My son’s new Scout troop does a lot of winter camping. In fact, they take pride in earning “frost point” when their campsite gets below 32F. So we (I go on the campouts too) need to get some clothes & dressing strategies to keep us warm down to maybe 20F. Short of “never wear jeans. never wear cotton. wear polyester.” I havn’t heard anything that helps.
General ideas and specific brands/items are most welcomed.
Layers of wool. You really don’t need to spend the money on fancy clothing if you pay attention to your layering and don’t get wet.
REI has a good line of inexpensive “base layer” thermal underwear. A pair of long johns, with a matching shirt worn next to the skin will both keep you warm and pull sweat off you, preventing that “chilled feeling” when you stop moving.
(ETA: most people and especially kids, do not care for the feeling of wool long underwear)
From there you can wear a wool sweater or a polarfleece pullover, whichever you have around the house already - they’re both good. Midweight jacket over all. Best not to have a super heavy weight jacket, because then if you are too warm, you can’t unlayer.
Make sure snow boots or hiking boots have plenty of space in the toe box. Your feet will get cold from being squashed, even inside wool socks.
Mittens are warmer than gloves, but are unwiedly for doing tasks like setting up a tent, etc. best is to have a thin “glove liner” worn under the mitten. You can take off the mitten to do tasks and your hands won’t get instantly frozen. Replace mitten for more warmth when task is done.
Cheap ski gloves will be more than adequate down to 10F. I don’t use mittens until the temp gets below -20F. Snowmobile gloves are the warmest gloves available, but of course some dexterity is lost in comparison to cheap gloves.
With this whole “artificial fibers = waterproof” matra the adult leaders discuss, would it make sense to have a layer of polyester or nylon in there? Incidently, I am aware wool is a better insulator when wet. I’m just thinking of preventing the snow/rain from getting into the innermost sweat-soaking layer of wool. But then there’s a barrier preventing the sweat from moving to the outside.
Layering is really important here, because the amount of heat and sweat that your body generates varies a lot with activity level, and the sweater and pants that kept you warm on the hike in to the campsite will not keep you warm when you are sitting around camp waiting for water to boil. Likewise, the heavy coat that keeps you warm in camp will leave you sweating when you have to cut wood or break a trail, and sweat is bad news when winter camping. Breatheability is also vital to longterm comfort.
Personal anecdote: on my first dogsledding trip, I wore shell pants and a jacket both made of Goretex, because I was afraid of getting wet from the snow. With only a small amount of aerobic activity in below freezing temps, I was quickly soaked to the skin with sweat, which then left me cold whenever we stopped moving. Goretex and other membranes just don’t breathe enough in the cold. I might as well have been wearing a garbage bag over my clothes.
For dogsledding trips now, I wear a thin-to-medium wicking synthetic (or wool) underlayer, covered by a medium synthetic or wool insulation layer like a fleece jacket or wool pants, covered by a thin, breatheable wind layer, usually synthetic, although tight thin cotton weaves will work when the temps are reliably sub-freezing. I also keep a down coat easily available. Thin liner gloves and windproof outer gloves go together as a unit. I wear one set of this outfit and have a second set packed away, but accessible. Multiple, thin layers are preferable to one or two heavy layers. For headgear I have two fleece tubes that can be cinched closed to form a hat, or used open as a neck gaiter or face mask. I prefer items with zippers or snaps to those that you have to pull on or off, since that makes changing layers easier and adds a degree of adjustability to the layers: open vs. closed. My shell pants have side zips that let me vent them when skiing or snowshoeing. Having your change of clothes accessible can be important; I postholed through the ice up my chest once, and I was able to pull out my spare clothes and get changed completely within five minutes.
The key to comfort and safety is to frequently assess what your activity level is and whether your clothes match it. If you’re going to be active, dress ‘cold’ at the start and add layers if needed rather than the other way around. If you’re going to be sedentary, check yourself for dampness and switch clothes as needed. And by ‘frequently’ I mean every ten minutes or so. I probably drive other folks in camp crazy by taking my coat, hat, and/or gloves on and off every couple of minutes, but I know that I’m never cold or wet anymore like I used to be, and the experience is much more pleasant. Getting kids to do this is tricky and might just have to be enforced as a rule.
All of the above really applies to camping in temps that are reliably below freezing; if you are in a spot that is warmer than that, with the possibility of wet snow or rain, then it makes sense to have a thin waterproof outer layer to prevent water going the other way, from out to in. But being in a 35º rainstorm while hiking is never going to be comfortable, just survivable.
ETA: synthetics aren’t inherently waterproof, they just don’t retain water to the degree that cotton (and to a lesser extent wool) do. So you can wring out your fleece jacket and beat it on a rock a few times and it will be drier than a cotton sweatshirt given the same treatment. It will also be easier to dry out near a fire, but will be more susceptible to burning/melting than cotton and wool will.
FWIW, here’s a clothing checklist as suggested by a dogsledding outfitter: warning, it’s a PDF.
I’ve done a fair amount of winter camping with the Mountaineers and have even been known to sleep in snow caves on occasion.
No cotton anywhere! Hit up the local army surplus for wool pants, shirts, sweaters, etc.
Layering is important because you don’t want to sweat and soak your clothes. Wet clothes conduct heat away from the body faster than just air alone. So dry and cold is better than wet and cold. When you are exerting, it’s amazing how little you can wear even when it’s below freezing. But the instant you stop — well, better have that hat and coat handy, on the very top of the pack where it’s easy to get at.
Speaking of hats, it starts there. We have a saying, “If your feet are cold, put on a hat.” Something like 25% of your blood goes to your brain so your head is a huge source of heat loss. A watch-cap for starters, a balaclava for when it’s really cold.
Along the lines of staying dry, you will want some sort of wicking underwear. Silk or polypropylene. Never cotton because it holds moisture.
If you are going to wear extra socks, make sure your boots can accommodate them because impaired circulation might offset the extra insulation that additional pair of socks can provide.
There seems to be some confusion. Artificial fibers =/= waterproof. Artificial fibers – like natural fibers – can be used to make a wide variety of fabrics. Some are waterproof (like high Denier nylons), some are waterproof if treated with a waterproof coating (like lightweight raincoat shells), and some are not waterproof at all, (wicking polyesters used in long underwear).
Normally, in cold weather exertion, you have two problems: wet stuff that you don’t want coming in from the outside, and wet stuff generated by your body that needs to get out.
Underwear and next-to-skin layers are made of wicking polyester fabrics that will pull sweat away from your skin, so you never feel wet, which goes a long way towards not feeling cold. Sweat can evaporate out of an insulating midlayer made of either wool or polarfleece, both of which also have breathable AND sweat wicking properties themselves. A breathable, waterproof jacket over everything keeps the rain off; moderate insulation is enough for all but the most extreme temperatures.
Something not mentioned.
Bring lots of sock, and change more frequently than you would at home. If your feet get sweaty or damp during the day, change them before you settle down for the evening. Wear clean socks to bed. Put on clean socks when you get up. Be sure that your socks and boots dry out overnight. Cold sweaty boots are not good.
Reminds me of a rhyme from Band of Brothers during the siege of Bastogne:
Feet, hands, neck, balls
Extra socks warms them all
Quoted for very useful truth.
Just as an example here’s my typical load-out for mid-20’s (Farenheit)
Hiking with pack : Wool socks, polypro long underwear, possibly breathable rain pants, polypro top, fleece sweater (unzipped if I’m really working). I might start with an uninsulated waterproof/breathable jacket or another fleece and a hat, and take them off once I warm up.
Sitting in camp: Wool socks, polypro long underwear, fleece pants, rain pants; polypro long-sleeve shirt, fleece sweater, big puffy down coat, uninsulated breathable jacket (only if it’s loose enough to fit over the down coat without compressing it), balaclava, thick wool hat, polypro glove liners, and possibly an outer mitten. Sitting on a thermarest instead of the snow helps.
Below 15 or so, this isn’t really enough, and I generally need to crawl into a sleeping bag if I’m not being active.