Keeping warm

[redneck2]

I saw a thread here about "The Coldest Weather You've Ever Hunted In"

so...any thoughts on how to keep warm??

One thing I just found are Comfort-Temp sox on QVC. Normally, I have a hard time keeping my feet warm. I was on a deer hunting stand this year at about 18-20 degrees. Wearing these sox in Northerners. Even after 4 hours of sitting, my feet were way plenty warm.

What all do you guys use to beat the cold??

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

One trick I found quite a few years ago, I'm sure it's outdated by now: Ace bandages. I would put on a pair of cotton socks, and then a pair of wool socks, then starting at the top of my socks, wrap Ace bandages up my legs. Way warmer than long johns.

They don't work when wet, though.

I'm old fashioned, but for sub-zero temps, I wear Sorels (with the aforementioned get-up), Walls Blizzard-Pruf coveralls, and an arctic parka. Guaranteed down to 30 below. I once crossed a three foot deep creek to retrieve a goose in this get up and didn't get wet or cold.

I bought my parka from a friend who used it up in Anchorage when he was in the Air Force.

 

[Rock_Steady]

For the reasons of staying dry more than warm, I have taken to using Under-Armour cold gear. That stuff pulls the sweat off you and keeps you dry - staying warm is not hard as long as you're not soaked from sweat. Only thing you need is an inuslating layer overtop and then something to break the wind.

Temps are usually pretty mild here where I am - I have some Rocky 800g Thinsulate boots that keep the feet warm along with my wool socks.

 

[TrapperReady]

Layers, layers and more layers.

For deer hunting (not archery), I'll wear:

Up top:

Capilene long underwear
Lightweight fleece
Midweight fleece
Insulated jacket

On bottom:

Capilene long underwear
Midweight fleece
Insulated bibs

Feet:

Patagonia sock liners
Smart Wool heavyweight hiking socks
Danner 1000gram Thinsulate boots.

Hands:

Gloves, several differrent pair... not at the same time.

Head:

Baseball cap with ear flaps
Fleece winter hat
Wool scarf (for my neck or face)

The main thing for me is not letting my feet or hands get too cold. With the feet, if I'm moving at all... even a little every couple hours, this setup works pretty well. However, if I'm sitting all day, then I'll add toe-warmers... and still be kind of uncomfortable by the end of the day.

With my hands, I find that no gloves work perfectly, but several pair work OK. So, I usually have three pairs with me and rotate them every couple hours. For whatever reason, that seems to work pretty well.

One last thing is that it's important to insulate yourself from the ground. One of the most miserable days I've spent hunting was from a ground blind in 0 degree F weather. I was sitting directly on the ground and the cold just worked its way through my clothes. I literally felt like I'd frozen my butt off. However, I've been in colder weather with a cushion (made of about 2.5" of foam) and been fine.

 

[MCgunner]

My 5mm neoprene waders I bought for duck hunting and winter fishing are so warm I often wear 'em to the deer stand, especially if it's wet down there.

 

[ZeSpectre]

-Moisture transfer synthetics
-Layers
-Smartwool socks
-Wool watchcap
-Scarf
-Gloves

If it's really vile out and I HAVE to be out for some reason...
-"Heat Treat" toe warmers (tried full foot warmers...too warm for me) and sometimes also the hand warmers stuck in the palms of my gloves.

Mostly what I've learned is you have to break the wind (outer shell) and then have adjustable layers of good insulation underneath. Be careful to avoid wrapping your feet too tightly, it cuts down leg/foot circulation and makes for COLD feet.

I've also learned that using stuff that retains insulating properties when wet is vital for me. For whatever reason if I get too cold my body will start perspiring as though I'm too hot (especially my feet). Weird but there it is.

 

[Kingcreek]

Amen to layers.
I start with silk. adds nothing to the bulk or weight.
then polypropylene
light or midwt fleece
outer layer varies depending on activity. carhart coat or wool or thinsulate camo.
head- always a warm cap or hat
sometimes a neck gaitor or balaclava.
feet- silk or poly liners and good wool socks.
boots vary with activity from LL bean hunting pacs to Sorels or LaCross insulated knee boots, neoprene hip waders, etc.
Hands- PolarShield layered under-gloves and glomits work great. wool is OK too most times.
I would rather my hands and feet be a little cold than warm enough to sweat- because then they get cold and I can't do anything about it.

 

[TrapperReady]

What all do you guys use to beat the cold??

BTW, I thought I'd add that actually seeing game seems to make me feel all toasty no matter what the temperature. I can be cold and miserable in 40 degree weather if I don't see anything all day, but if it's -5 degrees and I see a buck walk by, I'm suddenly warm and happy.



Attitude always helps too. There are times I get cold and discouraged, but then I think of the time my dad spent freezing in a foxhole in the Ardennes in 1944 and 1945, and suddenly a little discomfort doesn't seem too bad.

 

[Abby]

Feet and hands are the hard part, I've found, when stand hunting up north (deer in Michigan and Minnesota, in my experience).

I'm still working on the perfect pair of boots, but I found a good HAND solution. I take one of those "muffs" (they even make 'em in camo), and stick a couple of handwarmers inside. Works for me because I have wimpy hands and haven't yet found a pair of gloves warm enough that I can still shoot in. With my hands in said "muff," it's much easier to get into action when Bambi comes sneaking in out of nowhere, or barreling in from a field.

 

[f4t9r]

Under-Armour cold gear works for me also.

 

[BIGR]

I start with with good insulated underwear, then a heavy shirt and pants, a sweatshirt type jacket, then the Cableas coveralls. Once I get to the treestand I put on the insulated jacket. I have all kinds of hunting parkas but very seldom use them unless the temp. gets down real low.

For the feet I use 800 gram danner boots with toe warmers (if it is below 38) and some socks that have some wool in them. If it is in the low 20's I put the artic shield boot blankets over my boots. I have found out this year that the type material in the socks makes a world of difference. A few mornings when it was in the upper 30's I tried some cheap socks that were made out of some man made material and my feet got cold. next day the same temperature range with wools socks and my feet stayed alot warmer. It seems like wool socks helps alot.

 

['Card]

Silk is my secret, to be honest with you. Silk is the original, naturally moisture-wicking fabric. I spent one winter years and years ago working with the ski patrol and all of those guys swore by their silk underwear, so I've worn it ever since.

Layer 1: Silk long underwear bottoms and a silk turtleneck top. Silk socks and silk glove liners.
Layer 2: Moisture-wicking poly-pro long underwear top and bottom, plus thick wool socks.
Layer 3: Fleece pants with a windproof lining, and depending on the temperature either a heavy wool commando sweater on top or a fleece pullover. I also wear a pair of fleece 'wristies'.
Layer 4: Outside of all of that would be waterproof/breathable shell layer top and bottom, plus gore-tex gloves and boots.

I tried UnderArmour for awhile, and I liked it fairly well, but I've found a base layer of silk with a layer of polypro over it is a lot more comfortable, gives me a little more versatility, and doesn't cost as much.

As far as specific brands go, I really like Mossy Oak Apparel's APX line for shell garments and fleece. They've incorporated a lot of features into the line that you normally only find in winter 'extreme sports' clothing, and I've found I really like that approach. I also use the APX gloves. For boots I like Red Wing's Irish Setter line, and when it comes to hats, I've found that Tilley Endurables makes the finest hat on the planet.

 

[MCgunner]

I've got an electric vest that is wonderful when I'm riding my GoldWing. I've often thought I might carry a trolling motor battery to my deer stand and wire it for the vest. LOL I can ride below freezing with that vest and be all warm and toasty providing I have my snow mo bibs, coat, neck warmer, etc.

 

[TrapperReady]

MCGunner - I know a guy with a permanent deer stand with a propane heater (20lb cylinder) and a TV (so he can watch football games when he's bored). He's spent a lifetime doing serious hunting. Now, he's just tired of being cold, but still likes to get out there for opening weekend and tag a doe for the crockpot once in a while.

It's not my idea of "hunting", but in another 30 or 40 years, maybe I'll change my mind.

 

[eidsvolling]

This point is implicit in several of the responses above, but it's worth making explicit.

Cotton is great for summer fishing wear, diapers, blue jeans for working in town, and sheets to lie between in town. But it has no place outdoors when you may get wet and/or cold, IMO.

Cotton holds water next to your body, whether from perspiration or snow or rain. That water acts like a portable air conditioner, sucking the heat right out of your body. You want to move it away from your skin and out of your clothing, which is why so many of us are fans of synthetics and wool. And yes, I've gone so far as to abandon cotton undershorts for cold or wet weather.

 

[Browns Fan]

Quote:
"Feet and hands are the hard part, I've found, when stand hunting up north (deer in Michigan and Minnesota, in my experience)."

I have found that if my hands and feet are warm, it is much more comfortable. In Walmart (Please dont start, "I hate wallyworld posts!), the sporting goods dept has these wonderful, inexpensive pocket handwarmers in orange plastic packets. You just open them up, expose'em to air, shake real good, and they'll last up to 8-10 hrs! One in each glove and boot does the trick!

 

[MCgunner]

MCGunner - I know a guy with a permanent deer stand with a propane heater (20lb cylinder) and a TV (so he can watch football games when he's bored). He's spent a lifetime doing serious hunting. Now, he's just tired of being cold, but still likes to get out there for opening weekend and tag a doe for the crockpot once in a while.

It's not my idea of "hunting", but in another 30 or 40 years, maybe I'll change my mind.
__________________

That's sort of where I'm at in my life, now. Scrap the TV, though, unless it has cable so I can watch science channel or something. I'd like one of those Texas deer mansions, though, and I may yet build one. I could lay down and take a nap when I wanted. I could stay overnight and wait for hogs to come out, set a motion detector to alarm and wake me up.... ah, the possibilities, rofl!

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Depends on HOW cold it's going to be. I'm assuming I'll be sitting also. If it's above about +15F, then my standard sorels on my feet w/ a pair of regular socks and a pair of wool socks, my Carhardt insulated bibs with a thick pair of fleece pants underneath and 4-5 layers of long sleeved undershirt/wool shirt/hooded sweatshirt/wool jacket/orange vest/.

Under +15F, substitute the Carhardts with a wool lined pair of old Army Air-Corps flight pants. Regular Sorels replaced with Sorel Arctic Pac Boots and replace wool coat with an insulated Army issue Field Jacket. An extra layer of gloves also.

 

[redneck2]

another thing that I use when it's super cold is a fleece hood. I wear my orange sock hat over the hood. I've read that you lose 40% of your body heat in your head and neck. I'd buy that. Keep your head/neck, feet, and hands warm and everything else is good.

I just discovered fleece a few years ago. It's the ticket. This year I wore polypro, then a fleece jacket under my Gore-Tex camo topcoat. Maybe add a thermal if it was real cold. Windproof, waterproof, and warm.

 

[Bill2k1]

I keep warm by buying top quality gear. I bought 150$ boots, but I have gotten 4 hard years out of them so far, and they are still rocking. I bought a coat for 100 bucks and I wear a cheap field jacket over it. I can wear the coat day to day and I just put on the camo jacket for camo. I own two pairs of bibs, one in camo and one ice armor. Both cost me 120 bucks, but they are worth it when I have never gotten wet.

Stay dry, stay warm. Stay dry with top quality gear, your outter layer should be the best you can afford, you can always wear the long johns with holes under your bibs.

 

[rock jock]

I have hunted in -25F and let me tell you, that is pretty darn cold. However, I was properly prepared and not in the least bit chilled. Synthetics are key. I had two layers of Thermax synthetic shirts and my MT050 Cabelas jacket on top, a musher hat and a fleece balaclava on my head, ski goggles to keep my eyes warm, two layers of synthetic Thermax long underwear and the MT050 pants. Two layers of sock liners and two layers of Thermax socks topped with LaCrosse all-weather 800-gram Thinsulate on my feet. My hands were kept warm with 150-gram gloves from Cabelas.

And yes, I could move around just fine.

 

[eastwood44mag]

I toss a hand warmer in each boot, and I'm good to go.

 

['Card]

...these wonderful, inexpensive pocket handwarmers in orange plastic packets. You just open them up, expose'em to air, shake real good, and they'll last up to 8-10 hrs! One in each glove and boot does the trick!

You know what works even better with those things than putting them in your gloves? Wear a turtleneck shirt, and place two of those Hot Hands packs inside the collar, with one on either side of your windpipe. Let the turtleneck hold them in place right against your skin. What it does is warm the blood coming into and out of your torso, and you'd be amazed at how much better you feel when you keep your core temperature up. When it's really cold I'll also put one on each wrist inside the shirt cuff, held in place right where they check your pulse.

 

[12GA00buck]

I've found the layer system works pretty darn good too.

Above 32degrees-

Top- synthetic wicking shirt
fleece top
waterproof/breathable rain coat
wool hat
fleece glove/mits
rain mits

bottom-
nylon shorts
rain pants
wool socks, I like the oldfashioned ragwool ones
sealskinz waterproof socks (expensive, but definetly the best socks I've tried)
running shoes/ maybe rubber boots

Bellow 32 degrees

Top
Long sleeve synthetic shirt
wool shirt
Heavy pile top
mil surplus liner jacket (olive green w/ polyester fill cheap&warm)
wool hat/polypro liner
turtle fur neck gaiter
Fur or synthetic over hat
Wind shell/ a rain coat dosent breath very well below freezing
liner gloves, milsurplus wool trigger mits, outer mits

Bottom
Merino wool/thermax dufold long johns
mil surplus liner pants (same as jacket)
wind pants- rei versitech
vapor barrier socks (kind climbers use), wool socks, insulated leather boots, OR overboots, snow shoes

Also, a thermos of hot coffee is worth its weight in gold on a cold hunting trip

 

[Caimlas]

I'm pretty new to the whole "outdoors" thing - it's only my 2nd season hunting. But, I've always been sensitive to the cold and have paid attention to staying warm probably more than most. This is what I did last Sunday, temperature about -10-15F (conservative estimate) before sun-up and with 20mph winds from the NW:

Upper body (in order of layer)
- long underwear x 2 (a skin-tight and slightly looser/older one - you want air spacing for further insulation. I'll be replacing the under layer with some winter underarmor I think, as I got sweaty*)
- medium fleece, large fleece
- down vest

Lower body:
- military issue long underwear
- checkered long underwear (again, to create more insulative air pockets)
- BDUs
- Carhart overalls - not the 'deep cold' insulated ones, but the low end insulated variety

On top of all that I threw a windbreaker jacket and my Filson wool jacket, "just in case" and for an extra layer.

Head:
- wool cap
- standard cheap hunter orange ski mask w/ that new fancy tight-weave mesh for a face cover
- scarf - can be loosened or tightened as needed to allow for ventilation around neck

Hands: textured gloves, with wool/thinsulate mittens over them (which had the nice 'fold out' hand hider, so i could use my fingers if needbe)

Feet: one pair of socks - wool, propolene, and poly blend with 8" Danner Strikers.

Dos:
- Do wear layers (I'll talk about this more later)
- Do have good footwear
- Do layer your clothes well enough to avoid baggy or looseness - you want 'snug'
- Do provide a means of easily removing layers without compromising body heat too much - in other words, a $500 jacket on top of a t-shirt is a bad decision; you'd be better off with a light jacket and $200 in clothing layered underneath. (forgive the exageration) Keep in mind that if you're hunting, you're going to be dragging an animal out of the field - somethign likely to make you sweat - and would be best advised to remove a layer to prevent that.

Don'ts
- Don't constrict movement! If your clothes are so tight your movement is noteably constricted, you're also cutting off circulation. This goes double for arms and feet, but that doesn't mean restrict around the midsection, either - you need a little move area there both for movement, and because that's the principle area where you produce (and thus want to store) heat.
- Don't overheat yourself if you know you're going to have to be sitting still for long periods of time afterwards; you'll regret it
- Don't wear cotton socks if you have sweaty feet! It's the surest way (short of under-dressing) I know of to get sick or frostbite.
- Don't lace your boots tight. If you can't wiggle your toes and arch your foot a little bit, your boots are too small or you've layered too many socks.
-

* but not cold!

On wind:

Wind will eat your soul and will to live - then come back for more. It is, in my experience, the most likely thing to sap your heat, because you do not notice it as immediately as you would by getting wet. Combine the two, and you need to get indoors, ASAP, and get out of your wet garments, or risk death.

As it's particularly difficult to cover your hands and face while maintaining use of your fingers and eyes (especially if you wear glasses, damn them!), they're going to be the most heavily impacted by wind. If it's a cold wind (say, under 10F), it's also going to sap a lot of your energy independently from the temperature impact it has on you: it will fatigue your eyes (partially due to having to blink to avoid having the liquid on their surface freezing), irritate your lungs and sinuses, and dehydrate you much more quickly.

A windbreaker is, in my opinion, a bigger advantage in a cold and windy environment than a heavy jacket that can't block wind. Afterall, the whole idea is to trap body heat, and if the wind is blowing right through you...

Again, I can't emphasize layers enough. If a person can sit still while sweaty in -20F temperatures and 20mph winds and still feel comfortably warm with just layered every-day clothing on, there's certainly something to it.