Some winter clothing questions

I second Shelly on the cuddleduds: they're marvelous, and you don't feel like you're wearing long underwear. They're not at all bulky, and they're even good for sleeping in.

Go to a sporting goods store. Buy stocking caps with ear flaps and tie strings for your heads and ski gloves for your hands. For even toastier fingers, buy thin liners for the gloves.

I live in Minnesota so we get lots of cold weather.

I'd recommend gloves and hats with thermotec. It keeps you warm without sweating. Some of the best stuff that isn't so bulky you can find in running stores. Runners use this type of gear in the winter around here.

As for your daughter - I'd get her some cuddleduds. They are long underwear that are thin, extremely comfortable and keep you very warm.

Cuddleduds is a good idea if she can use it to sleep in as well.

I'm still searching for headgear and gloves, and possibly a fleece jacket for DD to use under her supposedly winter jacket.

Eli: You do not say where you live, so it is hard to know what might be available in your area and what weatehr you are acustommed to. We live in a really cold climate (-35C, not much different in F, is a common winter temp) I have "Hot Paws" gloves with Thinsulate which I generally find adequate. You can also get hand warmers which can be either one time (you open them and they warm up) or reusable (you prepare them in boiling water and bend them later to activate them). A sheepskin hat with or without earflaps keep the head warm and earmuffs if no earflaps on the hat stop the ears from tingling. I find jeans are all I need in winter, but do have ski overpants which I wear if there is a wind, however, the cold in Brittany will be damp compared to what we experience here and I know it can eat right up your legs.

My son and husband thick, bulky, fleece pants to lounge around in last December for England/France. Some nights were quite cold and the heater didn't always work well in Brittany, so they were thankful to have the added warmth. These were the really bulky fleece that took up a lot of space in our Weekender bag! They also packed PJ pants as well. I am thinking they can take the silk thermal underwear and a regular, cotton lounging pants that could both double as their pjs. What do you all think? I also heard that the house will have better heating as well.

What do you men sleep in when you travel during winter? I took a two piece lounging cotton set as my PJs and used my silk thermies below. They were easier to pack, and I could double up when I felt cold or wear my lounging outfit on its own.

One important caveat here: last winter in NW Europe was much colder than normal. What may have been inadequate then might suffice well this year.

I tend to agree with Tom. I spent an entire year in Brittany, including the winter. And the weather was very different from what you've described. We had a picknick on the beach in January and NOBODY wore gloves ...

Other than that, warm socks and longjohns are my main thing to keep warm in European winters (I'm looking at Berlin with much more continental climate than Brittany). And I'm the one who takes her down winter coat that usually handles Canadian winters. It may be bulky but since I'm wearing it all the time and never put it into my suitcase it doesn't really matter to me. My teen daughter has a really fashionable black Nike down jacket.

Beatrix, thank goodness we took a combo of thicker clothing and had some silk under clothing to keep us warm last year. Brittany was brutally cold and windy for many days, and since it's more of an outdoor place, we were thankful to have the extras. My son and I were not cold because we took better coats, but my husband and daughter decided that Brittany was not generally as cold as the Midwest so they were going to chance it. This year I am still taking layers, but want less bulky pieces.

Oh, we were also caught in the snow that came down in Paris before we left. What a mess at the airport!

If you have an REI or good sporting goods/outdoor gear store near you (or look at REI online), they'll have a large selection of synthetic and wool long underwear. This stuff isn't bulky and it works great. The wool isn't the itchy old fashioned wool--look for Smartwool, Ibex or Icebreaker. I like Patagonia for synthetic but there are other good, cheaper brands (sometimes the cheap brands really absorb and hold body odor, though).

Silk isn't that warm IMO. I wear silk long underwear in the winter to my office job. In Seattle. I wouldn't rely on it to keep me warm outside.

Christie, I used Icebreaker for the colder days, and boy does that work great! The silk I used to sleep in, or for the days that were not as cold in Oxford.

Windy, cold days by the sea required much more insulation than London or Oxford.

I also am a fan of Smartwool socks. I was wondering about their hat/gloves.

We wear a lot of Windstopper pants, jackets, hats, beanies, dome caps, gloves, etc. I do not like to be cold. You can layer if needed.

Excellent cold weather clothing and accessories.

http://www.windstopper.com/remote/Satellite/home

Jockey makes long underwear too. I bought a long-sleeved black top to wear with black pants, and it doesn't look like underwear.

I like wearing fairly long coats as they keep your legs warm. Mittens can be great for keeping hands warmer than gloves, and I like sleeves that will keep my wrists warm, with knitted wristbands. Anything that will keep the wind out. Sometimes I wear a hoodie with a coat over it as it seems to keep my neck really warm.

Layers are great, but if you are sightseeing in a city, going in and out of trains, buses, stores, museums, galleries, etc, I find myself overly warm. Therefore I like to be able to just take my coat off and then I am comfy. If I have too many things on I am miserable.

I'm with Jo. Yes, my winter coat is big and bulky. Stops right above the knees so my behind is covered but I still can move freely. AND it keeps me warm. And it's easy to take off when I'm going inside.

What's the issue with a "bulky" piece of clothing if it's never going to see a suitcase from the inside? Am I missing something here?

And don't forget your pashmina shawl...for layering over your coat, using as a neck scarf or as an extra blanket or light wrap when you are in your room. I live in MN and would also recommend sock liners to help keep your feet warm. I agree that thinsolate in gloves really helps. Finally, I took a pair of leggings with me to Rome last Xmas and they did come in handy as a 2nd layer under slacks or long skirts.

I tried the layering thing last winter and I have to agree with Jo...it is too hard to remove many layers when going inside. I know it was unseasonably cold while we were there over the holidays, but I was wishing I had a longer (maybe knee length) down jacket with a hood that would be warm outside but I would only have to remove one item inside. There is no need to put a warm coat into your suitcase while traveling. I just carry my coat on.

Could your daughter wear leggings under other pants? I can't imagine they would be warm enough on their own.

We ordered Smartwool leggings and hope those will be warm enough, but not too thick.

A friend invited me to the Obama inauguration in January. I am very cold natured and did not know how I would stand outside all day and not be frozen, especially my hands and feet. I ordered some Hand and Toe Warmers from LLBean and they really work. They come in a package and you break them open, put them in your gloves/mittens and boots or shoes and somehow they generate heat for hours. I definitely recommend them for when you're outside for any length of time. At least your hands and feet will be warm.

Grier, are these reusable?

No, I don't believe they are reusable.

There are some reusable ones, but they generally have to be microwaved. The ones Grier is talking about are not reusable but they're pretty cheap. I just bought a box of 40+ for under $15 at Costco.

Oh, I never heard of these and we don't have a Costco, so I may be out of luck since we leave on Thursday next week.

I got some smartwool beanies, smartwool tights for my daughter, and trying to find warm gloves. Those "fluffy" ones she seems to favour are useless!

Cuddleduds don't make an X-small so that won't work as another layer.

You can buy the hand and foot warmers at any sporting goods store or stores that sell outdoor stuff like REI. Last winter I took leather gloves lined with fleece. Not warm enough. In Paris I ended up buying some knit gloves with thinsulate lining. They worked better. I have seen glove liners since then that might help.

Have a great trip and I hope you stay warm!

Glove liners? Great idea. I saw the 'thinsulate' word on some gloves but thought it was a marketing gimmick! Thanks will try the sporting goods stores as well.

BTW- this winter in Europe, so far, the problem is not keeping warm, but keeping dry!

Yikes Tom! Say it ain't so :-(

I'd rather deal with the crisp coldness and no rain to be honest. Rain makes one feel miserable, and in London especially, the damp is a killer.

Hand (and foot) warmers are great. I thought about the reusable ones, but they need to be "cooked" (boiled, nuked) after each use, which isn't always practical, especially in Europe. My hands get coldest partly because I love to take pictures and can't manage the camera with mittens or thick gloves. I also wear earmuffs to protect my ears from the wind, with or without a hat, depending on just how cold it is. I also like really thick wool socks over a thin pair of other socks. I discovered that flight socks kept me really warm too.

Keeping your head warm is paramount - you lose more body heat from there than anywhere else. Other than that, your extremities get colder faster (hands, feet, arms, legs) and will cool the rest of you when the chilled blood then returns to your torso.

Scarves underneath the coats....you'll be surprised at how much heat they'll hold inside your coat and keep it from escaping at the neck...also helps keep upper chest warm.
Good windproof mitts (leather are best). Wear gloves underneath so you can manipulate things like cameras, etc. Your four fingers will stay far warmer if they're all nicely kept together in a pair of mitts, than they will in gloves alone.

You might check out Land's End catalog or website. They have coats and jackets with the warm degree factor. I believe their long underwear comes in XS or you might check Jockey. I love my Jockey and they fit under my pants without feeling bulky. They are good to sleep in also. I like a coat that covers my bum -- much warmer. Have fun!

I'm not sure how tiny your daughter is, but have you considered child sized silk undies? I know Wintersilks does a number of items in kids sizes, and they have a big "something or other percentage off everything" sale starting on the 15th of this month.

By the way, you can often save quite a bit of money by buying children's sizes as opposed to "adult" sizes. I got my daughter an All Star jersey the year we were lucky enough to go to the All Star game, and the kids size was about half the price of the adult sized jersey.

"Yikes Tom! Say it ain't so :-( " The past few days have been rain free, but now the temperatures have plummeted.

You can get the handwarmers at Walmart in the sporting goods/hunting section. They may not come in as big of a package as you can get at Costco, but it's something.

Thanks Maureen, hadn't thought to try Wallyworld.

Eli,

You weren't really specific on what you currently pack.

I thought about it a lot and decided to give you the best general advice about keeping warm that I can.

First rule, don't allow yourself to get cold. It's much harder to warm up outside than it is to keep yourself warm in the first place. Always think in terms of retaining heat. "Do I need to take my glove off again?"

Second rule, you lose most of your heat from your head and neck area. A ski cap is packable and about as warm as you're going to get. It covers your ears which is important. A scarf wrapped around your neck also helps conserve valuable heat.

Third rule, the next biggest area of heat loss on your body is around your waist. Use some layers and keep this area insulated.

Fourth rule, anything that is constricting is probably working against you. Even if your head, neck and waist are kept completely toasty, that heat won't make it's way to your extremities, hands and feet, if you are wearing constricting clothes. Make sure your socks and shoes are comfortable. Sometimes thick socks make your shoes too tight and make things worse. Gloves that don't allow good circulation will make it harder to keep your hands warm.

Fifth rule, use your warm areas to warm your hands. If your hand is freezing, take off your glove and pull it inside your coat to warm it up. Your armpits are great hand warmers.

Sixth rule, some fabrics do better in the cold than others. Wool, silk or synthetics retain their insulation when they get wet. Cotton loses almost all of it's insulating ability when it gets wet, including sweating.

Seventh rule, keep yourself dry and protected from the wind. A thinner coat that's waterproof, has a hood and covers your bottom, sealed seams and a drawstring for the waist will keep you warmer than a heavy jacket that doesn't include wind and rain protection.

PS. I'm pretty sure the handwarmers can't be carried on.

Brad, why not?

I carried on hand warmers last year with no problem. I just had them packed in my bag, not in the liquids bag.

As for silk long johns for your daughter, I would look at Land's End. Their silks are as good as any, and the kids sizes would probably fit her. they also have a myriad of other outerwear options for better prices than some of the brand name stuff(e.g. northface) I also like their down vests, great on their own, or as an extra layer under a coat on extra cold days.

The hand warmers have a chemical reaction that produces heat when they get exposed to oxygen - not exactly C4 but I could see them used in negative ways aboard a plane.

If they are allowed, I'm sure TSA knows better than me.

The handwarmers I carried on went through xray with no problem. To be honest, when I packed them I didn't even consider they might not be allowed. Maybe I just got lucky?