Preparing for the Arctic Circle - 2016

Courtesy of Quark Expeditions

Time to start planning for our upcoming 13-day Arctic trip. I'm reviewing my winter packing list to determine if any updates are needed. This is a bit easier as much of my winter expedition clothing has been replaced after LAN Airlines lost my checked-in luggage. This incident occurred when I returned to the US from Antarctica last year. 

I pay particular attention to pack hard-to-replace winter clothes in my outbound carry-on bag. This ensures that I'm able to start my Arctic trip with my cold-weather essentials. We really don't have time for shopping for Arctic gear once we're on our way. 

My clothing list is not very long. We attempt to hand wash as much as we can or use on-board laundry services to reduce our luggage requirements.

Clothing (Item and Quantity)

• North Face Thermoball insulated jacket (1)
• North Face Non-insulated GoreTex pants (1)
• Waterproof gloves with liners (2)
• Knit cap (1) 
• Visor cap with spandex face mask (1)  
• Fleece neck gaiter (1) 
• Heavy wool socks (2) 
• Silk/Poly liner socks (2) 
• Patagonia Primaloft vest (1) 
• Long-sleeved travel shirt (1) 
• Polo shirts (1 packed, 1 worn)
• Midlayer fleece (1)
• Base-layer pants (2)
• Long-sleeved base-layer quarter-zip shirt, Marmot and others (3)
• Dri-fit short sleeved t-shirts (3)
• Underwear and light hiking socks (4 packed, 1 worn) 
• Medium weight cargo pants (1 packed and 1 worn)
• Gym shorts (1)   
• Waterproof walking shoes (1 worn)
• Running shoes/sneakers (1) 

Note: Quark Expeditions provides guests with both a waterproof jacket and boots.

Non-clothing items:

• Laptop computer with external 500GB drive for photo backup
• USB 32GB portable flash drive for photo sharing
• Unlocked cell phone, with charger
• Kindle e-reader
• Noise canceling headphones and iPod 
• 10x42 Zeiss Conquest binocular
• Small LED flashlight
• Prescription glasses (1 packed, 1 worn)
• Contact lens
• Sunglasses (1 for prescription glasses and 1 Gargoyle sunglasses)  
• Prescription and OTC medication
• Miscellaneous toiletries, including sunscreen and lip balm
• Eye mask to aid sleeping during long daylight hours
• Laundry soap and microfleece travel towel (XL size to speed clothes drying) 
• Portable clothes line and clothes hooks
• Ziploc bags of a variety of sizes
• Dry-bag backpack, small 
• Passport and drivers license 
• Paper travel documentation, including insurance claim forms
• Anti-Noro Hand sanitizer
• Trakdot luggage tracker 

Camera Bag Contents
When planning a trip, deciding what camera equipment to bring is always a challenge for me. Sure, my Android phone can take a great photo, but there are limits when you want to get more creative in your picture. For the Arctic, I would like to have equipment that is able to take both long distance and wide angle photographs, handle difficult lighting conditions and be able to adjust the depth of field. I don't want to be bound to a single camera as it could malfunction in rough weather but I also want to limit the amount photography equipment in my carry-on luggage.

Courtesy of Canon USA

My Arctic photography equipment list includes my Canon full sensor DSLR and a variety of lenses. My carry-on will also include several filters and backup batteries. For a backup camera system, I'm adding a Canon EOS-M3 mirror-less camera body.The M3 is lighter and smaller than a second DSLR, body and my DSLR lenses can also be attached to the M3. The crop sensor of the M3 will also give me a little more distance reach for the 300mm zoom lens. This capability might be helpful to capture that faraway polar bear.

For Antarctica, I had rented a Canon Rebel DSLR body as a backup. This time, I'm purchasing the EOS-M3 from B&H. If I don't think this equipment will be used much after visiting the Arctic, my plan is to sell it on eBay. While the eBay proceeds will be less than my purchase costs, I'm hoping the difference will be close to the alternative rental cost for the same equipment.

Thus, my photography equipment list now looks like this:

• Full sensor Canon 5DM3 DSLR body 
• Crop sensor Canon EOS-M3 body with 22mm prime lens
• 70-300mm DSLR zoom lens .
• 25-105mm DSLR zoom lens 
• 28mm DSLR prime lens
• Polarizing filters and one 0.6 ND gradient filter
• Waterproof Olympus P&S camera 
• Two battery packs and single charger per camera 
• Extra camera memory cards - 345GB total (Shooting RAW is consuming)
• Lightweignt monopod
• Lowepro S&F light utility belt with two toploader cases
• Lens cleaning supplies and several small silicon desiccant packs