'Long Johns'

Those of us in California (at least the central parts) can probably disregard the long johns conversation as well. Unless they're really absorbent. We need to conserve our water, ya know!

Carhartt Union Suit

still have them on..

😛

Merino wool all the way.

www.icebreaker.com or something similar.

I've always preferred to where bibs or coveralls instead. That way when I get stuck in the office for a while I'm not roasting. I just leave them in the truck during the cold months.

My favorite is medium weight silk base layer with LL Bean Cresta Wool on top.
I generally don't wear long bottoms, just add insulated bibs as needed.

> (Those of you in Florida....just move along)

FYI, I'm in North Central Florida and am wearing "Long Johns" today. Its below freezing this morning and the wind makes it worse. Its probably nowhere near as bad as most of you guys deal with, but it still feels cold to me.

"(Those of you in Florida....just move along)"

It's still gonna be freezing every morning for the next week!

😉

> I've always preferred to where bibs or coveralls instead.

I used to work with a guy that swore by Carhartt coveralls. I tried a set once and in the tan ones, given my, uh let's use the word physique, I bore a striking and rather unflattering resemblance to Winnie the Pooh. :-O

> > I tried a set once and in the tan ones, given my, uh let's use the word physique, I bore a striking and rather unflattering resemblance to Winnie the Pooh. :-O

[sarcasm]Given the general quiet, non-confrontational, "respectful of other's feelings" nature of your average surveyor......[/sarcasm]

I bet that was a LOONNGG day.... 😉

This is a subject getting great debate around the office as of late. For years I've worn coveralls. Every time I need to shed a layer, I get cold and they always pull in the "wrong" spot when reaching over-head. For topo in the open, they are tough to beat. For the woods, not so much.

So I've been asking about the bib overalls with the coat to cover. IDK though yet.

When I hunt, I have VERY well insulated boots and I simply wear blue jeans and layers on top and hand warmers in the pockets. Works well, but my dad is sold on the underarmor base layer 2.0. He doesn't like the cold and it doesn't seem to affect him when he's wearing it. To be fair though, he is typically wearing the base layer, blue jeans, and coveralls, so.....

Anyway, I'm probably going to get some of the super thin under armor. My BIL worked on a rig in ND for a while before getting transferred, and he said that layering was the key. He started off with almost silk long johns, then under armor, then FR pants, then coveralls. The temps may be zero or lower and there was always wind so he said it sucked on a factor of 10.

Every person who I know who's worked in extreme environments, all talk about the silk as the base layer though. There must be something to it.

:good:

Same here Dan. This type of layering works well for me.

I generally just wear jeans, Redhead wools socks, a tshirt, sweatshirt, and then jacket and bib overalls.

This layering works well for me in my neck of the woods. If it's too cold for that, then I can find some office work to do! Generally by the time you get to moving around, you generate enough body heat to stay pretty comfortable.

Long Johns are a must in this type of weather. I used to work with an excavator operator once upon a time. Every winter he would muse "you can get cold the first day by accident, the second day is your fault". I took that to heart, haven't been cold twice in one year since. 🙂

The bigger challenge I always faced was when working in mountainous terrain:

Get out of the truck: Freezing, put on everything you own
Start hiking up the hill: Burning up, shed a couple layers to cool off
Set up first occupy station and set up today's notes: Freezing again, put everything back on
Hike to second station: Warm enough to remove outermost layer
Set up second station: Cold again

This pattern repeats itself until the ride home. The only thing you can do is dress in layers. Usually something like: underwear, thermals, tee shirt and jeans, sweatshirt, thermal carhart bibs and coat. If it gets windy you can put the jacket on under the bibs - that seems to help a bunch.

One other thing that can build a lot of warmth is instead of sweatshirts wear a turtleneck thermal made for skiing. Keeping your neck and head warm is 60% of the battle.

I like the fleece zip up vests under my coat. Can zip em up all the way to your chin to keep your neck warm. Can unzip or remove if it gets too hot.

I like the Duofold polyester/wool blend. I have them in different weights. 23°F now going to 30°F this afternoon, I'll wear the lightweight ones today.

Like Dan said, if it's a day that I'm in and out a lot I'll wear my Carhartt instead of long underwear.

It is rarely "too cold" here in the California central valley. But once in a while, like in late January or early February, we'll get some "cold snaps" where it drops into the 20's in the morning.

I know, all you that work in colder climates are laughing at me right now.

But anyway, the layering was always what worked best for me. In the morning, it was often foggy in addition to being cold. So a moisture barrier layer was important on the top. Once the fog would burn off you could drop that. The walking and staking and whatnot tended to keep me warm so being able to shed layers was helpful. Sometimes there'd be such a swing in temperature from the morning to the afternoon (mid 20's to mid 60's) that by the end of the day there would be a pile of jackets, hoodies, and longsleeves in the truck from me and the chainman. Sometimes I'd forget and leave the layers in the truck and so I'd wear a new collection of layers in to work the next day. Twice a week I'd have to remember to take the stuff home otherwise there'd be no room in the truck for me.

Move to Alaska. Our temps have been in the mid 40's and not a trace of snow on the ground. The fire hazard's extreme. Haven't needed my long johns at all. I'm sure that will change though, eventually, I hope.