UKC

What kit would you recommend for 'fookin' cold places?

I'm not talking about alpine style environment where moving fast and expending vast amounts of energy are the order of the day to maintain warmth and safety.

I am on about day-to-day living in cold places. I'm guessing places like Canada or Lapland are the sort of place to live where just getting about to the pub, shops and work is a challenge.

In reply to The Lemming:

Places north of Birmingham you Mean?

In reply to Choss:


Funny you should mention, but Birmingham can get colder than most places on the mainland in winter.

In reply to Choss:


Nah, the wifes knickers

In reply to the sheep:



Any chance of returning to the question, please?

In reply to The Lemming:

Lots of fur:
http://www.johntyman.com/arctic/pics/201.jpg

In reply to The Lemming:

Some sort of Pile/Pertex combination.

In reply to The Lemming:

Sealskin, Reindeer fur

In reply to The Lemming:

Is this for a school project?

In reply to The Lemming:

Reindeer or caribou fur

In reply to The Lemming:


It's not though necessarily. It can be minus 25 out (which normally means high pressure and not too much wind) and I'll still just wear jeans and trainers then a t-shirt, fleece hoody and normal down jacket. That'll be fine if you are walking maybe 5-10 minutes to the bus stop and then waiting a few minutes for the bus etc.

If you are working outside obviously its different, but people still just seem to wear some basic padded overalls over jeans/t-shirt/fleece and the like for urban outside winter work.

In reply to The Lemming:

When I lived in Canada and it was baltic for a couple of months at a time and loads of snow, then jeans, waterproof boots, t shirt some sort of fleece and a down jacket. Gloves and maybe a hat.

Thats enough to keep you warm popping into town etc and general day to day stuff and as Toby said for working outside, nothing more drastic that maybe some lined trousers and maybe an extra layer. Its actually not as bad as you might think, cold, but you don't need a down suit!

In reply to The Lemming:

For starters ,get some base layers.

I'm basically living in them atm.

In reply to The Lemming:

polar bear trousers, if you can do without its not really cold

In reply to Denni:

To Toby and Denni

So, from what you are saying your clothing, for Canada, does not seem different to our British garb. We have to contend with cold and wet rather than cold and dry.

If I wanted a parka, is there a make and brand that is worth checking out?

I quite fancy something different to the TNF down wearing brigade round the shops and pubs.

In reply to The Lemming:

In my profile photo, I'm wearing a TNF Himalayan Parka (photo was not taken when I lived there but when I visited), only reason I'm wearing it is that my luggage was lost on the way there and borrowed my mates. Complete overkill although I wasn't cold!

In the other photo, it was minus 20 and all I'm wearing is a baselayer, fleece and an Arcteryx Gamma MX hoody albeit because I was dog sledding but that was fine. Any down jacket would be ok, at the time I had an ME Vega and again, probably just a bit too hot for me. It was at least minus 20 for 2 weeks and I managed no probs with an extra layer and the MX hoody, only parts that were really cold were my hands and head so good gloves and hat.

Even wore the MX for skiing at Sunshine village where the lifts can be 20 minutes and admittedly I got a bit cold on the lifts so threw a primaloft jacket over the top and was fine.

Are you going anywhere exciting!

In reply to Denni:

Nowhere exciting, just curious.

In reply to The Lemming: I've never been in Canada in winter so have no idea really, presumably it depends a lot on where you are. Will you need to dress smart where you are going? Or is casual fine? If you have to wear the coat over a suit it obviously need to be longer if you don't want to look silly for instance.

In reply to TobyA:

I shared a house with a Swedish lass once. As winter approached, she boasted "I am from Sweden, I will not be bothered by the cold".

Come the usual British damp winter and she confessed complete confusion as to why she felt so cold, when the air temperature was so much higher than she was used to at home...

In reply to captain paranoia:

I've met a number of Finns who gave up on Erasmus exchange years in England and even in Spain because they got too cold inside in those cultures and found it too tough!

Then again we're having a fight every morning currently with my 9 yr old who insists he never gets cold in a t-shirt and his softshell (admittedly one of the great kids Decathlon ones which have a pile lining) and doesn't want to wear anything else to school. Raised voices have been used just to get him to wear a sweatshirt or microfleece between those two layers. It was -9 when we left home this morning and they have two buses to catch to come home, today in strong winds and driving sleet. But perhaps that's his English genes...?

In reply to TobyA:

Same issue with my 10 year old. Just got him an adult size XS snowboard jacket - waterproof shell with a light fleece lining, he complained the previous one with a quilted lining was not only too small but also too hot.

He has to be reminded before setting off to school in the Bavarian winter that a long sleeved shirt under it might be better than a teeshirt. Haven't dared to broach the subject of sweatshirts yet.

In reply to The Lemming:

Canada Goose make warm parkas, and funnily enough, are designed with Canada's climate in mind.

http://www.canada-goose.com/collections/arctic/

Beware of fakes and be aware that this is now the winter jacket/label of choice in Essex and the City of London

In reply to The Lemming:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live/video/2013/dec/05/how-to...

In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Snow mantra was the standard issue at the McMurdo station, still have mine after a buy old stock option
Very warm jackets and I've never found anywhere cold enough apart from Antarctica and Alaska to wear it. Although, I've seen a fair few explorers in Kensington with them on!

In reply to Denni:

There's a shop in Canary Wharf that sells a big range of Canada Goose parkas. A friend has one that was given to him when he was working on a rig somewhere stupidly cold. Personally cannot tell why its 4 times the price of my NF polar jacket...but what do I know? But you see more and more on the DLR and Jubilee line. Has a lot to do with the £800 price tag and a large badge that everyone can see. Essential jackets for extreme commuting