Eastcoasters: What Do You Wear In The Snow?

[happyfilmluvguy]

Since I live on the west coast, we don't get much snow. But in the mountains, we do. Most of the times I have been up in the mountains for the snow, I, as well as others, mostly have worn "snow" bound clothing. Things you would find at a sporting good store. For example:

Overall-like pants, heavy duty jackets, snowboots, thermal undergarments, etc.

Personally, I do not feel these (or at least some) clothes are needed to be warm in cold weather like the snow. Sure, if you are going to be beneath the snow, riding down hills and such, but not for normal walking clothes.

What do you wear that is not snow clothing related, yet keeps you warm?

My only thought would be heavy wool pants, and wool overcoats. The rest I am oblivious.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Well, valenki boots are designed to be worn only in the snow. Some versions have a rubber sole (like the German verson) but the traditional type has no sole, and thus can't be worn on rocks/pavement/dirt.

They are warm, however.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

23 degrees with a 40 mile an hour wind

Welcome to Boston; when it's cold, it's very cold, and often wet and cold.

Typically, here, we wear layers. For instance, it was very cold today and I wore a T-Shirt, tattersalle dress shirt, plaid tie, cable knit sweater vest, calvary twill pants, Harris tweed jacket, trench coat, scarf, and Borsalino. Basically, wrap yourself up and wear a hat.

I also have a double-breasted cashmere overcoat that is toasty.

Though, when it gets really cold here; ten below and windy, The North Face Parka comes out, but that is another story.

 

[Feraud]

My choices are: layers, wool overcoat or leather jacket, scarf, hat, boots (if necessary) and a sheepskin jacket if it ever gets that cold.
The fancy ski gear is not really necessary and not my style.

 

[carebear]

Notherner here but..

If I'm not going to be rolling around in it, for casual wear I like my flannel-lined Carhartts and a wool sweater under a leather jacket. Think Force 10 from Navarone.

The leather cuts the wind and the sweater gives loft. I'll usually wear a leather, goretex lined boot over wool socks and some kind of hat. I like windstopper fleece but I noticed my fedoras are pretty much windproof. Just have to cover the ears.

If there's a chance I'm getting wet at all (leaving civilization) I'm sticking with modern fabrics. I don't play around with hypothermia and frostbite.

Though mukluks are about the best boot ever and what Sorel was trying to match.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

So I suppose Layers are best?

 

[carebear]

So I suppose Layers are best?

Layers will keep you alive.

Multiple layers of a variety of natural fabrics will block the wind better than any single layer (excepting Gore-tex and the modern fabrics). Multiple layers create multiple "microclimates" of trapped air. You aren't insulated by the fabric, but by the air it traps within itself and between you and it and the next layer out (the loft of down or polarfleece).

The big killer isn't usually dry, cold air, with decent garments and food/water you can keep yourself alive to even scary low temps. It's cold wetness that kills people, even up into 50 degree temps.

In fact, if you are "cozy warm" and are going to be outside moving around at all, you are overdressed. You should instead be "comfortably cool".

Layers help deal with that. They allow you to change your level of insulation to match your level of exertion. Sweating is bad and can kill you if the sweat is allowed to get and keep your inner layers wet. While you are producing sweat, you want to vent and remove layers so that cool dry air can suck up the moisture, leaving you evaporated. Don't worry, your internal furnace will keep you warm.

When you stop exercising, and thus producing heat, if you haven't vented off the moisture those now sweat-soaked wet layers will rapidly chill down (your resting rate can't keep that much water (a heat sink) warm. That wet layer will chill you faster than cold dry air alone can and will kill you DRT.

If you've vented, you should be more or less dry. So as you cool down you replace layers to allow your lowered heat output to keep you warm, or rather "comfortably cool".

Cotton kills. It soaks up sweat and drys slowly, when wet it has almost zero insulating ability. Avoid it for most outdoor use in even moderately cold weather in all but the dryest climates. Silk allows evaporation and breathing and was the preferred inner layer prior to the miracle fabrics. Wool is the other good natural fabric as it still retains loft, and thus heat, even while wet. Also, the lanolin gives it a bit of water resistance.

For real life outdoor use, leave off the vintage. Modern fabrics breathe and wick moisture away while providing wind resistance. They are also lighter, more comfortable and in many cases more durable. You work a lot less hard, move more agiley and are carrying less weight dressed in fleece than an equivalent warmth of wool. No matter how hard you try, leather and wool is going to start absorbing water, gore-tex will fight it longer and dry quicker.

 

[Dinerman]

In the snow I wear a big pair of snowboots, jeans, a sweater and my leather jacket, with a mad bomber hat topping it all off.

 

[farnham54]

Carebear said it right; looking 'cool' in vintage is all well and good, but look after your wellbeing first.

For running about, I have a heavy rabbit-skin hat, and I usually layer a t-shirt, and over-shirt, a sweater (wool or synthetics) with a leather jacket to cut the wind. Peel off layers as required.

Cheers
Craig

 

[Fletch]

My 2 C.C. Filson wool vests (one at a time).
Merino turtlenecks (super warm) and widewale corduroys.
Thermasilk longie bottoms.
Heavy, colorful wool sox from, of all places, Paul Stuart (they had a sale).
Jonathan Richard Irish tweed newsboy or Stormy Kromer railroader's cap.
A leather outerlayer, such as my G-1 flighter or Brooks Bros carcoat.

 

[carebear]

In town, in professional attire, I have my suit and a t-shirt underneath, a scarf (your throat is the biggest heat loss area after your head, wrap the scarf around like a muffler for max warmth), a hat (fedora), lined leather gloves and my heavy overcoat. My coat goes down to mid-calf so its just my feet that can really get cold.

In the car I always carry "real" cold weather gear. If it snows where you live, or where you're headed, real boots, real hat, mittens, a shovel, a lighter and some candles and a blanket should be your minimum gear, even in town.

Even a few minutes waiting for triple-A while stuck is easier when you're warm in a blankie. You don't want to go out unprepared (no matter how much you assume things will go fine) and end up injured or dead. Or even uncomfortable.

It was a lack of basic planning and preparation that killed that guy in Oregon. A little forethought and some basic gear kept in the car year round and they could have sat there, warm and healthy, for weeks.

A fellow I know is fond of saying that when the first rescuers show up, he'll be able to offer them a hot cup of coffee. That's my goal as well.

 

[Orgetorix]

A fairish portion of my daily commute involves walking outdoors. When it's cold and snowing, I wear long thermal underwear, heavy wool trousers, a sweater over my dress shirt and tie, and a long topcoat. Footwear is usually either boots or dress shoes with Tingley rubber overshoes.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

Flannel PJ's

East coast, but Georgia, so I don't go out in the snow. Snow here? the Whole town closes up. But If I do go out into the yard I wear my Vasque hiking boots.

 

[Feraud]

It was a lack of basic planning and preparation that killed that guy in Oregon. A little forethought and some basic gear kept in the car year round and they could have sat there, warm and healthy, for weeks.

Good words worth repeating.

Perhaps someone could give us all a few tips on basic Winter weather survival?

With Winter coming on I am sure we could all use the reminder.

 

[Spitfire]

Cold?

Look at avatar to the left.
Thats how we dress - living so far east that it is called Scandinavia.
Be cool - stay warm

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

This is all very rewarding information. I would believe California snow isn't as cold during the day as is at night, like most places, but still gives a western coast type feeling. No heavy duty snow storms and gust winds. All that you have said seems in the category of full blown winter war. Boston in the Winter I have heard is winter war. This is really for a 4 day vacation in the mountains. But when it comes to travelling to colder temperatures, I will be returning to this thread right away.

I only have "one vintage" item. The rest is too new. Wool I had in mind. flannel pajamas I will get, and layers I will do. Not too many, and not too less. Just right. T shirt, wool pants, light heavy collar shirt, warm wool coat, thick boots, thermal socks, long overcoat, thick gloves, scarf, and hat. Maybe ear muffs. How does that sound?

 

[carebear]

This is all very rewarding information. I would believe California snow isn't as cold during the day as is at night, like most places, but still gives a western coast type feeling. No heavy duty snow storms and gust winds. All that you have said seems in the category of full blown winter war. Boston in the Winter I have heard is winter war. This is really for a 4 day vacation in the mountains. But when it comes to travelling to colder temperatures, I will be returning to this thread right away.

I only have "one vintage" item. The rest is too new. Wool I had in mind. flannel pajamas I will get, and layers I will do. Not too many, and not too less. Just right. T shirt, wool pants, light heavy collar shirt, warm wool coat, thick boots, thermal socks, long overcoat, thick gloves, scarf, and hat. Maybe ear muffs. How does that sound?

Sounds good to me. Remember weather in the mountains has zero to do with weather on the flats, adding altitude is the same as adding latitude when it comes to cold and snow. Be mindful of avalanche zones and warning signs (not "signs" signs, Mother Nature's signs).

Bear in mind the editor who died only thought he was taking a "quick jaunt up the highway" and paid the price for not preparing for worse. Load the car for the worst (a small bag and a shovel is all you need) and let someone know where you're going, the route you'll take and when you expect to arrive. At convenient checkpoints (gas, potty break), call that person and give them an update of your location and the time. If that editor had just bothered to call someone from the highway to mention the route change, the searchers would have started right on top of them.

Sponteneaity is fine, but document your whimsical changes with a phone call. Look at pilots, the ones who file flightplans get found the next day, the ones who just take off, trusting their ability and the odds nothing will go wrong, they don't find till the Spring.

Cali tends to be wet in the winter. I've done Bridgeport for cold weather training (yeah, taking coal to Bristol) and even though it's comparatively warm, it's easy to get wet and you can hype out even at 50 deg. Fahrenheit. A good rainstorm, a little wind and you can die of core body heat loss in the middle of summer.

If you are going into the woods, go to the USGS office or online and get/download a topo map of the area and learn how to read it, even without a compass you can associate terrain with the map and find a route out. Flat maps won't show you the crevasses and cliffs. I feel GPS's are a convenience, to be used to supplement a Compass. You can't always get a satellite LOS and batteries die at uncomfortable times. Learn land navigation, it's a fun hobby and can save your life.

All of this is contextual. For a variety of reasons I tend to err on over-prepared, especially if weight and cube aren't an issue (car supplies). In a car there's no point carrying less than everything you might ever need. On foot you have to start making choices. If you are in your car you can be more or less autonomous for quite some time in any environment.

In all things, I plan and train for the worst case because nothing but a plan and training is going to keep you alive in that scenario, that's how real life is. It may be a 100-to-1 chance of occurrence but I'm not going to bet my life, or more importantly the lives of my loved ones, on some "Little Mary Sunshine, happy slappy funtime" view of the world when planning and preparing is so easy and takes so little time. To do less shows a lack of responsibility and care.

But I really have no strong feelings on the matter.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Mr. Carebear, have you been in California snow?

I'll take as much as is needed into consideration, but I doubt I will be falling into countless abysses. Nothing drastic, just the commodities. A Shovel does seem to be one thing that wouldn't be any problem. I'll be going with 5 other people, so we will all be on the look out I am sure. I am also not sure if these plans have gone through. Still in the works. I'll let you know once it becomes more of a reality.

Thank you for your wise words. They are enough to write a Survival Handbook and a complete $150 kit.

 

[carebear]

Sorry, "Bridgeport" is Bridgeport, California. The home of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. Wet California snow.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/mcmwtc.htm

It's good training, a little warm (comparatively) for cold weather training, unless a storm blows in. Pretty country. Ski training, making snow caves, avalanche awareness and survival trapping. It's a pretty well trapped out mountain but one of my guys (and his team) actually snared (and ate) a black bear.

Short answer, I've been in pretty much every terrain Cali has to offer. And I've been snowed on in all of them, including the desert. [huh]

 

[carebear]

Other general thoughts:

Lack of air will kill you in minutes, lack of heat will kill you in hours, lack of water can kill you in days, but lack of food takes weeks.

Always have something to melt and carry water in, winter or summer. Widemouth Nalgene bottles are good for this, tough, easy to fill (with ice cubes in summer for cool) and if they freeze over in winter you can get a knife in there to chip it out. It sucks to have your drinking water separated from your mouth by an inch of ice you can't punch through. In a true survival situation worry less about purifying the water then getting it in you, you can deal with the trots after rescue, they usually take some time to start.

In cold people don't want to drink, in heat they don't want to eat. If you're in charge you have to make sure they do. Dehydration excerbates both hypothermia and heat stroke.

If you are going to carry survival gear, play with it in the comfort of your home. Heck, even if it's just a new tent for fun camping it is better to learn how to put it up when it isn't dark, cold and raining. Also helps in discovering the always entertaining "missing pole" problem. Know your gear.

If your survival stuff uses batteries, make those the new ones. Keep them in the survival stuff and rotate them regularly, used or not. Use the "used" ones in toys or the remote, not gear you'll need to live (goes for house flashlights as well).

The new "shake" flashlights are a cool idea, as are the crank radios, most of those have lights now. Keep one each in the car and the house.

One candle can maintain a car's interior in the 40s/50s (or so I've read, it sure can keep a good size tent or snow cave above freezing). Get a nice big one and keep it with the matches and lighter (always good to have redundancy). Also good for improptu romantic car picnics.