It would not make sense for excursion parties to rely strictly on shirt-and-trouser normal duty uniforms for keeping them warm in cooler environments, even if they had climate controls built-in. The human body looses most of its heat through its head, especially the ears. Without hats and scarves, there would still be a danger of hypothermia and frostbite. Also consider that the normal duty uniforms are too thin for harsh environments, especially ones with jagged rocks and ice. The only way an adjustable "smart" uniform would work would be if you could input a code that would completely transform the uniform around its occupant so that it became winter gear; hat, boots and all.
There seemed to be some things TOS rarely, if ever, allowed the characters to wear. It was as if there were some prohibition on characters wearing these items. Spacesuits, hats, coats/jackets, winter gear, hoodies, desert gear, ties, gloves, combat fatigues, etc. The fact that we saw characters wear some of these items in a maximum of only one episode, if ever, seemed odd.
The notion of landing parties on planets regularly beaming down while wearing normal duty uniforms and carrying only a phaser, a communicator and a tricorder seemed silly. Never (or almost never) a hat, a helmet, a jacket, or even a first aid kit.
Other threads started in this forum lately focused on topics of how to "fix" specific episodes. This is just my 2¢, but TOS overall would've looked more believable if landing parties of five persons or less had the sixth transporter pad occupied by some kind of excursion kit, which would be a giant can-like container that could hold a collection of packed items for the team's mission, relaxation and survival. Items included in a kit would vary from mission to mission, but could include everything from a tent to a water purification/extraction device to a portable computer/subspace transceiver to maybe a small food synthesizer/recycler ("waste not, want not").
On the surface, this would seem to complicate stories like "That Which Survives" or "The Enemy Within" but really I think it would make the landing parties in those stories more plausible instead of less and it wouldn't have to add any significant cost to the episode. Sulu and his team didn't have to freeze on the surface of that planet for the episode's plot to work. It should have been relatively easy for Sulu and his team to get help even if the transporters and the shuttlecraft were unavailable. They would still be suffering on the planet's surface, but not in immediate and constant mortal danger. These are, after all, astronauts who regularly work in outer space where it is frequently far below -100º F on a regular basis. They may have vulnerabilities, but they shouldn't be that vulnerable.
There seemed to be some things TOS rarely, if ever, allowed the characters to wear. It was as if there were some prohibition on characters wearing these items. Spacesuits, hats, coats/jackets, winter gear, hoodies, desert gear, ties, gloves, combat fatigues, etc. The fact that we saw characters wear some of these items in a maximum of only one episode, if ever, seemed odd.
The notion of landing parties on planets regularly beaming down while wearing normal duty uniforms and carrying only a phaser, a communicator and a tricorder seemed silly. Never (or almost never) a hat, a helmet, a jacket, or even a first aid kit.
Other threads started in this forum lately focused on topics of how to "fix" specific episodes. This is just my 2¢, but TOS overall would've looked more believable if landing parties of five persons or less had the sixth transporter pad occupied by some kind of excursion kit, which would be a giant can-like container that could hold a collection of packed items for the team's mission, relaxation and survival. Items included in a kit would vary from mission to mission, but could include everything from a tent to a water purification/extraction device to a portable computer/subspace transceiver to maybe a small food synthesizer/recycler ("waste not, want not").
On the surface, this would seem to complicate stories like "That Which Survives" or "The Enemy Within" but really I think it would make the landing parties in those stories more plausible instead of less and it wouldn't have to add any significant cost to the episode. Sulu and his team didn't have to freeze on the surface of that planet for the episode's plot to work. It should have been relatively easy for Sulu and his team to get help even if the transporters and the shuttlecraft were unavailable. They would still be suffering on the planet's surface, but not in immediate and constant mortal danger. These are, after all, astronauts who regularly work in outer space where it is frequently far below -100º F on a regular basis. They may have vulnerabilities, but they shouldn't be that vulnerable.
