Outdoor Wear: How to Stay Warm in Cold Weather

The winter season is a time for tobogganing, visiting winter wonderlands, and playing winter sports. There are plenty of reasons to enjoy winter, but don’t let the melting snow and sunshine fool you. It’s still winter outside!

If you want to take advantage of winter sunshine and the joys of snow, make it a priority to suit up for the cold. Here are tips on how to prep up for winter.

Cotton is a Bad Choice

Cotton is the wrong choice if you want to hold in heat while basking in the winter sun. This material traps moisture against your skin. What happens is that moisture works with cold air and transforms your body heat into cold energy.

Cotton isn’t the best material for winter, so use synthetic materials instead, such as neoprene. For one, neoprene socks wick water away from your body, allowing heat to be trapped inside. This insulates your body enough to feel warm inside while the world around your freezes.

Put on Several Layers

By wearing a bunch of clothes on top of another, you create a thicker shield against the blistering cold weather. Start with soft garments against your skin and end with nylon winter clothes that will stand against rain and wind. Your base layer is the one that’s in direct contact with your skin, so it should be able to wick moisture away from your skin. Apart from neoprene, other materials that have this ability are silk and polypropylene.

The idea is to wear more layers as the weather gets colder. Depending on the temperature, wear or peel off clothes as necessary.

Drink Plenty of Water

If the air is freezing, the cold will suck the moisture out of you. For this reason, drinking lots of water is of the essence. If there’s a lot of water in your body, you’ll less likely suffer from dehydration and frostbite.

Eat

The body naturally produces heat while it burns stored fat and calories. This is why you need to “fatten up” during the winter months. This way, your body will have a constant supply of fuel to burn.

Eating warm food and drinking warm liquids help you stay warm inside as well.

Hats, Mittens, Boots and Scarves

The major exit ways of our body heat are the head, feet, neck, and hands. Make sure you have head protection most of all because if your head gets freezing cold, circulation to your feet and hands can be cut off. With a thick, snug snow hat, you’ll promote blood flow, and send warmth to your limbs and the rest of your body.

Don’t forget to wear a good pair of boots. Fingers can retain more warmth when they touch each other, so use mittens instead of gloves. And protect your neck by wrapping it with a scarf.

Pack a couple of chemical heat packs. These are warmers activated when they’re exposed to air. When it’s really cold, place heat packs on your toes.

Also, consider installing boot heaters into your boots. These things are powered by batteries and provide different temperature settings.

Bring a Backpack

If you’re going to bring kids along, make sure you’re equipped with a fairly big bag. A backpack will allow you to stow away layers of clothes the children might peel off. Damp clothes may dry off fast if you clip them to the outside of your bag.