1. Cold Suit
A Cold suit is a garment very similar to an encounter suit, but rather than having reflexokinetic material, it has anti-ablative thermal insulation. This allows the wearer of a cold suit to capture a large amount of their ambient thermal plume and contain it to keep warm. By wearing a cold suit, which fits like a body sleeve, a person can remain comfortable in temperatures dropping into the freezing range.
These suits are relatively inexpensive to make, and require almost no maintenance. Variants of them are common on spacecraft and space stations, underwater installations, and other general biomes were temperatures can become uncomfortable. This is popular as it reduces the amount of energy said structures have to devote to keeping their occupants comfortable. Cold suits are also commonly found in emergency survival kits.
2. Ice Suit
An ice suit is similar to a cold suit, but their thermal retention and rate of dissipation is high enough that they can only be worn in cold environments, otherwise the wearer can become very uncomfortable or even suffer heat exposure. The suit also has ferrous material woven through panels in the material which can use even small power sources to generate heat. These suits can keep a wearer alive in temperatures down to hard winter conditions for prolonged periods, or extreme cold for a few hours.
Ice suits are used in places like Antarctica and other extreme terrestrial biomes. Offworld, it is as easy to keep space suits as it is ice suits, and a cold suit worn under a space suit is considered comfortable.
3. Cryosuit
Cryosuits are a form of light power armor, but differ in that they are built to withstand moderate to severe cold while augmenting the strength and endurance of the user. Cryosuits are useful for laborers working in cold climates. These suits are not combat rated, and their armor protection is more to provide thermal ballast, and protection from potential accidents like avalanches.
Cryosuits are favored by civilian contractors, civilian laborers, explorers, and the like.
4. White Ranger Armor
The white ranger is a light power armor that is combat rated, combining all the abilities of a cryosuit with the combat suite of military power armor, and coatings and accessories for operating in extreme winter conditions. As with all light power armors, the suit has no integral weapon systems and has to rely on long arms and heavy infantry equipment.
White Ranger Armor is commonly used by mountaineering military units, and in 'ice' units, forces deployed to glaciers, the polar regions, harsh tundra, and similar environs.
5. Winterized Power Armor
Winterized Power Armor isn't a specific suit of power armor, but rather an upgrade package and coating treatment given to an existing suit. All fluids are replaced with those that can resist freezing even at very low temperatures. Joints and vents are insulated to prevent or control heat loss, electronics have their hardware adjusted for exposure, and similar small things are done. These can be done in a few hours. The largest upgrades are the installation of a thermal pump that heats the inside of the suit, and a thermo-insulating coating applied to the outside. The TI coating blocks heat transmission, so in addition to reducing how much heat is lost through the armor, it also reduces it's thermal image.
Winterized power armor is common as almost all of the world powers have territory with extreme conditions.
6. Arctic Spec Power Armor
ASPA differs from Winterized power armor is that Arctic Spec started as a regular suit of power armor, but it was stripped down to the chassis, and rebuilt from the feet up. All of the components are thermal insulated, it's thermal regulation system doesn't use fluid for heat transfer so there is no risk of it freezing up. The gauntlets and boots are built to handle ice and frozen ground conditions.
Arctic Spec armor is expensive, and outside of subzero conditions, its performance is compromised. These suits also have software updates, and their connection points and mounting points are designed for dealing with cold, icing, and other environmental problems.
7. Fimbul Spec Power Armor
As Arctic spec is superior to winterized, Fimbul spec is superior to Arctic. Fimbul spec can survive in arctic conditions that do not exist on Earth, allowing this equipment to be used in offworld. Most Fimbul spec equipment has been made for Europa, and the other moons beyond the Asteroid Belt. On Earth, this equipment barely notices even the worst of cold.
Fimbul spec is used not just for offworld, but for dealing with Dimensional fatigue events that have a cryogenic aspect. Fimbul gear is also resistant to cryonic weaponry, arcanotech ice beams, frost lasers, or anti-thermal bombs.
Author's note: Winterized treatment, arctic spec, and fimbul spec treatments are not limited to power armor. This can be applied to mecha, autons, and vehicles as well. The downside to increasing cold weather specialization is that the machines have a harder time getting rid of excess heat, as they are generally concerned with keeping it and holding it. Energy weapons can cause them to overheat, unless the energy weapons are externally mounted, and then the weapons are constantly being exposed to radical temperature changes, heating when used and then rapidly cooling given their exposed nature. Most Fimbul spec equipment lacks energy weapons, or only mounts minimal systems.
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? Responses (2)
As I expect on things like this from you, very nice fluff Scras. I do however question if weatherization of some of these would have to be done at the tech levels you are working with, but I am nitpicking
Something to keep in mind, gear is generally made with a specific theater in mind. On one hand, the abilities of gear have grown and improved with technology, but in other areas, nothing has changed. When the German Afrikacorps was fighting the British and US across north Africa, one of the biggest impediments to maintaining air superiority came down to air filters. Tons of fighter aircraft were perpetually out of service because these machines, built for North America, and Europe struggled to deal with the amount of sand in the air. So, when you roll out a combat power armor suit, you try to make it as comprehensive and capable as possible, but you also have to make concessions to cost, weight, complexity, and that what works in one environment wont work in another. Most all military gear is being designed to be used in urban areas, or in temperate climates. A power armor suit made for the Eastern United States or Mediterranean is going to have many similar pieces to a suit made to walk across Europa or the north pole. Just as a single example, the foot pads on a power armor suit are likely to be some sort of rubberized compound for both traction, but to also protect whatever the suit is walking across, like the rubber pads in tank treads. Out on the ice, steel cleats might be more effective than said pads, and said cleats are going to tear the hell out of anything they walk across.
