How do you beat the Cold?

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Guys,

I have seen many photos (espicially Kevin) of people sawing/working in the snow.  It amazes me to see this as you just dont get that here.  How do you go about keeping warm, especially the hands and feet.  With my job, I spend a lot of the day in freezers at -20 deg celcius (-4 fahr.?), so I know what the cold is like, but I can get out when the hands get cold through the gloves!  Whats the lowdown, or do they just breed 'en tough up your way!
Cheers
Charlie.

[Kevin]

LONGJOHNS.  :D

Charlie, as long as I keep moving I stay warm.
A thermos of hot coffee helps too.
Halfway through the day when I stop for lunch I`ll change my under shirt and put on a dry one.
The biggest problem I have milling in the winter are the shorter working days due to lack of daylight.
It starts getting dark around 5pm although the days start getting longer again near the end of January.

[Tom]

Sounds like everybody I know who logs or saws lives on coffee.  Every picture of my mill has my thermos under it and a cup nearby.
Kiwi, those guys stand the cold as long as they can and then end up in Florida. :D :D

[Bill Johnson]

Long johns, layered clothing,Good warm boots, preferably with felt packs that can be changed. Nice warm hardhat liner, and good mitts (never gloves). As long as your feet are warm and your head is covered the cold doesn't seem too bad.
But if it gets too cold to work we can always go ice fishing :D

Bill

[Corley5]

Dress in layers of clothing, keep dry, and keep moving.  Running a skidder is the coldest job to me.  The iron never warms up.  Running a chainsaw will keep you toasty.

[Don P]

OK but in truth we see all of Bill's neighbors blowing by us heading to Tom's neighborhood about Thanksgiving and returning in March (snowbirds)...Then about late May all of Tom's neighbors are in the mountains till October (fall colors). On the Blue Ridge Parkway around the third week of October Floridians outnumber natives 3 to 1

[Tom]

Yeah, Things are wonderful around here between May and October. The traffic thins a bit, the weather is wet and warm (usually), and I begin to understand what is being said. From Nov. to March people talk so fast that all I ever hear is a long rattle punctuated by "Hey guys" and "yoo-uhse".

My Old timer bowl turner friend makes a trip once maybe twice a year to N.C., about June or July, to fill orders of bowls to the craftshops.  They need them so that they have hand-made bowls for the Florida tourists to buy to take back to Jacksonville. :D

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Guys,

Thanks again, as someone once said to me, "you learn something new every day - even if you dont want to"!!
I wear shorts all year round here. I start work at 4.30am so I get a few really cold mornings a year, (ice on the windscreen on my car is deemed a bitterly cold morning!) but as long as my top half is warm, Im okay.  Down the South Island its a different story however!  Hoar frosts and the like.

You may be interested to know that down here, perculated coffee is not that common, we all drink instant!  Except for the cafe society.  It amazed me to see the role coffee plays in almost everbodys life, when I was in Canada.  I didnt meet anyone that didnt have a coffee perculator in the house.  And when we stayed in the remote Clayquot Sound, my hosts had a tiny generator that powered the coffee grinder!!
Had never seen or heard of a "traveller" before that trip!  Now I own a dozen.
Cheers
Charlie.

[CHARLIE]

Instant coffee! You must have a steel stomach. That's some bad stuff.  Here in Minnesota it can get REAL cold. I've seen days in the -30 F range and that's not windchill factor either. I don't know how construction workers do it, but they'll be out there with their Duck Insulated Coveralls and hardhats with earflaps. I'm thankful just to be able to watch. A couple or three years ago, it got so cold that a guy drove a nail with a bananna and a woman threw hot water in the air and it froze before it hit the ground.

On a more serious note. Here in Minnesota they sell handwarmers that get hot when they contact air. They are about 50 cents each and last 7 to 8 hours. I've used them for years when I go duck hunting, cross country skiing and sometimes when I'm out clearing snow. They really work great (one in each mitten and you can put one in each boot too). If I can keep my hands and feet warm then I can take the cold OK. If you need them for less than the full 7 hours, then just seal them in a ziploc baggy to stop the reaction.  They are well worth the money.  
 8) 8) 8)

[Tom]

Charlie, we have some stuff like that down here too but it's cheaper.  You take one, rub it real good,  lay it on the ground and you can stand there next to it and stay warm.  It's called a match and you can put-em in 55 gal barrels too. 50 cents will get you a bunch of them at the grocery store.

[CHARLIE]

Tom, matches might work in Florida during the winter but not here in Minnesota. As soon as you light them the danged flame freezes. Then what do you do? You can't throw it down 'cause when it melts in the Spring it might start a forest fire. You can't put it in your pocket 'cause it might melt and burn a hole in you pocket.  We're talking serious stuff here. It's much safer to use those handwarmers.  It's obvious y'all Floridians just don't know what cold is. One of the worst times of the year up here is Springtime. It gets real noisy when all those words that froze during the winter start melting and people have to put on ear protectors just to keep sane.  
:D :D ;D

[Bill Johnson]

Charlie
I hear its real quiet in Minnesota in the winter. Word is that its so cold words have been known to freeze as soon as they are spoken. You have to take the conversation into the house and thaw it out just to hear it.

 :D :D
Bill

[Jeff]

It gets cold up at the cabin too. So cold that one fire will heat the cabin all week. It's so cold that as the smoke comes out of the chimney, it freezes. We just go outside, chop it back up, and throw it in the stove again.

[Roger_T]

Howdy guys,

I've been working outside for the last 14 years or so, and have found that you really need to layer.  Long Johns, Wool socks, with an inner pair of cotton socks, for shirts, i use a t-shirt, then thermal shirt, turtle neck shirt and a chamois shirt over that.  Also have found that if i keep my lower back covered over my kidney area, i stay warmer.  now if i can just figure out how to keep my hands and fingers warm...  hard to drive nails wearing mittens, and they always get wet.

I always keep extra clothes with me in the truck, It only takes once to figure out that if your cold and you dont have anything extra, its gonna be one heck of a long miserable day.

Roger

[Tom]

And I thought you guys up north ate good.....heck....it's just a closet full of clothes on your back.

Charlie,  that must be what all the ruckus is about over there on I-95 along about November.  Ya'll are drafting all those conversations behind your cars on the way to Miami.  They must be thawing out along about South Georgia, and I thought everybody had bad mufflers. :D

Jeff, I'll bet its easier to load the log bin with that smoke.  shouldn't be as heavy as a log.

[timberbeast]

I don't really notice it much as long as I stay active.  But when my nasal passages start sticking together,  I put more wood in the stove,  shut down the saw and have a drink.....the stronger the better.  There's always tomorrow!!  I still haven't figured out how to do a proper job of working,  or hunting,  with anything but unlined leather gloves,  so that is a problem at times,  but my hands are usually pretty numb from carpal tunnel anyway,  so it makes it easy to ignore!

[CHARLIE]

 :D :D :D :D :D  Yeah Tom, when all those words start melting it gets real noisey. It's possible that your might be hearing some echoes from it. Also, I've told you time and time again. You've got to think.  When Jeff cuts that frozen smoke up, he has to throw it in the fire immediately 'cause when it thaws he'll have a smokey cabin. Sheeesh! You Floridians just don't know nuffin' about the cold.

Roger, in one of my earlier post, I mentioned handwarmers that work with a catalyctic action. They won't work if they get wet though. You could buy a regular metal handwarmer or two and keep them in your pocket. When your hands get to hurting, just stick 'em in your pocket for a few minutes.

[KiwiCharlie]

You could buy a regular metal handwarmer or two and keep them in your pocket. When your hands get to hurting, just stick 'em in your pocket for a few minutes.

G'day Charlie,
At this point wouldnt you just move to a warmer climate!!
Cheers
Charlie.

[Tom]

He used to live in one, Kiwi.  But, The company he works for offered to allow him to keep his job if he moved into the cold country because they were closing the plant in the warm country.  $$ talks.

He had to move or look for Physical work..Yechh. :D

[Bibbyman]

G'day Kiwi,

We've been talking about how to keep warm in the cold winter.  But the question today is - HOW DO YOU KEEP COOL?

The actual temperature has been hitting around the 100-degree mark here in mid-Missouri (middle of the USA).  And the humidity has pushed the felt temperature to well over 100.  It's been miserable working in this heat. We try to get out early and stop before the mid-day sun,  but even the mornings are miserable.  It's like walking out into a steam bath.  The sawdust and dirt sticks to the sweat.  The sweat runs into my eyes until they burn.  I had an ear infection in my right ear about a month ago that took a week to clear up and now I've got one in my left ear.

I've had to do a lot of work out in the direct sunlight.  The back of my neck is not sun burnt  but nearly.  Everything I pick up feels like a hot frying pan.  

I drink about 5 gallons of water a day.  Even after we come in for the rest or the end of day,  I'm constantly filling my heavy glass mug with ice and cold water.  I feel like my skin must be leaking it all out faster than I can fill back up.   :-[

One of the nicest things we did for ourselves this summer was to buy a used refrigerator. We stocked it with juice drinks and refill the bottles with water.  I turned the refrigerator control down to where the lower part is just above freezing. It has been a blessing in this hot weather.



Keep Cool!!   8)  8)

Bibbyman,

[TanglewoodTimber]

 After I have gained some composure i thought that I might make a suggestion to the lead people of this entire forum.  We need a stroy tell section to compile such stories as these.  They are true treasures.  Bye the time I got to the end I was laughing so hard I had to run to potty room.  You folks have a real talent aside from cutting lumber.  In fact I am sure some of you have to take your coffee with a knife, fork and spoon to consume it, because it is so thick by the time it is finished perking.  Anyway just a thought.  Thank you so much for the early Sunday morning cuttin' and grinn'. :D

[stickbilt]

I have been a framing contractor by trade for the last twenty odd years in New hampshire and Massachusetts. We work year round. Fried in the summer and frozen in the winter. Of course we have the two gorgeous working seasons as well. I'll take the coldest days of winter over the hottest days of summer anytime. What works for me in the winter is dressing for the warmest part of the day or the times when you are doing bull work. First thing in the morning when you roll out of the van, bbbbrrrrrr. I grab my Walls insulated suit from behind the seat and jump in. You can go from freezing your **** off to toasty warm in five minutes tops. In and out of the suit or coveralls in seconds. After you get to the point where your starting to sweat, peel them off right over your boots. As far as hands and feet are concerned, I wear regular insulated workboots and usually have two pairs of gloves. One pair of warm gloves and a pair of uninsulated leather golves. I keep switching between them as needed. When it rains or snows though, I usually pack it up. Moral is always at it's lowest if you are getting wet and the danger level increases. Not to mention what kind of shape the cords, hoses, saws and guns get into at the end of the day. Everything covered with wet sawdust or mud and then put in drawers in the van. Carpenter's Holiday.      It is snowing now as I look out the window here in southern NH

[Jeff_Green]

Charlie, I'm surprised that Tom didn't tell you his real secret to staying warm - down in Florida, when it gets really cold (anything below 80f),  they eat grits - lots and lots of grits ...... :D :D :D 8)

[DanG]

As a matter of fact, the ONLY times we eat grits, are when its below 80, and when its above 80.

DanG
Chattahoochee, Fla.