Freeze testing tonight!

[fourdog]

The key to socks is WOOL and thick! Also when using multiple layers is make sure that they are sized so they are never tight on your feet .

You should be able to wiggle and spread your toes easley to matter how many layers.

I sleep with 3-4 layers of heavy wool socks in the colder temps the same I use in my boots or mukloks for insulation during the day with good luck.

I found down booties compressed to much to work for me.

One thing you can try . If you have a summer mummy bag take it and
double it in to it self and then put your feet and legs in to it. It will only come up to your groin but will make a world of difference.

fourdog

[Busky2]

Well it was 18* with a wind chill to 6* last night and I liked it. Tested the DIY sleeping bag conversion for both TQ and UQ in my Clark NX250 with weather shield closed. Only one tiny cold spot right in the center of my butt. The wind was howling all night it woke up twice when the Vertex tarp slammed up against me (20+ mph gusts and maybe shock cord that is too long) and gave me a good shove and swing I did. I had on some standard long johns and a fleece heavy shirt and a Kmart hoodie and HD skullcap and a loose fitting extra pair of socks. I might add a reflex-it type pad to go colder. What do you think?

[Gqgeek81]

Nice Buskey!

I watched a movie on the couch with the two layers of socks on and sloooowly got cold feet. Take the socks off complete and I was fine. They were snug but didn't seam tight per se.


So I tried just the heavier socks as I spent two days in the Ininji's in the Gorge in Oct. without any trouble including sleeping with them inside a pair of Smartwool ankle socks.

The heavy socks are the heaviest most insulated socks Darn Tough makes according to them and they come up to my knees. I purchased them specifically to hang in but for the price I see now I could have went with some down booties. Oh well...
With just them on I still got cold toes. My toes felt very loose inside. I'm trying to figure out where specifically they slow circulation. Since they are the only pair of knee highs I own and the only socks that give me this problem I postulated it was the pressure higher up on my calves causing the problem somehow. So I doubled the tops back down till the ends were hanging slack past my toes. This makes them look like super fuzzy ankle socks with odd tips but seamed to do the trick, it also adds a confounding factor since it doubles the insulation over my feet so it doesn't prove my circulation theory.
I'm wondering if I should just try and pull them over something like maybe a 2 liter bottle to stretch them out a bit.
I purchased these for the gorge trip but didn't take them as it wasn't expected to get bellow the mid 40's. I think I'm better off not having taken them and I'm glad I've figured this out before I used them.

Tonight, just the heavy socks doubled up as above along with my down throw and I think I'll take but not wear the heavy coat from last time. I can and have taken the down throw before but if its cold enough for the coat I'm probably not going to be out there anyway and its wayyy too big for an emergency item.

[Busky2]

Cool....pun intended. With those long socks pulled down over your toes you can gather the ends and give'em a tug and elfin magic available only this time of year will keep you warm. If you believe that I have a bag of hot air I could send you that is also capable of magical warming, if you use it as a vapor barrier. Good testing to you. Lows in the low teens and the wind is going to pick up latter on so out I go tonight with a reflexit pad.

[dkperdue]

Only going to 24 tonight here. But I am op-testing everything to make sure it will work for a Scout camping trip this weekend.

[gunner76]

Smart to test your setup before heading into the woods.

I had been out of work on bed rest for the past few work (blood clot in the leg) and suppose to sleep with my leg elevated so I figured I could kill 2 birds at once. Rigged my hammock so my feet slight higher than head and spent several nights testing some different pads/ sleeping bags and socks/no socks.
Only problem I ran into was I did not set up my tarp as no rain and one night I got alot of condensation on everything.

Have fun with the scouts and if you are in the area bring your scouts to the Neusiok trail to go hiking and camping (lots of hammock hanging spots)

[WonderMonkey]

Yep,
I[ll second that less socks thingee. It is important remember that in order to keep your feet warm in colder temps that you do not restrict the blood flow across the top of your feet. Too many times people don't know this and they wear extra socks in the boots or when sleeping in a sleeping bag and constrict the blood flow. If 'n a person is going to increase the layers they may want to buy larger boots or a pair of looser fitting socks on the outside.

Good show mate!

I've done this. Did it for a few years until I read an article about it. I'm now able to wear less socks and a less insulated boot.

[Doctari]

You don't say, so I need to ask: do you have a tarp up? This will block a LOT of wind & wind chill if set up oriented to block the wind, perhaps allowing you to get to 3 hrs & maybe even a full night. If the wind is (For example) blowing from the West, hang facing North - South so the tarp blocks the wind. Even on a still night, a tarp will make a difference.

Good luck with your testing! Sounds like you are on the right track.

[MedicineMan]

let me preach at ya....el bread bags, the thin plastic ones, put on the naked feet even before the application of wool layers or down booties....costs very little to try. The VBL concept is proven and has worked for generations. Mac may chime in on the concept of insensitive sweat, its evaporative cooling and how the VBL stops that and the loss of heat that goes with it.
Also agreed with 4Dog, when its really cold, as in single and below, multiple woolies don't compress like the down booties.

[RustyNails]

Good luck! tell me how the reflectix works i thought of doing that myself