Gear | The Ski Condo

Great Ski Jacket

March 7th, 2010 admin No comments

Great Ski Jacket

Good coat for being inactive outside in very cold weather.?

I'm going to Canada for the winter carnival and I need a good heavy coat since I am going to be outside in the cold (Probably ~15 F) pretty much all day and be pretty inactive (ie ski jacket would not be ideal) Any ideas? Brands or specific coats would be great, thanks. Oh and water proof would probably be good too with the snow... Thanks in advanced.

Heavy is not the point - well insulated (down is best) and wind/waterproof ARE the points. Gotta keep the cold air out at all the openings: neck, wrists, waist - want over- and inner-flaps at the zippers to keep cold air from coming in thru the zippers too. An inner drawstring at the waist helps keep the cold air out too. I wear a military style "Arctic parka" when it's really cold - better now that you can get them with a permeable membrane (e.g. Gore-tex).

Also layering up works very well. Insulated underwear (underwear should be designed to wick sweat away from the skin - the stuff made with polypropylene is supposed to be good at wicking), shirt, and sweat shirt or sweater under the coat. I wear insulated underwear and windproof, lined nylon outer pants (like the lower half of a "wind suit"). Ski pants or snowmobile bib are options. I'll also layer up with sweat pants over the unders if it's really cold. Good gloves and head coverings are also important as a lot of your heat will be lost thru the head. I'll wear layers there too with a knit cap under my insulated hood (part of the jacket) and perhaps a scarf as well to help keep air out of the jacket. Layering helps the feet too. Thin wool socks under thicker acrylic boot socks in an insulated (Thinsulate or similar) boot will help keep the tootsies warm. Natural rubber (latex based) soles harden and get slippery in the lower cold, so look for a special low temp compounded sole of man-made materials for best results. And at least a waterproof foot part too if the conditions are sloppy. Gore-tex (and similar membrane) also helps by keeping water vapor (sweat) from being trapped while excluding most wind and liquid water - if you feel wet, you'll feel colder - esp. you feet. Membrane is good in shoes, gloves and other outerwear. You'll also feel warmer if you keep your bladder empty - never pass up a chance to pee when it's cold! If you pee your pants, you'll really get cold (after the initial warmth ) You'll probably have to bail on the event if that happens.

Things like the typical cotton/polyester sweatshirt or pants aren't very useful as outerwear as they let the cool breezes right thru. They have to be worn under water resistant/windproof outer layer like the windsuit pants mentioned above.

.bh.