How to Dress for Extreme Winter Weather

Do you know how to stay warm even in extreme winter weather? Outside in the freezing weather. Our friend Beth is an amazing outdoors woman and in this video we're going to show you what she taught us to warm in extreme winter weather. Today we are talking about dressing for extreme winter weather. This is important for a couple of reasons. First of all you may need to be working outdoors in very cold temperatures or you may be indoors in an unheated home that will also be very chilly. And these principles can be applied to both. We'd like to introduce you to our friend Beth who is an incredible outdoors woman. In this photo she is ice fishing on Lake of the Woods in negative 25 degree Fahrenheit temperatures with a 20 mile an hour wind. And that is a minus 55 degree Fahrenheit wind chill factor. That is bitter cold. Beth has provided some guidance for us that we are going to share with you in this video. Select the gear that you are going to wear for a day depending on three criteria. The first is the weather conditions. What are you going to get yourself into that day? The second is your activity level. Are you going to be chopping wood, hiking or ice fishing? It makes a difference. And the third is your personal needs. I need to dress very differently than Jonathan because I am so incredibly sensitive to the cold. Now ladies and gentlemen this is the wrong way to dress. I snapped this picture when John and Ben were going out to feed the chickens in the morning. From my perspective this just helps us to become tough so that we'll be able to handle things when it's not quite as warm. Beth strongly encourages that the first thing that you need to do before you ever leave your house is to check the weather. You need to know exactly what you are up against and how to dress accordingly. In this photo she is actually river fishing on the Minnesota Canadian border and she's dodging ice flows while they're fishing in temps around zero degrees. That woman is my hero. I would be by the fireplace sipping hot cocoa. The key to staying warm when you're out in these conditions is layering. You'll always want to start with a base layer. This is typically something that will wick away the moisture and generally that's a synthetic material. Because remember moisture is deadly. Beth likes the compression fit because those garments are very compact and yet they do an excellent job. Her favorite is Under Armour. And then there's the mid layer. The middle layer's purpose is to insulate and to be able to retain your body heat. And this will vary by preference. You may prefer a hoodie or a flannel shirt or even a wool sweater. The mid layer varies a lot by individual and their personal preferences. Your best choice are going to be materials from natural fibers like wool, fleece, and flannel. The outer layer is the shell and it protects you from the weather. This is going to vary depending on the activity that you are going to be engaged in and also upon your personal preferences. When it comes to keeping your head covered, our girls only get a passable grade. While Christy looks beautiful in this hand crocheted cap, it is definitely not providing her with the insulation or the protection that could keep her warm in the cold. And Kenny could have used a nice stocking cap underneath that hood. A hat is a vital part of your cold weather gear. There's a variety of styles that you can choose from but you do need to make sure you have some covering and insulation over your head. And again Ben is doing a fantastic job of demonstrating the wrong way to keep your hands warm. And your feet for that matter. Hands are especially susceptible to the cold. Make sure to plan ahead and have a variety of different gear for your hands. Mittens tend to be a lot warmer than gloves. So sometimes just a glove liner on your hands will give you the dexterity that you need and you can easily slip it into that mitten to make sure that your hands stay warm. What can you say about this? There is something so wrong about this picture. This is definitely not a good or even passable way to keep your feet warm in severe weather. And what about the absence of pants? There is a lot of leg being exposed to all that cold. So let's talk about the solution to cold feet. Let's begin with socks. Socks are so important and the quality of the sock makes such a difference. You're going to want to go with a material probably most especially wool. Smart wool socks are one of Beth's favorite cold weather socks because they stay put and they don't end up creeping down while you're walking and end up all balled up at your toe. Sock liners can also be a really good option. They help to wick the moisture away and you will probably want to have an extra pair of socks so that you can change those out if they get wet. Wet feet are going to be cold feet. Over those socks you're going to want excellent footwear. These are the boots that Beth and her family use and we will put a link in the show notes so that you will have a reference to some of those brands. Cold weather can be incredibly dangerous. Your two main risks are hypothermia and frostbite and we are all susceptible to that. It is possible to get hypothermia in your own home at 50 degrees or so. Make sure that you recognize the symptoms for hypothermia and Beth has outlined those in the post. This is our Benjamin and if you notice his face is so red and cold and one of the reasons is because it's all wet which puts him at great risk for both hypothermia and frostbite. It's time for this little guy to come inside and warm up. Another possible hazard is your eyes freezing. Make sure that when you are in extreme temperatures that you take advantage of wraparound glasses or goggles or in some way protect your eyes from that really cold weather. It is important also to protect your lungs. You will probably want to breathe through a face mask or a scarf or some kind of a neck warmer to help filter that cold air and keep that warmth inside. Quality gear is worth the price. For our little ones we made it a habit of collecting secondhand cold weather clothing because they just grow out of it so quickly. Make sure that you acquire high quality gear that will keep you warm. You will not regret that. We want to welcome Beth to our team. We are excited to have her expertise and to be able to share that information with you. Beth is an avid outdoors woman. She loves hunting, fishing and homesteading. Her passions include family, self-sufficient living, gardening, food preservation and traditional skills and you can look forward to hearing a lot more from Beth in the future. We invite you to google the Provident Prepper how to dress for extreme winter weather for a lot more details from Beth. Also check out our YouTube channel. A couple of the ones we recommend are surviving a power outage and rookie prepper mistakes. Take a look. Now you know how you need to dress to not freeze in extreme temperatures. Consider what you need to add to your wardrobe to stay warm. And now for the question of the day. What experiences do you have surviving the extreme cold? Do you have any tips or tricks you can share with our viewers? Comment below and thanks for being part of the solution.