Dressing in layers can help you stay warm when you first step into the cold. When you warm up, you can easily shed extra layers, to cool off. (GNS photo)
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Monday, November 8
Keeping warm takes more than a coat
By Christine Rook
Lansing (Mich.) State Journal
Get out your winterwear.
A good cold-weather wardrobe can go from October apple picking to January on the half-pipe.
Notice we're talking "wardrobe" and not just "coat." One coat - even a big thick one - isn't going to make it in colder climates.
Staying warm is science, experts say. The right jacket or layers depends not just on the temperature but on the precipitation and your activity level.
"I put the heaviest, warmest coat on just to be outside for five minutes," says Cavin Adams, 30, of Lansing, Mich.
Adams doesn't take part in outside winter sports, so a single thick jacket provides ample insulation on cold days. However, he might need a second jacket for less frigid temperatures.
"Somebody who is walking to work, they're gonna be awfully hot some days with that one coat, and sometimes they're gonna be cold," said Catherine O'Brien, a research biologist at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts.
O'Brien and others create garments to keep military personnel warm in all conditions. Their research shows that quiet activities, such as sitting in a football stadium or watching the kids sled, require a single coat with the thickest possible layer of insulation.
The insulation traps air warmed by the body. Because the body isn't moving, air isn't squished out and replaced by cold air. More active folks won't be happy with one thick coat. They have to layer.
"You want to be able to adjust," O'Brien says.
Each layer of clothing traps warm air. If you get too hot, shed a sweater. When you cool down, add it back.
Remember that as you add layers, the ones underneath compress, losing a bit of their ability to trap air. Cotton really compresses when wet. That's why it is one of the worst materials to wear if you play hard. You'll overheat, sweat and end up cold.
When layering, look for garments that feel fluffy. Fleece is a good example. You can imagine the millions of spaces between the fibers. Avoid those cardboard-stiff, canvaslike jackets. Don't even count one of those as a layer. It won't trap any air.
Matt Nixon, 22, hates the cold, so his approach to winter is a long-sleeved T-shirt, a pair of shorts underneath long pants, a fleece sweatshirt and a good quality winter coat with thick zip-in fleece.
"You don't mess around," says his friend, Adams. "That seems a bit extreme."
Nixon stands by his wardrobe lineup.
"That's my tip for beating the freeze," he says. And "I don't go outside unless I have to."
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