Both of us now have a spanking new pair of insulated winter hiking pants with suspenders! We might add though, that it seems like most of the big box stores seem to think that women don’t spend much time out in the elements, and only want the “pretty little pink things” that could cost them their lives!
Now if you’re a hunter, you may find some camo jackets, pants and hats. In the past, we’ve relied on top quality insulated under garments beneath our regular clothing, which is fine…so long as the outer garments stay dry. That’s why it’s often said “cotton kills”, because if you get it wet it doesn’t dry very well and will freeze to your body.
We’ve been in a really cold zone this winter, and got a sort of “wake up call” that perhaps some of the winter under garments we’ve got may not be adequate to protect us in sub-zero temperatures. We’ve both got quite a few wool socks, good boots for hiking, snowshoeing and just plain wading through deep snows. We stocked up on knit caps when we found them on sale for $1 or so at a sell out, we’ve got neck garters and just about every kind of “keep warm” thing we’ve been able to find. But, we didn’t have the water repellent, insulated overalls that we can slip on over our other clothing. Now we do.
We’re always on the lookout for things we know we’d need in a crisis situation, and ways to update what we do have. This was one occasion. I’m sure there’s a lot of others who have a lot of these types of pants, but we were not among them. It took these sub-zero temperatures to rattle our cage to the fact that if we were suddenly out in the cold & damp snow with no immediate shelter, we’d be hard pressed to survive long enough to walk to a place of safety.
We’ve probably been like a lot of people…”oh, we’re only a block or two from help” or “I can wave down the next motorist”.
But in a really critical situation, do you want to be walking up to some house you’re not familiar with? Do you want to wave down a vehicle that may be looking for something they think you may have? Just a few thoughts that have been fluttering around in this COLD weather that a lot of us are surviving.
Editor’s Note: This really is a good idea. I was raised snowmobiling and we always had these types of pants for the snowmobile rides. However, I can say that now all we have are the flannel lined, insulated jeans – which we do truly love – but they are not waterproof.
My mother loves her silky feeling, polyester I believe, stretchy long underwear under her jeans. If you have never made the investment ($30-$40) in insulated jeans, I can tell you that they make winter a whole lot better in Minnesota. Bob asks for a new pair every Christmas. He wears insulated jeans all winter, so the life is about 3 years per pair of jeans. They last longer if you can rotate them more and don’t rip them or hit them with battery acid, but sometimes that is the reality of homestead life.