How to stay warm in winter: Don't try
Adopt a strategy toward comfort and you will be happier in outdoors winter pursuits
In the 20-degree range and breezy to start with a high about 34, that was the morning’s forecast. Knock off a few degrees to account for the feel with wind chill and, yep, it would be a challenge to sit essentially motionless in a tree stand for five or six hours.
At 3 a.m. I was in the driveway wearing house slippers, long johns, sweatpants and a hoodie as I checked that forecast. Ahead lay an hour’s drive and a 400-yard hike to my stand.
Some might ask, “How did you stay warm?”
It’s a common question this time of year from folks trying to enjoy time outdoors.
It happens to be one area where I’ve had a mess of experience. I’ve sweated it out at 20 below on cross-country skis and snowshoes. Frost-bitten my hands at 50 below and frost-bitten a cornea at 10 below—at 60 mph on a snowmobile. The coldest darned thing I ever did was sit in a musher’s sled behind a dog team at 40 below. I’ve slept in a snow shelter at 50 below. Sitting in a tree stand in Oklahoma at 25 above is cold too, just not so extreme.
My answer to “how do you stay warm” is simple.
I won’t, you can’t, don’t try.
I should not expect to stay warm given what I’m choosing to do. It’s no different than expecting to stay cool on trip to the beach when it’s 95 degrees.
What I can be is relatively comfortable. That is the goal: Relative comfort.
Comfort is relative
We can’t walk around being afraid of feeling cold in winter any more than we can worry about feeling hot in summer—within reason. You don’t want to get hypothermic or frostbitten any more than you’d like to get heatstroke (hyperthermic) or sunburned.
I hunted Alaska with a friend from Blythe, California, a spot out near the Mesa Verde in the middle of the desert, a place where triple-digit temperatures are the norm. He said he keeps his home at a “comfortable” 80 degrees. It was hard on him to be dropped into a place to live in a one-man tent where it wouldn’t get warmer than about 45 degrees for 10 days. He was OK, but he was definitely uncomfortable most of the time.
Comfort is relative term and, well, sorry about that. No one formula for comfort fits everyone. Tips and advice can help but, to a certain degree (wink), you’re going to have to gain your own experiences and refine your own clothing and defense systems.
The heating system
Achieving comfort means taking a look at your body as something not unlike a house. You don’t want it too moist or too dry, too cold or too hot, or super hot in one room and really cold in another. Most people rely on a furnace, ventilation system, insulation, wind blockage and weather proofing to keep their house comfortable.
Ventilation, heat retention, and moisture control; those are the keys to relative comfort for the human body as well.
It almost goes without saying, but your body is your furnace and if it’s not functioning at its best it’s will have a harder time managing temperature changes.
Every furnace system has its central workings and its outer weaker points that might need a little boost. For the body that central area is your core, the chest and abdomen, the weaker points are your hands and feet and head.
Your body knows how to take care of itself—it just needs a little help from you to avoid that need to drop into hypothermic mode. It’s a balancing act that demands you pay attention to the whole picture. Try not to let one part overheat while the others freeze. There are steps you can take physically to counteract issues, but that’s another column.
One note: Don’t believe the myth that a huge percentage of your body heat is lost through your head and neck—but do believe it should be insulated and protected just as well as any other part of your body.
Fuel is vital
On the drive to the deer stand in the morning I drank a 20-ounce bottle of water and a vegetable-fruit smoothie with chia seed and ground flax. I generally avoid coffee and caffeine-packed energy drinks and salty foods if my willpower allows.
My one-line unscientific non-expert take on the science of the body’s ability to use vasoconstriction to regulate its temperature is this: Blood vessels are your heating pipes so don’t eat and drink things known to constrict blood vessels or raise blood pressure. Drink plenty of water and eat whole foods.
For a few hours on the stand a little hard candy as a pacifier is fine (I think) but other than drinking water to stay hydrated, a stand of a few hours won’t require a real energy boost if you’re well-fueled going in. Dried fruit and nuts are good energy sources. They don’t call it “trail mix” for nothing. Also, I do have to say that a sip of hot herbal tea does feel good if you are in a position that allows that kind of luxury.
Dress to hold it in or let it out
On this drive my deer hunting clothes—except for the polypropylene socks in my slippers and the polyester undies on my privates—were treated with scent-control and stored in a sealed box in the back of my SUV.
Cotton holds moisture. I don’t wear it on my body—anywhere—when it’s below freezing outside.
Outside the truck I open a chair, toss down a mat and get dressed. First is a layer of snug fitting polypropylene long johns and long sleeve turtleneck shirt (pick your brand).
Next, I put on a heavy pair of merino wool socks. Thickness is not the rule on wool socks. What matters is that the socks fit well in your boots. The last thing you want is a tight boot that restricts blood flow. If the socks and boots aren’t enough, you probably need heavier, roomier boots.
I either wear Cabela’s Silent-hide pants, which are a polyester blend, or if it’s really cold I’ll actually wear my Drake wader-pants, a fleece-lined pant designed to wear under chest waders. They are loose and comfortable, have a stirrup that keeps them down in my knee boots and a soft exterior poly-blend cloth. They are lightweight and come in a jean-cut style as well.
I wear LaCrosse Aerohead Sport 16-inch boots and have found them suitable for most of the cold Oklahoma has thrown at me. They are a relatively soft insulated boot and have 7mm neoprene uppers. I always put them on a boot dryer at night. The inside has to be dry to start with, moisture from your foot will collect fast enough when you go out.
Next, depending on severity of the cold, I have a heavy weight polypro thermal long-sleeve zip-up pullover and a fleece zip-up pullover on top of that. On not-so-cold days I’ll wear a Cabela’s Silent-hide shirt (uninsulated) instead of the fleece.
On extreme cold days I wear the thin polypro shirt, heavier polypro pullover, and add a thin insulated jacket—designed for layering—in place of the fleece. The jacket is less breathable, but it is extremely lightweight. Mine is from Mountain Hardware and has a Primaloft filling. Lightweight jackets with a goose down filling also work well.
The walk and the rest
Depending on wind, rain, or other factors, I make the walk to the stand with an outer shell in my backpack. Any coat-bib combo can work. Mine happens to be Cabela’s MTO50 Silent Hide rain jacket and bibs combo that pre-dates the newer versions that have a thin insulation layer. Mine are at least 12 years old.
That shell is like the siding on my house—with doors and windows. I like the bibs and coat because they have zippers that open in both directions and are easy to partially open for ventilation if I do need to have them on while I walk to the stand.
Also in my backpack is a selection that likely includes a fleece neck gaiter and or face mask, fleece-lined winter hat with ear flaps, a plain fleece beanie, a camouflage ball cap, lightweight fleece or polypro gloves, mittens and maybe even some hand warmers.
I also have a suit of leafy camouflage and a climbing harness in that pac for deer hunting, but those clothing items serve other functions.
Typically—unless I am in super-stealth mode getting to my stand—none of those things goes on my body until I’m actually up in the stand, even the hat. My hair will get damp in a ball cap on a cold walk. A fleece beanie is a good option for a walk in extreme cold (it breathes). But most often I’m better off without a head covering while walking just a quarter-mile to the stand.
Moisture is the enemy and starting out with a wet head is the worst. If it is wet I don’t put on that hat until my hair dries. I just let the fog roll off that noggin and rub my hair with my icy fingers until it dries—or freezes. I’ve even stripped down layers and done the same with my thin polypro shirt that immediately formed a frost on the outside. Just brush off the frost and cover up.
I might start out feeling cold—I’m definitely cold when I’m standing outside my truck in my skivvies—and I might even get a little chilled on the way to the tree stand. But that is better than starting off all sweaty.
Once I’m seated, I’m insulated, well fueled and protected from the wind. I have windows I can open if things get a little stuffy, and a little extra insulation and fuel to add (mittens/hand warmers/hot tea) if needed.
I will get cold anyway, no question, but I’ll be comfortable enough to last several hours with no worries about hypothermia or frostbite.