Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with winter

Please recommend me your winter gear - lightest and warmest and cheapest

Buckt — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:07:38 -0800

I currently live in the Southern US, but next month I'm making a trip to Southern Argentina and next year I'm moving to New York. I guess it's time to buy warm clothes! Can you give me some recommendations on warm, light, layerable winter clothes, particularly a coat? We'll be in Tierra del Fuego for 5 days, but traveling for a few weeks in warmer places. Thus I want gear that takes up as little space as possible, but keeps me warm enough to be comfortable if we go hiking all day. I also want stuff that'll be attractive and useful day-to-day when I move to New York (ie, not ski gear). Things that can be layered are preferred, and I don't have a huge budget. I should add that I'm a guy.

Thanks!

Weird Jacket that slid ur phone into your hand.

rmathew1 — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:57:42 -0800

I read this a LONG time ago, a jacket where you could snap ur wrist (or some other hand geuster/movement) and it cause ur phone (stored in the sleeve) to drop right into ur hand. It was awesome if slightly risky and I'd like to take a look at it again. Anyone know of it? Or something similar?

Hiking pants for very cold temps

mnemonic — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:53:57 -0800

What pants do people wear for very cold (0 °F / -18 °C, and colder) weather hiking? Just rain shell pants and wool long underwear? Surely there are insulated pants suitable for hiking? I tried some insulated snowboarding pants (North Face Freedom) but they were too baggy for walking. I would like to know what pants you recommend for hiking in very cold temperatures, insulated or not.

I wanna be symbiotic-er

unixrat — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:35:37 -0800

I live near a medium-sized nature preserve, it has been a long hard winter with no end in sight. While lying in the dark waiting to fall asleep, I've been listening to an owl for several years* and he's never been this close for this long. I suspect he's venturing further to find food, it's probably a really lean time. Help me help him. * Look, just give me this. It *sounds* like the same owl. I've never seem him. We're going with it, ok?

He's been my nighttime friend for several years now. He's off in the direction of the preserve, sometimes faintly to the north end near the river and sometimes a bit closer by the fields. He's been very loud recently, he's close.

It's been a long nasty winter with a few more weeks of it in sight. It's pretty awful out there, I'm sure he's hungry. He's been a faithful, interesting companion for years and I'd like to help him out if I could. I'd like to hear about getting more involved with helping these guys in general at the same time, but I'm really interested in concrete actions I can take here and now. I've got a medium sized fenced in back yard with a number of mature trees. I've got $100 I can scratch out of the budget. I need ideas.

Sports cars for Canadian winters?

WinnipegDragon — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:37:05 -0800

I want a sports car. I live in Winnipeg. This does not compute. So my wife has given me the go ahead to shop for our second car. We have a nice new family truckster for towing and lugging the kids and pets around (2012 V6 Santa Fe) so I want a daily driver to take to work.

However, I am a big 9 year old at heart and I also want something for summer drives and the occasional cruise night. This would be a lot easier if I didn't have to deal with 6" deep ice ruts for 4-5 months of the year.

I'm torn between going with a RWD coupe or an AWD performance sedan. RWD means getting snow tires, and hating it for a few days each winter after a big dump of snow. AWD means getting snow tires and loving it all winter long. AWD performance sedans, however, tend to be more expensive, more expensive to maintain, and there is a limited selection.

I'm buying new and I'd like to stay under $50k CDN with all taxes and fees. The closer to $40k the better. Hell $30k would be even better than that. I'm fine with a stick but my wife would really prefer something with an automatic since she can't drive a manual.

I've considered a few options but there seem to be serious flaws in each:

- Mitsubishi Evo - Expensive in a manual, and extremely expensive with a dual-clutch auto.
- Subaru WRX STI - Manual only, ugly as sin.
- Hyundai Genesis Coupe - RWD winter issues, questionable tranny
- Inifiniti G37x - $$$
- BMW 328i Xdrive - $$$

I rarely see RWD cars on the road here in the winter so I am pretty leery about that, otherwise I think I would get in the Genesis without question. Is there something else I should be test driving? Am I being unreasonably worried about the RWD?

What's the mid Florida coast like for winter rentals?

privatechef — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:28:58 -0800

We are looking for a way to get out of the cold for at least two months during the northeast winter and have been trying to figure out if its possible to rent a small ( one bedroom) place in the coast of Florida. But not near the hustle and bustle of Miami or Boca. We are looking for a laid back sleepy and affordable spot to be and stay warm during Feb/March, any ideas?

Identify this awesome coat!

leotrotsky — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:48:31 -0800

In Montreal for vacation. Saw man on subway wearing an awesome winter coat. He had a shaved head, and his coat looked a bit monastic. It was long (down below his knee) and a bit baggy at the bottom, very warm looking, almost as if he were wearing an old-fashioned sleeping bag. Also distinctive, it had a very high collar, almost to the top of his ears, all around. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Wall a town to keep out the wind?

paultopia — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 06:44:02 -0800

Mad science/weather physicsfilter: I live in a small town in the Midwest right at the moment. It gets very, very cold, and most of the actual suffering part of the cold is due to high winter winds. Why can't towns like this just build city walls, ancient Athens-style, say 20 feet high or so (more?) to keep the wind out? There must be some obvious physics/ecology reason why this wouldn't work, someone explain it to me?

Okay to wear scarf with hood?

rmttws — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:10:20 -0800

Can you wear a scarf with a hooded jacket or sweatshirt without looking like a jerk?

DTMFSBA

bondcliff — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:52:19 -0800

This is the last straw. After a major blowout on Sunday morning I'm about to end a ten-year, majorly dysfunctional, very high-maintenance relationship. I'm dumping my Craftsman Snow blower for a new one. Tell me what you love about your snow blower. I'm a fan of Toro lawnmowers so I think I'd like to buy a Toro. What do you like/hate about your Toro?

I'm happy to hear reviews of other makes/models as well. I want a new one, with a warranty, I'm not looking to comb Craigslist for a 1970s Gravely.

I'd love to have a Honda but I'm not sure I can justify the cost, unless you promise me I'll never, ever need a repair.

My current model is a Craftsman, 7.75 HP, 26" path. It's been mostly adequate for my driveway so I'd like an equivalent model, only one that, you know, starts and doesn't break down all the time.

I'm in New England and I have a long driveway with a very wide area in back. We sometimes get up to a foot of wet, heavy snow. A snow blower is absolutely essential.

How can I eliminate a draft under my front door?

asnider — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:12:37 -0800

Getting a draft despite having weather stripping and a door sweep. How can I fix this? In an effort to better insulate our home and keep our heating costs down, I've been installing weather stripping around the doors.

The front door already has fairly new weather stripping that is in good shape. It's also got a door sweep to prevent drafts from the bottom. Despite this, I am still getting a noticeable draft when I put my hand near the bottom corner of the door (on the side opposite the hinges).

Why might this be happening, despite already having two stop gaps in place to prevent it and what else can I do to eliminate the draft?

Techniques for fighting the anxiety dragons?

oranger — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 09:18:39 -0800

This winter I'm having a lot of low-level anxiety. What methods have you found helpful in dealing with anxiety day-to-day? Any and all anxiety dragon fighting techniques appreciated. This winter and last winter I feel anxious a lot of the time about things that do not normally make me anxious. My partner is also out of town for a few weeks so I'm lonelier than usual. I think this has something to do with low light levels and I'm going to take some Vitamin D and maybe fish oil supplements to see if that helps.

I was super anxious about Christmas and family, but now Christmas is over and it actually went really well so I guess my anxiety was unfounded :)

I feel pretty confident that I'm going to be happier when the winter ends and I'm doing pretty well with identifying my feelings ("oh I see I am just being anxious about that but it is actually okay.")

Some things I'm finding helpful

using anxiety as a motivator to do things (my house is a mess? THEN I WILL CLEAN IT JUST FOR TEN MINUTES OH LOOK IT IS CLEANER)

getting out of the house and seeing people -- I see friends most days

playing music or reading or cooking or cleaning -- basically doing almost any activity helps

spending time in the room with sunlight instead of the dark room

It still sucks to have this small anxiety monster following me around, though.

I think I'm also a bit more socially anxious than usual, but I'm ignoring that and just spending time with people as usual because being by myself for too long drives me nuts.

What things do you do to make yourself less anxious?

Ouch, my chest! Advice please, Cold-Climate Mefites?

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:39:36 -0800

Severely painful nipples in the cold! I’m as rugged-up as I’m going to get. What can I do? Anon because of the possible TMI in this question.

I’ve recently moved to a cold climate, and am having a delicate problem. My nipples get extremely sore in the cold sometimes, and the pain stays for days afterwards. It's unpredictable - I can be fine in the snow, but occasionally it even happens when I’m inside with the heater on - when I’m cool, but not freezing cold.

I think they’re contracting really hard and then sore from that maybe? But I can’t really put more layers on because the rest of my torso is too warm. What do I do to prevent this?

It happened yesterday: I went out a couple of times in no less than four layers of clothing including thermal top and warm coat. The rest of my torso was on the warm side of comfortable. But by the I got to the grocery store (which would’ve been 70 degrees inside) in the evening, my nipples were so sore I was barely able to keep from crying.

It didn’t stop after getting inside where it was warm. Even after a hot shower when I got home and spending the rest of the night with a heat pack pressed to my chest, I was hurting so much that I couldn’t sleep without taking Tramadol. I was still awake for a couple of hours after that kicked in because of the soreness, and every time I rolled over I wanted to cry out from pain.

I’m still sore today, and from experience it'll last until tomorrow or the next day. My pain tolerance is high according to doctors (I've been told off for under-reporting), but this is acute and really bad even by my standards.

I’ll be working outdoors in the cold several more nights this week. I even thought about those hand-warmer heat packs, but I can't keep them stuffed under my work outfit because it'd look weird - my coat's thick, but fitted. I don’t want this to keep happening - help!

My nipples are not rubbed raw, nor dry & cracked. There are no visible indicators of this pain. I’m not chafed - that’s happened before and this feels different. I am not pregnant - most of the search results I’ve found are on pregnancy & breastfeeding forums. I don’t have Raynaud’s Phenomenon - my circulation is bad and my fingers/toes are cold most of the winter even in milder places, but I don’t get the dramatic discoloration thing on hands/feet. (I didn’t check my nipples in the store of course!)

Possibly helpful info: I’ve always been, well, perky. Even padded bras don’t stop my nipples from being visible through clothing - none of the usual solutions work, so I’m just resigned to dealing with comments from people here & there. I’m fairly sensitive and don’t like intense stimulation of the nipples in sex (the idea of nipple clamps makes me cringe - ow ow ow!). Never had kids. The tightness of clothes doesn’t make a difference - it’s not that they’re too squashed or tightly bound.

So what is this and what can I do about it? I don’t want to be in this much pain very often!

Indoor/Home Temperatures in Arctic or Very Cold Climates

aabbbiee — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:28:03 -0800

At what temperature do people set their thermostats if they live in Arctic climates, such as Barrow, Alaska? My mother wants to know. My mother has been fascinated by Barrow, Alaska, for a long time, and even subscribed to their print newspaper for many years. She likes to learn more about the differences in day-to-day living compared to her home in mid-Missouri, USA. (She read it so regularly that she could keep up with the local high school basketball teams.)

She has this question about the temperature at which people set their thermostats in areas where the average summer high/lows are 46°/35° F and the average winter high/lows are -7°/-20° F. She specifically asks about Barrow, but she would be interested in any residential community in or near the Arctic Circle or with similar year-round temperatures. (I know that Barrow is not the coldest inhabited or residential place on Earth.)

Obviously, there will be a range of answers for residents, as there would be in my area, too. And people in both areas may not be able to afford to heat/cool their homes to an optimum temperature.
However, generally people in mid-Missouri heat their homes to the mid-upper 60°s F in the winter and air-condition to the mid 70°s in the summer (where our average high/lows are 88°/66° F in the summer and 37°/18° F in the winter). For a couple of months in spring and summer, we can turn off our climate control, open windows, and enjoy the weather. This is not the same for commercial buildings, which are climate-controlled year-round, generally to 68°-72° F (in my experience).

How is this different in residential areas above the Arctic Circle? What would be the temperatures at which the typical family would set their thermostats? And, if it is significantly lower than the average home in mid-Missouri, how does that affect residents? Do people have to worry about household goods stored at lower temperatures, or do different things to insulate their homes to make the heating more efficient? Are temperatures different in commercial buildings?

When my heater runs in the coldest part of winter, it runs constantly, and it's very expensive for me to heat my home (natural gas). The heat tends to go out at the worst and coldest times, of course. People in my area do die of cold and heat exposure every year. Still, I always think that it must be far more difficult and expensive in colder parts of the world, and there are many colder parts of the world! How can a heater keep up if it's running every day of the year?

Any other information on this topic is welcome, such as the differences in actual heating units or the general sensitivity to cold for residents, etc. If you'd prefer to respond in Celsius, please do!

(Please assume this question was written with the best of intentions, because I know there are bad ways to ask what it is like to live in a different part of the world. Be gentle if I'm making assumptions that are incorrect!) Thank you!

Sump pump running a lot in winter?

WinnipegDragon — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:30:45 -0800

Why is my sump pump still running this winter and how can I correct it? So, we had a little warm spell including rain about three weeks ago, so I suspect that the ground is still a bit wet, and the water table is high, but the temperatures here in Winnipeg have been in the negative double digits celsius since then. So why is my sump pump still discharging every two hours or so?

There is no way to run a hose from the pump and keep it from freezing, so what I suspect is that the water is just discharging next to the foundation and going right back to the weeping tile. I thought the hard freeze would fix this, but so far, it hasn't.

What I'm trying to do now is leave the hose attached during the day to pump the water further away from the foundation when someone is home to listen for the pump in case the hose freezes, and then bring it indoors at night to de-ice in a utility sink. I can't think of any other solutions, and I'm concerned that maybe there is a leak somewhere that is causing the issue.

This is driving me nuts. Help!

Does this site already exist?

allthingsconsidered — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:08:18 -0800

in my mind i envision a website where you put your departing airport and the site pulls together current last-minutes deals to all sorts of destinations For instance, I came across this website and I was wondering if there was something similar in the US.

I don't have a particular destination in mind (could be domestic or international), am located in the northeast and want a last minute winter getaway.

I have searched on Google but I am coming up blank. Does such a site exist?

Thanks!

Where to go south for the winter?

Stan Grossman — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:20:46 -0800

I'm back with another Travel Filter question! Looking for an early New Year trip, first week of January. Looking for Southern Florida. Details inside. We were considering the Caribbean, but the holiday airfare prices mixed that decisions. We live in Florida so were considering driving way south.

Here are some stipulations, help me plan a dream trip :)

Considering the keys, but most likely not key west. Anywhere south of Miami is probably good, but if you know somewhere else that fits the parameters and is drive able that may work too.

Warm!
Ability to just relax at times but also maybe spend a day or so doing adventure stuff.
Romantic would be nice for this mid-20s couple.
Resort-like area would be preferable to a hotel
Not looking for clubs, but would like to be nearby good restaurants and hangout bars
Price point should be about $200/night, def under $300/night
Probably going for about 4 nights

As always, I'm eternally grateful, as is the misses :)

Hypothermia, be gone! XC skiing in Norway, seeking clothing help

fakelvis — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 05:36:59 -0800

Cross-country Skiing Outfit: I'm seeking clothing advice so that I don't freeze when XC skiing for the first time this winter (in Norway). This winter I'll be travelling a lot to Oslo, Norway and while there will be cross-country skiing for the first time. I'll be going with my partner (also a beginner) and maybe some seasoned Norwegians later in the season (who will be taking it easy for our benefit).

What do I have? Skis, shoes, gloves, jacket. (And lessons booked!)

What do I not have? Trousers, underclothes for lower and upper body, a "proper" hat, sunglasses.

My questions:
- As a beginner XC skier what layers should I be wearing on my legs and my torso (number of layers, materials, etc.)?
- Is this hat (my only winter hat) OK (note that the jacket also has a hood)?
- Do I need sunglasses, and if so what type? I have an unused pair of Bolle 'sports' sunglasses I could resurrect.

Thanks for helping me survive, preferably without looking like this (great for kids, but not so much for 18yo males).

How to keep animal's water from freezing in winter without electricity?

cda — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:16:01 -0800

I'd like to heat up a rock or piece of metal to drop in my chicken's water source to warm it up. What should I use? I cut a whole in a large insulated water storage container. I put a ceramic plate inside on the bottom so I could drop something hot in the water and not burn the plastic. What should I heat up and how should I heat it up?

I suppose I could boil water and add it to a mason jar and then set the mason jar in the water. I have also thought of rocks and something small made of cast iron. Do you have a better idea?

There is no electricity in the chicken coop. I heat my house with electric heaters so I would have to heat the object by boiling water or in a toaster oven. Or??

I do have a nice solar oven I could use. Not sure if it works on a cloudy day. About half our days are cloudy here in the winter.

My goal is to lessen the times I have to remove solid ice blocks from the water storage. I'm trying to cut down on my labor. Last year I had two rubber bowls. I switched out the bowls every day because the water froze solid every night.

Too small for tricks?

Tandem Affinity — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 06:05:37 -0800

12" BMX bike for 12-year old? [NYcares Winter wishes filter] My NYCares Winter Wishes requestor is a 12-year old boy and is, according to the contact on my letter, normal height to tall for his age and 'husky'. He has requested a "12-inch blue bmx bike". This seems realllllllly small. I know that kids like to have smaller bikes to do tricks and such with, but I want to make sure that even given that, this bike is a reasonable size. The letter contact seemed to think he had made a mistake and that he needs a 20-inch bike, but she also mentioned that more than one of kids has made the 12-inch 'mistake' and she had had other calls. So I'm concerned that maybe this a 'thing' among the kids, and that I shouldn't listen to the contact. I generally would lean to buying exactly what is requested, but again, the bike is soooo small when I looked at in the store (and they generally come with training wheels and streamers on the handle bars and those tricycle-type, no-air wheels).

If you think the 12-inch size is the right way to go, any recommendations for relatively good quality at ~$100 (and reasonable shipping for an online purchase -- I don't live in NYC).

BTW, this isn't so much an issue of cost -- I am able to spend a little more than the $40 recommended; I just want to make sure I am buying something good!!!

Boy, is my face red! And blotchy!

Frowner — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:55:31 -0800

What is a good facial moisturizer for rosacea? I have mild/early stage rosacea with some chronic redness in my cheeks/broken veins but no acne/bumps/pervasive redness for which I should soon be starting an antibiotic. The rosacea flares up in the dry air of winter - but outdoor exercise and changes in body temperature also seem to make it flare up. Of course, I bike commute year round and live in a cold old Victorian, so I'm always in and out of cold temperatures.

I also need a new facial moisturizer (recommendations for body moisturizers would be fine too, just in case you have some). Recently I've just been using SPF 50 sunscreen, but the incredibly dry air is totally defeating that and my face feels dry all the time.

Other than the rosacea, I have pretty standard white person of Scandinavian descent skin - not super dry, not super oily, not prone to random acne, but prone to irritation and pinkness.

What moisturizer do you recommend? Should it be used in conjunction with sunscreen? If so, how? Price is no object since I use very few beauty products and am comfortable splashing out for something like this.

most natural artificial light

dipolemoment — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:41:58 -0800

Recommendations for lightbulbs Now that's wintertime, I use light bulbs more. Even when I select light bulbs that say full spectrum or daylight, they still look like an alien autopsy. Does anybody have specific recommendations for light bulbs that I can put into regular lamps that will look better. I'm not super concerned about price, if they will look OK.

A zombie's gotta keep warm donchaknow

zombieApoc — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:49:10 -0800

What do you use for an outer layer when it's cold (0-30 F) but not raining? I usually layer up with Smartwool or Stoic base layers and a simple shell before heading out into winter, but I'm curious what the hive mind does, at least those where the temp dips down, during the winter. So please share your activities and outer shells for those if you would be so kind.

my winter activities are day-hikes, standing at bus stops, some snow shoeing and biking.

Winter Tiiiiiiiiiiiiime / And the livin is eeeeeeeasy

NolanRyanHatesMatches — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:30:59 -0800

Help me find my hibernation spot! NYCer in search of a winter (roughly Dec/Jan -> March/April) apartment somewhere in the Deep South in a city that A) has much warmer weather; B) offers drastically cheaper rent; and C) is a small town (basically, anywhere that isn't a big city). And, once I have a few city/region options, what's the best methodology for finding a place to rent if there aren't active Craigslist listings for the city/region? Details: Variables, in order of importance:

*Warm Weather*
Any place with a High/Low that hovers around, at minimum, 60º/40º. After a lot of weather-table searching, it looks like this would limit me to coastal areas of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida. Basically, I'd like to go outside around noon and be comfortable wearing jeans/button-up shirt (or, if possible, shorts/t-shirt). Sweater-weather at night is fine, although obviously it'd be nice to avoid (though it seems this would limit me to southern Florida).

*Really Cheap Rent (and How to Find It)*
In NYC, I'm used to paying between $600/mo - $900/mo in rent, and I'd really love to take a break from that :)

Basically, the cheaper the better. As long as I have a semi-reliable internet connection, I can do my work remotely, so city/region job economy doesn't matter. I'm willing to give up as many amenities as possible for cheaper rent in return. There's a strong likelihood that I'll have another person with me, so that will help keep things on the cheap side.

For more populated regions, I've noticed that I can open up PadMapper (which mashes up Google Maps and apartment rental listings from Craigslist, among others), scroll around certain cities/regions and find quite a few listings. However, outside of the larger Southern cities, Craigslist isn't actively used. What would be some good methods for finding housing in many of these smaller towns? Aside from focusing on a certain city/region -> finding the local newspaper online -> searching classifieds, I'm basically stumped. What are some housing-search hacks to help me find stupid-cheap lodging?

I'll mostly be focusing on a new creative project while I'm away from NYC, so I'm kind of looking to hole up for a while. This means that cultural activities I normally look for (great bars/nightlife, museums, fancy food markets, theaters, left-leaning political climate, etc.) would gladly be exchanged for extremely cheap rent.

Right now, my worst-case scenario is Savannah, Georgia: warmish weather and cheaper-than-NYC rent w/ apts I can find via PadMapper (although I'm really looking for much, much cheaper); but, it's also a pretty big city and has waaaaaay more diversions than I'm looking for.

So, any help? If anyone has any incredible suggestions involving Texas/Southwest/Southern CA, I'd definitely be open to hearing about them, although I'd rather stay on the East Coast. Thank you, everyone!

Dry Skin Solutions

valeries — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:49:52 -0800

My skin is really dry due to aging. What can I do? My skin is really, really dry. I have red patches on my lower legs and peeling patches on my palms.

I am currently taking shorter, cooler showers and using CeraVe cream twice a day. I do not scratch even though my skin is itchy (legs, scalp). I take a multivitamin and fish oil. I drink a lot of water. I have radiator heat, not forced air, and it's on very low - my apartment is quite cold.

My legs still have lotion on them when I shower and if I don't scrub, it doesn't get completely washed off. Is it better to actively wash the lotion off or leave it on? My legs aren't particularly dirty or anything and I feel like the lotion is protecting my skin from the water, but maybe I'm exacerbating the problem by not allowing the skin to breathe or absorb the water or something?

Yes, I have seen a doctor. My dermatologist said that it's simply a matter of getting older. Also, I am taking synthetic thyroid hormone to treat hypothyroidism (which can cause dry skin).

I am worried because this problem tends to get much worse in winter and it's already pretty bad. What else can I do?