Clubnight August 2015

With a combined group from NOTMC and North Otago Search and Rescue, our guest speaker was David Ellis from Earth Sea Sky, outdoor performance clothing specialists. Ephraim Ellis, David’s Great Great Grandfather worked for the Kaikorai Valley Woollen Mills and from there his son Arthur formed Arthur Ellis Ltd in 1913. They manufactured mattresses followed with bedding and Arthurs’s son Roland Ellis was first to manufacture sleeping bags and these Fairydown sleeping bags became world famous thanks to Ed Hillary’s Mt Everest expedition and the 1958 South Pole expedition in 1958. Murray Ellis, an engineer, was a member of the South Pole expedition. David Ellis and his wife Jane established Earth Sea Sky 25 years ago and they concentrate on the design and marketing of their clothing and contract out the production to four NZ firms. They are driven to make the best performance outdoor clothing therefore comfort, warmth and protection are the key elements in their layering theory. For comfort, clothing needs to be dry so any skin moisture needs to be absorbed by the first layer of clothing and readily evaporate, Bi-component Polyester is ideal. The second layer is the heat trapping layer and Polarfleece is ideal because it releases moisture quickly. However Polarfleece is not wind proof or waterproof so the third layer needs to have this function therefore the jacket acts as the protection layer. Earth Sea Sky supplies clothing to Antarctica scientists and support crews, Westpac Rescue Teams, DOC and the NZ Police Peacekeeping Force in the Pacific Islands.