NOTE: This post was split from the thread on "Snowshoe Gear" I've taken Winter Recreation classes in college and experimented heavily with outerwear over the past 20 years. At this point I think I have it pretty much dialed in (for me anyway). One of the *BEST* ways to dial in your outerwear is to do strenuous exercise outside every day regardless of the weather. You'll quickly learn how to adapt your clothing to stay warm, dry, prevent sweating, etc. regardless of whether it is cold/dry, cold/damp, all the way through hot/damp. This daily experience in a low risk environment where you can go home if what you tried doesn't work gives you practical experience with what works and what doesn't. After a few months you'll have the experience necessary to pack a minimal, but highly functional, set of clothes for extended back country travel (whether that be snowshoeing / winter camping or extended vehicle travel). That experience gives you the confidence to quickly grab the appropriate clothing for any given condition in the field. This in turn means you are free to concentrate on the task at hand rather than wasting brain power figuring out what clothes to put on or take off to get comfortable. When you are with a group you won't be the guy who keeps asking to stop for a costume change. When doing a vehicle recovery you won't suddenly find yourself sweating and needing to stop for a second to take a layer off. It gives the experience necessary to know what gear you can trust all day in foul weather and what gear is going to leave you soaking wet and cold. We can't all head to the mountains every day to get this experience with our gear, but we can use it around town so we are intimately familiar with the gear we own. Besides, who wants to be learning about and fiddling with gear when you are in the back-country. Getting experience outdoors daily makes our back country trips comfortable and enjoyable so we can concentrate on the fun part of the adventure and our surroundings. Anyway... I guess I'm writing a gear guide at this point but it's a worthwhile topic. As far as safety and overlanding is concerned clothing is *way* more important than tires, winches, or lifts. So let's talk about it.  After tossing thousands of dollars of outerwear aside over the years, from head to toe, the clothing I've settled on for winter includes. Boots: When snowshoeing the lighter the footwear the better as you'll tire rapidly if you have to lift a heavy boot and a heavy snowladen snowshoe with each step. But, warmth is key. Plastics - warm, but a bit heavy. Typically cut really narrow. Koflach's are cut wider. Can pull out liners and use as tent booties around camp.
Leather mountaineering boots - cold but lighter
Note: A good option would be "winter boots" made by The North Face, Sorel, Columbia, etc - They are warm, moderate weight, not too bulky, not as much ankle/foot support as plastics/backpacking boots. I select which boots to wear based on the temperature and if I'm camping overnight. Socks
Synthetic liner socks - wick moisture away from the foot. These are critical in winter as you DO NOT want moisture on your skin.
Trekking Socks - Extra thick, but make sure your foot w/ sock still fits in the boot. You need to be able to wigle your toes freely so the blood can circulate and keep your digits warm. Gaitors
As mentioned above, I bring gaitors along to keep the snow out of my boots. These add warmth to both my boots and lower legs. They offer a fully waterproof layer down where the deep snow is too. Gaitors rock. Legs Base Layer
PolyPro long john - wicks moisture away from skin. Unless it's really cold I rarely wear these while excercising. I sleep in them and add them as a base layer right as the sun goes down in camp. Legs Insulation Layer
Soft shell pants - I use a soft shell "Pocket Pant" made by Mtn Hardwear that absolutely rocks. Highly water resistant, so I rarely if ever need rain pants.
Legs Outer Layer
Rain Pants: Mtn. Hardwear Goretex Pro rain pants. I add these if I'm concerned with getting wet or if I am getting cold and need another layer to block the wind and help trap my body heat. They can be used in combination with either or both of the other leg layers for light warmth/water & wind proof, medium warmth/water & wind proof, or with both for maximum warmth/water & wind proof. There are other brands that are water/wind proof that aren't breathable. These work well too as your legs don't sweat as much as your body does. Just make sure they allow freedom of movement to fully bend your knees, do squats, etc. Body Base Layer
Long sleeve poly-pro shirt with zippered neck. Wick's moisutre away, makes it easy to control body heat, and gives an even layer of clothing. The zipper allows you to open/close the shirt to control how much heat escapes. Clothing works like a chimney with the heat rising from the bottom, up through your clothes to the head. The ability to allow a lot of heat to escape around your neck/chest/shoulders is critical to controlling body heat when exercising. The long sleeves are also noteworthy as they insure that your entire torso is kept warm evenly. I've tried short sleeve shirts, vests, etc over the years with the idea that if my *core* is warm then I'll be warm. This doesn't work as well as it sounds. If you get to the point where you have stripped off all of your clothes except your shirt because you are exercising heavily the exposed sweaty arms get super cold really fast (despite the fact that your body is so warm that it is sweating). The long sleeve poly pro sleeves wick the moisture from your skin and help to create a cool, but not cold, micro climate between your skin and the shirt. sub-freezing air, sweat, and your skin isn't a good combo so the long sleeve synthetic shirt winds up becoming a key piece of gear. Note: Many people do the same thing with long-johns and shorts when backpacking in the fall. This doesn't work so well in winter. Fortunately, the "chimney" effect means that you can add a little extra thickness (soft-shell pants for example) to your legs and the extra heat will rise up and still escape. Belts do hinder the chimney effect which is why many people use "bibs" when mountaineering. Body Insulation Layer
I use a long sleeve, zipper neck, mid-weight fleece/sweatshirt/sweater. This depends on the temperature. The fleece is the lightest weight but the Norwegian sweater I have is by far the warmest. Unless it is super cold, I bring the fleece. Of interest to those in the "classic kit" guys is that the Norwegian Sweater I have is made by the same company that made the sweaters worn by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen when he was the first human to reach the South Pole with the only design change being the lining of the neck with fleece and a zipper instead of the traditional ornate buttons on the neck (I wish mine had buttons). Again, long sleeve so my body temp increases consistently everywhere and the zipper so I can regulate the release of warm air. Zipping the neck up traps heat and covers the skin on my neck. Second Body Insulation Layer
Down jacket - lightweight to carry, extremely warm, packs down very small. Doesn't work when wet, so a fully waterproof outer layer is critical. However... it is rare to have it be both wet and so cold that you need a down jacket. If it is near freezing the base layer, fleece, and waterproof outer layer are usually enough (with movement or a campfire). If it is well below freezing then it is usually snowing or there are clear skies. Just make sure you keep the down jacket in a waterproof backpack/stuff sack. Having a down jacket in camp is awesome though. Body Outer layer
The outer layer functions as a water/wind barrier and that's it. It should not have any insulation. It is used in combination with all of the other body layers to allow you to control insulation/temperature and wind/water protection. Blocking the wind keeps the warm air trapped by the insulation layers from being swept away. It's amazing how warm you can stay with just a long sleeve shirt and a water/wind proof layer. I use an Arcteryx Gore-TeX pro shell. This is just a shell. Similar to those Nylon waterproof / windproof jackets that you can stuff into a bag the size of your fist. This one is water/wind proof *AND* highly breathable. It has a big over sized hood that can be adjusted to fit tightly around just my head, head/hat, or head with helmet (mountaineering). It has pit zips that open up to allow better ventilation but still block the rain (since it's under my arm). It has a couple of pockets but they are very flat and add very little extra material making the jacket a great water/wind proof barrier that packs small/light and still allows body heat/moisture to escape. After having owned multiple Gore-TeX jackets over the years my suggestion is to get one that is as simple and that packs as small as possible. Gore-TeX pro fabric (REI has an even better fabric now), roomy enough to fit over your down jacket, long enough to cover your bottom when sitting on snow, absolutely no liner or insulation (just a shell), pit zips to control ventilation, and a good sized hood. The Arcteryx jacket I have is insanely expensive (though I'll use mine for 5+ years) but REI has one in their REI Elements series that is quite affordable and that is still breathable. Hat
90% of your body heat escapes through your head??? or something like that. I'm bald so I have less insulation than most. I bring 3-4 hats on most trips as I find it critical to keeping my body temperature regulated. Being bald, I pretty much always need *something* on my head if the temperature is below 40 degrees. I start with a bandanna as it gives me some protection, and like the long sleeve shirt creates a small micro climate between the skin of my head and the cold outside air. Air still flows through there allowing me to let heat escape, but my sweaty skin isn't exposed directly to the elements. Now that I'm writing this I realize that I should look into a synthetic or silk bandanna to help wick that moisture away. If the bandanna isn't enough I put on a lightweight hat. If that isn't enough or I'm in camp no longer exercising I put on an even heavier hat. If it starts raining I either pull the hood of my Gore-TeX pro shell over my head or if I want to be able to hear I put on an Outdoor Research Gore Tex "Seattle Sombrero" rain hat. I always feel funny wearing it, but it really does work great in a downpour. It's like walking around with an umbrella attached to my head. I always feel like I go overboard with hats, but it really is the most critical area of your body to regulate when outdoors. Hands/Gloves/Mittens I bring regular old glove liners, waterproof "seal-skins" insulated gloves, and Outdoor Research Gore-TeX shell mittens. I mix/match to increase/decrease warmth and insure that I'm waterproof. I wear the Seal Skins waterproof gloves almost exclusively though. They stretch fit tight so I have complete use of all my fingers for even small motor tasks. They are waterproof on their own, keep my hands fairly warm, have grippy nubs on them, etc. They are *perfect* for driving in, cooking in, etc. When standing around my hands do occasionally get cold in them though so I either put them in the pockets of my down jacket or put on the outdoor research mitts. |