Winter is coming, What are you wearing.

Chris Pierce

Chris Pierce

Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
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I'm excited for winter. :D And I like to talk about coats apparently.

It's finally getting cold here, today was in the low 20's when I woke up, it's warmed up to around 32-34 now. I took my kids to the park this morning to try out my new primaloft one jacket. It's made by underarmor and while it's super light and pretty thin, it's actually pretty warm. I wore it with my USGI wool gloves and a USGI neck gaiter along with a no-name mid weight poly base and a cotton t-shirt. Cheap blue poly cotton long johns from fredmeyers, my old Carhartt loggers and thick wool socks in my unlined boots and I was comfortable and I didn't even have to wear a hat! There was no wind.

It's funny, I've never thought much of the fancy "technical" clothing before. Soft, light, thin, flammable. "Must be for sissies who never do any man stuff", I though. :o
I used to work as a ship fitter in Seattle and before that I lived in a place where there was no "winter", so for years everything I owned was made of cotton because it had to be tough, cheap and sort of fire retardant. I still own a LOT of Carhartt. But since I moved out east and quit lighting myself on fire so much I've been able to experiment a little with my clothing. I now have this wonderful light weight water proof wind resistant, very warm and comfortable (not to mention inexpensive) jacket. Holy cow what a difference between this and the incredibly heavy, thick, water-soaking-up, armor-like Carhartt coat I've been wearing! The Carhartt MAY be warmer, but man o man this primaloft jacket is just a dream to wear. And I can always add gloves, hats, scarves if I need to. It's hard to "take away" from a coat that is too warm.
I also bought some Columbia snow boarding pants since my wife wants to take me snowboarding for the first time this year. Can't do that in cotton!


Anyway, maybe I'm just too excited about this fancy new (to me) technical clothing, but what's everybody else wearing this winter?



-Chris
 
If it is up to me Goretex layered over primaloft layered over wool.

Torso
3 in 1 north face jacket with goretex shell and zip in primaloft liner
(any necessary insulation layers)
Redram merino tshirts as base layer or finnsvala polypro net underwear for high exertion activities

Legs
Windproof shell pants or insulated windproof pants
"Helly hansen warm" wool/synthetic blend long underwear or 200g woolpower long underwear pants or both
finnsvala polypro net long underwear for heavy exertion

Feet
Insulated winter boots
Wool socks

Hands
Leather/goretex mittens over wool mittens.
Deerskin gloves

Head
Wool watch cap
Ushanka
+ I keep a spare wool balaclava in every one of my winter jackets.

If it gets really cold I throw on an arctic weight down parka with fur ruff, some sorel glacier boots, shearling mittens, insulated windproof pants and a wool balaclava or two.

In a professional setting I can't always dress the way I want to though.
 
I'm in Texas. Winter = shorts and short sleeve t's. The occasional jacket, but that's kinda rare. Was 75 out today. purrrrrrrfect :)
 
I can't imaging wearing shorts all the time, even growing up in California's central valley I didn't wear shorts. 110 degrees? Leather jacket, steel toed boots, dickies, mohawk. :) haha
 
Several years ago, I bought a couple of Patagonia R1 fleece pullovers and pants for $20-something each at one of their outlet stores. They've been great. Today, and new, each piece would be $130 or so. The thing to know is that Patagonia's R1 fleece is actually made by Polartec and is known as Power Dry. The other thing to know is that the military also uses Polartec Power Dry in their Gen III clothes and it can be had for very reasonable prices on a popular auction site. Power Dry comes in a silk weight (Level 1) and mid weight (Level 2.) It is the Generation III, Level 2 fleece (AKA "grid fleece") that is equal to Patagonia's R1.

I've recently purchased 2 pairs each of both tops and bottoms of (Coyote Brown) USMC Level 2 grid fleece and am sitting here wearing it now. It is wonderfully warm and cozy.
 
I was going to buy some of that USGI fleece, but the Wife vetoed it :( She said that I should try to look nice from time to time or something...
 
More about Polartec's Power Dry "grid fleece"...

The grids are cut into the inside of the fleece. This creates dead air space (insulation,) while reducing the weight of the garment. The outside of the fleece is "hard face" (or smooth) so that outer layers slide over it more easily. Also, it may be marketing hype, but the yarns used on the inside are supposed to absorb moisture, while the yarns used on the outside of the fleece are supposed to wick it away.

It is very soft and comfortable against bare skin, although I've been wearing the pullover over thrift store merino wool tops (about $3 each.)
 
Chris Pierce said:
I was going to buy some of that USGI fleece, but the Wife vetoed it :( She said that I should try to look nice from time to time or something...
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I think the USMC pullover looks kinda sharp. (BTW, the sleeves are really long and have thumb holes. It also has a handwarmer kangaroo pocket on the front. It's a really practical piece of gear.)

While researching all this, I've learned that the Army gets the same grid fleece (but no kangaroo pocket) in desert sand. Navy SEALs get tweaked Patagonia gear (I think usually in "Alpha Green.") I guess the military wants their special forces to look good, too. :)


Oh yeah... Patagonia stuff is available in S, M, L, etc. The military gear comes in Small Short, Small Regular, Small Long, etc...
 
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I oiled my Sorels 2 weeks ago. Right now I'm still wearing my water proof low top Keens. Actually I'm still wearing my Chucks. Not much longer though... Other than that, I layer. When it starts getting into the teens and 20s I wear a wool base layer outside. I switch to wool socks too. A friend of mine made me an indoor hat last year. It worked well. I never put the thermostat above 65 last year.
 
alfred mcdougal said:
Yea.. I love Texas winters. It's the summers that suck.
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Yea, they're brutal. Especially east tx where I'm at. It gets to 105+, but the humidity on top of that is rediculous!! I usually gain a few pounds in the winter and shed them all in the summer.
 
Winter is relatively mild here, so this bespoke, 3 piece.

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Actually, I have to bring it back to the shop to make a final adjustment. I would like to have 1/2 inch of shirt sleeve to show (otherwise no point of getting French cuffed shirts if you can't see the cufflinks), which means the suit jacket sleeves need to be shortened. I'll also get it adjusted around the elbow for a more trim fit.

3 piece suit and shirts were made for me locally from one of the few bastions of truly hand made garments.
 
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Slacks and a shirt, but now that its a bit chilly, a thin jacket.

Winters here in southern cali rarely go under 30, few times in my lifetime but 50 is the norm.
 
Levi's rigid 501's, Pendleton Board shirt, Redwing Iron Rangers and a Fiddleback Forge Terrassaur.
 
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