Staying warm, and staying safe

If you are the kind of person who absolutely has to work outside, then I feel for you. But I have some tidbits of information to help you stay warm and safe.

The first thing to keep in mind is that what causes the most damage is moisture. Keep yourself dry, and you will already be ahead of the game. Keep the snow out of your shoes and off your legs. You don't have to use a full-blown snow suit. You can find nylon leggings that slip over the top of your boots and the lower part of your pants.

Your gloves of course need to be water resistant. Even if they are lined and tight around the wrist, if they are not water resistant, you are going to get wet. I would recommend that you use gloves that are lined. You may want to consider gloves with removeable liners if you use them often throughout the day. Removeable liners allow you to take them out of your gloves and have a second, dry set ready to go.

It is also very important to have your head covered (even if you do have a full head of hair). Most of your body heat escapes through your head. A baseball cap usually is not good enough. A good wool or lined-nylon cap is better. And don't forget to protect your ears.

That is probably one of the greatest risks that a lot of folks do not keep in mind: wind chill. Your ears, nose, face, hands; all of them are easy targets for wind chill. As the wind picks up, the wind chill drops. If is very possible for the wind chill to drop to further than 50 below. In wind chill of 50 to 75 below exposed flesh can freeze in approximately 2 minutes. It is obviously important to not spend too much time out in that kind of weather.

If you have to be out there. Dress warm and in layers. Keep in mind that the wind chill can change quickly, and try to stay warm.

Until next time.

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