To pay my way through college, I worked as a tower hand for a tower services company in Cedar Rapids. For three years I spent my weekends climbing thousands of feet into the air to fix antennas, replace cables, and change light bulbs.
And that was the easy part–what I hated was the cold!
You see we did this year round–to include those Iowa winters where the temperature was freezing on the ground and even colder in the air, where winds would create wind chills easily below -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Climbing those towers covered with ice I learned very quickly how to dress for extreme cold weather. We had clothing needs similar to that of an outdoor athlete, as the climb up and the work was physically taxing and would cause sweating while at other times we needed extra insulation as we would be sitting still for hours performing delicate tuning work.
In order to add to the lessons I learned in the field on how to stay warm in freezing conditions, I spoke with the cold weather dressing experts at Carol Davis Sportswear and Northern Outfitters. And today I’ll be sharing the advice I gleaned from those conversations with you.
Understanding Layering
The key to cold weather dressing is layering.
Let me repeat that: The key to cold weather dressing is layering.
Layering basically means just what it sounds like: wearing multiple layers of garments, one on top of the next. Several lighter layers will keep you warmer than one very thick one–air is trapped between each layer and warmed by your body, surrounding you with a self-generated heat shield that insulates you from the cold.
Of course, some types of clothing do a better job than others. Layering regular street clothing until it will keep you warm in sub-zero temperatures will leave you so bulky that you might as well roll to wherever you’re going. That’s not our goal.
If you can’t put your arms down, you know your attempt at layering has gone terribly wrong.
Instead, seek out the right clothing for each layer and then use it accordingly for optimum cold weather insulation protection.
Experts break layering into three sections:
1) the base layer
2) the insulating layer
3) the outer protection layer
Let’s cover each layer in detail.
1. Base Layer
Your cold weather base layer lies against your skin and is primarily meant to provide the first layer of insulation and most importantly deal with moisture removal. Staying warm and active means occasionally sweating, and sweating is bad if your clothing doesn’t allow it to move out and away from your skin. Water on the skin in cold weather can turn deadly as it can lead to rapid heat loss, so ensure you use an inner layer that pulls sweat away from the body.
Old fashioned solutions mostly relied on garments made from loose wool strings, which absorbed the moisture and had enough thickness for it to soak toward the outside of the clothing. More modern solutions use synthetic fibers in much the same way.
The process of drawing moisture away from the body is often referred to as “wicking.” Athletic and specialty cold weather garments are the best balance between moisture wicking properties and thin, lightweight construction. They add almost no bulk and if properly fitted allow extreme flexibility.
Your hands and feet need layers as well, and liner socks are key to any kind of warm weather outfit. Camping stores sell these quite inexpensively so don’t skip on this purchase; wear them under thicker socks to keep your feet dry. Fingerless liner gloves or very thin wool gloves make a useful base layer for the hands, where sweat is less of a concern but an extra layer still adds warmth by trapping air.
