18 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: How did people stay warm outside?
Animal fibers and skin are remarkably warm, retain heat, keep water out, and regulate temp. When Scott and Amundsen are fighting for the South Pole in the 19teens, some of the success of Amundsen and failure of Scott is down to the different clothing choices. Amundsen from previous cold weather expeditions had experience with animal pelts and animal fibers, and his crew utilized them with layers. Scott relied on wools but mostly knitted fabrics and things like waxed duck cloth and canvas. Amundsen sent his crews with reindeer pelt sleeping bags and seal fur and skin coats that stayed warm, repelled water, and thermoregulated better than hand or machine knits or water resistant treated cottons.
https://digitaltmuseum.no/021106109832/roald-amundsens-sydpolekspedisjon-1910-1912
https://amundsen.mia.no/en/resource/1910-1912-fram-expedition-equipment/
https://www.nls.uk/learning-zone/geography-and-exploration/scotts-last-expedition/equipment/
Comment by RoutineDizzy at 28/01/2025 at 20:46 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ranulph Fiennes clarified this in his Shackleton book: reindeer skins and furs only make sense when you run dog teams like Amundsen, because of wind chill.
When you manhaul like Scott and his team you sweat more and get very warm, which makes canvas and wool layers a much better choice.
In answer to OP depends on the period but generally layers of wool and fur are very effective at keeping people warm in northern latitudes.
That and fire.