Earlier this year Tim Jarvis and his team completed an amazing trip by retracing the 1916 Southern Ocean journey of the great British explorer Ernest Shackleton, using UK outdoor clothing made to replicate what was available on the original expedition.

The original voyage remains one of the legendary journeys of the modern era. It began when Shackleton and his crew of 27 became trapped in the ice for ten months on there way to Antarctica. The ship finally sank after being crushed by the pack ice, and after a further five months of being forced to camp on drifting ice floe with little food the ice finally broke they made a five day trip packed into three small lifeboats to reach the uninhabited Elephant Island. It was from here that Shackleton took five of the crew with him to sail one of the boats to South Georgia. They battled through storms, chipping ice off the sails and monster waves which meant they had to bail out the boat continuously. Even after they made landfall the odyssey wasn’t over as they were then faced with having to cross the uncharted mountainous interior with their only available equipment being some rope and a carpenter’s adze. They finally made it some eighteen months after they had left civilisation.

Tim Jarvis’ journey took as long as it took nearly four years from inception to gather the right permits and permissions, along with insurance and sponsors. From the very beginning Jarvis wanted to complete the journey using the same materials, even though he had very limited experience of sailing. The vessel used originally used was a basic wooden lifeboat, seven metres long, with an open cockpit, and it didn’t possess a keel and this is what Jarvis had built. He selected a team of five men who were all specialists and world reknowned in their own fields. Unfortunately no women were selected as they wanted to be historically accurate as possible.

They wore replica clothing - heavy woollen jumpers and gabardine outers, which proved useless at keeping them dry and were guaranteed to weigh them down if they'd gone overboard. Their vintage equipment included a sextant and a compass. They would have to navigate the world's stormiest ocean by the sun, the stars and instinct.but they completed the journey and really have a story to tell.

So why not plan your own winter journey this year, but maybe something a little less extreme and kit yourself out with the latest uk outdoor clothing from the website. We will make sure that you are warm and comfortable whatever the elements throw at you.