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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1992-93: VUWAE 37
Field Equipment
Field Equipment
Our experiences at Foster Crater only serve to reinforce opinions as to the incredible strength of Polar tents. In the 1990/91 WAVE season, a USAP tent suffered bent poles in winds of slightly lesser, but more variable, intensity than those experienced on the Koettlitz Glacier. Our tents at Foster Crater had been dug into a flattened platform of snow. Hollow steel pegs were used to secure all the main guys and the steel reinforcing rod pegs used for the tent valances. Some of the latter were bent. All the heavy snow blocks we had piled on the valances were blown away by the wind which was then able to lift the valance and get underneath, thereby lifting the tent.
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Event Map The Ross Sea Embayment area showing details of localities visited by the K-048 (ARSLS) party during the 1992/93 field season.
- The brown polypo gloves are a success. All of us found them to be excellent. I do not feel that they should replace the blue ploypro gloves - these are finer, make better mitten liners and still allow more feel for jobs such as tying knots.
- Better firmer insoles are needed for the "tent slippers" I used the blue insoles provided for the sorels - they were excellent.
- I recollect Bill Atkinson and myself making a few comments about the prussicks on the Polar Tents in our WAVE 1990/91 report. This is still a problem and we encountered it in the high winds on the Koettlitz Glacier.
- The large jackets have problems with the zippers and we all encountered this at one time or other. The problem is that the zip eats up the lining and gets jammed - a real nuisance when it's −20 and blowing snow!
- Field Food Boxes We had some boxes of Muesli which were "best before" 1989! Who knows, if cost cutting continues, we may get some boxes out of Scott's Hut!
- A weld failed on one of our Primus stoves and it was necessary to replace it with another unit. The failure occurred where the filler sleeve contacts the main reservoir tank of the stove. Failure was reported to field store manager.