Head protection during arctic expeditions

When making arctic expeditions, the key is to keep your face as warm as possible.
Head protection during arctic expeditions is just incredibly important.
A hat alone won’t save you, by the way.
It really does take more than that.

Head protection during arctic expeditions is simply indispensable

The fact is that you lose a lot of heat through your neck.
That’s where the two major arteries are located.
So it is important to keep your neck as warm as possible at all times.
You can do this just fine by using a buff.
This is a kind of stocking that you can put over the neck.
You pull the buff up to over your chin, and you breathe through that part, something that is perfectly fine.
Next, you choose a hat.
Best is a hat with fleece on the inside.
When you purchase a hat, always check carefully to make sure it is sewn shut and warm enough for a Northern Lights trip.

Make sure the hat is not too big

It is also important that the hat not be too big.
It is further wise to pull the hat over the ears.
Is there a really cold day, you throw the buff over the hat.
Then you put glasses over the hat; sunglasses or ski goggles.
These ski goggles often seal just fine.
It’s good to always have two buffs with you on your trip, such as on the dogsled or during a cross-country ski trip.
Is it colder or do you have the wind full in your face? Then just wear a second buff.

Also indispensable is a balaclava during arctic expeditions

Good head protection during arctic expeditions?
A balaclava.
A good balaclava has a good front while the back of the hat is a bit lower.
That way you can tuck the balaclava away nicely in the collar of the sweater at the back.
In a good balaclava, you’ll find mesh in the front.
You can breathe out just fine that way, and that way fluid accumulation in the mouth also stays out.

On sunny days, a cap with a visor is sufficient

On the sunnier days in Scandinavia, you can usually get by with a cap with a visor.
Take a cap with a metal wire you can get the cap in the exact shape you want.
Moreover, the cap then also always keeps its shape.
You can possibly attach a string to prevent blowing away during the trip.
You can put the string behind the ears and attach it to the cap.

To the cold with a special expedition cap

Are you going on an expedition? Then, in addition to the cold, you may have to deal with considerable sun intensity.
An expedition cap may then be sufficient.
This cap has a sun visor and this cap also offers protection to both the neck and your face.
And so you can provide excellent protection for your face during arctic expeditions.
Be sure to do the same on a husky safari or while cross-country skiing.

Below you can read the transcript of the video recorded by Henk-Jan Geel about the expedition materials.

‘I’m going to tell something about how I keep my face warm during arctic expeditions yes you do that with a hat of course, but I’ve brought here what all I take with me.
A lot of heat you lose that through your neck there are the two major arteries so it is important that you keep your neck well warm.
I do that with a buff which is this: a kind of stocking that you can put over your neck and then it sits like this I always like it when a buff goes over my chin my and then I breathe through this part.
Then the hat, this is a wool hat and with me there is another fleece inside and if you take a hat look that the hat is also sewn shut, that it is not too coarse because there the wind can pass through it more easily.
But that hat I put on over the ears that is nice and on cold days I take my buff and throw it over my hat that I only have this part visible.
Well goggles d’r over them or ski goggles and this seals pretty well.
I take 2 buffs with me, some days it is really colder and then you want a second buff over it.
And then you may have days when the wind is full on and you start to get really super cold.
Then make sure you have a good balaclava.
A nice balaclava that has a good front and also a long back that you can tuck away in your collar and in your sweater and this balaclava has a kind of yes mesh here in the front that allows my mouth to breathe out here and so I don’t build up too much moisture and get too much moisture here at my mouth.
On sunny days when the sun is lower on the horizon, I like to wear this cap and the nice thing about this cap is that the flap has a metal wire in it so you can shape it in all directions and it will stay the way you shaped it.
There are flaps in there for your ears and, I did that myself but, I put a string around it that should there be a good wind in the cap blows off then it gets caught behind the string in the end it looks this way it looks and a lot of treks I walk with just this cap and then the buff over it, this is really ideal last and I don’t want to keep that from you is an expedition cap for desert expeditions and that’s this one.
On expeditions to Greenland, but maybe even expeditions to the south pole, the sun intensity can be so high that you need a cap like this a cap like this with a sun visor, but also protection in your neck and protection for your face.
And when it’s sunny in Greenland, the sun reflects from all sides and you feel incredibly hot even if it’s minus 10 minus 15 just with that sun reflection it feels incredibly hot so take one of those desert expedition hats for that, and it ends up looking like this you see I’m protected from the front, I’m protected from the sides, I can still close this and then with sunglasses on then the sun can’t affect me and this is not against the cold but purely against the intensity of the sun so for me those are the ways to stay warm on my face during arctic expeditions.’