How do those of you here in the north keep your feet warm when working outside in the winter? My feet seem to walways be cold and sweaty no matter what I do. I wear gortex boots and have tried all kinds of socks. Smartwool, coolmax, cotton (is rotten), polypro liners, insulated boots, un insulated boots, etc. spray on anti perspirant helps some with staying dry, but it is kind of a pain. just wondering if anyone has any tips.
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You go barefoot...........good for the circulation.
Why, when I was a kid and didn't have shoes we wrapped our feet in barbed wire for taction.
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
probably good for fighting off the wolves that were nipping at your heels while you walked uphill both ways to school!
Eggzaktlee!
....and what those guys said , too. I rotated two pairs of boots and 2-3 pairs of socks daily. ...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
at least YOU had barbed wire!
We could only afford the barbs <<GGG>>
dump the goretex, use liner socks (I think I'm using ultimax now) with a good outer sock with wool. The liner will whick the moisture away from you foot to the outer sock. the outer sock works to insulate. stay away form cotton, it holds water like a bucket and water is a heat sink drawing heat away from your foot.
Protect your shin, most of the blood flowing to your feet runs very close to the surface at the flat part of your shin.
two pair of boots works well when you alternate days to ensure they're dry when you put them on.
I change socks at mid day. I keep a pack of new socks in the truck.
Just a little dampness cools the feet really quickly. I really hate cold feet!
I find that on really cold days a gaiter that covers the entire lower leg helps alot. Really keeps the lower part of the leg warm.
Try and keep your whole leg out of the wind and cold. Wet jeans, thin pants, no thermal undergear, any of those are going to make even the thickest boots not 'feel' warm. You have a 'big old' hose of blood really close to surface throughout your entire leg(s).
Keep your dry feet, change socks, all that was said before. Just like a house your body is system.
Does that sound too Zen? matt
I spend my entire winter in ski boots, so maybe I can help here a bit.
The boots have to be warm and dry when you start the day; so do your feet and socks. Stick 'em on a radiator the night before or in front of the woodstove.
The Goretex isn't helping at all; it could actually be what's killing you. That membrane clogs very quickly in gloves and boots and as soon as it gets dirty it stops 'breathing'.
Go for wool socks; they are so far still the champ for keeping your feet warm even when somewhat sweaty. Changing to a dry pair after the 'morning sweat & freeze'--around coffee time, usually--will help you get thru the rest of the day with warmer tootsies.
Finally, get a pair of Sorrel boots instead of whatever you're wearing now. They make boots rated down to minus 100 Celsius.
But most important, DO NOT WEAR YOUR BOOTS TOO TIGHT!!! Which means don't pull on the thickest socks you can find thinking they'll keep you warmer. Find the thickness of sock that works in your boot with your foot. Your toes have got to have room to move, and your instep should never be crushed.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
""The Goretex isn't helping at all; it could actually be what's killing you. That membrane clogs very quickly in gloves and boots and as soon as it gets dirty it stops 'breathing'."' Thanks for that ! I have been wondering about that myself. Seems my Goretex lined boots actually have my feet being colder than unlined boots do .
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Seems my Goretex lined boots actually have my feet being colder than unlined boots do .
Yeah, Goretex is a miracle all right...a miracle of modern marketing. They charge a bloody fortune for it, but in a lot of applications, it doesn't work any better than ten cents' worth of plastic garbage bag.
The problem is, 'waterproof' and 'breathable' are mutually exclusive conditions. The theory behind Goretex is that the micro-pores in the membrane are small enough to keep out liquid water, but large enough to allow water vapour to pass through them. In the laboratory, this seems to work, at least well enough to justify the Gore company making the claim.
But in the real world, what happens when Gore-tex membrane is sewn into garments, boots, and gloves is that needle punctures leak unless they are taped and sealed (adding even more to the cost of the garment), and air-borne effluents in human sweat (salt, skin oils, etc.) clog up those 'micro pores' to the point where, after a relatively short while, they don't 'breathe' much better than a far less expensive polyurethane-coated nylon.
In gloves and boots, the clogging phenomenon is worst. Hands and feet sweat a lot, and boots and gloves are almost constantly placed in hard contact with the world. Dirt and crud thus gets ground into the membrane from both sides. In a very short time, the glove or boot is turned into a refrigerator.
The company provides me with a pair of $150+ Marmot/Gore-tex gloves every year. I can wear them for exactly one run in cold weather; after that, the liners are soaked, my hands are popsicles, and it takes all day and night to dry the gloves out on a forced-air boot-dryer rack. The only time those gloves are useful is when it's warm enough to be raining.
But, you can get a pair of fleece-lined rubber gloves for about $14. So...?
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Hey dove is the tavern gone or did I just get kicked off for some inane reason?My Blog
JJ tavern is still here, what did you do? Leave you guys alone for a few hours and you get booted. I hope you didn't vote for the wrong guy."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
Man I don't know........but if these guys bumped me for something I don't even know what I did...Oh well.......I don't even argue with you guys (much)Do they e-mail you or anything?My Blog
They e-mailed me a few weeks back when I got canned, I think the rules have changed lately though from what others have said."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
so what happens it all just starts working again? I got a warning a long time ago, but never been kicked off.....still don't know what the hell I did.My Blog
Yeah, after a couple of weeks I tried to log on and everything was back to normal."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
ok...thanks man..........maybe I can break the habit between now and then............My Blog
I'll fill you in if anything interesting happens. Think I'll be out of here after tomorrow anyway. Interesting blog BTW."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
jj,
Nope as you have been told the tav is still there.
I know is some threads got dumped but that is all I know. I sure didn't see you post anything worth getting dumped over.Maybe it is just a temporary glitch.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I've found that makes a heck of a difference, how warm your feet are BEFORE you go traipsing outside. My wife gets cold very easy. I've found that if we work to warm her feet up before we put on ski boots (for example), she will stay comfortable for the whole day. Before we did that, she was cold and miserable within an hour. Starting with good circulation helps keep good circulation.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
I count myself lucky if I can get from the boot I wore driving to the mountain into the ski boot without stepping down on the slush in the parking lot. Of course making the drive with the boots in the cab instead of in the bed helps too.
if we work to warm her feet up before we put on ski boots (for example), she will stay comfortable for the whole day. Before we did that, she was cold and miserable within an hour.
A ski boot is heavy and massive. But remember the laws of thermodynamics: the more mass something has, the more calories it can absorb.
If the boot is cooler than your feet when you put it on, it will suck heat out of your foot until the delta-Tee is equalised. So long as your body keeps generating enough heat to replace that which the boot absorbs, no problem. But as soon as you get cold, your vascular system will start shutting down blood circulation to the extremeties and once that happens the heat-loss at the hands and feet will be great enough that all the insulation in the world won't keep you comfortable.
In cold weather--say, minus 25º --I'll arrive in the locker room in the morning with my feet already starting to feel the cold from the half-mile walk from the shuttle-bus (I only wear jeans and a jacket to drive to work, not my uniform). I take off my boots and socks and let my feet warm up while I put on long johns and all the rest of my gear. If it's really cold--minus 30º or worse--I'll take my boots to the hand dryer and hold them under the jet of hot air until the liners are almost hot to the touch. Then when I put them on, the boots heat up my feet instead of vice-versa.
Yes, that makes my feet sweat, but I wear wool socks that wick the sweat off my skin without evaporating it, thus retaining the heat in the sweat instead of losing it.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I've done lots of alpine climbing over the years on big, cold mountains- here's what has worked for me:Sock layering systems are usually comprised of a base (wicking) layer & an insulating layer. The base layer (polypropylene is common) moves moisture away from the skin. The insulative layer (wool, pile, synthetics) traps the air and provides insulation. Stay away from cotton (actually conducts heat away from skin.) I am not a fan of Gore-tex for socks- Gore-tex works when there is a distinct temperature/moisture gradient on each side of the layer, which doesn't work so well with your foot inside of a boot. Vapor Barrier Layers (VBL's) are comprised of an impermeable layer (any kind of plastic works) placed directly on the skin, with the insulation above it. They only work when the temperatures are really cold, when perspiration is minimal. In warmer temps (say, above 20 degrees), they tend to just collect lots of sweat. The temps at which VBL's work optimally is going to vary a lot, especially for feet inside of a confined space where air/moisture movement is restricted. Good boots are important, too- not too tight. Some like Gore-tex in the boot- again, I don't find it very effective, especially if you are in cold, wet conditions- the gradient isn't distinct enough, and it doesn't seem to work. In moderate temps (down to 20 degrees or so), you're probably better off with something that is reasonably waterproof.Beyond shoes & socks, general 'body maintenance' is critical. As mentioned, if your other extremities are exposed, this will trigger a shunt of warmer blood away from the extremities. (Thus the old saying 'if your feet are cold, put on a hat'.) Keeping legs well insulated helps, too.Stay well fed and hydrated- depleted calories and dehydration are the most common contributors to cold extremities (and potentially, cold injury). And, you may not want to hear this, but both caffeine & nicotine have significant vasoconstrictive effects, and will decrease circulation to your extremities. (Another great reason to quit smoking.)
Another vote for Sorrels, warmest boot by far, especially in mid-Feb. Bought a pair of Kamiks (sp) down here a few years back, another good Canadian boot."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
I always buy Sorrels with the liners and then two pairs of liners,
A dry pair every morning.
Yeah, the swapping of liners makes a big difference. I worked outside in northern Alberta when I learned that trick in a hurry.
Would like to get a second pair of liners for my ski boots."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
Plus, those liners will help you work up one hell of a case of Athlete's foot unless you let them dry.
In the winter I use a nice coating if some kind of Tolnaftate cream between the toes every morning.
Schnee's pack boots made in Bozeman,MT. Two sets of liners and two pairs of socks. Change the liners and your socks at lunch and you will have happy feet.
Dave
I've worked outside some or all of every one of the 25 winters since I turned 17.
The old tricks always seem to work the best. The Army has given me Duffle Bags full of winter gear. Most of it sits unused.
Couple of ideas.
I buy boots with removable liners and then buy a spare pair of liners.That way you have a fresh, dry pair each morning.
I buy them big enough to wear one pair of cotton socks with one pair of wool (or similar) over them, with room to move inside the boot.
How long is your drive to work? Most people defeat all the cold weather prep work on the way to work. If your heat, and in some cases your defroster is on? Chances are hot air will be blowing in your footwell. That does two things:
A. Overheats your feet and makes them wet with persperation
B. Warms them up, making the transition to outside temps even more drastic and uncomfortable.
Change your socks midday. Never stand by the fire or sit in your truck with the heat on at lunch. Keep moving.
I've worked outside more than one winter and more than one -10 day in Sorrels and been comfortable.
When I Moose Hunted in the Northwest Territories my guide taught me a great idea...my feet sweat and get super cold....I spray feet with Arrid XXXDry spray Antipersirant...awesome
In addition to all of the advice about socks and boots, you need to be sure to keep you head and your body core warm.
As the body looses heat, it "robs" blood supply from the extremities to keep the brain and core warm.
If the brain and core are warm enough, then the extremities (feet and hands) will stay warmer.
So, to help keep your feet warm, wear a good hat.
Now this will seem counterintuitive, but in very cold conditions -- say -20 or so, I've found that wearing a plastic bread bag as an inner sock keeps my feet warmer. As long as overheating isn't a problem, the foot will sweat to a certain degree, then stop. The plastic liners keep feet at this basic moisture level without wetting your insulating outer sock. It does feel a bit odd, but I've gotten used to it. Some folks feet may be more prolific sweaters than mine, and sothis might not work. And it's downright miserable on balmy 10 degree days.
I've also tried this with gloves, and it doesn't seem to have the same benefit. Maybe my hands just don't sweat enough to significantly moisten regular gloves. Woven (breathable) Mylar inner gloves seem best there, and similar inner socks work pretty well when it's only cool.
}}}}
You are sort of describing bunny boots, all rubber with a sort of inflatable insulation . Keeps your feet nice and wet all day, but also nice and warm all day. Your feet will look like prunes, but no frozen toes.
On warmer days , just wear Sorel pac boots. Splurge and change the liners and socks at lunch.
I where sneakers with them yellow boots over them. Never had a cold foot when I went to them!!
I have tried every boot, all the way to snowmobile boots, and never felt as warm as now. Sneakers summer and winter!!!! They slide off when I need to lay roof plywood.