Archive for July, 2009

Ignacio’s Polar Bear hunt

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Jim, I'm Ignacio Martínez, from México. If you
remember, I with 3 other friends, Hector Martínez, Joaquin Rubio and
Francisco Milmo, buy the clothing system to hunt Polar Bear. I hope the
information I send through this e-mail, might help the
company in making better clothing.
1.- The Jacket and the pant, were incredible. We were practicly in -40° for
about 9 days and we were never cold. We did what the company advise us in
using the underwear, but after a day or two we felt that we have to use
another layer. A lite one. That's when we never felt cold. We travel in a
sled, and sometimes the wind was strong, and neither in that case we felt
cold. The only time you could feel the wind or cold, was when you realize
the velcro wasn't perfectly closed.
2.- The boots. They were incredible. Since we were traveling and not moving,
I thought that we were going to freeze. That never hapened. One of the
thing's is that if you walk (when you climb an iceberg) your feet swet.
Nevertheless, our feet kept warm. After that, you could feel the moisture in
your feet (kind of feel like wet), but even do we expect to freeze, that
never hapened. In the night we took the insole and by the morning it was
perfectly dry. We wore them as told, only the linen sock. The only bad thing
is we feel the boots are not good for walking.
3.- The anorak top. I was the only one that wore it, and it was perfect. It
kept the wind from cooling me.
4.- The severe hood was good only for Francisco. Hector, Joaquin and me stop
using it since we felt it obstruct the sight. The balaclava or what goes in
your face, was imposible to use it. We all felt that. It was very high and
you couldn't see. It blocked the sight. And with the movement and the wind,
it
wen't out of the severe hood or the jacket, and the wind and cold started to
freeze our jaw.
6.- The sleeping bag was perfect, incredible. One time I was in the tent
at -20° and I sleep in normal underwear. The temperature inside the sleeping
bag was always around 23° to 26° celsius (not farenheight). Sometimes it was
hot. The only thing is we don't understand why is so long.
Overall everything was perfect. I don't think there's better clothing for
arctic weather than Northern Outfitters.

Thank you and I hope you benefit from my experience. I was 9 days in the
arctic and you are always struggling against the cold and the warm, so you
analize everything.
Ignacio Martinez