Some thoughts on selecting clothing for subarctic climate

[Martti]

Much of Finland is part of the subarctic climate (Dfc on Köppen), where temperatures range from -20°C/-4°F to +20°C/68°F in most years. I'm currently changing my selection of clothing to something more suitable and traditional to this area. I have obtained dozens of hiking books from 1930s to 1940s and read several Finnish military reports from the War to make up a kit that would fulfil both of these two conditions.

To start from the bottom; footwraps. Very old school I know but they are unanimously recommended by all if made out of wool and not cotton. They say that they should be used both during summer and winter. They're warmer and easier to dry in the bush. There is a division into those that recommend ankle and those that would use calf-high boots on the Finnish literature. I'm more into lighter shoes so I'll prefer ankle boots with removable cloth gaiters during summer. Leather enforced felt boots should be excellent choice along with felt socks, if they are only used during dry phase of winter.

Wool flannel briefs were the number one choice by all books I read. On top of them I would use medium-weight wool trousers with a leather belt.

For the upper body a cotton anorak should be enough. Under it a wool flannel shirt or two along with a wool sweater. On one of the military reports a wool field cap was considered enough for an average winter in Southern and Central Finland, but a fur (or fleece) cap is needed for Lapland.

Care to comment, please?

 

[Wayland]

I've been reading into this a lot lately and making kit for next years Arctic course too.

Most of the sources I have seen recommend the windproof cotton parka / anorak over woollen base and mid layers.

Where opinion seems to differ widely is in leg and footwear. Some seem to prefer as I do the traditional approaches while others favour modern synthetics or vapour barrier systems.

I suspect the answer may be found in a compromise of some kind.

 

[Totumpole]

Wayland, with regards to your thoughts on trousers, Hilltrek have combined their ventile with a nikwax analogy layer which would do just that. I'm not sure they do it in the trousers, but I'm sure they would if you asked nicely.

Colin

 

[RonW]

You hit a soft spot there with me, Martti, as I am very interested in traditional kit and/or kit made out of natural materials.
Since I am moving to Sweden this august I could use some advise on this matter, too. One of the problems I come acroos is footwear. How do you keep your feet warm with footwraps? I have a bit of a problem picturing that.
Do you actually wrap a strip of cloth/felt around your foot like a bandage and than put on your boots? If only recommended in dry winterconditions, what to wear in wet conditions?
And how do these boots with detachable shafts look like?

 

[sandbender]

"...footwraps. Very old school I know but they are unanimously recommended by all if made out of wool and not cotton. They say that they should be used both during summer and winter. They're warmer and easier to dry in the bush..."

They use these over here too, they are surprisingly comfy and warm, In Hungarian they are called 'kapca'.

 

[Martti]

One of the problems I come acroos is footwear. How do you keep your feet warm with footwraps? I have a bit of a problem picturing that.

Finnish Defence Forces along with Oulu Regional Institute of Occupational Health conducted a comparison between cotton footwraps and wool-polyamide felt socks (A), socks and wool-polyamide felt socks (B), and wool-polyamide socks and polyamide socks (C) in 1984.

(A) archived between 0,1C and 0,3C higher foot temperatures during the test than (C), which also had the largest heat loss during the tests. However it should be noted that the test subjects with (A) noticed a cool feeling on the legs after 75 minutes while (C) did not have that effect. That might be the reason why you would like to use wool footwraps instead of cotton ones.

Do you actually wrap a strip of cloth/felt around your foot like a bandage and than put on your boots? If only recommended in dry winterconditions, what to wear in wet conditions?

Here are the first six phases of wrapping footwraps according to Finnish Defence Forces' instructions from 1969. It should give an idea how to do it, but there are many different methods how to do it.

Felt boots are only good if dry and for that reason the current FDF winter boot is made out of rubber. When I conducting my service we had four pairs of boots for whole year; service leather boots, one for leave, one pair of summer rubber boots and one for winter. However you can manage with two pairs of shoes for whole year if the leather boots have also some degree of waterproofness for spring and fall.

And how do these boots with detachable shafts look like?

Here is an example of the rubber boots, but for felt shoes search for "valenki" which are the Russian version of the same shoes.

http://www.nokianfootwear.fi/eng/outdoor/kaira.php

http://www.nokianfootwear.fi/eng/accessories/

 

[RonW]

This foorwrap thing looks interesting!
I guess it would be good to use these with moccasins, too. Right?
In that case i could make my own feltcloth and use that.

 

[Martti]

This foorwrap thing looks interesting!
I guess it would be good to use these with moccasins, too. Right?
In that case i could make my own feltcloth and use that.

Some Finns actually wore the traditional moccasins with footwraps until the early 1900s. I also have some reports that say that socks would be better for other than boots, but I quess it is up to the person who wears them.

 

[Martti]

The Finnish field cap m/36 is pretty much the same as the German M43. The field cap was seen good enough for moderate cold winters in Southern and Central Finland and anyway I think there is a need for a light cap that also protects the wearer from the sun during the spring.

A fur cap of some kind is needed for Lapland, or a field cap can be also equipped with detachable lining made out of cotton wool.

 

[RonW]

I'd prefer a hat to a fieldcap in order to keep sun, rain and/or snow away from your neck and ears, without covering them. That would result in less hearing.

 

[Martti]

I'd prefer a hat to a fieldcap in order to keep sun, rain and/or snow away from your neck and ears, without covering them.

Well, you do not have to cover them during the warm season with a field cap (flaps up position) and anyway you would have to have something on them during the winter or they would freeze off. I have few books that say a fedora of some kind would be ideal for summer, but as I said most of them prefer field caps or tuques.

 

[Martti]

I had some thoughts if an anorak is actually necessary on the most parts of Finland during the winter. The average wind speed in these parts is around 6 m/s, 22 km/h or 13 mph during the January and February. Traditionally wool coat was used as an outer layer along with occasional sheepskin coat. I've used my wool coat as the outer layer for the last two winters in Helsinki area when the temperature was c. -25C/-13F at the coldest. There is also no need to sleep outside without a fire so the importance of the anorak is even smaller, I think.

 

[RonW]

This M43-cap is worth a try. I like those caps a lot, anyway!
Personally I don't like anoraks. The underlaying clothing is not easily reachable, without half undressing oneself.

I do have a question about those footwraps; Are these some kind of feltcloth pieces or is it woven?
I like the idea and want to try it, by making those wraps myself.

 

[Martti]

I do have a question about those footwraps; Are these some kind of feltcloth pieces or is it woven?

As it happens, I have official FDF specifications for m/38 footwrap fabric (from which the wraps were cut):

- Width 140 cm
- Weight 357 g/m² ± 4%
- Woven from natural white wool yarn (flannel) with blue stripes

 

[Chris the Cat]

Martti,
Hi ! A question about the Nokian boots if I may.
I have heard that they 'come up large', in order to fit thick socks. Is this your experience?
Do you buy your normal size, or go up one ?
I also have been looking into foot wraps, but, of course they can not be bought over here! Shame.
My best.
Chris.

 

[Martti]

I have heard that they 'come up large', in order to fit thick socks. Is this your experience?
Do you buy your normal size, or go up one ?

In addition what I wrote in your other thread, the rubber boots here in Finland are almost always wore with wool or felt socks. I never look sizes as numbers but always try them without and with wool socks to see if I'll need the larger size or not. What I have heard from few people is that the West European shoes are made too narrow for the Nordic foot!

I also have been looking into foot wraps, but, of course they can not be bought over here! Shame.

I'm quite sure you can order them cheaply from Germany or from Finland if needed. See the link for an example and a guide how to wrap them.
http://www.varusteleka.fi/product/socks-and-foot-wraps/nva-foot-wraps-as-new/_2M4145MBN

 

[RonW]

Thanks for that link, Martti.
A lot of usefull stuff and I had a good laugh reading the productdescriptions, too!!

 

[Martti]

To sum up the findings and recommendations of 1938 Finnish Army report on winter clothing:

- Jackets should be loose enough on shoulders, chest and armpits. The collar should not be too high nor it should strangle the user when loaded with a backpack. Lining should be applied only to selected parts of the jacket.
- Trousers should be loose enough on knees and calfs. They should be straight and high enough so that the opening at the top will protect the area around belly.
- Mittens should be made long enough to reach over the undergarment which the user wears under the jacket.
- Two sets of shoes should be enough; one pair (the older one) for summer and fall is made waterproof with fats/oil/wax and the other one is left untreated for winter use.

 

[RonW]

The Finnish field cap m/36 is pretty much the same as the German M43. The field cap was seen good enough for moderate cold winters in Southern and Central Finland and anyway I think there is a need for a light cap that also protects the wearer from the sun during the spring.

Someone pointed out to me that the M36 cap is similar to the German WW1-cap, which is lower on top. The M43 differs in appearance.

 

[Martti]

The M43 differs in appearance.

True, m/36 has a shorter peak for one but the basic principle stays the same. There have been some interesting discoveries I made when I read some old books on Finnish loggers who worked in Lapland and Eastern Finland during the first decades of the 20th century. They never wore a windproof jacket but just a wool jacket. This makes sense as they worked in a forest where the wind is not too strong. The other thing is that I accidently found this excellent list of clothing worn by workmen at and around the city of Rovaniemi (in Lapland) during the winter of 1918 when the temperatures dropped to -34C/-29F:

Flannel trousers (of cotton?)
Another trousers (of same quality?)
Trousers (of wool?)
Two pairs of wool/ socks
Felt shoes
Reindeer boots

Flannel shirt (of cotton?)
Knitted wool sweater
Wool jacket
Fur jacket (of sheep or reindeer?)
Fur hat
Wool mittens
Leather mittens