These “South Pole Station” parkas have been a bit of a mystery to us. We’d never come across them before, and even after digging around online, we found almost nothing about them. What we can say is that they’ve seen some seriously hard use before making their way to us. We only have a small handful, and every single one is pretty heavily beat-up. We decided not to repair them ourselves- to do so, we would have to replace or patch large swaths of the exterior lining, and we want to preserve it’s originality. Every parka has a detailed description so you know exactly what you’re getting.
So… what do we actually know about them?
For starters, they’re Northern Outfitters “Polar Blast” parkas, and they’re definitely lighter than the classic Big Red. The outer shell is cotton duck, the lining is 100% nylon, the insulation is Primaloft, and the hood ruff is acrylic fur. Judging by the USAP serial numbers, these seem to be from the late 1990s.
The only real mention we’ve found online is a 2010 blog post, written by a former USAP participant. According to the post, they were issued “one of the special ‘Science’ parkas’’ instead of a Big Red (they also referred to it as a ‘Little Green’). We’ve also gotten a couple of emails from people who remember seeing these parkas tucked away in the logistics arch at South Pole Station, where they are kept as spares.
We know the stories behind every other jacket and parka on our site—from Carhartt workwear to Military parkas—but these ‘Little Green’ parkas remain a mystery. If you know anything about them, we’d genuinely love to hear from you!