Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
you more comfortable and warmer, especially when exercising and working up a
sweat. Cheap woolen long underwear can be scratchy and itchy, but quality woolen
thermal underwear, made from premium materials, like baby-soft Merino wool, is a
pleasure to wear. Polypropylene thermal underwear wicks moisture extremely well,
but smells horrible after a few days in without washing, and the smell can be difficult
to get out of the fabric without special soap, so I personally lean toward woolen or
polyester thermal underwear.
•
Insulating layers:
I like to dress in a woolen or fiber-pile (usually polyester) sweater
layer followed by a fiber-pile insulating jacket that will stay warm even if it gets wet.
Thinsulate insulating material makes for warm insulated jackets and pants that are
not bulky and retain much of their insulating value when wet. In my winter trips to
the backcountry, I also carry an extremely warm, thickly insulated, and fully baffled
down parka. I usually only pull this jacket out when I am setting up camp, as it is too
warm to wear when I am active, but it sure is nice when I am sitting around, or if I
have to hunker down and sleep in the snow. My down parka and sleeping bags are
lightweight and extremely warm, but totally worthless when wet.
•
Outer shell:
It takes a tremendous amount of heat to evaporate water (it takes approx-
imately 540 times as much heat to evaporate one gram of water as to raise the tem-
perature of one gram of water by 1˚C), and most insulating layers lose some of their
insulating value when wet, so keeping yourself dry is extremely important! Protect-
ive clothing for extreme weather should either have an integral shell of “breathable”
windproof and waterproof material, such as Gore-Tex (or equivalent), or you can also
dress with a separate pair of Gore-Tex pants and a Gore-Tex jacket to go over your
insulating layers. If your outer shell layer is waterproof, but not breathable, you will
drench your clothing from the inside-out with your sweat. In cold temperatures, your
body will always try to maintain a high moisture level on your skin's surface, so it
will be pumping moisture through your sweat glands to maintain this high humidity
level around your skin, and this moisture will condense inside your clothing's insu-
lating layers, if it can't escape through the shell.
•
Boots and socks:
Of critical importance is a comfortable pair of warm, insulated
boots that will keep your feet dry in the snow. For a reasonable price, Sorel-type
boots, with a removable wool felt liner, rubber waterproof lower section, and uppers
of breathable leather or nylon, provide a viable cost-effective solution for most
people. Mountaineering boots work great, but are quite expensive. Ugg brand boots
(or Ugg boot look-alikes), with their lamb's wool inside layer, and suede leather out-
er surface, are warm and comfortable, look great, but absorb moisture too easily to
