Polar Safety and Gear: Cold, Sun, Wildlife, and Biosecurity
Polar gear is not about the thickest jacket. It is windproof layers, a dry spare, brutal sun protection and warm batteries — plus wildlife distance and biosecurity rules you cannot opt out of.
Polar equipment is about windproof and waterproof layering, a dry spare, serious sun protection and kept-warm batteries — not about maximum thickness. The rules matter just as much: keep the mandated distance from wildlife, follow biosecurity cleaning before every landing, leave drones behind, and carry out everything you bring. Weather cancels landings routinely; that is the normal cost of being there.
Polar travel punishes two assumptions: that colder means you need thicker clothing, and that the rules are bureaucratic friction. Neither holds. Wind, water and UV do more damage than temperature alone, and the rules exist because the places are fragile and the wildlife has no way to say no.
What to wear
- Three layers: a synthetic or merino base (no cotton), an insulating midlayer, and a windproof and waterproof shell. Ship-to-shore temperature swings are large, so layers you can open and close matter more than a single heavy jacket.
- Two pairs of gloves (thin and thick), hat, neck gaiter, ski goggles and sunglasses, waterproof trousers, landing boots — many operators supply boots, so confirm sizing and disinfection.
- Dry bags for the essentials: camera, phone, documents, medication. Getting wet on a landing is common, not exceptional.
Cold, wind and sun
- Hypothermia and frostbite: numbness, white or hard skin means rewarm and seek medical care. Do not rub with snow and do not hold frostbitten skin to a fire.
- Wind chill is sharper than the thermometer. Expose as little skin as you can.
- Polar UV is brutal, doubled by snow reflection: SPF 50, lip balm, goggles. Snow blindness is painful and disabling.
Photography and electronics
- Batteries lose capacity fast in the cold. Keep spares against your body, not in an outside pocket.
- Cold to warm causes condensation. Seal the camera in a bag and let it come up to room temperature slowly. Back up every day.
- Ship power is limited and sockets vary. Bring adapters and a power bank, within operator and airline rules.
- Drones are banned or tightly restricted in Antarctica, most protected areas and around wildlife. Do not bring one "just to try".
Wildlife
- The Arctic: polar bears are the top risk. Follow the guide or operator, do not wander outside settlements, never feed or attract animals.
- Antarctica: penguins, seals and whales have minimum distances and right-of-way rules. Do not block a path, do not surround an animal, do not touch, do not feed.
- No playback calls, no drone chasing. Animals are more sensitive during breeding and with young.
- Report injured or unusual animals to the expedition team. Do not handle them yourself.
Biosecurity
- Clean boots, hook-and-loop straps, packs and poles before every landing — remove soil and seeds, and follow the operator's disinfection procedure.
- Take nothing: no stones, bones, feathers or plants. Introduce no species.
- Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biosecurity is strict by design. The friction is the point.
On the ship and on landings
- Listen to the briefing: zodiac boarding, wet landings, swell, return times.
- Do not leave the group. Cancelled landings because of weather are normal, not a service failure.
- Seasickness: follow the doctor or the label, hydrate, eat plainly.
- Confirm your insurance covers polar evacuation, and carry prescription medication in its original packaging.