Best gear for brutally cold weather

[Jilly]

I have Hotronics with custom foot beds and haven't had any problems.

Same here. I let my boot fitter install them.

I have multiple thickness of bottom layers. Yesterday I wore the Columbia heavyweights and they were not enough. I have an old pair of Mark's Work Wearhouse fleece. When I go out today I think they'll be the ones.

 

[freckles]

Thermacare Heat Wraps work really well for keeping my core warm.
I second the Boot Gloves also!

 

[COchick]

I agree with all of this stuff. But let's not forget... when it's brutally cold outside, stopping for breaks and having a hot toddy is THE BEST!

 

[diymom]

What is it with teens? DD has SERIOUS issues with cold feet, which for some odd reason she chooses to ignore. I don't want her losing any toes, so I get her heated boots. She wore them for the first time last week, and near the end of the day as we rode up the lift I asked her how they were. Her friend was on the lift with us, and DD was mortified. How on earth is wearing heated boots a source of embarrassment? Hopefully I will be able to get real feedback on how they do warming her faulty feet this week. I picked up two bargain tickets to Gunstock at the ski show, but they expire on the 31st. She already had plans for today, so I am trying to choose between part cloudy and super cold on Friday or sunny and extra super cold on Thursday.

 

[Jilly]

So, it's -25C here at Tremblant today. And I am almost dressed fine. It seems to be lower base layer. The polar fleece isn't cutting it either today. The Costco specials are great for warm hands. In fact I'm sweating in them, which is not good. I came home for lunch, so they are currently on the dryer.

Think I'll look into a pair of insulated pants like the Marmots. DH used to have pair that he wore for winter construction, so I might look for a pair of those.

 

[Christy]

Do boot gloves help keep the boot itself warm? When it's very cold I can't flex my boots.

Don't forget the right wax for cold conditions. I've had the experience of skis that wouldn't go in cold weather because they didn't have the right wax.

 

[Mary Tee]

Same temps/wind as @2ski2moro at Royal today. We also had awesome conditions.
My layers today..a cuddledown undershirt, icebreaker 260 shirt, patagonia nano puff, and Karbon ski coat.
bottom my warm leggings and my XC ski pants under my ski pants. usual poly pro head band under my helmet, turtle fur for face coverage, Dermatone of course, toe heaters and my darn tough socks I was warm! If I wasn't teaching I probably would have taken my Marmot down jacket.. that is really warm
but the Karbon is surprisingly warm.

@Jenny I don't wear my down gloves every day just the really cold ones. that some winters is frequently!
I have down mittens they are leather on the palms and nylon on the backs. The Swany outlet is near me so I can get some great deals.
If you want me to go see what they have. not sure of the inventory after xmas, but they'll restock before you shell out 100$ or more.. :-)

where is the Swany outlet

 

[SallyCat]

Can any of you that have Hotronics comment on if they are okay to use with custom foot beds?

Absolutely. Fyi, if your boots fit very snugly, you don't need to put the Hotronics red adhesive cover over your insoles, and you can use a little dremel tool to make a channel under the footbed for the cord. That way you won't change the volume of your boots at all.

Here's the video I used to install them in my boots, which have custom insoles:

 

[SallyCat]

I hate to commit product-blasphemy but based on my experience today I have to give a BIG thumbs down to the Hestra Heli army leather gloves. I wore them today with a decent pair of liners and my hands were freezing to the point of frost nip. I don't have any circulation issues and my hands are about average as far as a tendency to get cold. But today they were in agony. Which was all the more disappointing because the Helis were not cheap and I'd been saving up to buy them as my "brutal weather" gloves.

In desperation I went into the on-mountain shop and picked up a pair of Gordini "polar" goose down mittens. And they are seriously warm and literally saved the day. Also not cheap, though.

On a more positive note, I had a wild hair this fall and decided it might be a good idea to get an extra set of batteries for my Hotronics. And that was a day-saving decision this afternoon, because my batteries died at about 2pm and my feet started to really hurt from the cold. If I hadn't had a spare pair I would have had to quit.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I hate to commit product-blasphemy but based on my experience today I have to give a BIG thumbs down to the Hestra Heli army leather gloves. I wore them today with a decent pair of liners and my hands were freezing to the point of frost nip. I don't have any circulation issues and my hands are about average as far as a tendency to get cold. But today they were in agony. Which was all the more disappointing because the Helis were not cheap and I'd been saving up to buy them as my "brutal weather" gloves.

I have Hestra Heli-- mittens though, not gloves (but not the full leather ones) and also don't find them especially warm. The liner itself feels cozy/soft but the mittens themselves I don't feel are all that warm. I find that the Black Diamond Mercury mittens are warmer. I do get cold hands on a regular basis but basically I only use mittens on especially cold days, as I prefer gloves overall for the dexterity.

 

[Jilly]

I met a lady today that had Konic gloves. These are actually work gloves for guys that work outdoors. But for some reason "norton" is not letting me onto the site. But I know that their gloves are around $20 USD.

Also I remembered today that DH had a pair of quilted lower base layers. So I went looking for same. I know there were not from a ski company, but a work wear company. Sure enough Carhartt has them. Seems to be men's only, but the fly is a zipper. So depending on your shape, some of us are too curvy, these might work for extreme cold.

 

[SallyCat]

Sure enough Carhartt has them

I found them here for $35. Definitely worth a try, and for that price I wouldn't be squeamish about cutting and hemming them into capris so they come down just to the top of my ski boots.

https://dungarees.com/carhartt-102315-yukon-quilted-base-layer-bottom?&cs=BLK&size=LRGREG&cid=

 

[badger]

Absolutely. Fyi, if your boots fit very snugly, you don't need to put the Hotronics red adhesive cover over your insoles, and you can use a little dremel tool to make a channel under the footbed for the cord. That way you won't change the volume of your boots at all.

Here's the video I used to install them in my boots, which have custom insoles:

. Thanks so much for bringing this particular video to our attention. I am getting ready to install those same S4 heaters in my boots, and have been more than a bit concerned about the addition of volume. I'll now Dremel a channel underneath the footbed. And may do the same on the top under the heat element.!!

 

[Obrules15]

I ordered a Torch Coat Heater for about $75. It is a series of three heating pads that can be velcro'd onto any jacket. Haven't had to use it yet, but.........

 

[Jilly]

I found them here for $35. Definitely worth a try, and for that price I wouldn't be squeamish about cutting and hemming them into capris so they come down just to the top of my ski boots.

https://dungarees.com/carhartt-102315-yukon-quilted-base-layer-bottom?&cs=BLK&size=LRGREG&cid=

Have to see if they ship to Canada. I'm not having any luck locally.

 

[nopoleskier]

where is the Swany outlet

in Johnstown NY.. on Rte 29a https://www.facebook.com/swanyglovesusa/
https://www.swanyamerica.com/c/specials

 

[marzNC]

in Johnstown NY.. on Rte 29a https://www.facebook.com/swanyglovesusa/

Putting that in my reference file.

Swany
115 Corporate Drive
Johnstown, NY 12095
Outlet store open: November-February, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

 

[Spunk72]

I hate to commit product-blasphemy but based on my experience today I have to give a BIG thumbs down to the Hestra Heli army leather gloves. I wore them today with a decent pair of liners and my hands were freezing to the point of frost nip. I don't have any circulation issues and my hands are about average as far as a tendency to get cold. But today they were in agony. Which was all the more disappointing because the Helis were not cheap and I'd been saving up to buy them as my "brutal weather" gloves.

In desperation I went into the on-mountain shop and picked up a pair of Gordini "polar" goose down mittens. And they are seriously warm and literally saved the day. Also not cheap, though.

On a more positive note, I had a wild hair this fall and decided it might be a good idea to get an extra set of batteries for my Hotronics. And that was a day-saving decision this afternoon, because my batteries died at about 2pm and my feet started to really hurt from the cold. If I hadn't had a spare pair I would have had to quit.

Thanks Sallycat for this. The video will be really helpful. I am planning on buying my S4 set from Amazon as I'm in Hong Kong and shipping is often an issue from States/Canada. Unless anyone has any online recommends for buying them? Badger, I too am a bit concerned about altering the overall volume and fit after all the trouble my bootfitter and I went to getting the darn things to fit right. My footbeds are pretty thin under the toes, so probably can't dremel out a spot for the element but I'm assuming it's pretty thin anyways.

 

[Jenny]

Have to see if they ship to Canada. I'm not having any luck locally.

I could bring a pair to Mont Tremblant at the end of January if you can't get them anywhere before that.

 

[newboots]

I ordered a Torch Coat Heater for about $75. It is a series of three heating pads that can be velcro'd onto any jacket. Haven't had to use it yet, but.........

Just come on up to VT! Great place to try them out!