Although we’ve had a bit of snow here and there, we haven’t really had any cold weather to speak. That apparently changed today. It is -1 out there right now. (For those of you in countries that never put a man on the moon, thats -18c.)
Not the coldest I’ve ever seen. (That would be the couple days when it was -26 [-65 with wind chill] back in the 80’s.) The part of Montana that Im in is the warmest part. You head east, across the divide, and those flat parts of Montana (I’m looking at you, Billings and Great Falls) get brain-numbingly cold.
What is the secret to living in such an environment? What arcane time-tested secret allow people to endure such climate? What trick allows us to survive in this condition?
Don’t go outside. Duh.
I’ve got a ton of things to do this week and will be using the holiday to capitalize on the free time. Being a rather secular fellow, this holiday provides me with the perfect opportunity to get things done.
Of course, tomorrow this town will be a ghost town. No businesses open (except mine), no mail, no banking, no UPS, no one on the roads. It’ll be like they neutron bombed this place. It’ll look alot like the opening city montage from ‘The Omega Man’…but with snow.
Still, staying indoors is great when you have that option. When you have to go outside..well…then it’s time for the N3B parka or a couple sheep’s worth of wool.
So , thats my plan for the weekend… stay indoors as much as possible and work on some organizational projects.
Stay warm amigos!
It was -2 this morning – my fingers took some thawing out after taking care of the animals. Fortunately, this is the coldest it usually gets here, and it doesn’t last long.
Sometimes I wish I had the option of staying inside all day, but the critters have to be cared for. I’m just praying the electricity doesn’t go out because the heated water bottles, dishes, & bucket would freeze. I should look up how people managed animal water in freezing weather in the old days.
The warmest coat I’ve ever had – which I still use – is my dad’s old Post Office winter coat. He hardly ever wore it as it doesn’t get all that cold in NW Oregon.
What you said about the centigrade people reminded me of what I used to say in the 70s & 80s that we put people on the moon using feet and inches and yet the rest of the world kept on using metrics, how dumb can they be. Having been a draftsman for 30 years or more, I can attest to the fact that metrics are only just CLOSE not exact.
Tomorrows high here in central Wisconsin is -1, the low is -12. I’m one of those “goes outside at all temps” kinda people, but even I have my limits and one you get below about -5 it is just too damn cold.
Did “cold weather training” at Fort McCoy 3days no shelter or fire,-10 at night,never above 0. It is all about good gear and the right attitude “embrace the suck”
Had -18 up on the mountian (5000′ elevation) this morning in frenchtown. It’s definitely gonna be colder tonight. It’s nights like these I have to set the alarm a few times so I can stoke the fire. Merry Christmas all.
Jason
Was out doing the xc-ski thing today was a balmy +7F. just an fyi, it gets real cold to the east of you of only a few miles, temp not wind chill @ -40F just last year. prepare accordingly, western MT has cold spots all over.
Merry Christmas!! Hope you have a good day buddy!!
That is a pretty awesome coat. My grandfather gave my brother a barely used woolrich jacket from back in the day. He is to old to hunt or fish much so a lot of gear has been passed down.
Been a good holiday here as well. Girlfriend went to visit her parents for a few days since here job gives here this whole week off paid. Be a few days of beer red meat and getting all the gear organized and checked out for the new year. Got a great deal on a vacuum sealer on cyber Monday so that is going to get played with as well. Everything from food to first aid kits and fire starting kits is getting sealed up.
Enjoy your bit of down time. Who knows what 2018 will throw at us.
-24 in Butte on Sunday AM (glad I wasn’t there).
Merry Christmas!
Cold here today as well. All the excuse I need to build a nice warm fire. My wife tried to talk me into a gas insert some years ago. No chance. Nothing will ever beat a real wood fire, especially on an otherwise lazy Christmas afternoon.
Hope you have a great one!
A cheapo Vogelzang $300 wood stove from Ace Hardware stoked with bits of free for the taking broken pallets runs the temp of my living quarters to 75 degrees in nothing flat. Warm is good.
Milwaukee Tools makes a small range of battery heated jackets and vests. Work with their 12v L-ion tool batteries. Carbon fibre woven heating elements. Washer/dryer safe. I just started using a heated hoodie. Works well, so far. Options allow you to plug into a vehicle, or use their 18v batts.
Reviews on them rate the quality very high.
Some of the other Tool Makers have copied the idea, so if you use battery tools, there might be heated gear that works with your current batteries.
Doesn’t seem capable of cooking you like motorcycle gear can, but then those were designed to deal with windblast conditions and to be powered by an alternator/battery system.