Burrrr, thin people !

[Anna]

Is it a myth that thin people are less tolerant to cold than those who have extra padding ?
Chill factor means to me its going to cut through me like a knife. I just went outside to get wood and
I promise I felt like I was freezing to death ! It hits my hands first, then my core temperature plunges
from there . A chill factor of -7 , and they say it feels like 20 ? BS , it feels like pretty darn cold to me !

[thumper113]

I don't think so.  It bothered me when I was thin and bothers me just as much even though I'm far from thin.   Some of us just don't freeze well.

[Squib]

some people have a decent amount of brown fat, which burns lipids for energy, but most of us start life with very little proportionately to overall body mass and it becomes even less at puberty (I've read that 8% is high for brown to total adipose ratios, in an adult).  adipose/bodyfat do insulate, depending on the amount, placement, density, etcetera it varies a lot person to person.  it does help to reduce the surface area to total volume and mass ratio.  the exterior is where most heat is lost (respiration does a lot too, but that's almost impossible to counteract without a lot of headgear so lets leave that out).

muscle- more helps, metabolic activity varies due to conditioning and age (younger and trained have WAYYYYY more mitochondria to oxidize lipids and carbs to make heat), 22-26% of muscle energy is actually force output and the rest is radiated out as heat so it takes a lot of muscle and/or muscular activity to heat someone up substantially versus a smaller/wimpier person, muscles produce heat but don't hold it well (though the activity of the circulatory system does carry the heat away to the rest of the body and that is notably more efficient in "buff" people), buff/lean/ripped people have the ability to GENERATE heat but not hold it well at all if not engaged in activity (dumping body heat efficiently to avoid heat stroke is part of the package, no way around it).

between overall fitness, activity level, structural proportions (build), intra vs inter muscular fat, AGE, SURFACE AREA due to wrinkles/ "ripped" texture to skin/ texture of burns or skin abnormalities, body hair, etcetera it varies a lot.

thin/skinny/small means generally less muscle and little fat at all so no way to generate heat fast enough to compensate for radiating it all away fast out of a thin skinned body with lots of surface area (your core is not very deep below the exposure area), windchill is even faster on ectomorphic people.


somewhat pertinent to this in my situation is that from 23 to 28 I have gotten fatter and heavier muscled (about forty pounds) and heat up severely if active long enough, I can be pouring sweat and steam dressed in gym clothes in freezing cold if working out but CANNOT STAND a slight windchill if taking my dog outside most of the time.  I went from 18ish and very tolerant to 2teens and wimpy.

[Ranger99]

i'm far from thin, and i cain't stand
the cold. it's wears me out to tough
it out this time of year. i don't know
how the northern folks stand the teens
and single digit temperatures.
i can put up with 100F a lot better than
i can 20F.


can't yall please draw this cold weather
back up that way?

[Empty Quiver]

It would seem to me that 300# of fat would retain more heat and cool slower than 115# of skin and bones.

[Anna]

Well I'm not skin and bones , but I am thin enough to freeze faster than an ice cream cone in the
Arctic it seems. But we have been getting that thick clingy fog lately that is almost frozen.
That stuff is the worse, it hangs around and makes you feel miserable. But tonight we got the wind
with its chill factor coming right off the mountains where they got a lot of snow last week. 

[Empty Quiver]

Ice fog, well I can comiserate with you, that stuff is from hell's icebox. Seems that is one of the few things I left in N.D. that I truely don't miss.
 
Come summer you skinny kids can laugh at us adult size folks.   In the meantime can I recommend a layer of Merino wool next to the skin? It is heaven sent for those north of I-90. Honestly, do indulge yourself and get a set, it is worth the outlay. Add a layer of goose down,  Filsons finest and a good fur trapper hat and laugh at ol' man winter. Look into the Merino underwear, it is the bomb.

[Graybeard]

Dunno where I90 is but I'm a bit north of I20 here in Bama. I am definetely not skinny but even the winters here are tough on me. The boys play out all day in a thin jacket and tell me their not cold. To stay out all day like they do I'd need all my warm hunting clothes on.

Beats me why folks wanna live where winters are brutal. I'm ready for some gobal warming.

[Ranger99]

have the merino socks, but not the
drawers. when it gets eye burning,
nose drippy cold to me i break out the
wiggy's fishnets for the inner and
the old school ecwcs on top of that,
or if not so cold just the polypro ecwcs.


i'll take the summer.
i have bars of soap and washrags.
can't wash off the chill like you can sweat.

[Empty Quiver]

Dunno where I90 is but I'm a bit north of I20 here in Bama. I am definetely not skinny but even the winters here are tough on me. The boys play out all day in a thin jacket and tell me their not cold. To stay out all day like they do I'd need all my warm hunting clothes on.

Beats me why folks wanna live where winters are brutal. I'm ready for some gobal warming.

I-90 is 70 further north than I-20  , I believe you suthuners refer to it as hell and gone north. 

have the merino socks, but not the
drawers. when it gets eye burning,
nose drippy cold to me i break out the
wiggy's fishnets for the inner and
the old school ecwcs on top of that,
or if not so cold just the polypro ecwcs.


i'll take the summer.
i have bars of soap and washrags.
can't wash off the chill like you can sweat.

You strip enough layers off and they'll arrest ya' around here!
 
As far as the ECWCS goes I will say the Waffles under layer is very nice stuff but for every day wear it's a bit much. Damp cold is miserable I don't care where you are. The further north you get generally speaking the dryer the air and the easier it is to cope with low temps. -10 in January is balmy compared to 28 in November as it is almost always a damp cold early season.

[Ranger99]

ha!
they can't arrest me if they can't see.
what was it they looked at and were
blinded, the medusa? 

[Empty Quiver]

ha!
they can't arrest me if they can't see.
what was it they looked at and were
blinded, the medusa? 

We have perfected fish belly white here in Mn. that may be the blinding effect you seek.
 
I learned to sweat in the tropical steam of an Il. summer. A few trips to Mn. convinced me there was a better way to spend a summer than cooped up next to an A/C unit. You might be surprised at what you can do when the summer temps rarely pass 85 degrees, with night time temps in the 60's. I didn't run our central air for the first two summers ( locals thought I was a masochist, and threatened to turn us over to child protective services  ).
 
The kids would bring shudders to Grandma when we returned home. At 45 degrees they were in shirt sleeves proclaiming it was warm out. Mind you just two weeks earlier it was in the teens below as they waited on the bus. the youngest is a Minnesotan thru and thru, even has the accent. The oldest can turn on a southern drawl for her friends  , at least it passes as southern for a Minnesotan ear. I still get smiles when confronting a stranger they think I must be from Alabama.
 
Okay, hijack over sorry Anna.

[Victor3]

 I weigh 2x what my 110# Son does. I'm freezing at 45F in a heavy jacket, my Son could walk around in a loincloth and flip-flops without a goose bump. I figure it's his teenage metabolism.

[Empty Quiver]

I weigh 2x what my 110# Son does. I'm freezing at 45F in a heavy jacket, my Son could walk around in a loincloth and flip-flops without a goose bump. I figure it's his teenage metabolism.

Those are hormones man, remember those?

[Victor3]

I weigh 2x what my 110# Son does. I'm freezing at 45F in a heavy jacket, my Son could walk around in a loincloth and flip-flops without a goose bump. I figure it's his teenage metabolism.

Those are hormones man, remember those?

 Mine? Vaguely.


 My Wife's? Monthly... 

[IronBrigade]

I've lived in  Upstate NY all my life, (why? I don't know)  during our winter the sun don't shine and it's just damn cold up here. Hoping to move down to Texas in a few years.

[Land_Owner]

Sweat, er, um, excuse me Anna, glistening on the skin (a Southern Woman 'nevah' sweats) is contributory to Evaporative Cooling (EC).  Unchecked EC is contributory to Hypothermia, the medical condition of lost body heat and an inability to recover.  Try changing to DRY clothes BEFORE you go outside.

Consider the following empirical examples:  It is coldest at dawn+30 minutes because the advancing sun is warming the upper atmosphere and evaporating the earth laden dew.  The process of heating moisture and the chill of evaporation is similar to the workings of an Air Conditioner, which uses pressure and evaporation rather than heat.  Heating and evaporation is the mechanism by which a bridge ices over before the roadway; or ice forms on the windshield and nowhere else.

Your fingers, hands and body are like that.  From the warmth of a humidity controlled dwelling or car, in moisture laden clothes, going into the windy, icy-fog (cuts like a knife), extremely low and falling humidity, and COLD Temperature, the moisture in your clothes, and on your skin and hands immediately begins to evaporate.  YOU are the the air conditioner and the chill is REAL and far more than perception.  You may stabilize after a while in the cold provided you are wearing moisture wicking thermals against your skin.

At 20, I was thin and went to the Arctic and the Antarctic, and everything in between TWICE, from a surface ship in the Pacific thanks to Uncle Sam and the USCG.  IT IS COLD AT THE POLES.  At 60, I am thick(er).  I used to be MUCH colder when I was thin, but I wasn't mentally trained either.  You learn how to combat the cold.  My aged-based "insulation" is highly contributory to moisture production.  My mental training says that if you THINK it is cold, you will be cold.  I change to dry clothes after periods of great (and sometimes no so great) exertion.

Wrap you mind around and Consider:  removing MOST/ALL of your moisture laden clothes outdoors, in the cold, like preparing to go skinny dipping, or Membership in the Blue Nose Club, or changing from walking clothes to on-stand camo clothes.  Wait a minute, then put dry clothes back on.  Your brain will realize, it could be MUCH WORSE and you warm up.   It is why many do not wear their camo while walking to the stand and put it on only after getting on stand - taking off moisture laden clothes, putting on dry clothes, but allowing the sweat due to exertion to evaporate first.

It is HIGHLY POSSIBLE to get hypothermia on a FLORIDA BEACH in the height of SUMMER as it is in the cold of Anywhere, USA in the Winter.  Mental toughness and dry clothes help prevent evaporative cooling.

[pastorp]

Well, I don't know about all that butt, I lived 15 years in southeast Alaska in a light jacket most of the time. And now that I'm back in Florida I wear a T-shirt most of the time.    I take the cold better than heat. Always have.


Regards,

[Buckskin]

I agree with Land Owner, being cold is mostly in your head. Now there comes a point where it's just basic science and your body loses core temperature and it gets real. But the cold you guys are talking about (walking out to get wood) is a head thing. You know it's cold out, you don't particularily like the cold and you have it in your head that you are going to be cold if you venture out there.
 
My wife thinks I'm nuts, because I just don't get cold.  For the same reason mentioned above my wife always wants to turn the furnace up on really cold days, saying it's freezing in here. Well, 68 inside is 68 inside whether it's +30 or -20 outside....
 
About 4 years ago thanksgiving day morning about 7am, my wife had to go to work so I wasn't going hunting.... I was lying in bed watching tv with my young kids and she ran in saying there was a big buck behind the house. I ran out to the kitchen in my boxers and put the glass on it. it was trotting over a hill, so I grabbed my rifle, slide on my boots and put on my thin blaze orange sweatshirt. Ended up running about 500 yards and laying down in the snow in my boxers to make a 350yd shot on the buck, it went 4 yds. It was 19 degrees and when I stood up and wiped the frozen chunks of snow off of my bare legs, I decided to go get dressed before going to check out the buck.  Adrenaline obviously had a part in this one, but my mind didn't allow me to get cold either.

[oldandslow]

I don't think body type has much to do with your cold tolerance. I've known too many skinny people that didn't get cold and also a lot of fat people that did and vise versa.

Buckskin, as a kind of skinny guy that has always had problems with the cold I tend to agree with your wife.  Being cold is not just something in your mind.

[magooch]

We used to go to Arizona to spend the winters and it only took about a week to acclimate.  Even so, we still noticed that the locals would wear coats when it was 70 degrees--we wouldn't.
I wonder if it is true that your blood thickens up in a cold climate and thins out in a warm climate.
Anyway, I'm with Bill; bring on the global warming.

[BUGEYE]

With a large part of my heart being dead, I can no longer heat or cool my body.
a trip to the mailbox in July is an ordeal.

[FPH]

I don't think body type has much to do with your cold tolerance. I've known too many skinny people that didn't get cold and also a lot of fat people that did and vise versa.

Buckskin, as a kind of skinny guy that has always had problems with the cold I tend to agree with your wife.  Being cold is not just something in your mind.

I agree.  I'm 6' 180 lbs and my wife calls me and an oven.  30 * is T-shirt weather to me.  I never wear gloves, and my left foot  is the only thing that gets cold on me.

[Squib]

metabolic slowdown took me down a few notches, I wore underarmor leggings and long sleeved shirts under jeans and a jacket or coat with a balaclava and a cap, maybe thermal socks under regular boots and a good set of gloves, and would sit on stand all day just fine @23.  @28 I wear thermals, sweats, and then heavily insulated outerwear (this year I've upgraded to carhartt extremes coveralls, I get TOO HOT in them (hiking to my stands) but if I get cold in the wind I stand up and wiggle around a little bit and I'm good for 15 min to 45 min (depending on the wind).  these will work but they're hard to move in, very stiff when new.  http://www.carhartt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=10051&productId=32200&langId=-1

also snow boots (I bought bogs http://www.bogsfootwear.com/shop/style/71074-300.html ), it really helps out.  my feet were never covered with more than a couple layers of sock and uninsulated bates combat boots before, now it's these and my feet are soaked in hot water and when they come off they steam for a bit.... no more wiggling your toes on a treestand and spooking deer (unless you get too comfy and fall asleep and out of your stand, screaming due to a broken will spook deer).

[Anna]

Well, I don't know about all that butt,


pastorp , hasn't anyone ever told you that you can't do anything with a froze bu++ ?

[BBF]

.........
....................

Beats me why folks wanna live where winters are brutal. I'm ready for some global warming.

Probably some folks,including myself just don't relish the fact that their hooches have a much better chance of getting airborn or flooded out in and around your parts of the globe than further up north.
 
Being an old fart, I do feel the cold more and much to my surprise can tolerate heat more than in my younger days.

[williamlayton]

I don't care what you say--when its below 70 I am ready to learn southern spanish.
Blessings

[BBF]

Coldest cold ...........actually there really is no such thing as cold. It is merely the absence of heat.
Anyway I endured a full week of -40F in a log cabin located in northern British Columbia with outdoor plumbing.   Ahhh when you are young ...!!