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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1996-97: VUWAE 41

11. Field Equipment

11. Field Equipment

(i)Field Clothing: Overall we were happy with the field clothing issued. Some of the small clothing sizes were too large for Julie Quinn, and would be a problem for smaller females. The anoraks are not particularly useful in the field and are not very warm. It is suggested that these are not recommended over the windproof jacket. For people working on the coast it would be useful if Antarctica New Zealand suggested leather boots as well as the sorrels as footwear. The three people who took theirs found them to be a valuable addition to the boots supplied. The hats supplied were not very popular with everyone wearing their own for most of the time. The insistence of people page break wearing woollen underwear on aircraft seems a little excessive. In the event of a fire on an aircraft, should the fire be sufficient to get through the other layers it is going to be serious enough to be life threatening in other ways.
(ii)Tents etc: We understand we were the last party to use the tents that were given to us. The lack of side pockets and small door in one of them was not liked. All other equipment was in excellent order and functioned well. The only thing we were not supplied with which would have been useful was waterproof groundsheets. The ground where we were camping was not frozen and consequently damp in places. Fortunately we had our own tarpaulins (for other purposes) which were used in addition to the existing groundsheet.
(iii)

Ration Boxes: Overall these are great! A few items that could be added to the boxes without great changes are some more sachets or similar to make the main meal interesting (such as "cook-in-the-pot" sachets). For milo drinkers it was disappointing to see that this is not standard in the boxes as well as tea and coffee. The additional items selected to take into the field are important in keeping variety in the food (and hence interest). We found the small bags of scroggin were not as popular as muesli bars and chocolate as they tended to burst and fill pockets/packs with peanuts etc.

The only risk with the Scott Base diet is getting fat! The few days at Scott Base were great with lots of variety and choice, all done to a high standard.

(iv)Specialised Equipment: The small 650 - 800 watt generator given to us was perfect. It started with no problems, usually on the first pull, and kept on running faultlessly. The poinjar was an essential piece of equipment for digging the bottom of holes. This worked really well with no problems.