JOINT-FORCES was privileged to be invited to attend the Nordic Arctic Summit in Sweden to learn more about the new Nordic Combat Uniform, writes Mike Gormley.
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Nordic Arctic Summit Day Two / Three: Our second day was far from done as, after some educational chats on the kit and concepts followed by dinner, we then had the opportunity to spend a night out under the stars… and yes, we certainly had some of those.
For those of us who ‘opted in’ on this voluntary part of the programme we were given a large bag full of kit to give us a fighting chance of surviving a night out in the snow at ‘minus several below’. This included a twin sleeping bag set, bivvy bag and cold weather Therm-a-Rest inflatable sleeping mat. It was now quite late in the very full day and so there was little time to set things up. Sadly, after trying for a while in the snow, I gave up attempting to get into the bivvy bag and sleeping bag combination; bear in mind this had to include our boots and top jacket or these would have frozen overnight.
Considering we had a long and full day ahead of us as well, a couple of us decided to give up the battle and walk back to our accommodation to get some sleep in preparation for the following day’s challenges. Next morning in conversations with those that know they said they were not surprised I was unable to get fully into the bivvy as it was made for a smaller person. (i.e. someone with more sensibly sized feet and boots! Ed.)
The programme for Wednesday just stated ‘Outdoor Activity. Static and Dynamic Testing of the Nordic Combat Uniform’. As it transpired, this was something of an understatement. After an early breakfast and we dualled up and took over our snowmobile. Now this was my kind of activity. I was doubly happy as my ‘teammate’ for this, fellow journalist Anita Hawser, was not a driver so I got the front seat all day.
For this phase we had all of our cold kit on. We upgraded our Woolpower mid layers to the 400 option, which was most welcome. We also had our SIAMIDIS uniform insulated over trousers and should have had over jackets as well, but Anita and I missed out on those although others had theirs.
This was about to be quite a day. We divided up into groups with a leader; ours was the Mountain Rescue Leader, Rickard Svedjesten. As an aside, Rickard asked me how I got on with the bivvy bag night out. He said, with his big ‘signature’ smile, he did not expect me to get into one so that made me feel a great deal better about my ‘fail’.
We set off following the snowmobile tracks alongside the roads, winding through the edge of the Snowsports Village and this soon evolved into cross-country through the woods, across frozen rivers and over bridges. We eventually broke out into open country and the pace quickened. It was now the wind chill really kicked in as the ambient was probably around -20°C or lower. Up front on the snowmobile I was beginning to miss not having the benefit of the top jacket, but what I had on was adequate.
We had a couple of brief photo stops and then took a dive down into the woods, winding through the trees before breaking out into open country again. We eventually arrived onto a large frozen lake which was to be our base for the middle part of the day. The snowmobile ride, as those that have done this will know, was quite active but with the added effect of wind chill. We then had our ‘static’ period as we got sorted for a snowshoe walk which, of course, upped the pace to active again. All part of the plan to give our now significant layered clothing an opportunity to prove that it worked.
The overall aim of this layering system was, if at all possible, to keep the wearer warm while preventing them getting a sweat on. The clothing and, if possible measured, activity set out to move any sweat away from the skin and out through the layers. These layers would protect the user from any wind chill and of course the significant but variable cold. In my case I was finding it all worked very well, but as we were to find out in later discussions, this too is a variable.
Unfortunately for me the snowshoe event did not go so well. As often the case, my large sized feet were a problem and I struggled to get the snowshoes adjusted to fit properly. By the time I got it sorted the others had headed off. All was not lost though, as I eventually got the snowshoes on and headed off to catch up with the others. For those of you that have done this, you will know it is quite an ‘active’ undertaking and you soon warm up. For me I found I was still well managed by the layered clothing, and I did not get overly hot.
By the time I got a bit into the walk, now on my own and rather enjoying the tranquillity with just the squeaky crunch of the extremely cold snow underfoot, eventually climbing a small hill, I was still feeling comfortable but it seems others had become warmer by then. Sadly, at this point one of my snowshoes came off…
[images © Mike Gormley or NAS Official Photographer]
To be continued…
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