HOW MODERN TECHNOLOGY KEEPS FEET WARM
Here's a brief run down on the theory of keeping feet warm. Trapped
air is an excellent insulator. Insulation compresses under weight
which reduces the trapped air. Soft foam compresses easily so it
isn't as good as felt. Sorel boots use what they call a "Frostplug"
insole in their boots which have the trademark name, ThermoPlus.
The "Frostplug" is made of special felt absorbs perspiration and
moisture. We remove the "Frostplugs" after we have been out to let
them dry. Beneath the "Frostplug" is "The Furnace" which is 9mm of
closed cell cross link foam that retains body heat for an extended
period. It is also an excellent thermal barrier with the ground.
Above the "Frostplug" is a 9mm outer liner of high density
ThermoPlus felt and a 6mm inner liner. All of these liners are
removable so we can dry them out. The boot is made of handcrafted
natural rubber bottoms and Dacron uppers that can breath. Sorel
named the style "Mukluk" which is an Eskimo name for footwear. We
wear two pair of polypropylene socks, thin ones first then a
thicker pair. Polypropylene wicks moisture away from the body.
Amazing.
MAWSON AND THE AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1911
There is a list of clothing that was issued to Mawson and his men
in a book that was left at this site probably by the Antarctic
Division. The book is MAWSON'S ANTARCTIC DIARIES, edited by Fred
Jacka and Eleanor Jacka that was published in 1988 by Allen &
Unwin Australia Pty. Ltd. and the copyright belongs to the
University of Adelaide and the source material belongs to the
estate of Sir Douglas Mawson. This book may be available at your
library. I noticed that Mawson and his men had leather boots and
felt liners. He had wool gloves and wolf-skin gloves! The wolf-
skin gloves were to be used on sledging trips. One curious note on
the clothing list states, "After washing, clothing is never so
warm. Important sledging journeys should therefore be begun in new
clothing...Reserve as much new clothing as you can for the real
work of the expedition. You have plenty of time at the hut to wash
and mend...Any old clothes will do about the hut." I find that very
interesting. I'll tell you about our clothing next week. Lots of
you have asked us about that. DAYLIGHT, SUNSHINE -- ICE AND WIND It
is getting dark around 7 p.m. and it doesn't get light again until
about 7 a.m. We are getting just enough sunshine to keep our
batteries charged from the Solarex solar panels but I think in
another week or so we'll have to use the fossil fuel generator. The
ice on our lake is now so thick that it's not worth the effort of
chopping through it. We've started melting snow for water. I tie a
5 gallon bucket to myself so if the wind gets the bucket it won't
blow away. With a spade or the shovel, I fill the bucket with clean
snow and ice as close to the hut as I can. Then, inside the hut I
fill up the saucepan and stand it on the heater. It takes about 20
minutes to melt one litre of snow. We had one tiny little calm this
week. The wind dropped back to about 10 to 15 knots (18 to 27
kilometres per hour) but unfortunately we didn't get to go outdoors
and enjoy it because it was between midnight and four o'clock in
the morning. It woke us up. The relative lack of the noise was such
a change that it woke us up. It screams inside the hut and we're
trying to think of ways to decrease the noise. It might get a bit
monotonous during winter. Margie says it's like living in a steam
train. The roof isn't moving much since I put the strengthening
beam in but it makes a loud cracking noise in the night. It is
under a big strain with all this wind. OUR PENGUIN FRIENDS Nature
is not being kind to our moulting penguin friends. I am sorry to
report that two have died. The winds during this blizzard have been
extremely strong and the penguins have to sit down. The snow covers
them over and the heat loss from their bodies makes them freeze a
bit into the snow. When they get up their feathers are frozen into
the icy snow and pull out. One penguin has been sheltering right
beside the hut, underneath the hut and around the front door. His
feather are all over the place at the moment. THE BEST PART OF THIS
WEEK Actually there were three best parts of this week: 1. Our
Sunday evening chat-hour with family and friends. 2. Roast pork
with crackling for dinner and 3. Our pictures appeared in THE NEW
WEEKLY magazine with the cover date of 27 March. It was on sale
this week. THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK I dropped by
snow goggles, my wonderful Bolle snow goggles in the toilet bucket.
On that nice thought I'll leave you until next week. Keep warm,
Don
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