Winter-Mode Wear

Here are some tips on how I manage in -15C weather without a heater. For those of you who are long-time readers, this will be a review.

With the sudden drop in temps and the snow in my neck of the woods, I thought it would be prudent to pass along a few of my tips on how to stay warm without a furnace.

First of all, what I have found is that your body will generate as much heat as you need to survive. All you have to do is keep that heat in. 

How and why is this? Well, the thing to remember is that trapped air is what insulation essentially is. The trapped air will be heated by your body and thus help to keep your body warm.

With that in mind, let’s start with my lounging around the house wear. First of all, throw fashion out the window; it’s function and comfort all the way.

I start by wearing 4 layers of thermal underwear. How I do that is I bought four sets of thermal underwear; each one is1 size larger than the previous one. 

So, since Medium size fits me, that is the innermost layer, then comes Large, then Extra-Large, and finally Extra-Extra Large.

To make taking them on and off, easer, (easier is a relative term) I have sewn the cuffs together so they are all one unit (sorta).

I layer them by tucking all 4 layers of the tops in between the middle two layers of the bottoms. 

There may be a bit of pulling on the sleeves to eliminate the bunching up or “ringing” of the cuffs at the wrists. You want them nice and smooth, not lumpy.

Then comes the socks, 3 pairs of wool socks, with the outer layer being a knee-high pair that I bought at a hunting store. 

They key here is to buy larger size of socks, so they are not tight enough to cut off circulation in your feet.

Tuck one layer into each sock.. As in tuck the thermal underwear pant bottoms into the innermost sock.

Next tuck the inner layer of sweat pants into the next layer of sock, and so on. This helps keep the air and heat trapped in.

Finally comes a pair of rubber (or plastic) soled slippers. This allows me to walk around the trailer or pop outside, yet still keeping my feet warm.

Remember to get them a few sizes larger than you normal, so as to accommodate the three or four layers of wool socks and not cut off circulation.

Now comes the head, I have a wool toque that has flaps that comes down over the ears and a string to tie the flaps together under the chin. 

Not fancy, but it works, and I can sleep with this on, as my head pokes out of the covers all night, so otherwise it would be cold.

Then a simple pair of thin yet well insulated gloves to allow me to do most tasks around the place without taking my gloves off.

Now I can and do add more layers to my body by simply layering sweatshirts and sweaters on top and layering sweatpants on the bottoms. 

My record is a total of 8 layers. 

The trouble with adding layer after layer is that it becomes harder to do things, as each time you bend your arms or legs you can cut off circulation in your outer limbs. 

So holding a phone to your ear becomes a task of switching arms every few minutes. 

Again, you do what you have to do, so I recommend adding one layer at a time and wait a minute or two before adding another. 

For those of you braving the cold, I hope this helps.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!