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Fundamentals - Part 1 of 3
It's about 9:30 AM. You've been on the stand for three
hours. The sun has raised itself above the aspen, but the
cold blue light doesn't add much heat. The sun begins to
warm the trees, and branches pop like small-bore fire.
You're cold. Cold all the way through. You've been
standing as motionless as possible for three hours, and
the 15 degree cold has gradually sunk right in to your
core. Even shivering doesn't help. You gave up on your
toes 20 minutes ago.
As you open the bolt to begin your climb down, it
happens. There's a crash of brush 40 yards to your right,
a glint of sun off a huge rack... and he's gone.
Anyone who's hunted northern whitetails has learned the
challenge of warmth. In this article, I wish to share with
you the combined wisdom of our little camp. This comes
from a lot of discussions around the fire, at the range,
from half a dozen guys who have spent up to six decades
trying to stay warm. Please note, that in this article, I'm
not trying to sell you anything here. A few brand names
will be used, but only to indicate a type of product.
The Fundamentals
There are two things you have to know to get a doctor's
degree in warmth. Ready?
1) Stay dry
2) Trap air
That's all it takes. Sounds simple, right? It would be if you
could stay in the cabin. But if you're going to be walking,
perhaps at several levels of exertion, and sitting still, and
trying to do this quietly, and not be smell, each adds one
more variable, and a bit of a difficulty. A jogger can stay
warm for hours at 0 degrees with the right clothes. Yet if
that warm jogger then tries to stand still for ten minutes,
he'll be in danger. Ice fishermen, a sedentary lot, can
bundle up and stay warm too. But if they tried to work
hard very long dressed like that, they'd have problems.
Why stay dry? Because water, a liquid, transfers heat
more readily than air. The moisture can come from rain,
melting snow, the creek you fell off the log into, or, more
likely, just your sweat.
Why trap air? Because air doesn't transfer heat as fast as
a liquid, you want air to surround you. You will stay warm
if you can keep the warm, trapped air between you and
the cold.
Inside Story
Let's start at the skin. Clean, dry skin, without an excess
of oil, is where we need to start. Then comes underwear.
In the past few decades, we've had several generations of
underwear improvements, each of which have made life a
bit more wonderful for whitetail hunters.
Cotton thermal: This was the basic stuff of the fifties. It
worked great for a little while, unless you had to walk. As
soon as sweat came into it and condensed, bingo. Time
to start a fire. Avoid cotton for everything except lounging
by the fire or wiping off rifles.
Cotton/wool sandwich: A bit better, as the wool added
some wet warmth, but the cotton is still the culprit.
Wool: Still one of the best, but many can't wear it against
their skin. It needs special care, as you can't just throw it
into the washer and dry, unless you wish to give it to your
12-year-old.
Quilted polyester batting: This was the great step ahead
in the sixties. Some was cotton thermal-lined for comfort,
others were just nylon. It is bulky, wears out easily, and is
also not very warm if wet. It's an imitation of:
Quilted down: This is still the premium stuff for absolute
warmth in deep cold. Even so, lots of moisture puts it out
of commission. It does breathe, releasing a good deal of
perspiration and is comfortable across a much wider
temperature range than synthetic batting. If your stand
was a hundred yards behind the cabin, it was 20 degrees
below, and you promised to walk very slowly, then down
would be unquestionably the best choice. Fine quality
down is expensive, (with inflation, even down's up...) but
can easily last you half a century if cared for. On very cold
mornings, one of our guys always wears an Eddy Bauer
jacket he bought right after WWII. It's still feels great.
Polypropylene: Now we're moving into the modern period.
Poly is great because it wicks the moisture away from
your skin, so that it doesn't condense and chill you. It has
a limited amount of insulating quality, but if the day is
only moderately cold, and some deer drives are ahead for
the day, then it can be wonderful. It washes well, but can
be hard to get odors out of. Even though it wicks well,
you still have to have breathable clothes over it, and (can
you guess?) no cotton!
High-tech wicking fibers: Here is the greatest invention of
the last decade. These high-tech fibers, like Thermax,
wick the moisture away, they 'breathe' and they trap air
well. Some are hollow, like microscopic plastic macaroni
noodles. I think a light undershirt of Thermax feels as
warm as a heavy rag-wool sweater.
The first morning I wore a shirt like this, I was enlisted in
a long search, in heavy cover, for a wounded deer. After a
successful three hours, I climbed back into my stand.
Sweat dripped off my wool shirt onto the stock of my
custom '17 Enfield. I zipped up my jacket, an was able to
quite comfortably stay put in 20 degree temperatures for
the next couple hours. Finally I had to go in for the
afternoon, but was still warm, though soaking wet. That
really impressed me. The Thermax undershirt did the
trick.
One thing to consider. The little 'macaronis' can fill up
with body oil, detergents, etc. Some decrease in warmth
seems to happen in a few years.
...in the coming weeks...
Part 2: Underwear and Outwear
Part 3: Hands, Feet and Head