Winter Camping - Clothing Science

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My husband grew up hating fish – until he learned that that when it’s fresh and it’s not overcooked, fish actually tastes good. If you are afraid to enjoy the outdoors in winter, let alone go camping in January, could it be because no one showed you the art and science of dressing up for winter?

The essence of staying warm in the winter is minimization of heat loss. In terms of clothing, this is achieved by adding insulation to the body through 1) having proper clothing material, and 2) effective use of them.

Do you know your winter clothing material options?

1. Wool – the 3-dimensional wavy crimp nature of its fibers enables it to trap air very effectively. As much as 60-80% of a thick wool cloth can be air. Wool can also absorb a fair amount of moisture without imparting a feeling of ‘dampness’ because the water "disappears" into the fiber spaces. Even with moisture in the fabric wool still traps dead air space and still insulates you. Wool is relatively inexpensive. Once camping in the Berkshires, I did not anticipate the big drop in temperature at night. I dashed to a nearby Walmart and picked up a couple of wool blankets for $12 each.

2. Pile or Fleece - is a synthetic material that has a similar insulative capacity as wool but it will not hold water like wool, so it dries more quickly. The fabric comes in variety of weight/thickness, thereby offering different amounts of insulation. The disadvantage of pile is that it has very poor wind resistance and hence a wind shell, like Arcteryx's Windshell Jacket, on top is almost always needed.

3. Hydrophobic fabrics (e.g. Polypropylene) – What’s special about hydro-phobic fabrics is that it moves the water vapor away from the source (the body). Polypropylene layers are extremely effective worn directly against the skin as a way of keeping the skin from being wet and reducing heat loss (when moisture evaporates from your skin).

4. Vapor Barrier Systems – even when you are not active, the body perspires. That perspiration continually evaporates into the air (causing heat loss) unless the air humidity is 70% or higher. The idea of an impervious vapor barrier is to trap the water vapor near the skin. Eventually the humidity level rises to the point where the body senses a high humidity level and shuts off the perspiration. This in turn cuts down evaporative heat loss.

5. Polarguard, Hollofil, Quallofil and others – you find these in heavy outer garments like parkas. It’s built with lots of dead air space. Hollofil, for example, has four “holes” running through the fiber for maximum insulation. Their advantages are that they do not absorb water and dry fairly quickly.

6. "Superthin" fibers – e.g. Thinsulate, Primaloft, Microloft - the principal behind these fibers is that by making the fiber thinner you can increase the amount of dead air space. Thinsulate is made in sheets and therefore tends to be used primarily for outer layers, pants or parkas. It’s a good choice when bulk matters, the garment usually sports label such as ultra-light, thin, Golite. This Ether GoLite wind jacket for example weighs less than 4 ounces. Another advantage to this synthetic material is that they don’t absorb moisture.

7. Down - feathers provide excellent dead air space for very little weight. But it absorbs water. And that can be a major problem in the winter. Once the feathers get wet they tend to clump, and lose trapped air space. Most down jackets have a waterproof outer layer to prevent this problem. When considering a down jacket, check out the quality of the feathers used (measured in fill power, the higher the better) and look for sewn-in baffles to prevent the down from shifting and creating cold spots.

What about Cotton? Cotton is useless in winter time. It wicks water, but unlike polypropylene, cotton absorbs this moisture which then occupies previous dead air space. Not to mention when it gets wet. Have you tried to dry cotton outdoor in the winter? It turns into a stiff sheet of frozen fabric.

Today's sophisticated outdoor wear, such as Mountain Hardware's Sub-Zero Parka, uses a combination of down, fleece, thinsulate and other fabrics to give you the warmth and comfort you need.

So now you got all these great winter clothing insulation. How to use them effectively? One word: Layering. This allows you to adjust to the varying temperatures throughout the day as well as your varying activity levels, both of which significantly affect your body temperature and the insulation you need.

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