I’m in a walking cast on my right foot. Open, wiggly toes and all. Along with this, I have that velcro/canvas bootie to wear when I’m actually walking.
This Sunday, my Bears are hosting the Seahawks. I’m a season ticket holder and will not miss this. I missed the Jets game on the 26th because I still had some pain then, and was still on crutches. But now I’m working, walking all over the place and have no pain. I’ll be parking with friends less than 1/4 mile from the stadium and from there, our seats are just up a ramp.
I’m not a bit worried about handling the walking I have to do, but as of now the forecast is for 17 degrees and light snow. When I have this set-up on, my toes are only protected from weather by the canvas boot. So what else can I do to keep them warm?
My thoughts at this point involve a very large hunting type sock, with one of those iron oxide packs inside, maybe even some sort of plastic around that, then the canvas.
there are socks with silvered/mirrored plastic woven in plastic that reflect escaping body heat. you will not find them large enough to fit over a cast, though you might modify a pair to work.
wrap polypropylene underpants or undershirt around toes while sitting, covered by a windbreaker.
forgo your usual shirtless attire with a big C painted on you.
I’m a fan of the iron oxide packs – they are sold in specific “toe warmer” shapes, too, many with stick-on-ness to keep them in place. But be sure not to put them directly up against your toe skin.
Obviously the more you can keep the rest of yourself toasty, the more heat your body will have to spare for your toes, too. Wool sweater, down jacket, hat and scarf, etc. etc. And decent warm pants. Many people seem to dress warm all over except for their cotton jeans, and then wonder why their butts get cold, the sillies.
Having survived a number of cold-weather games at Lambeau Field (despite having feet which notoriously get cold easily), my advice is to bring a sleeping bag, or something similar into which you can stick your entire lower body. When I do that, I never have an issue with cold feet.
(That said, you may want to check to see if such an item is even legal to bring in to the stadium these days.)
I’ll second emmalinimal’s suggestion. I use them while bicycling in cold weather and they keep my feet reasonably warm. The brand I use is called Toasti Toes but that’s because a store near by has them.
Note that once you open a package (there’s two pads in a package), the iron starts reacting with oxygen. You can only stop it by sealing it away from air. So don’t think you have a spare one just because you haven’t stuck it on your sock.
Whole thing is good here – the heat packs will work, but the old adage, “If your feet are cold, put on a hat!” is good advice as well. You will probably need more specific treatment, so heat them dogs up.
That’s what I would do, however, those iron oxide packs require oxygen to work. If you cover it over with plastic it may not get enough oxygen to keep generating heat properly. So I’d use the “hunting sock”, the heat pack, and the canvas boot but not plastic. Or if I used plastic it would be something like a plastic shopping bag on the outside to cut the wind but not prevent air from getting inside.
If you get your heat packs in a two pack put the one you’re not immediately using into a ziplock bag, squish the air out of the bag, then zip it. This will preserve the heat packs usefulness by depriving it of oxygen. Open the ziplock and it should start heating up again. It’s not foolproof but we have successfully used this technique.
