I'm age 66 and I've always had cold feet when sitting still, even in the Summer and my feet were almost always sweaty. A few years ago I started walking for exercise and I walked about 5 miles per day 5 or 6 days a week for 3 or 4 months in a row. Since then my feet stay warm while sitting still even in Winter and even while wearing cotton socks. I think the main thing that's helping my feet stay warm now is that the walking improved the circulation in my feet. I hope that helps someone.
One thing I learned when I was hunting in the Northwoods of Wisconsin & Minnesota is that once the temps really start to drop into the teens or below no pair of boots is going to keep my feet warm by themselves, even when wearing two pairs of wool socks. I tried a pair of Sorel Conquests (-40° rating), a pair Sorel Glacier pack boots (-100° rating) and a borrowed pair of 2,000 gram Thinsulate cold weather boots (don't remember the brand, but they were high quality boots). They were all very good boots that were very comfortable, and as long as I was up walking the Sorels kept my feet warm at temps as low as -40° with no problems at all (that's as low as I ever tested them), but within an hour of climbing into my stand and sitting down my feet were cold. By the time I climbed out of my stand my feet were painfully cold even in the Sorel Glaciers. The best solution I found was battery heated socks, specifically the variety intended for use with waders. When your feet start to get cold all you have to do is turn the heat on, and once they're warmed up simply turn it back off! On the wader socks the battery compartment is attached by a cord. That allows you to keep the batteries up around your belt where they are both easy to reach and easy to keep warm under your parka. (Cold batteries don't last long!) Once I got a couple pairs of those I never had to deal with cold feet again! A lot of people like battery heated insoles, but the battery compartment on those is on the outside of the boot where it is exposed to the cold. I've never tried them, but I suspect battery life is rather short. I had a similar problem with keeping my fingers warm. A pair of thick arctic mittens would do it, but you can't shoot a rifle or do much of anything else wearing thick arctic mittens! A pair of wool glomitts with a chemical heat pack tucked into the pocket in the fold-back mitt solved that one pretty well. It's really easy to sneak your trigger finger out of the mitt when it's time to shoot or to sneak your thumb up into the mitt when it gets cold. And of course when you need more dexterity you can simply fold back the mitt. I always wear a pair of lightweight liner gloves under them to keep my fingers warm when the mitt is folded open. Remember, if you're hands and/or feet are cold it doesn't really matter how warm the rest of you is. You're still going to be miserable! Not only that but your hands and feet act like radiators. The warm blood in your core will be pumped into your hands & feet where it will get cold before being pumped back into your core. This makes it a lot harder for you to stay warm as well as making you more susceptible to hypothermia. (On the flip side soaking your hands & feet in a cold lake or stream along with wrapping a cold wet cloth around your throat, over the carotid artery, will help you to rapidly cool off in hot weather. Not as fast as jumping in the water would, but that's not always a good idea.)
Gunslinger454 - one tip I learned that helps is to rub a solid deoderant on the soles of your feet and in the toes. Sweaty feet really is the killer to cold feet. Plust if I'm going to stand hunt, I take my boots off and wrap them in a wool blanket.
***** I'll try that deodorant tip, thanks! My feet usually don't sweat very much, but any little bit would help. I've never thought of wrapping my feet in a wool blanket. I have tried those insulated 'Boot Blanket' over-boot things. They didn't help much, but I can see how wrapping both feet together my be helpful, sort of like wearing a mitten vs. a glove. I think I might try that one too! It doesn't get quite as cold where I typically hunt these days as it does in the Northwoods, but I do still find myself turning on the socks every now & then. One important thing that I didn't mention in my first post is that whenever I'm sitting in my stand the first thing I do is loosen the laces in my boots like I'm about to take them off. (The Sorel Glaciers don't have much for laces to begin with, but it still helps even on these massive pack boots.) Like Sarge mentioned in the video, tight laces restrict blood flow and will make your feet get colder faster. I've never tried the Muck Arctic Pros, but if my Sorel Conquests ever wear out I think I might!
An addendum to my original comment concerning glomitts: The glomitts that I have been using for nearly a decade now are just your basic cheap, $20, 100% rag wool glomitts with a leather palm. The only 'fancy' thing about them is the pocket for a chemical hand warmer pack that's sewn into the mitt. These have worked so well for me over the years that I haven't given much thought to replacing them with newer technology or even looking into what newer technology might exist. (I already have a pair of battery heated gloves from Columbia that I bought for snowmobiling & skiing, but they're not much good for hunting.) However, there is one drawback; they are not waterproof. While wool does retain 80% of its insulation qualities when wet, it doesn't keep your hands dry. I will often wear a pair of lightweight Sealskinz waterproof gloves underneath the glomitts if I'm expecting rain, or just wear a pair of regular gloves. After I wrote my original post in this conversation I got curious to see what's available in glomitts these days. Some of the new models look pretty interesting! Here's one with a built-in liner glove that's waterproof! There are probably other models out there as well, but I only spent about 2 minutes looking. I think I might have to investigate further and try out a pair of these more recent waterproof designes to see how they work. www.qualityarcherybows.com/seirus-mtn-challenger-glomitt-moi-xlarge-p-22400.html
I find that changing you socks is the best way to keep fresh and keep them warm. They teach you thayt in the military. Allot of great info as always, thanks Sarge
Amen on the extra dry socks. I do use a thin foam insert between my sock and boot. I am looking into the Wiggy's bootie for a pack boot instead of wool inserts as moisture doesn't build up in them. Mil srplus goretex is cheap. Latest project I found a small pair wdland cammo which is not my waist size and cut off the legs. They work great as leg jackets or "leggins" for wet and wind. Also taking wool garments that don't fit you can be turned easily into caps, neck gaiters, hoods, mits, socks. So don't over look your local thrift store either. It's also easy to sew sleeves of another garment onto a down vest that someone has donated . Great vid.
with feet. I run heavy equipment all day long in sub zero moving snow around. I finally found the solution to keep my feet warm was boots with at least 2000 grams of insulation. 2 years ago Cabelas had the only pac boot that had that much but now may options are available. And socks. I found that you can put on way too many layers of socks. If your foot is super tight in the boot, you have too many pairs on. If the sock is packed in it cant give the insulation that is built into it. I have a pair of sorell pack boots that are supposed to be rated at 40 below but they failed when sitting still. Big difference between walking around and stationary warmth. I still use the sorell boots on inbetween days where I need watertight knee high but not a bunch of warmth. Gloves. :) mittens are the warmest. a big pair of mittens with layers of gloves inside so that you can do dexterity stuff for short periods before putting the mitts back on. I have lots of comments on real cold weather :)
Them camo wool pants are sweet. Thanks for answering my question that I didn't even have to ask about them. Like always great video & info. Thanks Sarge.
One thing to keep in mind about synthetic clothing. it can melt if you get to close to the fire. Also.. if an ember hits it.. it might burn right through. Food for thought. As soon it the temps dropped. I started wearing base layers all the time. Merino wool long enough and under armor... worth every penny. Thanks for the video
Great vid sarge! Thanks for answering my cold feet question never thought about the extra socks or those kind of boots will try both. thanks for all you do.
Another tip for combating cold feet, especially if using a non breathable boot like you showed, is the use of vapour barrier socks. Basically you have a thin moisture wicking sock, over that goes your vapour barrier sock (plastic bread bags work well) then you put what ever insulating sock over that. The theory being that the vapour barrier will prevent moisture from your foot getting to your insulating sock thus keeping your feet warm.
Sarge, Have you ever used a scarf? I usually add one to keep the back of my neck warm. I seem to stay warmer if my neck is covered. Thanks for the videos, and keep up the good work.
Great stuff. The wool socks get me itchy, switched to polypropylene. I have the exack Muck Chore boots, absolutely can't live without them, the best, imho. Thx for sharing the vid sarge
wearing to pairs of socks I have found only works if there are very loose fitting, also I find I am barefoot around the house for a month or more prior to any extended cold weather trip seems to help my feet generate more heat. those boots are sick I want a pair
Have you ever tried alpaca wool? I heard it was lighter and warmer than sheep. I have an alpaca ranch close by, but their stuff is a little too pricey. I was wondering if it was worth it. Everyone I know who uses it is friends with the ranch and gets it for free. So their wonderful reviews are kinda bias.
I lived in Alaska for 21 years where people often travel by airplane or helicopter. If you need to travel by airplane or helicopter you should try to avoid wearing any kind of synthetics and wear wool. In the early 1990s there was a helicopter that crashed and caught fire that had several Federal workers on board. Three died and one didn't. The person that survived was wearing merino wool underwear. The others were wearing polypropylene underwear that melted to them and destroyed large portions of their skin. After that accident, before we could find merino wool undies, many of us started carrying our poly undies in our pack and changing into them after we got off the helicopter. When your work has you dropping into small heli-spots in muskegs every day, your exposure to potential aircraft accidents is simply too high to take the risk.
sargefaria Sarge, what does the military do under similar circumstances? Do they consider possible exposure to flames/fire with personnel dressed in poly underwear and traveling in helicopters?
