reason why I'm concentrating on military and logging people because they both had to live years and years outside civilized world.

[L8starter]

That is one of the reason why I'm concentrating on military and logging people because they both had to live years and years outside civilized world.

and the sami don't? sorry maybe ive missed something, i spent time with nomadic raindeer herders who, whilst using modern tools and equipment nevertehless still used traditional costume much of the time as they said it worked better

best of luck

[Martti Kujansuu]

sorry maybe ive missed something, i spent time with nomadic raindeer herders who, whilst using modern tools and equipment nevertehless still used traditional costume much of the time as they said it worked better

As I said on the introduction, I'm looking clothing for taiga environment which requires different setting than the more northern Lapland with semi-tundra like climate. I could mimic their clothes and equipment but I woud probably come up with too heavy set of clothes for the environment here.

[RonW]

This might be a bit off, but I was wondering if Scandinavians used snowshoes like their American/Canadian counterparts or did they tackled moving through the snow differently?

[Martti Kujansuu]

This might be a bit off, but I was wondering if Scandinavians used snowshoes like their American/Canadian counterparts or did they tackled moving through the snow differently?

Fennoscandian terrain and type of snow is more suitable for skis but very primitive kind of swamp- and snowshoes were known in certain areas.

[RonW]

Ehhhh Fennoscandian??? What's that?
And ski's in a rocky forrested area... doesn't seem logical either, does it?

[Martti Kujansuu]

Ehhhh Fennoscandian??? What's that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennoscandia

And ski's in a rocky forrested area... doesn't seem logical either, does it?

Average Finnish forest looks like this; trees are quite apart from each other and rocks are small enough to be covered with snow:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...sts_in_Finland

[Kotteman]

Old skis in Scandinavia didn't really look like they do now, some where about 140-150cm length 20-30cm wide making them look a bit like snowshoes.
And i think the nomadic reindeer herding people in Russia that still need to make their own skis, make them around that size.

[Martti Kujansuu]

Old skis in Scandinavia didn't really look like they do now, some where about 140-150cm length 20-30cm wide making them look a bit like snowshoes.

Actually most of the prehistoric skis found from Finland were between 180 and 200 cm in length and about 15 cm in width. These are the about the same dimensions as modern forest skis have. The largest difference was that the other ski was much longer than the other and they had fur glued to the bottom of the ski.
http://www.nba.fi/fi/kansatieteelliset_sukset (in Finnish with great photographs)

[TeeDee]

Great Thread and Inspiring Information -Thanks.

[Martti Kujansuu]

Here are three views on a 1930s factory made logger's jacket at suomenmuseotonline.fi. What I did not see from the B&W photographs was that torso is actually made out of two parts and sewed together right where the pockets start. This pattern was also used on very traditional Finnish women's shirts.

[John Fenna]

That construction is generally known as "Yoke" construction with a front and back yoke in this instance.
The yokes are normally lined or even self lined, even if the rest of the garment is not.
Quite a common style - even this smock I have made has a yoke consrtuction - in this case one piece to avoid a seam under the rucksack straps when I an out walking

[andybysea]

That loggers jacket is very similar to the British 40 pattern battledress blouse, in design.

[Martti Kujansuu]

That loggers jacket is very similar to the British 40 pattern battledress blouse, in design.

Well, I quess that simple, but yet effective designs were invented by several people and services around the world about the same time. The logger's jackets were generally groin-length and down to wrists on hands while I see that the battledress were a bit shorter. Otherwise you're quite right. Based on the measurements provided by the museum page, I would say that the circumference of the jacket is from five to ten centimeters larger than one's own at a given point.

[Martti Kujansuu]

Having going through what I consider the best choices for trousers, jacket and hat, I'm now going to discuss the choices for gloves and mittens. There is no doubt that Finns have always considered mittens made out of sheepskin to be the best. They are soft in use and do not freeze hard during the winter. The second best quality is made out of cowskin. The pattern has stayed the same at least for the last 700 years. You can buy factory-made mittens here in Finland for less than 20€ a pair.

There are two different kind of gloves that are put under the mittens in traditional Finnish culture; ones made with knitting technique and ones with nålebinding. I have not tried the latter ones, but they are said to be warmer and stronger. Unfortunately they are not sold in any store but one must to manufacture them themselves. However handcrafters here sold them about the same as the leather ones. I suspect that ones made from Finnish sheep races' wool could be a bit warmer than ones made from wool from Western European races as the first one is more primitive and actually the race produces two set of wool of which the other is finer.

According to Finnish Army tests, the heat insulation of a mere wool glove is just 1 clo, while a leather mitten has a value of 2 clo and combination of these two 2,5 clo. For example in -20C the 2,5 clo is just barely enough to sustain heat in hands; 1-2 clo is only enough for more than an hour outside when temperature is around 0C!

14th century cowskin mitten found from the city of Turku. Photo by Turku City Museum.


Nålebinding wool mittens from early 20th century.

[RonW]

SO if I understand correctly, the best thing to do at low temperatures is to use 2 sets, one over the other?

[Martti Kujansuu]

SO if I understand correctly, the best thing to do at low temperatures is to use 2 sets, one over the other?

Yes, that is an absolutely must combination as only half of the people can work or move outside without any insulation for 20 minutes in -18C, according to a Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) manual I have. If you ski you can remove the other layer. Personally I do not anymore use gloves under the mittens but also mittens as I do not have to use complex machinery where I would need to use all my fingers at the same time. Mitten under a mitten is a warmer combination and if I really need to use my fingers I usually just remove all my mittens to do the thing.

[Martti Kujansuu]

I find it interesting that two almost identical looking set of boots, one of made out of rubber and one from leather, show a major difference when tested in a cold environment in FDF tests. Two groups of test subjects wore footwraps, felt liners and one set of boots in addition to standard battle uniform of the time (in 1987, i.e. m/62) during the tests. The ones who wore rubber boots had an average insulation of 1.4 clo on their feet, while the other group with leather boots had only 1.1 clo. However the overall difference in insulation for the whole body was less, 3.6 vs. 3.5 clo. The temperatures during the test varied from -27,7 to -36,1C. The minimum insulation required for these types of temperatures is at least 4.1 clo if body produces about 116 w/m2 or 1.9 clo if the heat production is at 232 w/m2. The first watts per square meter value is equivalent to walking 3,2 km/h in a road and the latter one to walking 4 km/h in snow or little more than one produces when skiing.

Both shoes with felt liners collected about the same amound of moisture and according to the report there was no correlation between feet temperature and moisture collected on the footwraps and liners. The leather boot kept the toes warmer when only the skin temperature was measured but it seems that in overall the rubber boot was a winner.

[Monk]

Martti,

Thank you for your time and posting your research....interesting reading.

[RonW]

Thanks Martti! Those are some interesting finds.
I guess the rubber traps the warmth better.

SInce you are really digging into this; how about sleeping systems? They didn't have bags in those days, I suppose. Did they haul animal skins around or woolen blankets?
Or maybe use natural materials?

[Chris the Cat]

Great stuff again Martti !
Thanks,
Chris.

[Martti Kujansuu]

They didn't have bags in those days, I suppose. Did they haul animal skins around or woolen blankets? Or maybe use natural materials?

Bags of any kind were not used, but a reindeer pelt might have been used in the North. It was so good insulator that even a Finnish Defence Forces unit wanted to add it to their guerilla kit during the 1960s! However usually a hunter just gathered enough spruce needles and made a bed (havuvuode in Finnish). Actually this setting was considered to be superior to modern materials by Finnish hiking magazine Erä in 2007 (probably due of the density and thickness of the bed). A special campfire was kept alive for the whole night. You will find more on these from the Finnish bushcraft thread.

[Martti Kujansuu]

I think it is time for me to move from the research mode to the prototype mode. I have studied different Finnish civilian and military designs from 1910s to 1950s and I think that I now have a clear picture of the things I want to gather & make. I you have hard time following the discussion and ideas, I have gathered my dream "kit" to a list:

- String vest
- Wool flannel shirt with a collar and two pockets, flannel should be napped only from the other side if possible. Long enough to secure the kidneys.
- Wool sweaters knitted using fisherman's ribs / raised ribbing, thinner under the blouse and thicker over it during rests.
- Dense wool blouse made as so that the shoulders are loose enough. Equipped with two pockets only.

- Wool flannel short underwear.
- Wool flannel long underwear.
- High waisted and dense wool trousers with two front and a back pocket.

- Wool mittens made using Nålebinding technique.
- Leather mittens of same design as above. Tanned with willow if possible, but avoid leather tanned with chrome!
- Dense wool cap for skiing.
- Sheep fur cap for rests and light work, traditional Finnish model.
- Felt hat for summers.

- Rubber boots with felt lining or felt boots with leather patches depending of your liking.
- Lightweight ankle-high or higher leather shoes of your liking for summer and fall. Treated with traditional Finnish recipe for waterproofness.
- Wool flannel footwraps.

As you can see from above I much like using wool and basically anything you can get from a sheep (which is one corner of my bushcraft philosophy, other being birch and pine). Thank all of you for commenting my and other ideas. I hopefully can soon open new threads on the DIY forum!

[Monk]

Martti,

did you ever use the string vest in Finland and what are your experiences with it?
I believe the Finns have a different version to the Norwegian string vest.

[Martti Kujansuu]

did you ever use the string vest in Finland and what are your experiences with it? I believe the Finns have a different version to the Norwegian string vest.

I have only pleasure to try one with round holes instead of an actual mesh, but I worked fine. However it would be interesting to compare one with true string vest or even to very traditional linen shirt which was a must among hunters during 19th century! The Finnish string vest was adopted sometimes after the Wars and had solid cloth sleeves to help avoiding string marks on your back when carrying a backpack.

If I may, I would like to add an item to my clothing list above as I have recently noticed it might be a good item to have; a putkikauluri/Kopfschützer/neck gaiter. I am going to make one for the upcoming winter according to instructions illustrated below in a short article originally printed on Finnish women magazine Kotiliesi in October 1939. Fortunately for me knitting (and sewing) were and are mandatory subjects in Finnish comprehensive schools. Translation by me.

MILITARY HEADWEAR
So simple as this knitted cylinder shaped headwear is to make, it will be ideal, warm headwear under a helmet (below). One can also raise it to cover the face (above) or wear it as a scarf on neck if it is too much elsewhere. Create 120 loops (using yarn for socks) and then knit loosely 2 and 2 purls back and forth until you have knitted appx. 30 cm long piece. The first stitch has to be always knitted. Cast off and sew the side seems together.

[RonW]

I'll be watching, Martti!

But I think I will have to look for an alternative to the rubber boots. My feet and rubber.... well... they don't match. At least not without creating a biohazard!