Parkas and Mukluks

[FJJP]

I remember in the seventies being issued with Parka anoraks and Mukluk boots prior to deployment to Goose Bay and Offut AFB in the depths of the vicious N American winter.

The parka was a heavyweight anorak with a full hood trimmed with wolverine fur.

Mukluks were lace-up canvas boots with a felt inner boot and thick felt insole.

Both perfect for recent weather. Anyone know a source for these?

TVM FJJP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

No idea where you'll get them in the UK. Can recommend sources/makes for genuine article or cheaper modern stuff in Canada.

-19 yesterday, -32 with the windchill, and I was out in my yard then went for a walk. Lovely with the right gear.

Estonian Proverb "There is no such as 'bad weather', only 'the wrong clothing'."

PM me if you/anyone wants details

[Fareastdriver]

Try
Parkas men military parka | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=men+military+parka)


Mukluks manitobah mukluks | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=manitobah+mukluks&_sacat=See-All-Categories)

[Milo Minderbinder]

Google mukluk and plenty of online shops appear in Canada. Some of those could surely supply

[Pontius Navigator]

None of those on eBay was the real deal. I sold one that was as new last year. A new one was as rare as you know what. One my last sqn we had a 'stack' and they were much loved by the resident mouse population as well.

The mukluks I think were part of the Arctic warfare kit I think and not standard RAF issue.

To go with the parka and boots you really needed the glove assembly too. We had silk inners, white wool gloves and then white leather mittens. The mittens had a short lambswool pile on the back for rubbing frozen skin.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Layers is the key, but how can you tell if you have enough?

Pat yourself down. If you can still tell what gender you are, then you need more layers.;)

[barnstormer1968]

Pontius

You are showing your age now.......Or the age of your kit :E.

The glove assembly you describe is long gone, and has been replaced with superior gear (minus the lambswool pile).

Do you remember the training film with David Jason showing how to wear the kit you mention?

[Pontius Navigator]

BS, no, this was before David Jason was a name. He had just started on crossroads.:} The kit we used was all white - mukluks, flying suit and gloves. The flying suit was the same pattern as the later mk 3 c/w flying suits but with an RAF Royal Blue lining. We didn't have the whie acrylan pile until later that year. I sold my acrylan pile suit on eBay as well; it was only 45 years old!

I do remember some training films however.

One always puzzled me. It was a crash landed aircraft and the crew dragged all their arctic kit out of the fuselage and proceeded to make a nylon igloo under a wing. I could understand that an opened fuselage could be pretty cool but why not build the shelter inside the fuselage. They may have gone on to light a fire but that could have been just a dodgy under a wing.

The next film was truely frightening. Out intrepid survivor took the hunting rifle out of his survival pack and shot a caribou. Hunting rifle! He then proceeded to skin and butcher the carcass. Next he made a frame and stretched the skin over the frame tying it tautly with the paracord inner. He then took a sharp stone and scraped the skin before rubbing it with the brains to soften it. Just how long did he expect to be surviving for?

The final film was good. Again our intrepid survivor gathered his kit and burrowed into the bowl under a fir tree. It was nice and dry, out of the wind. Then he lit a fire. The heat from the fire rose through the fir tree; the snow melted; a large lump fell down his neck :)

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Rescue times are getting better. Single engine transatlantic used (1994) to require a hefty axe to build a shelter and 10,000 calories of food. I was told I could expect rescue by...Spring. Now it's a snow saw and 500 calories.
Mind you, just last week it took 72 hours before the military could launch to look for a lost snowmobiler from one of the Northern Labrador communities. They found him, but too late.
Still, at least there's no black or grizzly bears in the deep midwinter!

[Al R]

My Lundhags got an airing last week. Great boots - thanks 33. :ok:

http://www.raymears.com/getimg.cfm?img=Lundhags_Husky_Ski.jpg

[Pontius Navigator]

Fox3, I don't doubt it. The films were back in the 60s. What worried use was we had flouroscene dye markers, 2-star reds and a dinghy knife. If you needed a sleeping bag, rifle and axe we were rather under-equipped floating around Labrador at 500 feet -25 C or more.

For a bailout the order was Radar, AEO, Plotter, Copilot, Captain. The drill was for the plotter to stay put and the others to walk in. The plan was to fly with more survival gear than the others in the crew and to set off in the other direction :}

[barnstormer1968]

Pontius

Here is a very young David Jason (the date is missing from the film, but it looks '60s)
Demonstrating the lambswool pad on the very mitts you describe. He plays a soldier called Norm in this film and sports a Scottish accent. The film is for an army audience and is called 'Health in cold climates'.

Sorry about the 'noise bars' but I only have these films on VHS.

http://i736.photobucket.com/albums/xx9/barnstormer1968/davidjason-1.jpg

[Pontius Navigator]

Those are the gloves.

[Fareastdriver]

I can remember the performance, a couple of hours short of Goose Bay of having to climb down into the main cabin, full of sweaty navigators, and don a parka before climbing back into my ejector seat. Just in case I had to bang out so I would not get cold in the Arctic.

[50+Ray]

It would have been a rare slimline pilot who could get back up between the seats when dressed like that

[Motleycallsign]

In answer to the OP's question. The canvas mukluks are only good for Arctic wear, ie 'dry snow'. They are useless when they get wet. I found the shorter 'Canadian Parka' better than the knee length RAF issue one.

[Pontius Navigator]

Motley, I think the parka as used by the RAF was never used as intended. I think it was actualy the top half of a sleeping bag assembly. Rather than a full length sleeping bag which could actually be quite difficult to get in - bum shuffle and all that - it was one that would just cover the lower body perhaps up to the thighs. It wasn't intended as a working coat.

I was at Goose once with the temp in the 'high' 20s (near -30) and was quite warm in the standard Mk 3, acrylan pile etc, provided I kept turning to pick up gammas from a weak sun. As soon as part of my body was in the shade it soon became a little cool when standing around.

[AR1]

The Parkas were Issued at RAF Machrihanish, very briefly in the early 80's, but were withdrawn when the CO did his nut as everybody adopted them for the walk to work. Back to the useless raincoat it was.

[FJJP]

Thanks for all the info, chaps. Pity I didn't see Pontius' ad on ebay last year - would love to have a new pair of issue mukluks, never mind the old parka....

FJJP

[richh]

Take a look at UsedOttawa.com.He has what appears to be Army Mukluks as I remember them from the late 50's and also Extreme Cold Weather Parkas of a slightly different Pattern.

[Top Bunk Tester]

Try googling 'Military Mukluks' in images. Plenty on there, liners as well. These were the ones we wore in Goose around 87-88.

[glad rag]

Well why stay fixed in the past when you can have the modern day equivalent of the Inuit sealskin?...

Pertex/Pile System
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British made, Buffalo Systems outdoor performance pile and pertex clothing and sleeping bags for mountaineering, hill walking, climbing, ice climbing, mountain biking, cycling and general outdoor pursuits (http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/)


Buffalo Systems Performance Outdoor Clothing - Parka - At home on ice covered decks in the Southern Ocean with round-the-world yachtsmen (http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/Parka.htm)



Compared to DP Pertex, goretex [TM] is as breathable as polythene sheet!!!

:ok:

[BEagle]

Why on earth would anyone want to buy ex-military clothing from 30-40 years ago? It wasn't much use then (top tip - snow doesn't stick to wolverine fur if the wolverine isn't alive at the time....:rolleyes: ) and would be even worse now.

Search for 'arctic clothing' if you feel disposed to going out in Britain's 2-day winter - but don't waste time on obsolete and largely useless military kit from a bygone age.

'Cold wet gloves' - yes, they truly were....:oh:

I wonder which clever person cornered the wolverine culling market and flogged the resulting pelts to a naive HMG? Top marks for enterprise, less so for honesty and decency.

[Pontius Navigator]

BEagle, shush, you will spoil the after market on eBay, I still have a nav bag, pair of green long johns and a flying shirt to go. Also a pencil box and a 2H POP computer.

[rigpiggy]

Canadian Forces Arctic Mukluks W/Liner - Uncle Sams Army Navy Outfitters (http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/products_details.asp?SKU=Can%20MukWt&ItemName=Canadian%20Forces%20Arctic%20Mukluks%20W/Liner)

I go to Goose tomorrow, not many of Furiner's there now though

[oldmansquipper]

...Parka was issued for Goose bay etc - but were also part of the "Arctic" survival packs fitted on deployment/tasking as required

I seem to remember a "lost" Parka was a courts martial offence

Mukluks were indeed only good in the right (dry) snow.

[cazatou]

BEagle

The standard RAF Cold Weather Kit was perfectly adequate when I did a Cold Weather Trial in Greenland in February when the OAT was minus 47 Celsius.