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Winter Heating - Artic Shirt |
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Written by Stuart Goring
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Page 1 of 2 Warm even when damp, hardwearing, fire retardant, quiet and dependable, it is these qualities which have endeared wool clothing to the backwoodsmen for centuries. Even today it is a difficult material to beat; modern synthetic clothing scorches, melts, tears and disintegrates under conditions in which wool clothing performs unfailingly. Few would push through brambles and sleep next to the sparks of a fire in a synthetic jacket for fear of tearing or melting a hole in it and it is difficult to feel part of nature when accompanied by the constant rustling of petrochemicals.
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 Wool it would appear is ideal, but for those of us who have skin softened by the comforts of modern life wool has one drawback, it can be infuriatingly itchy! No matter how many people assure me that I will become accustomed to it in time and however much I try to get along with traditional woven wool shirts, they still drive me to distraction!
So when I unpacked the ‘Arctic shirt’ sent to us for review by Country Covers I was delighted; here it would seem was the answer to all my irritation. Made from 70% merino wool hercosett treated to render it non-irritant, the remaining 30% is a non flammable material called Nomex used in the production of fireproof clothing for fighter pilots and fire fighters, so it would certainly seem to be ideal for working around flames. Unlike 100% wool garments this caused me no irritation at all, being pleasant to wear even against the skin and the circular knitted construction makes the arctic shirt as soft and comfortable as a synthetic fleece.
Whilst not as robust as the popular NZ wool shirts, for example, it would not shrug off brambles as readily, it was far less restrictive and bulky. Thus I was happy to forgo some resilience in a shirt that could be so comfortably worn under a jacket.
I was not disappointed with its ability to keep me warm either; I wore it throughout winter spending every day on the chilly hills of Wales whilst training a young hawk. Its generous zipped roll neck, scooped back and thumb loops ensured that those areas so often overlooked by many manufacturers such as the small of the back, neck and wrists were kept snug and toasty. I did notice that it seemed to stretch a bit and became quite baggy, resembling the sort of oversized ¾ length jumper females appear to feel is required attire for an evening curled up on the sofa with a family size galaxy bar! Perhaps I had washed it at the wrong temperature as it did not have any discernable washing instructions, but this did little to stop me reaching for it whenever I went out to the hills; finally I had a warm comfortable wool shirt that didn’t itch, what did I care if it was a bit baggy?
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 So when I packed my rucksack for a week of winter Bushcraft in the frozen Canadian north, the arctic shirt was one of the first items in. Temperatures were expected to be as low as -30 C which would really put it to the test; when we arrived the locals told us how lucky we were that it was so unusually warm this winter - only -22!!
I wore the arctic shirt as my first insulating layer constantly, removing it only when having a chilly wash and on the few occasions where physical labours forced me to strip to my base layer so as to avoid sweating, as perspiration, if not avoided, would freeze in my clothing when I relaxed.
Sleeping the night in a lean-to shelter without a sleeping bag at -20 I woke to discover that my synthetic windproof trousers had been perforated in several places by rogue sparks from the enormous long log fire that had provided a isolated pool of warmth in the otherwise icy and inhospitable night, yet my double wool upper layers consisting of the arctic shirt with a second pure wool shirt over the top were undamaged even though they were speckled here and there with ash from the fire. |
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Review on the Web-tex Warrior Cooking Unit, in this review John tells us what he thinks of this military type cooker, mug and bottle system
Review on the Thatchreed Catering Size Group Nesting Set, in this review John tells us what he thinks of them
Such is the lure of these shiny objects on the male psyche that a
number of dedicated collectors’ forums exist, inhabited by the
silhouetted forms of men squinting at light meters, bathed in the
brilliant glow of their own personal supernovas, mumbling incoherently
about Lux, Lumens and thermal runaway.
I've been playing around with various Pepsi can stoves for a while now and was intrigued when I saw how many reviews this little stove was getting, light and efficient what more could you want???
How many hats are guaranteed for life with a no quibble agreement? The
T3 is! How many manufacturers insure the hat against loss or damage?
The T3 has a 2-year, all perils 50% deductible policy attached!
The jungle is a harsh environment for such an item because the tool was
wet or the majority of the time. However, it stood up very well with
little sign of rusting or corrosion even after coming back and allowing
it to stand for a while.
The F1 is a basic fixed blade knife with a 'drop-point' 3.5inch blade (made of VG 10 stainless steel) and a man-made (Thermorun) handle. Originally designed for use by Aircrew of the Swedish Defence Forces as a survival knife, as any survivor will tell you a 'survival-knife' is the one you have with you at the time, so the F1 is designed to be small & light enough to be carried at all times but robust enough to withstand the abuse it would encounter in a survival situation within the Arctic Circle...
I rate these knifes very highly. Both in design and construction
I was intrigued by Spamel’s thread on the Snugpak Response Pak – or their other types of ‘grab-n-go’ bags - and what people carried in them. I’m a bit of a bag junkie, partly because of my work (military) and partly because of a quest to be able to carry the right equipment for the right job in practically any situation. I guess the ‘Holy Grail’ is effectively a bag that you instinctively grab, without thinking about it, before you go off for an adventure.
The sparks that come off the steel, burn longer and hotter than anything I have used before. Sometimes they can sizzle away at 3000 degrees centigrade for a second or more,
The mess tin is a solid stainless steel and relatively lightweight cooking vessel. It comes with a well fitting lid, which is a bonus compared with the old aluminium version which came without a lid. It saves precious fuel and makes your water (or whatever you are preparing in it) come to a boil significantly faster.