Today was an incredibly busy day spent gathering materials for the field. We split the majority of our time between Cargo and the Berg Field Center. Cargo is where each research team has a "cage". These are partitioned rooms created from chain link fencing with shelves for storage and room in the middle for assembling gear. Each "cage" can be locked while away. This is also where we'll store any gear that we're not taking into the field. We have to vacate our dorm rooms because McMurdo is very busy this year and with the comings and goings of research teams, housing is tight.
Perry and John in our
Everything that goes out into the field must be carefully inventoried and packed securely to avoid damage in transit. This can be especially important for scientist who are transporting delicate, expensive equipment. Packing materials are primarily of two types: rock boxes and tri-wall boxes. Rock boxes are sturdy plywood boxes that have very tight fitting lids that can be screwed on. They have rope handles for carrying. Incomplete, but pre-built rock boxes are sent to Antarctica stacked on pallets. Expeditions collect the number of boxes they need and assemble the rope handles and band them. Banding is where a heavy-duty metal strap is wrapped around the box and secured. This helps insure that if the box is dropped from a great height, it will be more likely to survive. Most of our gear that is packed in rock boxes consists of food. As the food is consumed, the boxes will be filled with rock samples to be shipped back to the University of Washington.
Here Brenda and Gordon are banding rock boxes. You can see our
Tri-wall boxes are heavy-duty cardboard boxes. The tri- comes from the fact that all the sides have a triple thickness. We put our generator, solar panels, scientific equipment, cooking gear, camping gear, and other irregularly shaped objects into these boxes. Anything that is considered hazardous material must be packed and shipped separately. So, all of our fuel and any other needed chemicals will arrive on a different flight.
To collect our camping gear, we went to the Berg Field Center (BFC). This is like a giant REI or outdoor store where you get to shop for FREE! We made out a list of equipment earlier and when we got to the BFC, we simply walked up and down the aisles choosing what we needed. Here we collected our sleep kits: -40F sleeping bag, polar fleece sleeping bag liner, camp pillow, ensolite pad, thermarest pad, signal mirror, GPS, and pee bottle (more on this later, once I find out protocol for using it). We also collected our Scott tents and an Endurance tent which we will use as our cook tent (these are larger and provide more headroom so cooking, eating, and washing up are more comfortable). Cooking gear and other miscellaneous items had already been packed by the time John, Perry, and I had arrived in Antarctica.
Scott tents stored in the Berg Field Center.
Some expeditions choose to pull their gear on sledges behind snow machines. The old-fashioned wooden sledges are tried and true.
Once rock boxes and tri-walls are packed, everything must be loaded onto pallets and weighed. Forms must be filled out and identifying tags attached that properly indicate grantee identification (ours is I-414-M), field camp location, weight and dimensions of items, priority (1, 2, or 3 depending on whether is it imperative to have for survival, a "must" have, or "when there's room to ship"), and whether or not it can be allowed to freeze. Completed cargo is then wheeled to the front of the warehouse where it will be picked up and placed in the queue for transport to the field. It is possible that our gear and scientific equipment will reach the field camp before we do.
Lid of a rock box showing list of contents and identifying tag.
Perry is getting ready to weigh the pallet.
It took us an entire day to assemble the necessary equipment to make our lives quasi-comfortable while in the field. Tomorrow we will collect our food for the trip. I've always thought car camping was comfortable, but with a C-130 transport and Helicopter helping to get us out in the field, we should be able to take many items to make us feel at home.