@@mrwes100 You can wear cotton To Your heart’s content But When I am 2 days off the pavement And In a cold weather environment That Will homicide my ass in a matter of minutes My Mama would be highly upset for Letting “If” Efff with me. When You can plan, prepare, and have options Why Make foolish choices.
I'm a Canadian, used to very cold temps, and your advice is great. The one thing I would point out is that the gear you presented costs a heck of lot of money. Here in Canada, I think what you have there would set a person back a good $2000, at least. Oversized gear is great, but what I find is that you don't always need all those layers, and if you don't need them, you shouldn't wear them, because you'll overheat. With fewer layers the oversized gear is going to be too big to be practical. That means having gear in several sizes, and if you're looking at boots that cost at least $200 a pair, that's one heck of a lot of money. Plus, where the hell are you going to store all that stuff! My experience is that having the right gear all the time is just a challenge.
Cotton is also naturally heat and fire retardant, unlike most synthetic materials. Sit next to a fire for a while and those uber expensive puffy jackets and it will look like swiss cheese if your not careful.
I completely agree with the choices and the manufacturer. I too use minus 33 best i have found to date, and i been out and about working for 50 years now... Only thing i see everyone either ignore or forget... "Fish nets". I get mine from wiggys. Lots of folks make fun of me as they stand there shivering... I just know what works for me. Gore Tex doesn't work... It traps moisture. Never had any gore tex ever that breathed. And no. Cotton does not kill. Stupid kills. Good review . Excellent information.
My kids still tease me about the Wiggy’s fish nets. But let me tell ya, I’m a Jah-damned sexy beast in them. I doubted them, and shit-house rat crazy Wiggy, when I first bought them, but they work phenomenally well in subzero weather. Wiggy’s fish net, then a layer of merino or polypro, then fleece or wool. Many a night camping in sub-zero weather and they just work.
Excellent video, like all of them. Years ago I read a study and experienced this myself in the Army that the more time you spend outside, the more acclimated you get. Going in and out of your fully heated house doesn’t get you acclimated but actually living outside for an extended period you’ll notice you become more comfortable with less clothing. My Army time was all pre-endless Gulf War(s) but we spent much our time in the desert, up to a month at a time. We helped train a lot of butter bars, I’d be wearing long underwear and my BDU’s, some 2nd looey would be wearing literally ever article of clothing he was issued and be freezing 😂😂. Duluth Trading Co. and Duluth Pack make awesome gear. So much stuff is so expensive as some in the comments have said already. You can indeed spend thousands of dollars but you don’t have to. Military surplus is your friend. I have some Eastern European Cold War wool coat that costs $30…it weighs a ton but is absolutely amazing in the winter. Korean War era Army wool clothing is great. It takes time to find but if you have time and no money there’s your choice. 20 degrees to me is perfect backpacking weather, easier to get warm than it is to get cool when it’s 100F out!
Agreed. I lived in Southern Africa and 40 to 50°C Summer Temperatures are no joke .. including the amount of water to be carried just to see it through 24 hours. Lets not mention the Coastal Areas and accompanying Humidity. You are 100% correct. Regularly exposing oneself to the ambient temperatures definitely assists with acclimatisation. Give me cooler weather any day.
Good wool is really good as a base layer. If it's really cold, it's also great as an outer layer. Tight weave is essential for the outer layer. It's also stupid quiet.
Wool is my winter active wear clothing. Rubber on the feet attracts the cold. People spoil themselves by wearing way too much clothing. Move. Don’t stand still. Fingerless gloves within mitts. Keep wrist arteries warm. Keep upper leg arteries warm with extra layer. The ancients did very well on this land for ten thousand years without oil based not renewable clothing. This is how I see things from my side of the Canadian Border in the boreal forest Precambrian Shield of Northern Saskatchewan.
That scarf trick for pre warming the next breath is a game changer on big mountains some people use a weird lil device that only covers their nose and mouth, looks uncomfortable, this thoug. I would use for sure
One issue I have with multiple layers of socks is the mechanical compression of my feet - it restricts the circulation. I use hand knit socks for the second insulating layer - as they are much looser woven and tend to trap more air.
Yep .. any constriction around the feet will restrict blood flow. Less warm blood through the feet, the colder they will feel. Even in warm weather, I've never been comfortable with my shoes / boots tied up tight.
Should be looking at boots a size larger than your shoes. Especially cold weather, but there's also benefits to multiple sock layers in warm weather also.
For everyone saying that this stuff is too expensive. Summertime in Goodwill is your friend. All the wool you will ever need. Poke around and you can find some gortex or other types of outer shells.
Good info. I loved my gortex but hated getting it holed by campfire embers. Nothing gorilla tape won't fix though. Everything is a compromise and the big challenge I found in the snow was regulating my activity so as not to sweat yet layering up to prevent cooling down to quickly. Cycle touring through the Rockies I found a wool sweater was the most practical yet my chest froze from the icy breeze and at the same time the sun on my back caused sweat to trickle down my spine.
Gorilla tape is literally the end all be all of all tape it is literally perfect in every single way and undeniably the best tape that the world has ever seen. I had somebody smashed in the back window of my car I closed the window up completely with gorilla tape and the tape held up for five years until the car got totaled and it held up in 120° weather for years and also in the coldest weather possible and didn’t peel not even remotely it stayed in the same condition all those five years I would consider gorilla tape in essential to every human being. If I would have kept the car for 50 years I would have no doubt that that tape would hold up for 50 years.
Where did you film this? You said you live in the Northeast. I live in Maine, and I haven’t seen a snowflake yet. In fact, it’s been in the high 50s, low 60s today. Amen, to what you are preaching. I have a herds worth of sheep’s wool for the winter. Joshua Enyart, you are the man!
👍👍👍 .. good and informative .. thanks. Valuable point regarding the use of a scarf / similar around the neck. In hindsight, my late Mom and Mother-in-Law had it nailed with their 'scarves to keep their necks warm'. At the time, for me it just 'old fogey stuff' 😁. Something else .. an insulating 'waist band'. Some reading on research done in this regard supports my (now) realisation that a cold(er) midriff, especially around the kidneys and back area appreciably reduces one's 'felt' comfort level. Now into Autumn (Fall), I'm busy getting the Winter Gear out of the Cellar and quite looking forward to the colder months. Here in the Northern Switzerland Lowlands, our snow is predominantly 'wet' .. when we get it. More than often, the weather is cold and dry so my gear reflects that. Take care ..
Grew up in Chicago, was stationed in Punmunjom Korea, and live in Colorado these days. I love winter, and have a tolerance for cold that blows people's minds. We recently had a -20 windchill night here, and with nothing but a Triple Aught Ranger Hoodie and Northface shell, I was cozy on my hike home from work. Layers, heat management, and just general awareness will serve you well in the cold.
Glad to hear someone mention “the other side” of the cotton kills saying. With good base and warming layers your flannel and twill or canvas or whatever are mainly there to take the wear and abrasion from doing stuff and give you pockets.
Hey comrade, I wore the red beret of the GDR paratroopers for some years in the seventies and later the blue one, you know who I mean. As for the clothing in winter, everything you say is true. When I'm on the road today, motorcycle / ATV underwear, jump boots and always enough wool socks and garbage bag. On the feet wool socks, plastic bag over them and the boots. Always warm and dry. Laugh, if they are wet, I dry the overnight. Very simple, some embers sealed in aluminum foil and put in the boots. If it goes into the water, long plastic bags, double and fixed with tape on the thigh. So you save weight and also money for the equipment. Greetings from Frankfurt.
Wool is best in the north east. It retains its insulation value even when wet. Layers are best because you can strip off a layer if you start to over heat. I usually don't watch videos about winter clothing due to the princesses doing them. This one actually knows what he I talking about. Watch out for modern gloves. I have some high dollar gloves and once they are wet it takes days to dry out unless you have a dryer to blow warm air into them. If you can afford it, alpaca wool is the best!
Great videos you’re putting out dude. I spend quite a bit of time out in the winter here in CO (past 22 years) and I feel like wearing a boot 2 sizes too large would be sloppy af and potentially hazardous climbing up/down harder, steeper snowy/icy terrain and terrible on your feet. I have bigass winter boots for snowblowing and really like lightly insulated mountaineering boots for harder terrain or elk hunting. But they would suck being 2 sizes larger.
This man is so tough he wears out his clothes from the inside out. Great videos mate. With even the most basic kit, without thrills or extras, conveyance is a must: canoes, motorcycles, ATVs, etcetera. The old school trappers used mules & canoes/rafts a lot. As did the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I doubt too many civilians consider the logistics required to move across terrain without vehicles. We think a go bag is sufficient. Maybe during the summer.
great video man! my standard cold weather headgear is a German long-necked wool balaclava, my old Grunt Style baseball cap over that, and my wool beanie over the cap
In regards to socks, you said you like larger boots to layer socks. Have you ever tried normal sized boots w normal winter socks and then use wraps over the boot. I have always had problems w boots that are too large making it cumbersome to walk or rubs the wrong way. Thoughts?
I like the layer with mostly thinner/medium weight. Then a piece or two with thicker layer (usual coat) & thick pants. Wear panty hose under your pants, it's not so much for warmth more for chafing (or keeping your legs from sticking to pants if a little sweaty) & they just feel better especially if your wearing wool.
As always, a cornucopia of great information. I spend an abundance of time in the Sierra Nevada mountains and like the northeast we have very wet snow. Proper layers and good quality are a game changer and a life saver.
I remember when Arcteryx first started in East Vancouver, BC. Canada. It was actually affordable. Now, it is way overpriced, and definitely over hyped. But, good video anyway.
Wool is technically not wicking, but more of absorbent. It takes quite a bit to dry it. That is why i mix it... base wool, and synthetic mid layers (polyester etc). Polyester touches wool, absorbs moisture and wicks it away. I wear wool top base layer even in summer, as i work at night outside 5x per week. In summer time it still can drop to 4-6c (high 30s, low 40s Fahrenheit) here in south of Norway, so i use light weight 18ish micron, 180g/m2 (Devold breeze series, turtle neck, half zip- to open it to went-off if its too warm). In winter time i use same (until 30f) or mid (230ish g/m2) until low 20s , or expedition, 350 g/m2 ish when it drops below 20, can get sometimes to -5f (around -23 celcius). Those minus 33 expeditions are ridiculously overpriced, 140usd ish for top layer. I paid maybe 40 bucks for Bergans brand, expedition weight top base layer.
Hey josh great content spent 55 yrs in the north east and it was a constant trial and upgrade to stay outside all winter working now that I’ve moved south I can’t give this stuff away lol 😂
Yeah, my giant down Cabela's coat hasn't been worn more than 3 times in the last 20 years since moving to NC. I'm just waiting to hear a friend say they're moving north and need a coat.
Wow just checked out -33 wool specs… 17.5, 18.5 micron wools… That’s as high end, skin soft as wool gets. No wonder pricey. (Outer wear, hard wearing, bit coarser wool is desirable.)
Cotton gets a bad name. Keep your base layer polypropylene or silk with cotton over it. The base will wick the sweat out amd the cotton will soak it up away from your body. Warm Af.
I think his system and advice is the best for cold weather. I've been up in East coast Canada which is cold wet. The cotton layer I call the pocket layer. Having base layers and then a cotton layer for pockets and durability to protect the wool makes a lot of sense.
I wanted to bring extra gears in my car during winter. But it gets easily cold if i left it there. Im thinking of having a cooler/coleman chest box inside my car as a storage for my gears which in my theory would keep it warm. What do you guys think?
Quality gear and clothing has never been inexpensive. The stuff that works is worth every penny, and then some. I purchased, owned, used extensively, and threw away a boatload of gear & clothing that didn't perform up to its advertising and magazine equipment/clothing review hype. In the mid-1970's when I was attached as a medic to a military mountain training camp at Ft. Lewis, Washington most of the instructors and myself elected to purchase as much of our own gear and clothing on the civilian market using our own money because most of the issued military gear & clothing of that era was at least 20-50 years out of step with the technology of the 1970's. This was when radically fast advancements were being made in every segment of the outdoors industry. Rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, skiing, snowshoeing, boots, underwear, synthetic fabrics, micropore fabrics that allowed water vapor from a human body to pass through in one direction, while stopping large water droplets from precipitation from reaching the wearer's body. I owned, used extensively, and wore out *the Gen 1, the Gen 2, the Gen 3, and the Gen 4 versions* of polypropylene long johns, gloves, mittens, balaclavas, and socks. As well as GoreTex rain parkas, rain pants, mitten shells, and gaiters. Quality wool undergarments were rare in the 1970's, with very few choices as compared to 2023. Most of the European wool long underwear that I tried stretched like crazy after wearing it a couple of dozen times, and once stretched never shrank back to its original size. *ALL* of the above items, some of which performed poorly, were nonetheless eons better than 99% of the WWII to Korean War era cold weather gear that the Army issued us. We all had purchased our own climbing gear, especially the ropes. The best ropes were made in Germany, Austria, & Switzerland. And were head & shoulders better than the O.D. Green, 3-strand, twisted nylon ropes that the Army insisted we use. The European braided ropes were 50m (165') long vs the 150' long issued ropes which stretched like crazy, were significantly weaker, and had been stored under questionable conditions, some of them for decades with few-to-no inspections. We rejected hundreds and hundreds of those 150' twisted green ropes to obtain a sufficient supply to teach the classes that were mandated. GOD only knows what the quartermaster sergeants did with those ropes we rejected as being questionable as to safely being used. Nicks, mildew, stretched well beyond their nominal original 150 foot length were the obvious signs that caused us to reject a rope from the warehouse. Any rope that made the cut but suffered a fall of more than 10-15 feet, was immediately taken out of service. Those 18 months where I basically spent 6 out of every 7 days in the field, year round, regardless of the weather, acting as an adjunct instructor when not needed as a medic (95% of that time), taught me the value of quality clothing and equipment. The old adage, *"Buy once! Cry once!"* has always been my philosophy. I come from a long line of craftsmen, craftswomen, artisans, builders, and people who worked with their hands in dozens of different occupations. Poor quality tools simply were not a part of my family's collective ethos, on either side of my family tree. Same thing with clothing.😅
On Boots, I worked Derricks out of Crosby, No. Dak. I have worked at 80 below. 3 times Tripped pipe at 60 below. Those Black Mickey Mouse Boots my Go To Favorite 1 st Time Every Time they say only good to 20 below, not so. Good to 80 below w/ 1 pair nylon socks 2 pair Wool over them.
What backpack is sitting on the ground next to you? Noticed you sitting on the Fjällräven but couldn't figure out the other pack. Did that pack next to you accommodate most of those winter clothing selections? Thanks for your content!
Wicky, warmy, windy, and wetty. Ask your local Carpenter. Personally when I'm working, keep the head and neck warm the body will follow. 2 pairs of gloves one light, one heavy, change often. Invest in a boot and glove dryer. Have extra and try different options, to find what works for you.
Great video thanks 🙏🏼 Like soldiers Chippy’s (carpenters) know 👏🏽👏🏽😉 working in the freezing winters avoid the sweat chills keep the perimeters comfortable and swappable layers keep the spirit up and help you get it done!
Why would cotton against one's skin be dangerous? Serious question. People seem to either be for it or against...no inbetween. Because you're anyway trying not to sweat so it shouldn't make a difference? 🤔
Tying everything was an Army standard, we called em "idiot strings" as kids, with a shoelace running thru the sleeves of your jacket connecting your mittens. Losing gloves was a mortal sin. Lol.
Great video. Lost me when you said goretex boots. They allow your feet to build up perspiration. Better to use regular leather boots in their place. My experience comes from desert, great north western coast line, Idaho, Montana and Northern Alaska. JMHO
Leather will soak. Or, if leather is treated with wax, polish, some kind of water proof, you are now equal to gortex. So your point is no longer valid. Accept the new technologies or just suffer… your choice.
I really like the MSS clothing. PCU Marshmellow suit is great. Its kept me warm down to 6° F comfortably with base and secondary layering. I've found that no matter what you're going to get wet so quick dry clothing is a prominent feature I look for.
Hi bud . Can you please tell me what boots you are wearing?, they look like a good bit of kit. My ultimate are my Gortex boots by the brand Viking, I got the gtx delux and boy are they some pair of boots. Super comfortable, supportive, waterproof af , warm when you need it , not when you don't, never sweat. I'm a boot gal . Myself and Major my maligator both watching.
Wet wool keeps warm considerably less when wet, and not enough to keep warm. Lots and lots of wool uniformed soldiers and civilians have frozen to death. Common sense!make sure your rig can breath and dry you out, in the cold your body let's off vapor, íf you put a small wool blanket over your sleeping bag it can stop the bag from icing, the ice forms in the blanket, just shake it off.
Do your Canadian friends have a website or social media platform I can dive into? The video is great. I live up in the north east too and when it gets deathly cold I run my NB3 parka that I was issued earlier in my career. They're liquid gold and whenever I see on cheap I grab and store it away for friends family or a backup.
I have an Arc'teryx jacket that lasted me close to 20 years, back when they were still made in Canada. It finally needs to be replaced, what model is the one you have? I am torn between a few.
Minus33 makes really good long underwear - I have the expedition weight bottoms and I sometimes use them as pants, they are so thick! I'd like an expedition weight zip. I remember my mom tying my mittens onto a string, which was strung through the coat sleeves. Worked great. Great video!
One of my favorites that are never mentioned are Gore-tex gaitors. These will raise the temperature rating of your boots by over 10 degrees easily and keep the snow out. The best part is they also keep your ankles super warm.
@@markcummings6856 Yeah, and good polyester fleece like polartec works well also. I just can't afford that much expensive wool. My $30 long underwear from Academy works well for me
winter rubber boots with changable felt inserts are so underrated. those keep your feet sooo warm and its very easy to change in new inserts if the old ones happen to get wet.
@@Leksuttaja149 Get extra felt inserts... nice trick! Anything that doesn't breathe is a whole lot warmer, but you do need to be aware of when and how to deal with it.
