Dealing with the cold - moved from Q&A

[Becket1903]

Wim Hof

I saw a TV show about this guy, and he has 'set' a number of the human/cold immersion world records. He explained that he would 'train' himself by swimming in frozed water, and sitting in tubs of ice, but that a great deal of it was a mental thing.

http://www.equipped.org/stayalive/index.html

and another:

http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~hugh/BBC%20-%20Tomorrow's%20World%20-%2013%20March%202002.html

After 40 minutes in the ice capsule, his body temerature actually rose a fraction of a degree?! Not my cup of tea, but I can see how it would be more of a mental conditioning thing than physical.

 

[Tuggy]

Years ago I was in an army barracks for a couple months with only cold water for showers. all it did was make me appreciate hot showers more. You'd get used to the fact that the water was going to be cold but that didn't make it feel any better.

 

[cp2000]

Quote:I think the best thing you can do is stay fit and healthy. If you have good blood circulation, you will be able to adapt to the cold more easily.


I am young and in very good shape and health (minus my few bouts with chill blains) and I still find myself cold as heck from time to time.

I guess I should just bundle up and enjoy the scenery

 

[BrentD22]

Technics

I use some of these technics to stay warm out there while hiking (or around town).

While hiking I try not to wear very much so I can stay dry and free from sweat (even though I sweat even when I swim, ya that bad). That way when I stop hiking and cool down I am not wet. If I keep my head dry I feel like I can warm up very quickly when I put on a warm hat.

I bring a down parka with me. It packs really small and lite which is helpful. When ever I stop hiking I pull it out of my top pouch and put it on before I get cold. Keeping my heat from hiking seems to help.

I use a synthetic sleeping bag liner. The soft warm feel seems to something mental as well as physical for me.

I also bring a pair of down house slippers (very warm and fuzzy + lite). I keep them in my bag, but I don't wear them. When I have to get up at night or in the morning I put them on and they are already warm. If I'm in a cabin or lean-to I just throw them on. If I'm in a tent and have to walk on the snow or ground I throw some plastic bags over them to keep them dry and clean.

I bring alongcotton synthetic blend long johns and I love them so much. I don't wear them any other time except for when I'm sleeping. They just feel so nice to put on. They just seem so much more soft and cozy then plain synthetic long johns. I know "cotton kills", but only when wet and I don't cross many rivers while sleeping and I do wear fleece pants over them anyway.

Chemical heat packs are amazing. They won't really bring up your body temp that much, but if you place them in the right places you can make a difference: Under warm hat near ears, in gloves (hands transfer a lot of heat), in my boots when I first put them on in the morning, and I also put 2 under my butt when i sit to eat my morning oatmeal.

Another thing I do before I go to bed (other than eat lots and drink lots of tea) is some kind of jumping jacks, push ups, or what ever can get my heart betting. This way when I get in my bag my body heats the inside of my bag quicly.


Please take note: I'm always warmer than everyone else in the room with few exceptions. I've been called a boiler. Because I put off so much heat.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

..... It did however prepare me for the shock that comes with getting out of a warm sleeping bag in the middle of February to take a late night trip to the bathroom...and that I guess is something.

There are a bunch of things that I have done along a similar vein. They can be done at home, in relative safety, so that you will know how you and your body will react, shou8ld you doo them outdoors.

1) Take your poly-pro shirt (or whatever material they are mad out of these days), put it in a sink, and let it get soaking wet. Then leave it outside for a night. The next morning, step out your front door, (half naked) and put the shirt on. Try this with several shirts, and see if you like any one better than the other, because of the way it feels when you do this.

2) On a sub-zero day, go out in your yard with a few buckets of water, and wash your hair. Don't immediately run back into the house, but run in circles, trying to generate heat. You'll show yourself how much heat can be lost from the head. NOTE: don't use hot water. For extra credit, do this once before supper, and after supper, and note the difference.

3) Again on a sub-zero (F) day throw buckets of water on your lower sections, simulating falling through the ice into a small stream. Replace wet clothing with dry (that you normally carry) while sitting on the snow. If you don't carry spare clothing, run around the neighborhood a while, to warm/dry yourself.

4) Think of your own

I find it somewhat nice to know before hand, what the effects of certain things are. And for those with a few questions, here are the answers:

1) Yes, I have done these.
2) Yes, I got (very) strange looks from my neighbors

 

[cbcbd]

Excellent list, Pete.
I will have to try a few of these when it starts getting cold again over here.

I can say that I have experiencedthe scenario of #1 many times. What's nice about it is that after a while you don't dread putting on wet cold clothes in the morning as much - gotta love those miracle fibers!

 

[timmus]

1) Yes, I have done these.
2) Yes, I got (very) strange looks from my neighbors

Pete, that is very entertaining stuff, I bet some of your neighbors are just watching you instead of televison. I know that would be good material for my drawings !


About dealing with the cold, I want to thanks my parents whom let me play outside for hours, without the overprotection that kids have now. I believe this is why I don't mind being cold while hiking.

 

[bigmoose]

Like Tom Rankin, my hands get very cold, very fast. Reynaud's, I suppose, but I've never actually been diagnosed. Doesn't matter what kind of mittens or gloves. I shudder to think of the hundreds of dollars I've spent trying to find something to keep my fingers from freezing. My winter hikes have to be uphill. After 45 minutes of vigorous climbing in winter temperatures I start to get some feeling back in the digits. "Hot Hands" and a lighter fluid pocket heater help, but they really dry out the skin. For me, it's just the fingers, no problem with the toes.
Winter camping is out of the question. In the bitter cold, I have to keep moving or freeze. Actually, I prefer hiking in California in the winter!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hands

Ice climbers and alpinists harden their hands to the cold by not wearing mitts/gloves while doing everyday choirs in the cold.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I also keep the house relatively cold, about 58° when I'm here and 50° when I'm sleeping. If I'm only going to be in the house for a few hours I don't bother to turn it up. I find this does help greatly to acclimatize for winter, also saves on the heating oil bill . My brother also does this (we ice climb together), and my parent's think we're nutz because we sweat when we stop by for Sunday dinner as their house is 70°.

Pete, you da man, I'd love to watch some of your antics!

 

[forestgnome]

I'm jealous of hillwalker and lawnsale, who get to keep their homes cool in the winter. It makes great sense to keep the temperature contrast between indoors and out to a minimum, both winter and summer. It's better for your body, the heating bill, and the environment. My wife insists that the home be warmer, so I spend my winters in t-shirts and shorts. At least we don't have AC in summer.

Another trick is to bring replacements for base layers. The only time I really notice the cold when I've finished hiking up to a summit, then stop to rest. The first thing I do is strip down and replace the sweaty baselayers. I quickly get them into the pack before they freeze.

The only challenge I ever face is when I hike at night to some place for photography, because I'll stay in one place for hours. For this, I pack a snowmobile suit, which is oversized so I can put it over my winter clothes, and overmitts.

 

[Pat T]

For me, there are a couple of things I have to do to keep warm in winter.

Good nutrition is the starting point. A meal rich in oils (olive oil is preferred) is important the night before I hike, followed by a good breakfast. Then I have to snack, eat well, and stay hydrated while on the trail.

I think it is harder to warm up from a chill than it is to stay warm from the start so I always slip on wool mittens (at least), a hat, and appropriate jacket/sweater when going outside. Then I remove layers as soon as needed to prevent sweating.

Pat T

 

[KayakDan]

I think the body acclimatizes pretty quickly to the cold. Once we get out for our first winter camping trip of the season,the cold is no longer an issue. But the though of the first trip makes me wonder if we're nuts!
What I notice is that after a weekend of winter camping,anyplace indoors that's warmer than low 60's seems hot as hell. Seems that I have "adjusted" in just a day or so.
I find that I'm more comfortable winter backacking,than I am in "street clothes" at work. So now I wear some of my "winter trail clothes" to work when it's cold. I try to extoll the joys of Bergelene to co workers,but they just don't "get it". Let 'em freeze!

 

[cbcbd]

It makes great sense to keep the temperature contrast between indoors and out to a minimum, both winter and summer. It's better for your body, the heating bill, and the environment.

I agree with this one. I've lived without AC my whole life, wilst living in tropical countries, and I detest cheating my body into thinking that the temperature is different.
-If it's hot then I'll just have to sweat it out
-If it's cold I'll just add layers

There is no worse feeling that walking out of airconditioning into a hot day - The point is to try to be outside as much as possible anyway, so why even bother

During winter I always keep my windows open a bit. Plus, I'm not giving up beans during the winter, so...

 

[Charly]

I found after I started eating "better" and exercised more, which led to improved fitness, I was much more tolerant of the cold (finally... after living north of Bangor, Maine for 7 years).

My metabolism was ramped up, I ate frequently (about every 3 hours).

 

[sierra]

cold adaptation

I agree with alot of whats been said here. Aclimating to the cold is like aclimating to altitude. Also protien is very important as well. But of all thats been suggested I agree mental focus is the most usefull technique for dealing with cold. I used to ice climb alot in NH, I dont need to go over the cold temps in the Whites with people out here, one day in Hunnington's it was -30 mean tempeture. Anywho I was talking to a very good high altitude mountaineer he preached using your mind to both adjust and to generally deal with extreme cold. I tried this many times. I would start on the drive up for an ice climb, I did use the heat by the way, but I foucused on cold and would convince myself that the cold was both good and I would enjoy it know matter what. This worked for me, I would be hanging off an ice flow in Crawfords starting to shiver, I would close my eyes and feel the cold, I mean feel it on my skin, I would unzip my collar a hair and soak it in, mentally I would convince myself it felt very good, my shivering would stop and I would feel better. I froze my hands once, I mean hard, it never bothered me and it wasnt until they thawed them out that I realized I didnt mind the cold but now heat was an issue.