Cold Weather Clothing?

These are my two favorite sources for wool clothing:

http://bemidjiwoolenmills.com/bemidjiwool.php

http://www.filson.com

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Based on the previous responses, it's pretty clear what works best on the farm! I went to cotton canvas (generic, much cheaper than Carhartt brand) after I melted holes in 2 nylon jackets. I use a silicone spray treatment to make them a little more water repellent. Head to head, goretex would probably win in a downpour, but who wants to find out, just get out of the rain! When wearing goretex and doing any physical activity, no matter how breathable they say it is, I was still soaked, in sweat. I found a little umbrella at the dollar store that folds down to 6", it is perfect for those cold rains! I even use it hiking, I look pretty strange walking through the woods with an umbrella, but it works!

Wool is itchy against my skin, but it's good for an outer layer.

Mathew~ Have you tried Merino Wool? That stuff is awesome, no itchies at all. I bet i own close to 10 pairs of Merino wool socks and they've held up good, there all i wear. They are made by Columbia (not cheap, but close to 90% wool, you got to check the labels, some manafacturers like to skimp).

I had a set of Carhartt's insulated coveralls but they about drove me crazy (claustrophobic) when I'd try to put them on and take them off so I recently got the insulated Carhartt jacket and overalls. I use the jacket every single day in the winter. I only put the overalls on when I'll be outside for extended periods of time.

The trick to staying warm is to dress in layers. Insulated underwear, jeans, top, sweatshirt, coveralls, stocking hat, earmuffs, and in the coldest of weather a goosedown coat with hood. Socks, insulated wool socks and good, waterproof, insulated boots. Mine are so thick with mud and guck I can't even tell what the brand is right now, but I got them thru G & L Clothing store after explaining I need something for winter chores, to keep my feet warm and dry.

Oh man... That's enough of THAT!! LOL


Hey Shepherd... What size are those coveralls? Ya wanna sell 'em?

Though certainly not set in stone, up here I find those that work outside wear Carhartts, wool and cotton, while those who play outdoors tend to like the techier stuff.

For myself I wear a pair of red lined Carhartt overalls over duofold long johns, heavy wool sweater, sweatshirt and sweatpants. I hardly ever wear a coat unless it gets to -45 or below and for that I have a Carhartt as well. The key, as has been said, is in the layering. For boots I wear pre 1989 US Army BATA boots, fondly known as bunny boots.

Our cold weather is hardly wet, (you can't even make a snowball until spring), so the cotton Carhartts work fine. When the wet hits a pair of Gruendens and Xtratuf boots fit the bill.

edited to add: I have a polar fleece neckwarmer and a fleece lined wool hat.

LOL - they were a small, which I ain't anymore! But I ended up giving them to a neighbor last winter who could use a helping hand. I also had a snowmobile suit that had to be 30+ years old and still in great shape, which I gave their kids too. I doubt I could get my leg in those anymore. Hard to believe I was once that small.

Believe me with the new set, I made sure I have enough room to wear long underwear, jeans and sweats under them! ROFL

I just bought my first Carhartt's jacket and I can't believe how incredibly warm it is! I have always hated cold weather, and the biggest reason is because I can't stay warm in it. I finally broke down and bought a Carhartt's jacket, coveralls, and some super warm boots (the tag said they stay warm to -15 degrees) and what a difference! I can go outside and stay outside and not be miserably cold - in fact if I move around too much I get HOT! I STILL hate cold weather, but at least now I don't go numb the minute I step outside in cold weather.

And I wear the Carhartt's jacket every day - even to work with my dresses! I just love it!

Penny

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Carhartt is the way to go in clothes if you are working outside. I bought a pair of Rocky, Bearclaw boots with 1000 grams of thinsulate about ten years ago and have never had cold feet since. These babies worked construction and concrete and still are my winter boot, though I'm not in a real cold area now they worked just great when I was.

I like Pendeltons.

I wear a pair of sweatpants underneath my cargo pants, 2 pairs of regular socks, longsleeve turtle neck+longsleeve shirt+Schmidt (tractor supply store copy of Carhart) sweatshirt that is fleece lined. Knit hat all the time and the hood up on the sweatshirt and I can stay out 8 hours at a time snowmobiling and plowing snow on the tractor and stuff in temps from about 10 to 25 degrees. I have a Carhart sweatchirt I got years ago for Christmas I'll wear over everything else if it's below 0. My boots are goretex lined and waterproof, better boots are the tall Muck boots; the oil field guys all wear them. LOL I have a huge STARTER jacket from the 80's that is really fat with down, I look like a pillow and feel like a fool wearing it but it's the last resort when I need to be warm.

I wear wool as much as possible to keep warm.

I live in VA and some will scoff and say it doesn't get cold here. But here we are constantly on the freezing line. nothing stays frozen long but it will freeze at night and thaw during the day. We are humid here. All that adds up to wet cold. I haven't found anything that beats wet cold better than wool. Pendletons are great as are any wool sweater. (i always get mine from thrift stores for about $8-$10) merino is great but pricey (thrift stores again to the rescue) I usually use polypro for long underwear underneath, since the wool is itchy, but for outer layers it is all wool. Wool will tolerate a lot of wet, I have never been cold in wet wool unless i had just tipped over in a canoe.
Those wool pants left over from WWII are the BEST. Getting harder and harder to find.

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Depending on how long I will be outside and what I am doing I dress 2 ways. Just normal going out to the truck to go any where I put on a pair of plair old long under wear bottoms, a flannel shirt and a lined flannel jacket, and my boots. If really cold out I stay in but to go out for short periods I put on The long undie bottoms, a pair of joggers, and a pair of larger jeans I have just for this porpose. On top it is tee shirt long undie top and a coat. Of corse I can't stay out long at a time due to health problems. Sam

It sounds to me like most of us are engaged in relatively non-aerobic activities when out in the cold. So bringing hay to the sheep might make me grunt a bit, but it isn't the same as cross country skiing or snowshoeing.

Which would explain both the high tech wicking stuff in my closet.. and the bombproof wool/cotton duck.

I wear the wool/cotton duck way more often!

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