Gear for very cold weather hunting . . . (long)

A

AR Tom

New member
I know a lot of folks shy away from hunting in below zero weather, but it can be done, and without breaking the bank. If you have other suggestions or ideas that work for you, please post them.

Clothing layers:
(Avoid 100% cotton as a first layer. Wool is great, but a cotton/polyester blend will work ok.)
Socks - heavy weight polyester wicking socks over medium weight regular polyester socks.
Underwear - cotton/polyester blend flannel boxers, and a heavy T shirt. I don't find common longjohns to be effective.
Pants - common sweatpants first, then bluejeans from when I was 15 pounds heavier.
Shirts - Long sleeve wool/polyester blend, with a sweatshirt over. Don't use worn out sweats with matted/pilled pile, use fairly new sweats so they have a little "loft".
Undercoat - I use the insulated liner jacket from my waterfowling wader jacket.
Top layer - I use a set of Wall's coveralls in hardwoords snow camo. Not the warmest, but not bad.
Boots - leather 10" with 1,000 grams of Thinsulite. I treat these with a generous coat of SnoSeal to keep them waterproofed.
Gloves - Standard weight fingered camo gloves, and a pair of hardwoods snow camo glomitts.

I use the chemical handwarmers from Mycoal/Grabber inserted into the palm area between the gloves and the glomitts. I also use their toe warmers (a hotter mix of ccomponents for use in boots).

Hat - I use a wool blend stocking cap/bellaclava with an open face, then top that with a white polyester stocking cap with a slit opened up over the eye area.

Please remember to go to the restroom before you get all this on, and take it easy on the coffee, lol.

I hunted continuously for 6 hours Saturday in -23 to -9 degrees, and with 5-6" of snow on the ground. Wind was WNW at 10mph. The only part of me that got slightly cold was my trigger finger.

The hunting was good, and I saw only one other hunter on foot that day. The rest were hiding on their couches, probably watching predator videos for the umpteenth time and wishing they were out there.

Post what works for you!
 
This description sounds familiar! Cold weather hunting can be very enjoyable if you're dressed for it but uncomfortable and dangerous if you're not. Doc1 will probably be more long winded than you when he tells you how many layers he puts on! Maybe THAT'S whats affecting your shootin huh Doc1!
 
CD
You know my list of excuses and i'm sticking with those that work. I'll try to post the layers i wore this weekend when i load the laundry. That should be tonight.
Doc
 
One thing to keep in mind is Rule #1 of winter activities: "Cotton kills in winter." Rule #2 is "Reread rule #1."

The reason is that cotton not only soaks up moisture (external rain/melted snow or internal sweat) like a sponge, it loses pretty much all insulating ability when wet. Wet cotton will suck the heat out of you like you wouldn't believe.

You can get away with it if you are not sweating heavily into a cotton layer next to the skin and can keep it reasonably dry, but you have to be careful. Sometimes just chugging up a short hill can soak you.

Best bets for the next-to-skin layer are some of the synthetic wicking underwear like Patagonia capilene or other brand equivalent. They transfer the perspiration moisture out to the next outer layer of clothes and dry very quickly. You can get them in thin, medium, and heavy/fuzzy weights of cloth. The heavy stuff is called 'expedition weight' and is really warm, made like a sweatshirt/pants. Excellent stuff. Wearing this next to the skin, with a wool shirt over the top and wool pants, is about as warm and dry as you can get. Wool can absorb lots of moisture while retaining most of its ability to insulate (being a natural animal insulating fiber). Pile or fleece over that on the upper body, then a windproof outer shell or insulated parka of some sort, makes for some great cold weather gear.

Wool pants can be pretty heavy, so last year I invested in a pair of Micro-tech polyester pants from Cabela's. Very light, and very warm. Not quite the 'big gun' for extreme cold, but great for 15-20 degrees and up with good long johns under it.

For my feet, I like a thin synthetic wicking sock to keep my feet dry, under a nice thick wool sock. Be careful about total sock thickness in your boots, if they make the boots fit too tightly, it will cut off blood circulation (which is what distributes body heat) and your feet will freeze (voice of experience here). Insulated boots over the top are great (Cabela's Outfitter 1000 gram thinsulate or Cabela's Quest 400 gram thinsulate). Or, good old Sorel shoe-pacs.

Hands are tough, you have to be able to load the gun and pull the trigger etc. I like some wool mittens I got that have a velcro slit across the inside of the fingers so I can poke my trigger finger through. Army shooter mitts (separate forefingers) are good too. I also have a pair of Gates neoprene rubber gloves. Thin but warm, wore them recently in windy cold weather and my fingers stayed warm, which is rare for me.

14 winter backpacking trips in NJ, upstate New York (Adirondacks and Catskills) and Vermont, and 14 hikes up the windy frostbitten hell of Mt. Washington NH have shown me what works and what doesn't. Now I have a closet full of all this stuff and love it. Some of it can get pricey but if you shop carefully and try some of the other brands (REI, Eastern Mountain Sports, etc.) you can get some good deals.

Dry and warm is good. Wet and cold is baaaaaad.
 
I like a dual layer long underwear, polypro on the inside, wool outside, they sell em at K mart, not too expensive. And if you can take the weight, I like the surplus swiss army wool pants. They wont give you the sticker shock you might experience when looking at "hunting" wool pants. Cheap stuff, but, you can treat it exactly like that, and not worry like you might over a $200 pair of wool pants.
 
Col.Pete,good gear advice,but I Have to disagree on the neoprene gloves.I had a pair 2-3 yrs ago,can't remember brand but they were camo.I found they made hands sweat,which was ok if you leave them on,but take them off for 10min for lunch or wutever and they are wet and icy to put back on.
 
I skied for about 3 years until I busted my knee. But I quickly learned how to dress to keep warm.

Comfortably skiing in Colorado at 12,000 feet, in howling winds and sub zero temps will make a believer out of you. I was amazed at the warmth, light weight and flexibility provided by the new micro fibers and fleece when covered with a good windproof/waterproof shell. I cursed myself for not using it sooner. I’ll never go back to heavy wool. I won’t even think about anything made of cotton.

I was completely comfortable in minus 0 temps with high winds. My subzero gear weighed only a couple of pounds at most and provided great flexibility. Granted skiing keeps you moving unlike sitting on a predator stand. But I've yet to be cold on a stand.

I use three different weights of the REI long underwear depending on how cold it is. Then layer up with fleece. Nat Gear camo shell and a good fleece neck gator on top. REI sells some cheap black fleece gloves with a textured surface that have worked well for me down to zero. No problem with my light trigger.

I’ve been hunting cold weather for over 40 years and this is the best stuff I’ve found. I can think of being miserably wet and cold over the years and just wish I had found out about this stuff sooner.
 
Very good info here I just wanted to add that while at a winter camping seminar at REI they mentioned that my favorite, polypro retains body odor and after I heard that it did seem that I had bo faster and stronger than I do now using the polyester and fleece type underware. For my feet, nothing but Smartwool socks, just love them,no itch and very warm and comfortable.
 
This may be off subject, but I would add; blanket, tire chains, cell phone, food and water, and last but not least an extra car battery and jumper cables (the last item learned from personal hardship).
 
This was my wardrobe for my hunting trip in Montana a couple of weeks ago. In my opinion coyote hunting starts to get good at ten below. We hunted for a week when the morning temps were -10 to -15. Windchill was colder. Upper body layering was a long-sleeve camo t-shirt, a long-sleeve camo chamois shirt, a polarfleece hooded sweatshirt, and an insulated carhart coat with a white cotton camo shell. Bottom layer was a pair of hollofil underwear that I have had since high school and can only wear on the coldest days with a pair of regular camo pants over them. I can't find that kind of underwear anymore because of all the super materials out their now, but it is lightweight and non-binding.
On my feet I had two pair of socks and pac-boots. We sat out on our stands for a half hour at a time and the only thing that got cold was my shooting hand.
 
Last year I decided to try some of the new high tech cold weather clothing. I got a expedition weight thermal underware, and then got me a set of polartec 200 from Cabelas.

I can sit on a frozen lake at subzero temperatures with some decent winds for hours and not get cold.

Larry
 
Is goose down not recommended for an outer layer? I really like my heavy down jacket but not sure if it's would be the best outer layer material.
 
Hi, I have to agree to disagree on the neoprene gloves. I tried several different pairs and my hands sweat eventualy getting very cold. My wool gloves have proven the best for calling. I like my wool shirt and socks too. Gamehide microfleece pants and Gamehide down gore-tex parka. In the snow I add Natural Gear cotton hooded coat and pants. 1000 gram Rocky boots.
 
When it comes to frigid cold weather wool as a layering material can't be beat! Actually, we predator hunters have it made because the time on a stand is short in between walking and riding in a truck. My cold weather heavy artillery can handle HOURS of motionless time in bitter cold when called upon for such duty.

I'm a firm believer in union suit layers. Next to the skin is a thermax union suit from Cabelas. Over the top of this is the most important layer.....a wool union suit. Here is one like I have:

http://www.davidmorgan.com/proddetail.html?product_number=1698&ticket=694967-2358719

Believe me, these heavy duty wool underwear ROCK when it comes to laughing at the cold. These two union suit layers along with a synthetic or wool zip turtle neck over the top to cover your neck is suprisingly non-bulky, allows heat to travel up and down your entire body and there is zero binding in the waist. My waterproof outside layer is fleece covered Cabelas dry plus bibs with thinsulate. The bibs are great because they are silent, nothing can come untucked and snow can't find it's way above the back of your pants no matter where you sit. The downside of fleece is it does pick up burrs, but I haven't found anything else that can compare when it comes to being absolutely silent so I pick them out from time to time.

My zip turtle neck is white so while calling I rarely wear the matching dry plus parka. Don't need it for half hour stands in light wind even in sub zero temps with the other layering. If there is a lot of wind like when ice fishing, the insulated dry plus parka and hood make the outfit flat out impenetrable.

I wear a thin pair of thermax liner sox with heavy wool over the top. Boots are white knee high Sorel snow bear pack boots.

The all important head covering is a very light grey color wool military neck roll that can serve as a balcava too. A white gore-tex, thinsulate knit hat goes over the top. When calling I put the neck roll down and keep my ear channels open no matter how cold it is. Must have maximum hearing potential. In frgid windy conditions the parka and hood over the top can handle anything.

Calling gloves are fleece lined wool fingerless with the mitten flap that can be folded back. I adjust the flap on my shooting hand so that my trigger finger can easily pop out of the mitten when needed for shooting or working electronic buttons.

This combination isn't cheap, but works EXTREMELY well.....

Oh yea, almost forgot. I agree with those above by stating that cotton is the WORST possible fabric for severe cold. That means those traditional white cotton uderwear are out too. I've only recently been onto this the last couple years and believe me, the synthetics like thermax are so much better it's unbelievable. Especially when you are walking alot and then parking your rear end in a snow bank for most of the night.
 
Back
Top