Winter is here! The temperature is dropping, don’t let your outdoor activities drop too. Layering for the cold is the key to staying comfortable when you want to keep enjoying the outdoors during the colder months. Layering clothing helps you easily adapt to the activities you are doing. As you warm-up, you can easily shed a layer or as you get colder, you can easily add a layer.
Here are some tips for staying warm when venturing into the cold:
- Understanding Your Comfort Zones
- Clothing Material
- Essential Layers
- Exposed Skin
- Movement
- Shedding Layers
Understanding Your Comfort Zones
Knowing how you react to the cold is helpful to understand how many layers to bring. For example, Sarah is far less tolerant of the cold than Andy. She always packs and wears a couple more layers than Andy. You also don’t want to be sweating out there by having too many layers on (more details under Shedding Layers).
Clothing Material
Clothing material varies and can definitely impact your adventure more than you think. There is a saying in the outdoors that “cotton kills”. This is because when cotton gets wet, either from sweat or the natural elements, it saps your body of heat. This isn’t a concern on a hot summer day, but during the colder months, it can quickly lead to hypothermia and death. It is best to wear either a moisture-wicking synthetic material or wool. Between the two, you can’t beat wool. Even better, there’s Merino wool which is a soft, thin fiber wool that gives you the comfort of cotton with all the properties of wool. Wool is amazing because even when it’s wet, it retains its insulating properties. It is also naturally antimicrobial, so it takes a bit longer to start smelling bad compared to a synthetic material.
Essential Layers
A base layer is key to the layering process. The base layer is the first layer against your skin. You’ll want a thin, long-sleeved and pants layer, basically long johns but avoid the cotton. We go with merino wool for our base layer. It is worth spending the extra money for a quality, insulating base layer. If you don’t want to spend full price, search around at thrift stores.
Next comes the insulating layer(s). Now, this can be one or more layers depending on your comfort zone. This is the layer that you will most likely interchange the most to regulate body temp, depending on the temperature and how your body regulates heat. the insulating layer often consists of sweaters, vests, fleece jackets, lightweight down jackets, etc. There are so many options to insulate with, but wool is what we prefer. Down is a great lightweight option when it gets really cold.
The final outer layer is the shell layer. This layer protects all the other layers from the outer elements such as rain, wind, and snow. Often the shell layer is a water and windproof material. It can be a lightweight shell or it can have an insulating layer attached, either way, you’ll want to determine your type of activity, temperature, and your comfort zone when selecting a shell layer.
Exposed Skin
This is an issue for the coldest months when frostbite becomes a real danger. Some tips for covering up include:
- Wear a balaclava over your face. These garments are an amazing base layer for your head and functionally diverse. They cover your entire neck, head, and most of your face leaving a bit of your eyes exposed. The diverse functionality is important when it comes to shedding layers so you don’t get too warm. You can slide the face covering down and wear it as a hood or slide that down as well and wear it as a neck warmer. These things are awesome and a must have for anyone venturing into the cold! We use these all the time, especially when we are out for an extended period of time on the slopes or snowshoeing. Pair a balaclava with a set of ski goggles and your entire head is covered.
- Wear gaiters over your boots. This will help keep snow from getting into your boots or drafts between your boots and pants. Some winter boots already have a gaiter built into them – a drawstring at the top of the boot you can cinch down.
- Wear gloves that have dexterity so you do not have to remove them to complete tasks like tying a shoe. The less you have to expose bare skin to the elements, the better. If you are a mitten lover like Andy, wear a thin glove underneath so that when you do need to remove your mitten, you still have some protection.
- Use ointment or balms like Vaseline or lip balm to provide a protective layer. This is a great way to prevent your lips from chapping or your hands from drying out and skin cracking. Certain products like Vaseline can also be applied to your dog’s pads to help prevent cracking.
Movement
Movement is going to affect the layers needed. The more you move, the warmer you’ll be, the fewer layers you’ll need.
Shedding Layers
This goes along with movement, but essentially shedding layers is critical in staying dry. The first thing that happens when you start getting too warm is that you sweat. Sweat is wet and wet mixed with cold can lead to hypothermia quickly. Try to anticipate your body. In other words, if you know you are going on a hike that gets your heart rate up, shed a layer or two before you get going. It might be cold for the first few minutes, but this will save you a stop once your body starts warming up.
Remember that pets need to be layered up in the cold, too!
Peace, love, and hike thru life!