The Turner Twins Interviewed: Comparing Old and New Expedition Clothing

I've written before about my interest in natural and heritage fabrics, cotton and wool cloths, and their use in outdoor wear. I recently met explorers Hugo and Ross Turner at an event held by Breitling, for whom they are brand ambassadors. The twins started their adventures after Hugo broke his neck in a diving accident at the age of 17. The drive and determination needed to recover spilled over into a desire to seek adventure around the world. In doing so they support spinal research charities, including Wings for Life (all links below).

The Turner Twins compare old and new styles of outdoor clothing

Hugo and Ross told me about two expeditions in which they tested the types of traditional clothes worn by explorers of a century ago using cotton and wool cloths and knitwear. In one they set out to cross Greenland on foot recreating the clothing Shackleton would have worn in the early years of the last century; in the other they climbed Mount Elbrus (5642m) in Russia using gear that Mallory and Irvine would have used on his final Everest expedition in 1923.

Mt. Elbrus - old and new mountaineering clothing

I asked Hugo to tell me more:

1. In 2014 you and your brother undertook an expedition to Greenland. What were the aims of the expedition?

We set out to cross the Greenland ice cap (east-west) and to find out how hard it was to be an explorer 100 years ago, as 2014 was the centenary year that Shackleton departed for his Endurance expedition. We used replica clothing, kit and equipment and food as we wanted to highlight the performance of Shackleton’s kit and compare it to todays modern equivalent.

Being twins means we can conduct these tests without bias and due to the fact we’re twins means we should technically be identical and therefore any difference in the results from the scientific research conducted on the trips should tell an interesting story.

Greenland

2. What are the requirements of clothing used in polar conditions?

The number one rule is to have clothing that keep you warm. If you can’t keep your body warm then you’re not going to last very long. Secondly, breathability; if you sweat too much in the cooler extremes of our planet your clothing will freeze and become inefficient. And thirdly, layering; this keeps your temperature more satiated as well as offering better comfort and mobility – vital when you have a range of activities and tasks to complete on an expedition.

Greenland - old and new clothing technologies

3. Please describe the older and new clothing. What are the main differences in appearance and functional terms?

The older clothing, as you can imagine, is made from natural materials: wool and cotton. Jumpers and base layers are all wool while outer jackets, combined with lanolin, can make effective and breathable outer shells. You won’t find any zips either. The early explorers used buttons simple for the fact that zips weren’t invented! The modern kit is lightweight, colourful and mostly synthetic unless you find a manufacturer who knows the importance of natural fabrics when designing base layers. Feather ‘down’ jackets have now largely replaced the 'woolly-pully' while plastics and modern technology has allowed for more features and performance which is more forgiving to the user.

Mt Elbrus

4. Who designed the older clothing and where was it made? What materials were used?

For our Greenland crossing, we managed to get the clothing from Tim Jarvis’s expedition which was used to recreate Shackleton’s journey from Elephant island to South Georgia. The traditional pulk (all nine feet of her) was hand made by Roger Daynes at Snowsled Polar.

The Mallory clothing for the Mt Elbrus climb was made by Barrington Ayre using gabardine to recreate the outer layers. The mountaineering boots were made by Crockett & Jones boots maker [images below]. What you also have to remember is that early mountaineers used almost identical kit as their earlier polar counterparts.

"It’s surprising to see how well the traditional materials and clothing fared against the modern equivalent"

5. Did each brother wear one type of clothing for the expedition, or were you each able to try new and old?

Ross wore the traditional Shackleton clothing in Greenland while Hugo wore the Mallory clothing and kit. Doing these expeditions allowed us to really get into the mind set of these early explorers so we didn’t want to swap our kit and try the modern equivalent. This also helped with the scientific and physiological testing. Having used the traditional and modern clothing in cold environments it’s surprising to see how well the traditional materials and clothing fared against the modern equivalent.

Greenland - new and old-style pulks

6. What sort of conditions did you have in which to test the clothes?

The conditions experienced in the polar environments of Greenland weren’t unusual and it wasn’t uncommon for the temperature to hit 30 below. Taking into consideration the wind speed, it felt much colder. The conditions on Mt Elbrus weren’t hugely different, freezing winds with temperatures around -15, but the main battle was with the high altitude. This makes it much harder for your body to stay warm. Temperatures weren’t as cold but taking into account the high altitude it felt as cold as Greenland.

7. What were your conclusions?

The traditional clothing used by those early explorers was certainly up to the job of keeping them alive. The clothing allowed for warmth, mobility and protection while also allowing breathability. The one major down fall was the weight of all the clothing compared to the modern equivalent.

8. What lessons could be learned for future expeditions and the design of modern clothing?

I think one lesson to learn for future expeditions is to keep it natural! Using natural fibres and materials give that added performance such as wicking and breathability. I’d also say that the zipper is something I’d want to keep over buttons but then you learn about your clothing systems and kit the more you explore so the more you get out into cold environments the more you’ll learn about what kit and clothing systems work for you.

Traditional cleated boots (right) made by Crockett & Jones for the Mt Elbrus climb

9. Unfortunately the Greenland expedition ended prematurely - what happened?

Hugo’s knee became increasingly painful over the first two weeks of the expedition, eventually leaving him unable to continue with the expedition. Due to safety issues we were helicoptered off the ice cap at Dye 2 radar station.

10. What's next for the Turner Twins?

We will be continuing with our series of world first expeditions by aiming to reach another Pole of Inaccessibility later this year. We’ve reach two of these so called Poles of Inaccessibility (Australia and South America), which is defined as the furthest inland point from any coastline on a particular continent. We’ll continue to create unique content for our partners while attempting to reach more Poles of Inaccessibility, so we hope to announce the next project soon.

Old meets new on Mt Elbrus - wearing a Breitling Emergency watch

In the image above, one of the twins wears a very un-early-twentieth-century watch. The Breitling Emergency watch acts as an emergency beacon and is commonly used by pilots, adventurers and sailors. Its dual frequency transmitter is compliant with the specifications of the Cospas-Sarsat international satellite alert system and serves to both issue alerts and to guide search and rescue missions.