Cold Weather Gear

[GOTURBACK]

If you can get past the brand and the price, I have some Nike Combat cold weather bottoms which unlike traditional thermal wear are designed like compression tights, no bulk but they are quite warm.

[Rex G]

Another “vote” for Patagonia Capilene base and middle layers, and Smartwool socks.

We do not always have much of a winter, in SE Texas, so I can skip multiple winters years using my thicker “Expedition-weight” Capilene, but when cold happens here, it can be epic. When standing for hours in freezing rain, during one Houston Marathon, with icecicles hanging from my duty hat, I was toasty warm, underneath it all.

Notably, odor clinging to the Capilene can be mitigated by wearing summer-weight Ex Officio T-shirts and briefs, underneath the Capilene base layer. This makes being trapped on duty, for multiple shifts, a more pleasant experience. (Capilene does not retain B.O. nearly as bad as all-polypro underwear.)

Smartwool socks have an amazingly low-odor-retention factor, summer or winter.

[txdpd]

The BO in synthetic fabric is from bacteria growing in body oils that are trapped in the fibers.

If you’re stuff is fairly new, Chemical Guys microfiber wash will clean body grime out of synthetic fabric. It might also strip out any fabric treatments might prevent BO.

If you’re stuff is already nasty, soaking for several hours in a stripping solution of a tbsp each of Dawn dish soap, Oxyclean, Borax, Calgon and 4 gallons of hot water will get the crud out. Rinse in the sink and launder. It might also bleach or ruin some fabrics, so save the nuclear option for things that are already dead.

For things you can’t launder Sniper will kill the smell.

No fabric softener on synthetic fabrics. The residue from dryer sheets will make BO worse, that stuff is like synthetic car wax and will last for a long time on the drum.

[csheehy]

I prefer merino wool baselayers for anything mid 20’s and below. The brand I use is called meriwool you can search for it on amazon. They have different weights depending on temperature and I will wear multiple sets if it’s cold enough.

I started using Meriwool last winter. It is fantastic. Never warmer than with their mid-weight bottoms--even heavy Duofolds can't compare. I'll occasionally wear light synthetics, but the wool breathes
better. Watch for specials on Amazon.

[MGW]

Interesting side story. My sister has alpha-gal syndrome from a tick bite a few years ago. She can’t eat red meat at all. Her allergic reaction isn’t as severe as some people but it’s still a real issue. The part I didn’t know is the allergy also prevents her from wearing wool.

[Cypher]

Part of this may be because I'm getting used to the cold but I don't think it's been above 20 degrees at night since I originally posted in this thread and I have yet to need a coat at work. My coworkers think I'm nuts.

slight thread drift but still related to keeping warm. Wool socks helped me a lot. Once my feet get cold it was always down hill from their. Cotton and synthetic socks just cannot compare.

As I mentioned earlier, I've done security for a little over 10 years. Almost all of that has involved out door patrols, on foot in varying weather conditions and terrain.

I've tried several different types of boots and shoes and found that Belleville Duty Boots work the best for me. Of all the different “duty” boots I’ve tried they are the most durable and comfortable and I like the fact that they are made in America. I have 2 pairs of the black 700s and one pair of the ACU version of the same boot and I’m really happy with them.

The first time I wore them I could feel the give in the foot bed when I walked on concrete or asphalt. They support my ankles when I’m in the rocks or walking up or down hill and the water proofing is good enough for me to wear them all day in the snow and not get my feet wet. My feet sweat a lot and I've found that these breathe enough to keep them ventilated and dry

[Gray01]

Worked extensively in a quite cold environment. Often sub-zero at night, with times in Jan-Feb where night could get to -40F, and -10 was not even an oddity, and daytime being a layer of rime ice from the ice fog on everything, with maybe a high of +5. Quite often the antennae on the vehicles would become 2-3 inches thick and whipping around crazily from the ice buildup in the ice fog.

There were a few times when the condensate on the sidearm froze upon leaving a heated environment and significantly impeded drawing from the holster (duty rig). When that happens the first time you never forget the feeling.

I avoided synthetic base layers, sticking to merino wool. The reasons was that wool does not melt and weld to human skin during fire exposure; it insulates wet and dry, and it does not have the bacterial odor retention.

Socks were also a layered approach, using Fox River Xstatic which are silver impregnated (anti-bacterial) liners and Smartwool Mountaineering Extra Heavy socks. I also layered gloves, with a very thin inner liner glove (to prevent skin from adhering to surfaces) under a heavier glove with attachments that would allow me to quickly "flip" the heavy gloves off with losing them (left dangling from the coat sleeve.)

[MGW]

Worked extensively in a quite cold environment. Often sub-zero at night, with times in Jan-Feb where night could get to -40F, and -10 was not even an oddity, and daytime being a layer of rime ice from the ice fog on everything, with maybe a high of +5. Quite often the antennae on the vehicles would become 2-3 inches thick and whipping around crazily from the ice buildup in the ice fog.

There were a few times when the condensate on the sidearm froze upon leaving a heated environment and significantly impeded drawing from the holster (duty rig). When that happens the first time you never forget the feeling.

I avoided synthetic base layers, sticking to merino wool. The reasons was that wool does not melt and weld to human skin during fire exposure; it insulates wet and dry, and it does not have the bacterial odor retention.

Socks were also a layered approach, using Fox River Xstatic which are silver impregnated (anti-bacterial) liners and Smartwool Mountaineering Extra Heavy socks. I also layered gloves, with a very thin inner liner glove (to prevent skin from adhering to surfaces) under a heavier glove with attachments that would allow me to quickly "flip" the heavy gloves off with losing them (left dangling from the coat sleeve.)

The absolute warmest system I have is a silkweight base layer, mid weight fleece mid layer, and a wind proof/gortex outer layer. I’m not a big fan of gortex because it tends to hold in too much moisture but it was all I had. Lows in the negative teens and wind chills much lower than that were no issue at all.

It’s not a good system when I’m doing a lot of moving because I’ll start to sweat. For static or limited movement stuff I have found anything warmer. Not that bulky either.

[luckyman]

Excuse the necro-post; this seems to be one of the few cold weather clothing threads we have
@Rick R put me on to https://www.varusteleka.com/en in the “Finland makes ready” thread, and I ended up buying some stuff from them.

Item NOT from varusteleka that I really like , that I want to mention before I forget:
https://www.brynjeusa.com/product/un...-super-thermo/
This mesh tshirt is fantastic at temperature regulation, and doesn’t stink like some polyester items can. It’s always my first layer in cold temps.

From varusteleka:
I really like their “ Särmä Tactical Jeans”. Not really cold weather stuff, but at least heavier than my Kuhl pants; they look flattering, and they have unobtrusive extra pockets. I want to carry my tourniquet, POM, flashlight, and keys all in extra pockets when possible, and these jeans let me do that.

The Särmä merino fingerless gloves are significantly warmer than my old fingerless gloves that were marketed as wool but I’ve always thought were synthetic.

The Särmä (merino) Henley Shirt is great, except it is so long it looks dorky unless you tuck it in.

Finally there are the Särmä TST L1 boxers and tshirt. The tshirt is unfortunately at little scratchy on me if I’m moving enough to perspire a tiny bit. I suspect it will always be my last choice of cold weather tshirts. The boxer briefs have super long legs which I love. That lets them pretty much function as long underwear for me, especially when I wear my boot length Darn Tough socks. I hate normal long underwear, the crotch usually feels like it is halfway down my legs, and either the waist is super loose or I can’t hardly get the damn legs over my thighs and calves because the legs are too tight. The boxer briefs are a tiny bit itchy also but they bother me much less than the tshirt.

Hope the above info is helpful for someone trying to find pants, base layers, etc.

Edited to add: well dang it, just saw this was the LE forum. Mods Let me know if you want me to move or delete it