Last winter here in Michigan, we saw temperatures as low as -15F. If I were to be out in that in Fedora Lounge approved apparel, what would it be? I have my insulated Arcteryx jacket that I wear for more athletic wear, however what is a A-2 equivalent of this? I have a Crescent Down Works vest and am tempted to pick up one of their parkas or pullovers. Just want to keep my closet homogeneous, if that makes sense. Edit: I have a B-6 arriving today.
I hear ya I am over in Green Bay. I can wear whatever going from my truck to the office I am not in the cold for long. If I am spending some time outdoors when it is cold I usually am wearing carhartt. Last year I picked up a used army field jacket with liner and that is pretty warm.
I have only seen it at -15 here once, and that was back in the 70s. Single digit temps occasionally occur in this area. When it is that cold I wear polypropylene under a wool shirt, with my ThunderBay or my Canada Goose on top. The CG is much more comfortable, so that is usually my go to jacket. Before the TB or the CG, one of my peacoats was my cold weather wear. I would add a wool sweater to the polypropylene and the wool shirt. It was fairly effective. The peacoat loses much of its warmth due to air transfer at the bottom and at the sleeves. More common cold weather in the Nashville area are temps in the teens and lower 20s If it was that cold during the week, I would wear a suit over a wool vest and one of my wool overcoats and a scarf. Effective for temps down to the teens.
Hopefully I'll be wearing this soon. Sheepskin lined beauty, and that belt should help to keep the cold air out.
Whatever jacket you plan on wearing, make you have a leather vest underneath. Leather heats up and is great at holding warmth, but it has to be underneath something. Worked for me in Winnipeg where the temperatures drop even below -15f. Was wearing a leather jacket under a goose feather lined skiing parka the whole time and wasn't cold ever since I discovered the combo.
When it is that cold, all sense of style and appearance go out the window for me. Even wool, which stays warm when wet, is too often too permable by wind. In the Midwest and upper Great Lakes areas, we often get more wind when it's colder such as that. I've lived weeks where it's not above 0F and not below -30F. Layers, especially including the legs, is all that you can do. I generally pick up the Carhartt insulated bib overalls, and a couple layers upper finishing with down or artic-grade Carhartt coat up. Stocking caps, scarf, liner gloves as well as heavy gloves, liner socks with wool socks. Good insulated boots. I have found I am rather sensitive to cold, so I just have to plan for it.
I just want to be a bit fashionable Carhartt is definitely a good call however. I dont know if this works for really cold, but this jacket looks great. What is it? Interesting idea about the leather vest!
^^ Yeah I forgot to mention Monitor's vest idea. I've (in the past) layed in a motorcycle jacket such as a Harley Basic Skins jacket and then layered over top. It did a great job keeping me warmer. But using it as an outer layer, it cooled off/nearly froze and caused negative thermal expansion (if that's a reality) to occur - cooling me down.
Please enlighten me why wouldn't it? You seem to have a fair amount of experience in cold weather enviroments i see.
It works for cold weather, that is what it was made for. Sheep skin lined for warmth, heavy horsehide for wind/rain protection, covers most of the body, wrap around collar, belted to keep drafts out. Sheep lined clothing was very popular in the 20s/30s.
If sheepskin lined heavy horsehide wouldn't work, nothing would. Shearling is fantastic for extreme colds. B3's and Irvins prove this.
That's what I thought, but @TREEMAN seems to think otherwise. I think we are talking about -15f in a normal day to day life, not some northpole expedition. But of course if you are going to stand still for hours in -15f weather then that isn't enough, infact nothing but fire will keep you warm then.
That is certianly a beautiful jacket right there! Like the lining and belted combination. It looks like a trail rider but the pockets are differnet. What model is that one?