Chillin’ in the Cold

 

We all heard plenty of people complaining during the recent cold snap.  When they were able to get to a warm spot and relax, the complaints kept coming.  But, before long, when the heat had started seeping in, some thought it was a good idea to share some tips on how you can feel better when you do have to go out in the bitter temperatures.

The problem is, some of those common hints are wrong at best, dangerous at worst.

Some could even kill you.

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We’ve seen it in the movies and some have even done it themselves, but doctors roundly condemn the idea that “a shot of whiskey” will knock off the chill.  “It’ll warm the cockles of your heart,” believers say.

Well, I can’t exactly refute that particular sentence since I don’t know for sure what a cockle is.  Heck, I don’t even know for sure if I should repeat the sentence since it sounds vaguely immoral.

Anyway, while alcohol does make you feel warmer, it has the opposite effect on your core temperature.  You see, that shot of whiskey causes the capillaries in the skin to widen and blood to fill them.  This causes the nearby nerves to sense the warmth that is actually then being sapped from the body and exposes it to the cold outside air.

You see, you feel warmer but you are actually getting colder faster.

Alcohol also dehydrates the body and the loss of water impairs its ability to warm itself.

Like I said, colder faster.

Also, alcohol impacts motor skills and slows thinking so some drinkers then have difficulty processing the fact that they need to find a warm spot or how they should go about doing that.

I’m willing to bet that alcohol is the reason we hear of so many people found dead in snow banks every winter.

You all know I don’t drink at all but, if you feel like you must have a shot or two, wait until you are inside for the night.  Just don’t have so much that you regret it the next morning.

For the record, falling asleep with your feet too close to the fireplace falls under the definition of regretting it in the morning.

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Some people believe that shivering means they are becoming hypothermic.  The truth is, when you start to shiver you are already hypothermic.

An earlier sign of impending body core chill is sluggish muscles.  You may feel a tightness in your muscles.  Forearms, because of their size and distance from the main part of the body, are often the first to chill.

Try touching your fingertips with the thumb on the same hand.  If you can’t (but normally can) you need to put effort into finding a place to warm up.  Failure to do so will probably cause other signs of hypothermia, such as chattering teeth, clumsiness, and shivering, to appear.

Yes, that means you’re more hypothermic.

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Many people don an extra pair of socks when temperatures fall.  This one is a little more iffy because, if you put on two pairs of socks with the same shoes or boots you wear the rest of the year, you can actually restrict blood flow to your feet.

It can also form a denser layer that will actually conduct body heat away from your feet, which are prone to cooling anyway.

So, if you have a pair of boots that are a little bigger than you normally wear, and you can wear extra socks comfortably, give it a try.  Otherwise, nope.

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In southeast Missouri a lot of people still say, “put on your long-handles” when it gets cold.

Well, long-handles or long johns, more universally known as long underwear, are a favorite part of my cold weather hunting garb.  Being from cotton country, it hurts me to say it but, if you have cotton long-handles, don’t wear them if it is very cold at all, or if you are going to do more than step outside for a few minutes, like checking the mail…if it’s close to the house.

Better choices include the new (to me) synthetic fibers and good old wool.  Yes, sheep’s clothing is a great choice, even if you’re not the big bad wolf.  Wool holds in heat even when wet, whereas cotton absorbs and holds sweat, then becomes a heat-sucking layer.  The new synthetics wick sweat away from the body while holding in the heat.

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A bonus and a corollary to the above is a hold-over from the days when your mom told you to bundle up whenever you were going out to play in the cold.

Overall, yeah.  But remember how you would run back inside as soon as you got cold?  What if you are going to be outside without easy access to a warm spot?

When I hike out do my deer stand in frigid temps I tend to sweat inside my warm clothes.  Once I get up into the stand I unzip my top jacket, coat, or insulated coveralls, to let the hot, moist air vent.  I’ll doff my knit hat (and don a blaze orange hat if law requires wearing that color) to let more heat and sweat leave by way of my head.  Once I cool a bit, I’ll re-bundle to hold in the heat I then generate.  Again, sweat-soaked clothing may keep you warm for a little bit, but then, as your body cools, it can pull the heat away from your core, thus causing you to get colder than you otherwise would.

Again, remember my colder faster comment.

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If you follow these tips and don’t fall victim to some of the myths I’ve tried to debunk, hopefully you can avoid getting dangerously cold this winter.

Of course, if you spend those extra-cold days sitting by a warm fireplace, cuddling with your sweetie and drinking some hot cocoa, you don’t even have to worry about the cold outside.

Just saying.

 

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