Will you be stopping in Vancouver on your route ? Mountain Equipment Co-op would be one place to get cold weather gear. or Marks Work Wearhouse (more for working stiffs but they are into casual as well).
A very good parka (I prefer down) and boots would be my primary concerns.
notch codes ? I only use one film...
Vancouver weather would be closer to the weather in Brussels.
Are you going north for work?
When I used to work outdoors in -30C or colder, feet, legs, and hands are the first to get cold for me. 2013 was the last winter I spent my days outdoors for the most part. They're spent mostly in vehicle now.
Most of my current work-wear comes from Mark's (Mark's Work Warehouse as it used to be called). I wear insulated rubber boots, winter bib snow pants, winter insulated work parka, glove liners, and gloves. Wear good head-gear, and hood for when it's windy.
The expenses can add up going that route though. They're meant to last all day outdoors. If you're working from your vehicle, where you can pop in and warm up, a good jacket, gloves, warm shoes, touque, and maybe some pyjamas or long johns under your pants should suffice.
Though keep in mind if you have vehicle trouble dressed like that you're going to freeze to death.
Going to be -42C with windchill here just North of Edmonton tonight. And you want to go out and take photographs in this kind of weather? Heh.
Looking at Accuweather's long range forecast and Tuk weather looks pretty decent tbh. Coldest day is -30°c end of the month. If it's dry, it won't feel so bad. Make sure you stay hydrated during the day if you're outside much of the time.
It's probably too late to order them and they're kind of expensive but these are pretty much all I wear on my feet in the Arctic winter. http://shop.mukluks.com/Arctic-with-.../#.VKhW-76vHjI
notch codes ? I only use one film...
If it's truly cold you will freeze your hands trying to operate a large format camera. That's your main problem you'll need to overcome, although there are many others. You should consider if you really want to deal with all that or if shooting medium format would be sufficient as it is way easier.
I have an Optar 135mm and the Graphex shutter freezes up on me, I've had better luck with modern Copals which seem to keep working in the cold.
I wore these, not because I'm a fashionista, but because they were issued.Originally Posted by Fred L
Gloves - research military arctic gloves. They are usually a mitten type gauntlet shell with a separate fingered glove that goes inside. I've an associate who has done both poles twice. He uses a 6x17cm rollfilm camera and never hurt himself by pulling off the shell and loading film.
Next year I will be trying these. I don't need true arctic gear in the tropics of Minnesota.
I've seen people using those boots but don't think they're Cdn military issue. The Stegers rare VERY light and warm, never had so much as a cold toe wearing them.
For mitts, I now wear the Military Arctic mitts from Raber Gloves.
notch codes ? I only use one film...
I shoot in northern Minnesota all year long. In the winter we regularly reach into negative 10-30's. Tomorrow we are expected to reach a high of -10 F. I have had older shutters malfunction in the cold; however none of my modern shutters have ever given me any trouble in the cold. A simple test. Put your shutter in the freezer for an hour or two, cocked and cable release attached. After the hour or two has passed, quickly open your freezer and without moving your lens, fire your shutter. If it works as expected, your shutter should perform fine in the cold. If in doubt, a CLA is a good investment.
I wear Stegers all winter long (except when it gets too warm) and bunny boots occasionally and both are excellent. I prefer the bunny boots for standing around, snowmobiling or other times where I will be less active.
Beware of equip boxes made out of ABS - it can shatter with a minor drop. Likewise, be careful not to bend ABS filmholder slides. My biggest concern would be
keeping meter batteries warm. So either have some spare batteries in your pocket or keep the meter itself there. Guess most other issues have already been
mentioned. A snorkel hood might help prevent breath from forming frost on the groundglass.
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