Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Oy. The botom fell out of the thermometer the other night. I believe it was around -5 that morning with not much improvement forecast through the day. Those of you in the warmer climates will shudder at the thought, coming from a place where 50 degrees is considered ‘cold’ and a half inch of snow shuts down the roads. Honestly, once you get below five degrees or so, it pretty much feels the same.
Cold weather like this means two things to me: time to defrost the freezer (since I can simply set the contents outside while the freezer defrosts) and time to test cold weather gear.
Over the years I’ve found, through trial and error, things that work for me. All that stuff you hear about wool being great for cold weather, continues to insulate when wet, etc, etc, etc? Mostly true. Wool is some great stuff and the sheep deserve a round of applause. The truly fabulous thing about wool is that it was the material of choice for most of the worlds military forces when it came to cold weather. You can pick up a surplus catalog like Sportsmans Guide HQ (not the regular Sportsmans Guide, mind you) and find all sorts of wool pants, wool shirts, wool coats, wool gloves and wool hats at ridiculously low prices…and they work very well for keeping you warm. A friend of mine gave me a pair of surplus military wool pants that didn’t fit him anymore and they were warm, warm, warm. Wore them hunting this year and they performed wonderfully.
On the other hand, wool has a few minuses. Its scratchy as hell most of the time. You really need to wear something under it. Some folks are allergic to wool and I feel bad for them…theyre shut out from all this cool, cheap surplus. Wool is heavy. New wool is expensive. (The Filson coat I want is about $300…on the other hand, it will literally last a lifetime) However, if, like me, you need to keep close watch on the pennies then surplus wool is the most bang for your buck when it comes time to keep warm.
Are there other options than wool? Absolutely. And like everything else, theres some tradeoffs. Goose down is pretty much the last word for insulative clothing but its rather expensive and does nothing for you when wet. Plus any tears in the fabric shell makes you look like youre molting. Synthetics are doing a great job these days and they work when wet but they also tend to be expensive. To me, the ideal would be a two- or three-part layer system: a windproof/waterproof/rugged outer shell capable of being worn alone, a middle insulative layer capable of being worn alone or integrated with the other layers, and perhaps a nice lightweight base layer. Im sure theres such clothing out there but Im also sure that it’ll cost upwards of several hundred dollars. On the other hand, whats it worth to be warm and functional when its -15 out?
I can’t say enough about a thick pair of wool socks except that wearing a cotton sock under them makes things a bit more comfy. When its been outrageously cold and snowy I’ve worn GoreTex socks, then wool socks under that, then cotton socks under that. Warm and dry but you better loosen the laces on your boots.
The best things I’ve found for the hands are wool mittens and then a waterproof/windproof shell over them. Outdoor Research made the overmitts that I keep in my bag and they are terrific. One of the surplus catalogs had a sale on vinyl-type overmittens a few years back and I bought a few dozen pairs. Pulled over a pair of cotton or wool mittens they do an excellent job of keeping things dry and warm…best part is that they were so cheap they can be regarded as disposable.
The single most versatile piece of cold weather gear I’ve ever encountered is the polypro neck gaiter. I got mine from Brigade Quartermaster over twenty years ago. Its just a tube of thick polypro fleece about a foot or so long. You wear it as a neck gaiter but you can also wear it as a hat, hood, headband, facemask, etc, etc. It is the most useful piece of cold weather kit I’ve found and I try not to be without one. There are other brands and whatnot out there but I stick with the “SAS Headover” from BQ just out of nostalgia’s sake.
Cold can be pretty debilitating if youre not geared up for it. Having to change a tire when all youre wearing is a business suit or casual clothes can be quite the ordeal. Once the cold weather kicks in I throw a stuff sack in my backpack with my ‘extra’ cold weather gear. I’ve posted pictures and descriptions of it in the past but, essentially, it’s a utility pouch containing wool mittens, overmittens, scarf, neck gaiter, thick watchcap and a couple hand warmers. I also usually stuff an extra hat and mittens in there ‘just in case’ anyone with me is lacking. The whole thing stuffs down into a package about the size of a 2-liter pop bottle but it has come in very handy on those days where the day started out at 50 degrees and ended with wind, snow and ten degrees.
I won’t go on about keeping a blanket and other cold weather gear in your vehicle because that’s pretty much Winter 101 and you should have taken care of that already. When we upgraded our down comforter in the bedroom the old one got relegated to emergency duty in the truck. It gets stuffed into an old pillowcase and sits behind the seats. And, because Im a suspenders-and-a-belt kind of guy, theres also one of those great surplus military wool blankets back there as well. They take up little space and will make a tremendous difference if we ever have the misfortune to get stuck along the side of the road. (And, yes, theres other gear back there for that too.)
Power outages, at least in this neck of the woods, are more common in the cold months than the warm months. In the warm months the problem is usually a forest fire eating the transmission lines. In the winter its usually ice weighing down the wires, people careening into power poles, or some other weather related mishap. The good thing about the winter outages is that usually the refrigerated and frozen foods will be just fine if you set them outside. The bad news, of course, is that if you cant heat your house the pipes will burst and you might freeze to death.
When the power does go out around here, it’s pointless to try and heat the whole house. Pick a room and make that your primary living space. We have a few small propane heaters but the main thrust of our BTU supply are the kerosene heaters. We have two. One is to keep in the basement to keep things above freezing so the pipes don’t burst, the other is for whatever living space we’re in. We have a goodly amount of kerosene and propane on hand so that we should be able to muddle through the average outage. In my years here the longest one we’ve had was maybe eight or ten hours. However, we live in the second most populous city in Montana…infrastructure here is a bit more high priority than it is in, say, Wolf Point or some other middle-of-nowhere place. There are plenty of folks we know who live in places where if the power goes out you can figure the time to restoration is measured in days, maybe even weeks.
The best strategy, by the by, for surviving intense cold weather and blizzard conditions? Stay home. Call in to work, say youre not coming in, turn up the thermostat, fix some tea or coffee and sit in front of the computer until it’s over. This is the same strategy for pretty much every emergency: don’t be there.
Like everything else, cold weather isn’t a problem if youre prepared for it.
