Does the fur trim on a parka hood have any useful function as far as keeping the wearer warmer than he or she would be in a trimfree parka?
Think snow and moisture. It keeps it from rolling in, and when cinched tight, allows some visibility while collecting the snow etc. Just like nature does it.
It also keeps the little eddies of cold air from slipping in the nooks in your hood.
Ah. Makes sense.
Our climate is relatively temperate, so even when someone has his or her hood up, it’s usually not necessary to cinch it – so I didn’t think that all the way through.
Thanks!
It slows down the air in front of your face, reducing wind chill.
Depending on the type of fur (wolverine is particularly good at it) it also has a natural resistance to “frosting” Less ice in the way of sight and contact with the skin…
Only really applies to VERY cold experiences in the outdoors.
It’s also pretty trendy right now. Half the people I see are in fur-trimmed parkas, and the temperature range here is like 50-60.
Can’t wait to see fir-trimmed hooded sweatshirts.
It’s a kids’ version, but here ya go!
Meanwhile, people here are desperately waiting for the warm weather of spring so they can take theirs off and forget about them.
Actually it was a sarcastic comment, with respect (disrespect?) to “hoodies” wearing their hooded sweatshirts with the hood up even on hot summer days. Being part of the crowd may be a rite of passage, but wearing a hood up on a hot day is nuts. They might was well make the sweatshirts our of burlap instead of combed cotton.
I always thought it was decorative to superficially simulate hoods that are fully fur-lined.
I thought that even Inuit Clothing doesn’t use a fully fur-lined hood. Is there even such a thing? It sounds itchy.
I always assumed the fur acted like a “baffle” of some sort.
I doubt that anyone has done studies on “wind on face with and without the fur trim” but I suspect that the Eskimos do it for a reason. . .like Sunspace said.
I have had both types at school in UK and the furry ones are much warmer, though they used cheapo fake fur that got all nasty in the rain.
The story I heard is that the Eskimos trimmed the hood with a particular kind of fur (fox, IIRC) that didn’t collect frost. Hoods trimmed with other furs, or not trimmed, would get stiff and heavy with frost when breath moisture froze on them. Everyone else started using fur trim because the Eskimos did.
Eh, maybe because the “young people” have discovered them, but they’ve been around for decades. Centuries, probably.
Very nice to have the fur around your face when it’s snowing hard. And fake fur is NOT the same. At all.
Even the extremely small ones … the nanonooks of the North! 
I think that you are making an assumption that is not valid. ryobserver’s comment makes sense but I would still assume that the hood would be lined with a warm fur. Otherwise, well, the hood’s not really going to keep your head warm if it is just leather. And fur is not itchy at all. It is soft and warm. I have a rabbit fur hat that is warmer than any synthetic I have every worn, and sooo much softer. Fur worn for warmth rather than style has the fur against your skin.
Frosting, you mean? But that happens all the time in winter, not just in extreme cold. As soon as you get below 0 C, everything frosts.
I agree with all the others - fur trim on a parka is very functional. Fur is an excellent insulator. I wish I had a fur-trimmed parka - a woollen or synthetic scarf is itchy and irritating once it gets wet with the frost and melted frost from your breath. Trim around the hands is good, too, to keep the cold wind from blowing up your sleeves. When I lived in Northern Manitoba, the best parkas there were wool ones with fur trim around hoods, sleeves, and bottom edge. I wish I had bought one then.
Actually, the U.S. Army Arctic War Fare Center has done extensive research on cold weather and clothing. All the Army and Air force Parkas have Fur ruffs, but they have or used to have an added feature: a malleable wire or thong threaded through the inseam of the hood so one could “shape” it during blizzards. The main function of the fur ruff as we were taught was that the fur help trap the air (created a dead airspace) in front of our faces and helped to keep us from freezing our noses. That fur ruff would also keep the warmth emitted by our bodies to help keep that space warmer. The military went a step further, realizing it was all about the air…we had those silly mickey mouse boots that we inflated during 65 and 70 below zero weather and that kept our feet warm…but we still had to move those feet. Some of us layered for super cold weather with fish net panty hose (a Norwegian idea) as the base and built up from their. Never had an uncomfortable day, even when our spit froze and crackled before it hit the ground. My only question is does artificial fur work as well…If its fibers are hollow, they may not work as well but would be ok.