One pair of short, flannel-lined bearskin trousers.
One pair of bearskin or deerskin or musk-ox skin winter-weather boots. One pair of sealskin boots.
Two or three pair of polar hareskin stockings.
One pair of bearskin mittens.
One or two pairs of deerskin or sealskin mittens.
Three or four pairs of blanket inner mittens.
Two or three pairs of deerskin inner soles.
All the material for these outfits was carefully selected and prepared, and the garments were made in accordance with the Eskimo methods, carefully fitted for each man and tried out by actual practice in hunting-trips during the winter, so that all defects were remedied before the long spring journey.
Such a clothing outfit as this reduces to the minimum the chances of frost-bite among the members of the party. A man who is normally warm and whose blood circulates vigorously can have his hand exposed to low temperatures for a short time, as in unlashing a load or untangling the dogs, or his feet wet for a short time as the result of his getting into a lead, without having hands or feet frozen; whereas a man dressed in artificial clothing, chilly all the time, drawing on his vital heat and energy continuously, would freeze his hands or feet almost instantly under the same conditions.
Such a costume is also a very practical auxiliary of the rations in certain circumstances. When it is necessary to go on scant rations, the conservation of animal heat and life represented by one of these costumes is a very material equivalent of a considerable amount of food.