DRESSING FOR COLD WEATHER
Though a
non-Canadian, I guess I am something of an expert on cold weather.
My first
years in the Navy were spent between Newfoundland and Iceland. By my mid-twenties I was a Navy survival
instructor – instructing winter bush survival.
I attended two Navy survival schools and the Canadian Forces Winter Bush
survival school. My wife and I lived in
rural Maine for four years off the grid and eleven years in the Alaska bush,
including one year on the Arctic Circle.
Now we are back in the western Maine mountains.
Winter
preparedness is simply a matter of preparation, beginning with the clothes you
wear.
I don’t
bother with L.L. Bean and Cabala's when preparing for deep winter cold. Their products are fine if you want to flash
their labels on the ski slopes; but for true winter preparedness you should look
to people who work outside for a living and find out what they wear.
Logging in
Maine is a big business. Hear in the
mountains logging trucks are as common on the road as 4X4 pickups. Nobody is more exposed during the winter
than loggers and they shop at Labonville.
You won’t find loggers wearing silk long johns
I dress in
layers in the winter. When working
outside I wear double layered wool and cotton long johns (Coldpruf from
Labonville,) wool shirts (not those yuppie light weight wool shirts – but heavy
Woolrich 100% wool,) I have wool sweaters, wool mixed socks, and a wool bush
coat. I do wear L.L. Bean rubber bottom
boots. For gloves I buy work gloves one
size too large and a pair of cotton gloves for liners.
 |
| Empty wine bottles a good way to dry gloves. Drink more wine. |
In my car I
carry extra gloves, and emergency equipment including a light axe and shovel.
I love the
winter, because I dress for it. If you
are cold outside it is your own fault – you are not dressed properly.
The
Ol’Buzzard
Our winters are off and on during the season. Sometimes 3 to 5 days ice cold in the low teens, then a week of 70's or 80's. It's crazy living in Texas. We get a hard freeze just enough to kill the bugs off and then instant spring.
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ReplyDeleteThere is nothing worse than having to be outside and being cold. The only problem I usually have is my fingers being cold. I'm better with mittens, but usually I need gloves so I can use my hands. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteYou have plenty of experience with True Cold! And your layering strategy is exactly right.
ReplyDeleteAs much as it's politically incorrect to say it, there is nothing warmer than fur. Nothing. I always wear fur-lined mitts in the winter. You need no glove liners with fur unless it gets super-duper cold.
But it's okay. My fur comes from animals who passed away of natural causes and in their wills left their fur to mitt manufacturers for that express purpose.
Like the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong gear. If I believed in a god, I'd nominate the people who came up with Thinsulate for sainthood.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. Layers and layers. And always carry enough clothes in the car to either survive staying put or to walk out. I carried a shovel and sand but in Saskatchewan an axe wouldn't do me much good in most places.
ReplyDelete