I’ve been on Army field exercises in temperatures of -40 and even lower.
However, while those may have been the coldest temperatures I’ve ever been exposed to, that wasn’t the coldest I’ve ever been; Army winter gear is very warm. The coldest I’ve ever been was my first date with Mrs. RickJay; it was one of the coldest days ever recorded in Kingston, Ontario, and of course I wasn’t wearing Army-issue parka, mukluks, etc. It was so cold it hurt the joints. We still laugh about it.
I concur - winter warfare training in Agassiz forest in Manitoba in the winter. During the day, sweating while building our defenses - that night Hello Hypothermia!
I hate being cold. MrPoysyn jokes I am cold from October to May. I can’t believe I live in this god-forsaken cold wasteland of a city. The worst part? The really cold stuff is still coming! The really bad windchill doesn’t usually hit until January.
The -50 windchill really frosts my cookies.
Nothing like that warning on the weather channel “exposed skin will freeze in seconds”. Or when it gets cold enogh even the army won’t camp out :eek:
I am moving to the bahamas. Me and my pasty-white, no-tan, vitamin D deficient, seasonal depressed body needs to get WARM! I have Winterpeg and all it’s cold blowy snow and icy driving and windchill and jokey morning radio announcers about “ooh it’s a cold one, better stay in bed” and stupid getting stuck in the backlane and forgetting to plug the car in and scraping the windows with my shitty scraper and…
I’m sorry, what was the question again?
The coldest place I’ve ever lived was The Pas, Manitoba (I’m sure you know where that is, Poysyn). The tires got square on your car so they would go “bump bump bump” as you drove, and you bundled up (scarf, toque, mitts, etc) just to run out to your car and back. The sled dogs wore booties and diapers when they ran.
I can’t really think of the coldest I’ve ever been. I’m a winter-lover - the cold doesn’t really bother me. I can think of the hottest I’ve ever been easily, though.
Fellow cold-dwellers, back me up on this - you want to see obsessive-compulsive behaviour, watch people in cold weather try to stay dry. Water is the enemy in the cold. Watching tv or movies that are supposed to be set in the cold, and seeing people let the “snow” just melt on them - makes me grit my teeth every time I see it.
That reminds me, Poysyn - I think it’s just about time to start a winter-bitch thread again. Gotta vent, you know.
I does get carried away, I does
During a wilderness medicine class two of us had to “volunteer” to become hypothermic to demonstrate how to warm someone back up. Myslelf and a classmate were placed into large buckets of ice water, and encouraged to remain in them for as long as possible.
I’m not sure how long I was in the bath, but I got a little loopy (but then that’s pretty normal for me) per my classmates before they helped me out. I didn’t feel any worse for wear, just damn cold.
Fell in a river.
In the middle of winter.
In Russia.
Never been cold since. Not really.
I spent a few years in Iowa in the late 90s. I think the coldest it got while I was there was -30 or so. Even though I’m a native Floridian, though, it didn’t bother me; I kept warm over the fires of my savage hatred for the people who kept saying, Cold enough for ya?
Another plug for Winnipeg. This is a town where the weather forecast routinely informs you as to how long it will take for exposed skin to freeze, and the increments go down to seconds.
On returning from my first trip to South Africa, my ex-husband was supposed to pick me up at the train station in Old Saybrook. Unfortunately, because of a horrible train conductor, I ended up getting left off in New London, which was about 30 minutes away. Anyway, I called the ex and told him the situation and he said he couldn’t make it right away, but he’d be there as soon as he could.
It was 11:00 at night in the middle of February, and the train station was closing. The guy at the station was nice enough to let me stand inside while he finished up for the evening, but once he left, I was left standing outside. I hadn’t packed much warm for the trip, since February is in the middle of the summer in South Africa, and my long coat was little protection against the -5 temps that were plaguing the city that night. No gloves, no heavy clothing. My cell phone battery was dead, I had absolutely no money (managed to lose 50 bucks in Amsterdam during my layover), I was just stuck waiting in the cold. A homeless man asked me if I was going to be okay standing there. I would hold my lighter a few inches under my hands just get a little warmth to my fingers.
By the time the ex finally arrived - over two hours later - I honestly started to wonder if I was going to get frostbite from the exposure. I’ve never been so cold in my life, and hope never to be again.
that would be a testosterone-fueled swim in a 2ºC lake during an early April canoe trip.
At my father-in-law’s January burial in Minnesota. It was probably the longest 30 minutes of my life.
Could be. Too much iron can make you constipated, just an FYI.
YAY for you and the weight loss.
I need to drop 20 by April to look stunning in a formal in my honor.
I’d rather dry shave my legs.
Oohhh, the second and third most coldest I’ve been has always involved Lake Huron and swimming.
To give you an idea how cold I was, I was physically unable to pee until late that night. ( and I knew I had to go because I had to go before the training but figured I’d just pee in the water.)
We both did and scrambled near instantaneously with frozen limbs up the ladder to the ground. I remember very distinctly that my feet were frozen and hurt for a good while after the jump in. And we were not in the water more than 20-30 seconds.
My girlfriends brother roared with laughter.
I’m a cold weather wimp, so I avoid going out in winter whenever possible. The one time remember really thinking “I’m never going to get warm again” without hyperbole involved was after my first participation in my sorority’s annual snow football game, usually held during a blizzard.
I was pretty small and scrawny back then, so I got tackled a lot.
Sitting in Arlington National Cemetary in February when the windchill was -30. We were on a class trip, and it was freezing and snowing like crazy, and we were sitting on stone benches watching the ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier. To make matters worse, we were all kids from TEXAS with totally inappropriate winter gear.
In Michigan-- A few winters ago, Harborwolf and I decided to go for a walk with our daughter in the dead of winter. We needed to get a few things from the grocery store, and since it was only a few blocks away, for some reason we thought walking there wouldn’t be a big deal. Harborkid was fine, snowpants, warm coat, boots, etc kept her nice and toasty, but Harborwolf and I didn’t fare so well. We both were wearing wool peacoats, and jeans. On the way back, I started to truly believe we’d never make it home. I was so cold I felt like crying. I’m not sure exactly how cold it was, but I know it was well below zero.
Alright MATT I knew you were out there babee, I knew it! I think everyone should come here the last week in January, just to be objective 
Once during a Minnesota winter, I won a drinking contest and then decided to walk home. I woke up the next morning in a cemetery, freezing to death.
That’s why I gave up drinking 13 years later.
It was back in the late Autumn of 1978. My cousin and I decided to take a long ride on our horses, on the back roads around the stable we were boarding them at. Being foolish 18 year olds , we didn’t pay attention to the weather forecast.
Big mistake.
When we left out early afternoon, it was in the 50’s. We decided it was warm enough to just wear our jeans , a sweat shirt and a flannel shirt over it. It was , for a couple hours, and then a sudden cold front dropped on top of us , about 2 hours out from the barn. The temp dropped to the mid to low 30’s , and freezing rain began. We headed for the barn, but were a good distance away. The temp kept dropping rapidly, the freezing rain was coating everything , and made the footing for the horses so slippery we couldn’t even ride a little faster. To keep my fingers from freezing I buried them in my horse’s mane, leaning down on his neck for warmth.
By the time we got back , the horses had icecicles hanging from their whiskers and eyelashes. I have never been so miserable in all my life.
The coldest weather I’ve ever endured was -58 F in Fairbanks. (hiya, Chefguy!)
The coldest **I’ve ** ever been was also in Fairbanks. Our car broke down and we had to walk home. My parka was warm enough but as it was to have been a quick trip, I hadn’t bothered with any long johns. The pants I had on had loose baggy legs and the wind just sucked the body heat out of me via my legs. CubHubby noticed that I was wandering all over the sidewalk and talking kinda loopy so we went into MickeyD’s to warm up a little. This time when we started out again, I tucked my pant legs in my socks (screw how it looked) and made it home ok. It was hours befoe I felt warm, though.
Shirley, people here in the South don’t believe me when I tell them our windows (in AK) had ice on the inside. Glad I’m not the only one who has seen this!