| Tips on what to pack for a trip to Antarctica, posted by real travelers and Antarctica locals. |
 | Antarctica Packing Lists | Tips 41 - 45 of 45 |  |
 by prymsu
Takewaterproof pants, as for landings from a cruise you will be on the water. Most times you will need to step into the water to walk on to shore. Also tall waterproof boots are a must!
Don't forget your sun block! You could get the worst sunburn you have ever experienced! Also I have been on thirty plus crusies, and never had an issue with sea sickness, but on the return passage through the Drake Passage, I was sick for the entire day. Be sure to take something for the nausea.
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 Balaclava: keeps your
head, ears and neck warm by javabit
1. SUN-GLASSES!
- Very good sun-glasses. Since you are focusing on your Antarctica trip to be cold, you could tend to forget that the sun gets reflected by ice, snow and sea.
- Also bring glasses when you wear contact-lenses: the salty water and wind can irritate your eyes
2. Water-proofed clothes! Especially keep your head, ears, hands and feet dry! Water repellent outer clothes that will keep you dry on the outside and still "breathe" enough so that moisture from your body can escape.
3. Zippers on clothes are always practical: unzip on a sunny moment, zip on a windy or snowing moment.
1. Don't get sunburned on your Antarctica Trip!
With all the sun reflections on Antarctica and because of the ozone hole, make sure to bring a high factor sun-cream and put it everywhere the Antarctic sun and it's reflections can reach you. Whatever you should use for a ski trip, you can also use for an Antarctica trip!
2. Lip lotion
Your lips can get sunburned or dry out due to the Antarctic cold and the Antarctic dry winds.
3. Motion sickness
Since you are most of your time on a Cruise ship: bring seasickness medication and a medicine called "Lomotil" against vomiting. Be prepared for rough water, especially when crossing the Drake Passage.
For taking pictures: wear 2 pairs of gloves: have a thin one under a thick one, so you can remove the thick one if you need to take pictures.
Life-jackets should be provided by your cruise ship when you go for a trip on the little rubber boats.
Your clothes should not be too tight, as the air trapped inside loose clothes is actually what keeps you warm. Wool, silk and new synthetic fibers like polar fleece retain heat better than cotton.
For underwear, you have thermic underwear with long trousers and long sleeves. Especially the long sleeves are a recommendation!
What do Antarctica "residents" wear?
People who work and live in Antarctica wear the following Antarctica clothes:
-long underwear
-thick wool socks
-insulated boots, either rubber or canvas, with extra-thick soles
-jeans & a sweater
-insulated canvas pants
-down-filled parka
-wool glove liners and thick leather mittens
-balaclava (polar fleece "hat" that covers your ears and neck, too, see picture)
-neck gaiter (polar fleece tube worn around the neck)
-warm hat with earflaps
-goggles Leave a Comment
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 Trash Ice in the Bay by maryellen50
Clothing for the Antarctica is done in 3 layers; a silk or capilene thernal layer followed by a lightweight second layer then an outer layer of fleece or Polartec. I found Polartec 200 too bulky most of the time and it was seldom worn so don't bring too much of this.
Standard items for adventure travel plus motion sickness medicine. Some people used acupressure wrist bands and herbal medicines but I took a prescription of the Scopolamine patches worn behind the ear. Definitely recommended if you have any degree of motion sickness due to rough waters.
I used an Olympus digital camera for general scenery and a Pentax point and shoot with 200mm zoom for up close and wildlife photos. Everyone advised to take plenty of film but I only used 1 digital camera card and approximately 14 rolls of standard film. I used 100ASA, 200ASA and 400ASA depending on the sunlight as it varies.
One pair of waterproof and breathable pants with outer jacket. Waterproof parka is recommended due to riding in the zodiacs.
Clothing consisting of 3 light layers is preferable to several heavy layers.
I buy most outdoor gear from campmor.com as their selection and prices is exceptional to REI - especially the prices! My favoriate brand available through Campmor is Duofold Ironman Triathlon® Micro Tec Fleece and Duofold Coolmax® Alta™ Lightweight fleece as these are more versatile for climatic changes than Polartec. Leave a Comment
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one suitcase and water resistant backpack. pack light since you will be charged by the airline if overweight. we kept our cases under the bed and there was lots of room in the cabin-closet/hooks.
dress in layers, it's not as cold as you might think! down parka with pockets.
thin fleeces, long underwear, wool socks, couple t shirts long/short, a few sweaters (light warm cashmere or wool).
comfortable shoes for the ship. i wore uggs since they were light, quick to pull on and toasty! (not much traction on a wet deck though)
tight hat, scarf, two pairs gloves, and possibly a larger thin wp mitt to put over for wet zodiac rides.
select a ship which provides wellington boots;you have to go through a foot bath coming and going and regular hiking boots will not be up to it. you will also be getting in/out of a zodiac so will need higher boots. toward the end of the trip there will be a distinctive penguin smell...
have waterproof pants. ski pants ok but not really necessary.
select a good anti-nausea if vulnerable to seasickness;some ships provide medication-take it!
the trip was 19 days and i took about 1200 photos and edited as i was going. i used a canon rebel digital srl mostly on auto and had a telephoto lense. i also had a small canon elph which was good to whip out quickly. take some ziploc bags to protect your camera and an extra battery in case of freezing. you can usually recharge in your room. i also had a tiny video camera which was new to me and came in handy to record some animal behavior and a touching speech at shackelton's grave. Leave a Comment
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Would recommend a holdall with wheels as lighter than a standard case, also will flatten so can be kept in the cabin under the bed. Case storage available
on board but in a seperate cabin. Weight was a big problem,20kg in economy class. Hurtigruten give you a list of must have gear(mostly winter things so bulky) & also for a few days you are in hot weather in Argentina so need some summer things also.
Packing list provided by cruise company, good news the shop on board sells most clothing & accessories(not too expensive) if you forget anything or if your equipment not up to stratch.
Best to take everything you can, back up available from the on board shop if again anything is forgotten.
Took two compact digital cameras, Canon Ixus 40 and Olympus Tough for bad or cold weather, both functioned well. Recommend two cameras incase one fails & lots of memory cards or large capacity - used 2GB ones-got through 4GB in total includes photos and video clips.
Compact binoculars were useful also Leave a Comment
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