I went to the range today to test out a few clothing choices for shooting in extreme cold. The weather today was cloudy and 37 F with little to no wind. There was still a bunch of wet snow on the ground. The importance of proper clothing can't be overstated. Many of the techniques that I used in my youth while backpacking in the mountains of New Mexico are also effective at the shooting range in cold weather. Cold weather clothing is important but it can also limit the movements needed to get into the correct firing positions.
I think that it is important to go over the basic design of humans to help explain how we operate. The human body is a machine that is constantly trying to regulate its temperature as the temperature of our surroundings vary. It does this with the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is found near the bottom of the brain and it is what regulates our body's core temperature . It is also where we get many of our basic automatic functions required to stay alive without us ever having to consciously think about them. On a side note, the hypothalamus is found in all vertebrates. When we sleep at night and the hypothalamus switches off for a short amount of time, our bodies revert to being more like cold blooded creatures like reptiles or amphibians. This is because our bodies ability for temperature regulation is diminished while the hypothalamus is resting.
The human body's core temperature is maintained by raising or lowering the power output of the body or by adjusting the amount of sweat that is being produced (shivering or sweating) based on signals from the hypothalamus. The human body can however be overwhelmed by either too much or too little heat loss. When the body gets too hot, we call it hyperthermia. When it gets too cold, we call it hypothermia. Either one can be lethal if not corrected.
Hypothermia is the concern of shooting in cold weather. If conditions are cold and damp like they were for me today at my club's range, the heat loss from the body is even higher. Cold and damp cotton clothes are a horrible combination if you are trying to stay warm because the heat loss is so high and the body is unable to keep up. There are ways of mitigating this problem. One way to mitigate it is to have synthetic fiber clothing. Another way is putting a water proof layer of scotch guard on the outside of your clothing. This will prevent water and wind from getting through and raising your total heat loss. If you have money to spend, Gortex clothing can give you water proofing, wind protection, and it allows excess water vapor from the body out thus keeping you dry. Just remember the term "Cotton kills" and avoid cotton.
Gloves must be worn to limit the heat loss from the body. Cold hands can be painful and dramatically limit your ability to use them. Gloves also limit your dexterity. You must find a balancing act between dexterity and insulation. They are almost mutually exclusive of each other. I have been using this set of gloves (http://www.wellslamont.com/catalog/product/hi-dexterity/?) for years while staying outside for extended periods of time in the cold. They are made from a 3M product called Thinsulate (http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/thinsulate-us/). This product helps keep your hands warm even if they get wet. Like cotton, they work best when dry. The best part about these gloves is the amount of dexterity that you retain. You can still feel the fire control groups of an AR style platform. You can operate/feel the trigger with ease and feel the disconnect engage.
The importance of glove selection can be found here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5106465/). There is a helpful table that shows the performance of different gloves (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5106465/table/T0001/). The Mechanix Wear Cold Weather gloves are familiar to me. I own a pair of them and they are similar to the Wells Lamont high dexterity gloves mentioned in the above paragraph.
The head is also a place that losses a lot of heat. The good thing about the head is that it contains less surface area per unit volume than the hands and is thus easier to keep warm. The ears are the most susceptible areas on the head to extreme cold. A simple stocking hat that covers the head and ears has always been enough for me even when the temperatures have gone below 0 F during the arctic air masses moving through Ohio. The stocking hat covering the ears also provides a small amount of ear protection for loud gun fire.
Heat loss from the feet must also be carefully mitigated. I have found that the best combination of gear to both keep my feet warm and dry are two sets of socks. The first set is a synthetic silk like material for comfort and then a thick wool sock on the outside that will limit heat loss. The silk like sock will wick moisture away from your skin and keep your feet dry. Stay away from cotton at all costs because the foot produces a lot of sweat and cotton's ability to insulate is horrible when it gets wet! Wool on the other hand will stay warm even if it gets wet. Having a good set of water resistant boots is also a good thing. I like the combat boot style because it supports your ankles, is comfortable for long periods of time, and keeps snow and ice out of the boot. The only annoying thing are the round laces that untie themselves easily.
The one thing often over looked for protection are the retinas of our eyes. If there is snow on the ground and the sun is shining on us, the eyes are getting hit with more UV light than normal. This UV light can cause a sunburn on the retinas of our eyes and cause what is called snow blindness. I have never experienced this but I have talked to others who have. They described it as something that you don't feel until the next day when you wake up. You don't know that you are burning your eyes while you are doing it! When you feel the pain of a sun burn to your eye, it is too late to act. The way to protect yourself here is to use sun shades with a UV filter on it. These are cheap and if you get the polorized variety, it can help make your vision sharper and allow you to see that front sight post.
Cliff Notes of cold weather gear:
-Good pair of jeans with Scotch Guard on it (you have to apply it in advance to allow the scotch guard to setup correctly)
- I have also used one piece coveralls while working outside in the cold and I have had good luck with them too
-Good pair of gloves that insulate your hands as well as allow you to retain dexterity
-Sun Shades if the sun is out and there is snow on the ground
-insulating layer of clothing between your skin and outside garments
-water proof jacket
-stocking hat
-two pairs of socks (silk like socks and wool socks)
-Good pair of boots
Another good choice for keeping hands warm but retaining dexterity to operate a rifle is shooter's mittens. Mittens retain heat better than gloves during those times when you are not shooting, and you can flip the tops off to uncover your fingers when your prep period begins.
A good example of what the well-dressed Winterseeder looks like can be found in this post: http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=50190.0 (http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=50190.0)
I was fortunate enough to earn an icy blue patch. I practiced nearly daily for three weeks with temps staying in the teens and a daily build up of frozen snot on one side of my stock. Of course the cold broke on Appleseed Saturday, but was then sufficiently below freezing on Sunday morning.
When in the prone (money) position, the ear flaps on your hat push the bill of your hat over your eyes. If your bill rests on the top or your rear peep, that's not so bad; but then your hat tends to levitate off your head. I found a thin Kuhl hoodie that I wear as a base layer. Then I can wear my hat on top of the thin hoodie. That brings body heat up to warm your head and ears, and keeps the rush of cold from coming through your neck.
I also wore my Goretex fishing bibs as a layer. It closes that midcontinental gap near the equator, and the long front zipper and zippered legs make for thermostatic temperature control.
It's the old layering thing that can configured for a wide variety of temperature fluctuations, wind and snow. Have a Boolean plan: If this happens, I will wear that.
Blue patches are cool.
The original post has some good information. But we are all different what works for some is not ideal for others.
Two pair of socks never worked so good for me, the added thickness cut off circulation and made my feet cold.
Light weight, water proof foot wear is okay if you are going to be doing a lot of walking, but appleseed is a lot of listening, standing, sitting and prone. Thicker or better insulated, foot wear is what works.
If a day is going to max out at 0-5 F I'm wearing packs about the size of a loaf of bread.
A vest is a good insulation layer, especially if worn under a few layers. It makes space for more insulating air inside your warm envelope, but does not bulk up your arms.
I will add:
test / modify your seated position with bibs / coveralls
I found my normal seated position is not possible with heavy clothing
kneeling is more forgiving, but typically will lose some points
Another kind of related point, do NOT over lub your rifles. Most lubricants get gummy when cold so don't load up your moving parts. Be sparing on where and how much you lub. Especially the bolt and related parts.
Hope to see many of you at Liberty Center for our first Winterseed of 2017.
Corvette
Shooting my first KD this Saturday (Yep, New Years Eve) and it is going to be high of 40 and raining, what my old USMC Gunny called miserable! I also just realized, while reading this post, that the ONLY rain gear I own is my military Gore Tex. Guess I'll be in camo whether I'm supposed to be or not 'cause shooting while holding an umbrella is a pain!
Yep them darn umbrellas are a pain.
Corvette
There are theories that might tell you how "it" works and then there is empirical evidence that tells you the results. As many of you fellow Buckeyes know, it has been extremely cold in Ohio this weekend.
I live on the north coast of the state where the cold winds blow across Lake Erie with every little to slow them down. I went to my club's outdoor range yesterday and today and shot comfortably in temperatures of about 10 F with 0 F wind chills. I wore some 100% synthetic polyester & synthetic mix compression pants and a tight fitting long sleeve mock. I wore a sweat shirt hoodie and pants made from polyester on top of the tight fitting. I then followed it up with an insulated jump suit for a water and wind proof exterior. Unfortunately the suit's shell is made out of cotton. I wish I could get the same suit made out of Kevlar or hemp fiber. I put several coats of Scotch guard on it to prevent the shell from soaking in any water that it comes in contact with. The lining and fill of the jump suit is made of 100% synthetic materials.
I wore my high dexterity gloves for hand protection and I never had any problems with my hands being cold unless I took the gloves off for short periods of time for extra dexterity. I need to find some clothing made of this Thinsulate because it did a fantastic job keeping my hands warm. I was able to load the magazines, operate the firearms and handle the targets. The only thing I found too difficult to do with the gloves on was adjust the sights of my rifle. This should not be an issue because the rifle upper is now sighted in.
For the feet, I wore some 100% synthetic nylon men's dress socks followed with a pair of Kodiak Heat cold weather socks made of a wool alternative (77% Acrylic and 23% Olefin). I used a standard set of combat boots. My feet were not cold but they were also not warm. I did not sweat much in this setup. My feet were cool while outside but warmed up when indoors. I actually prefer my feet to be cool anyway so it worked out for the best. I just don't like my feet to be cold.
Head protection was a mixed bag here. I used a 100% polyester face mask that had a small cutout for the eyes. I also wore a stocking cap on top of the face mask and the hoodie of the sweatshirt above it all. This did keep me warm but breathing through my mouth caused my glasses with each exhale. I had to use my nose to exhale in order to remove the moisture from my breath and avoid fogging up my glasses. This was not always easy because your nose tends to run a lot when it is cold out.
I discovered a few new problems that I am working on solving. The kneeling position is difficult to get into and it is difficult to get enough friction between the area just above your elbow & knee. This was the most awkward position to be in and the shot placement confirmed it (horrible shot placements). The sling loop also likes to slide around your arm when you are getting into position to fire. I will work on solutions to these problems over the next week and hope to test them out next weekend.