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Dec. 22nd, 2004 08:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katallisonSince it's been such a mild year so far, I got my first chance this morning to field-test the new winter coat (just like this one, except all black) in severe conditions, and friends, we have a winner. This thing turns aside -25 windchill like it was *nothing.* I am most pleased.
Having spent almost all of my 51 years in Minnesota, I've developed a fairly elaborate taxonomy of winter wear, and on mornings like this I feel some distress at seeing people standing on street corners, shivering, in coats that are obviously inadequate for conditions. So let me pass along some the following completely gratuitous and unasked-for rankings, for anyone relocating to or visiting a much colder climate. ("Adequate" in this case means "will keep you acceptably warm in the 0 F/-18 C range".)
A. Not Adequate
1. Wool. Wool is fine when it's around freezing or slightly above, and can carry you down into the 20s if there's no wind. But at zero or below wool just doesn't cut it, especially those fashionable little button-up-the-front hip-length jackets with the double-breasted front that leave your neck and upper chest uncovered.
2. Those fake-shearling jackets that are basically polyester.
3. Fleece. See wool, above. Though fleece is excellent layered under something more substantial.
4. Anything in corduroy, denim, or other forms of cotton.
B. Marginally adequate
1. Those nylon anorak things. Only if you have plenty of layers on underneath, and/or are engaged in strenuous activity (x-c skiing, snowshoeing).
2. Leather, if it is (a) heavy-duty, (b) long, and (c) amply, and I mean *amply,* lined with thinsulate or suchlike. Leather is good at turning aside wind, but isn't really all that warm.
3. Waist- or upper-hip-length parkas. What profiteth it a man (or woman) to be warm from the waist up, if your entire lower body left to the elements, protected only by one lousy layer of denim??
[Side note] Really, it baffles me that these short parkas seem to be the most common default sort of cold-weather gear available. They make sense if you need to have full unimpeded range of motion for your legs (e.g., if you're skiing). Most of us do not spend most of our time skiing. Also, if you have to sit down on an icy bus bench, car seat, etc. in a short coat? Frozen-butt misery.
C. Fully Adequate
1. Snowmobile suits. Incredibly ugly, and a major pain to get in and out of, but the ideal choice if you have to be outside (and relatively inactive) for long periods of time. I used to have an old hand-me-down one, and it was great for stuff like wandering around looking at the Winter Carnival ice sculptures at twenty below.
2. The long down or thinsulate coat, with hood. (Like mine!) Add boots, put up the hood, wrap a scarf around your face, and you're good to go.
3. Fur. [ETA: Or real shearling, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kassrachel points out below.] I add this to the list with some hesitation; but the warmest coat I ever had in my life was a huge floor-length ancient muskrat coat that I bought at an estate sale for $35 back in the 70s, and which carried me through several years when I couldn't afford a down coat. Given the questionable practices of the fur industry, I wouldn't buy one now (though as a meat-eater and leather-wearer I have no real ethical issues with fur from animals that have been humanely raised and slaughtered).
So that concludes the public-service-announcement portion of this most consummately pointless LJ entry. And being as how I am at work, I should maybe, um, try to get some work done.
Having spent almost all of my 51 years in Minnesota, I've developed a fairly elaborate taxonomy of winter wear, and on mornings like this I feel some distress at seeing people standing on street corners, shivering, in coats that are obviously inadequate for conditions. So let me pass along some the following completely gratuitous and unasked-for rankings, for anyone relocating to or visiting a much colder climate. ("Adequate" in this case means "will keep you acceptably warm in the 0 F/-18 C range".)
A. Not Adequate
1. Wool. Wool is fine when it's around freezing or slightly above, and can carry you down into the 20s if there's no wind. But at zero or below wool just doesn't cut it, especially those fashionable little button-up-the-front hip-length jackets with the double-breasted front that leave your neck and upper chest uncovered.
2. Those fake-shearling jackets that are basically polyester.
3. Fleece. See wool, above. Though fleece is excellent layered under something more substantial.
4. Anything in corduroy, denim, or other forms of cotton.
B. Marginally adequate
1. Those nylon anorak things. Only if you have plenty of layers on underneath, and/or are engaged in strenuous activity (x-c skiing, snowshoeing).
2. Leather, if it is (a) heavy-duty, (b) long, and (c) amply, and I mean *amply,* lined with thinsulate or suchlike. Leather is good at turning aside wind, but isn't really all that warm.
3. Waist- or upper-hip-length parkas. What profiteth it a man (or woman) to be warm from the waist up, if your entire lower body left to the elements, protected only by one lousy layer of denim??
[Side note] Really, it baffles me that these short parkas seem to be the most common default sort of cold-weather gear available. They make sense if you need to have full unimpeded range of motion for your legs (e.g., if you're skiing). Most of us do not spend most of our time skiing. Also, if you have to sit down on an icy bus bench, car seat, etc. in a short coat? Frozen-butt misery.
C. Fully Adequate
1. Snowmobile suits. Incredibly ugly, and a major pain to get in and out of, but the ideal choice if you have to be outside (and relatively inactive) for long periods of time. I used to have an old hand-me-down one, and it was great for stuff like wandering around looking at the Winter Carnival ice sculptures at twenty below.
2. The long down or thinsulate coat, with hood. (Like mine!) Add boots, put up the hood, wrap a scarf around your face, and you're good to go.
3. Fur. [ETA: Or real shearling, as
kassrachel points out below.] I add this to the list with some hesitation; but the warmest coat I ever had in my life was a huge floor-length ancient muskrat coat that I bought at an estate sale for $35 back in the 70s, and which carried me through several years when I couldn't afford a down coat. Given the questionable practices of the fur industry, I wouldn't buy one now (though as a meat-eater and leather-wearer I have no real ethical issues with fur from animals that have been humanely raised and slaughtered).So that concludes the public-service-announcement portion of this most consummately pointless LJ entry. And being as how I am at work, I should maybe, um, try to get some work done.