by Johnny King
Try to avoid getting cold it's too hard to get warm again. Your core body temperature changes very slowly. It takes a long time to get low and a long time to recover. Keep bundled up inside until you feel warm but try to avoid sweating because damp clothes will make you cold later.
When going into warm places after being active outdoors in the cold, be able to quickly strip off all headgear and enough clothes to start cooling immediately, ohterwise as soon as warm air hits your body's heat sensors on your cheeks, your body may immediately start sweating profusely. Sweatshirts and sweaters with zippers in front make it easier to open up to cool off.
Heat loss from the head, ears, neck, wrists, hands, and ankles, is substantial, and conversely opening jackets and removing headgear allows quick cooling through thesse areas when needed. Heat loss from cracks like collars and cuffs is also substantial. Keep collars tight and zippers all the way up at the neck, cuffs tight at wrists and ankles. Tie pants cuffs with string if necessary. Wear layers. Many lightweight layers of cloth are better than a few thick layers because they trap air between them which helps to insulate.
Head: knit sailor's cap Russian ushanka fur cap with ear flaps that tie under the chin, sweatshirt hood, coat hood. Above the belt: Layers of T-shirts, shirts (preferably wool), sweatshirts, sweaters (preferably wool), jackets and long coat on top.
Hands: Good gloves, at least 2 pairs, maybe heavy mittens for sleeping when you don't need to use your fingers.
Below the belt: Long underwear, or cheap black tights that you can buy at most supermarkets in the women 's hosiery section, maybe two pair, lightweight nylon athletic pants, which sometimes have a mesh net lining, maybe two pair, denim jeans, maybe two pair, baggy cargo pants with plenty of pockets for last, (four or even more pair of pants isn't unreasonable but make sure you can still walk, climb stairs, and get up if you fall down ;-),
Feet:waterproof leather boots that lace up to the ankle, two, three, four pairs of socks.
Keeping feet dry is important for keeping warm at night. Using the hot air hand dryer in a public restroom to dry your socks just before sleeping helps a lot. A small hair dryer with a folding handle in your pack can be useful for drying socks or giving yourself a "hot air shower," which cleans the dead skin cells off you almost as well as a hot water shower, and can freshen up your clothes, and it can heat up a small freezing room quickly to make it easier to change clothes.
Plastic garbage bags of the proper size with holes cut for necks and arms worn underneath jackets and coats as shirts, and larger plastic garbage bags worn over everything else, are very effective thermal and rain barriers. King Sooper sells 3 ' x 5' heavy duty black plastic garbage bags in a box of 20 for about $8-$10 - 50 cents each. Putting your feet into one and pulling it up, then putting your feet into your sleeping bag, then putting yourself into another of the 3x5 plastic bags, so you have plastic bag + sleeping bag, + another plastic bag, between you and the cold, will substantially increase your heat retention on very cold nights. Warning - if you only put one plastic bag over your sleeping bag your bag will get damp from condensation. If you don't have a tent, a $4 tarp laid flat over you, tied to stakes if windy, will give protection from the wind and retain heat.
When going into warm places after being active outdoors in the cold, be able to quickly strip off all headgear and enough clothes to start cooling immediately, ohterwise as soon as warm air hits your body's heat sensors on your cheeks, your body may immediately start sweating profusely. Sweatshirts and sweaters with zippers in front make it easier to open up to cool off.
Heat loss from the head, ears, neck, wrists, hands, and ankles, is substantial, and conversely opening jackets and removing headgear allows quick cooling through thesse areas when needed. Heat loss from cracks like collars and cuffs is also substantial. Keep collars tight and zippers all the way up at the neck, cuffs tight at wrists and ankles. Tie pants cuffs with string if necessary. Wear layers. Many lightweight layers of cloth are better than a few thick layers because they trap air between them which helps to insulate.
Head: knit sailor's cap Russian ushanka fur cap with ear flaps that tie under the chin, sweatshirt hood, coat hood. Above the belt: Layers of T-shirts, shirts (preferably wool), sweatshirts, sweaters (preferably wool), jackets and long coat on top.
Hands: Good gloves, at least 2 pairs, maybe heavy mittens for sleeping when you don't need to use your fingers.
Below the belt: Long underwear, or cheap black tights that you can buy at most supermarkets in the women 's hosiery section, maybe two pair, lightweight nylon athletic pants, which sometimes have a mesh net lining, maybe two pair, denim jeans, maybe two pair, baggy cargo pants with plenty of pockets for last, (four or even more pair of pants isn't unreasonable but make sure you can still walk, climb stairs, and get up if you fall down ;-),
Feet:waterproof leather boots that lace up to the ankle, two, three, four pairs of socks.
Keeping feet dry is important for keeping warm at night. Using the hot air hand dryer in a public restroom to dry your socks just before sleeping helps a lot. A small hair dryer with a folding handle in your pack can be useful for drying socks or giving yourself a "hot air shower," which cleans the dead skin cells off you almost as well as a hot water shower, and can freshen up your clothes, and it can heat up a small freezing room quickly to make it easier to change clothes.
Plastic garbage bags of the proper size with holes cut for necks and arms worn underneath jackets and coats as shirts, and larger plastic garbage bags worn over everything else, are very effective thermal and rain barriers. King Sooper sells 3 ' x 5' heavy duty black plastic garbage bags in a box of 20 for about $8-$10 - 50 cents each. Putting your feet into one and pulling it up, then putting your feet into your sleeping bag, then putting yourself into another of the 3x5 plastic bags, so you have plastic bag + sleeping bag, + another plastic bag, between you and the cold, will substantially increase your heat retention on very cold nights. Warning - if you only put one plastic bag over your sleeping bag your bag will get damp from condensation. If you don't have a tent, a $4 tarp laid flat over you, tied to stakes if windy, will give protection from the wind and retain heat.
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