3 TOP Mistakes giving you COLD FEET!! + The Fixes!

Moister management plan... Amazing. I have to tell my wife about it

Nice tips, thank you and have a great season

So basically 2 seconds to say ‘stay dry stay alive’ or 10 minutes of lots of boring…NAH JUST KIDDING!! Thank you for the good tips!! I have NEVER EVER heard the stay dry stay alive quote! Your a top bloke

I live roughly 65 degrees norh latitude, so low temperature is a reality for me, I use uninsulated leather boots and wool socks, several pairs that I switche during the day so I always have dry ones.

Nice ideas that work. Also check out videos here on YT for tests that have been done on the most popular boots and their insulating factor in the sole area. The tests were done for people walking on snow and ice and how the best insulated sole kept people warmer.

shout out to survivor man!! Not many remember him 😅

This is great info, wish I knew this before buying boots that were too small. Now I have a plan for my other pair that was 'way too big' which I now realize is perfect!

Great just great. So simple but still a big issue to many

Sei un grande!!!
Greetings from the Dolomites Italy 🇮🇹

the small hand warmers in the toe box of the boot can also be golden, mainly when stationary. 🙂

Wool shoes and reindeer/seal skin shoes are best when the weather is very cold and snow is not wet. When snow is wet or you move around lakes there is sometimes water over the ice my choice would be rubber boots with wool liner. When im hiking i carry both shoes with me.

I've been using plain newsprint (plain newpapers) for insulation in my shoes, butt, chest, as blankets sleeping on the park bench, er, in Nature under the stars. Once they get damp, I throw them away and insert fresh pages - I know, yesterday's news.

Excellent. Although the plastic bag method can cause frostbite if not removed/changed in time, so be warned..!

Finally, some who understands basic heat transfer and ancillary effects. Merino wool socks Smart woof for decades . Last year woolrich made some we will see, both do not retain smell. For over 30 years I have been wearing French made rubber boots LE Chameau and AIGLE. Plain, leather lined, and neoprene. Often asked, don’t your feet sweat. Reply “ if your feet don’t sweat your going to die ( relieving heat ) You’re absolute about fit, however heel fit is paramount for wear and potentially forming blisters. I wear boots every day they last more than 5 to 10 years except soles at least 5 years. Hanging upside down to dry. Washing feet with snow and warming with body dryer size warmer before socks are damp. Reflective liner on bottom is a great way to keep moisture from bottom. A very thin wicking sock also works.
Living in the woods in log cabin for 22 years full time ( Michigan UP HURON MTS) reveals what is most effective. Baffin and Sorel make acceptable foot wear, but are bulky. A new light sport caught my attention, 1 size up. Another tip when not freezing, but snow with sun , I let my feet breathe with loosing the top cinch under my ski pants and that seems to reduce moisture in the socks. Your tips are spot on with carrying extra liners/ socks. Our back country skis ALTI have binding like snow board, and are troublesome with those bulky Caribou size Sorels. The body size hand warmers also keep your electronic equipment working in extreme cold. Appreciate your posting, very timely. Wear boots for week inside to gauge fit. Climb stairs as well to verify calf and ankle response when ascending or descending stairs. Bless you brother for you shared wisdom. TRJM 🦅🙏🍀✡️

for method 3, when you wear that poly sheet doesnt the foot slip?

Terrific!
Thank you for sharing! ☺️👍✌️🇬🇧

four pairs of socks rotated upwards inside your clothes to dry them. change every two hours and give foot chance to breathe.

The best system I found for multi day mountaineering in the cold wet cascades... La Sportiva Lhotse boots, Mountain Tools insulated supergaiters, Costco wool socks, baby gold powder, and light weight portable boot dryer like Drysure... Putting on a rock hard frozen boots after climbing a mountain sucks...

Great advice...thank you.

Almost forgot about this vid. Very useful now when winter is here.😁

That makes no sense to let the socks evaporate their moisture into your sleeping bag, 🤷🏻‍♂️isn't the key to avoid all moisture,condensation,dampness, whatever ya want to call it, from invading any of our gear's insulating properties? Yeah you can say thats an option, however, it should be avoided.

Neat video thanks! I have tried many of these tricks but learned some new ones! Into the minus 25 celcius (-13F) range so far I prefer the pack boot type. The removable liner is a game changer. A bonus is they work well with snowshoes too. One type of boot that is very popular in Sweden and works good to minus 10 maybe minus 15 celcius (14F to 5F) is the "Lundhag" type which have hard cell rubber foot part and ankle and up is leather (no liner). Works well with at least double wool socks. Regular rubber boots have not worked to well for me, but maybe I just had the wrong kind in the cold. But one type that is pretty neat is the "ice fishing rubber boot" wich looks like some over inflated moon boot. However walking in them is not too great imho, but for mostly standing still Ice fishing they are good. On the wool socks I would also say use not 100% wool as it lacks wear and tear. Go for blended wool socks. Also might be a good idea to carry needle and thread and wool yearn to mend the socks. That used to be in the old timer soldier kits. An extra pair of socks or drying/warming your socks by a fire is a life-saver. Let´s hope we dont get a super cold winter. Westernkind is amazing surviving and thriving in theese conditions.

Thanks

Thank you 👏🇨🇦

Great tips on keeping your feet dry and warm. One of the best winter boots I have found for keeping my feet both dry and warm is the Russian Wool Valenki boots. I use the Neos over boot for to keep the water out when I need it, but can be removed and the Valenki can be set next to the fire to dry out, and being they are 100% wool, next to a nice warm fire they dry out fairly quickly. Using a base layer merino wool sock and a thicker wool boot sock in them is the perfect combo. Breathable mukluks are a good choice too. I have those also and have multiple wool liners to rotate them. I am an older guy and keeping my feet dry and warm are a must when enjoying the outdoors and those two options are the best I have found. I do have the thinsulate hiking boots that I have used to hike to camp and to set up camp. The mukluks are light enough that I can pack those and change into them once I am ready to kick back at camp.

No matter what you suggest nothing will keep my feet warm, except electric socks. Same goes with my hands. I am the coldest person ever. My normal body temperature is on degree less than normal 97.6 instead of 98.6. For whatever reason my body does not generate heat like normal people. Also my feet sweat like crazy when they are cold but not when they are warm.

I guess you could use one of those cheap mylar (?) reflective emergency blankets, cut down to fit your feet entirely and cover your bare feet or sock feet and slip inside your boots. Would contain your heat because of the radiant value and contain the moisture like a wet suit to keep your feet warm. In a pinch would probably work well. Great tips!

Absolutely fantastic. Totally agree on the wool socks: merino/synthetic mix with a merino liner sock.

The breathing issue is why I've always worn all leather boots; well dubbined as they keep the water out but also let the moisture out from your feet. Works for me - ! 😊

My secret system for both active moving and camping is to use also cotton socks.

They wick the moisture from the boot and I can then change them. Wool socks during active moving in the winter can be a killer since they are too warm, which leads to increased sweat. I usually have 1 cotton and 2 wool pairs. I dry the cotton socks with my body heat.

I have goretex boots but am looking to buy plain leather because the liner is nothing but a sock that is installed inside the boot.

I’m sitting here with cold wet feet

Great ❤❤❤

I find primaloft to work better than thinsulate. I don’t hike much but I do linework in Maryland, we see all types of weather, epic summers, disgusting humidity, epic winters where it’s ridiculously cold for no reason, high humidity with moist cold air cuts right thru anything you can wear. I’ve tried multiple pairs of boots and have found just unlined sturdy leather boots with different weighted wool socks work great for spring, summer, and fall here. Winter, medium to heavy wool socks, a waterproof lined boot, goretex is ok but sympatec and dri-lex seems more breathable to me, thinsulate is good in its heavier weights like 600 to 1200 grams, but primaloft seems to be better for active wear. When it’s epically cold and wet a felt lined pac boot or pull on rubber boot works really good but you sacrifice mobility. Panty hose actually work really well for severe cold weather, I only do pantyhose when it’s really really cold and wet. Being outside makes you experiment with different stuff but long story short wool socks are key, and I only wear waterproof lined boots in the late fall/winter. Felt or wool linings on your snow boots seem better than thinsulate in my opinion. Do what works for you though! Only way to know is to try different stuff! Good info in this video as well thanks for posting!

So Mom knew what she was doing when she stuffed our feet in plastic bread bags under our socks before we went to play in the snow.

Once bought a pair of lovely lightweight half boots at a supermarket in France. Never understood why they were so warm and waterproof, put them in the washing machine after the season. Had them for years until the lining gave out and decided to cut them open and guess what I found? Between the layers I found a Chinese supermarket plastic bag cut to fit it. Explained everything😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

plastic bags is the worst choice , and should be avoided , because the moisture is going to create maceration of the skin between your toes and you will suffer misery

Similar situation but work related. I live in the South and it rarely gets really cold down here but when I first went to work we had some really cold spells. I worked in a shipyard where I had to stand on metal all day and the metal was extremely cold. The ground was much warmer then standing on the cold steel. We tried all kinds of ways to keep our feet warm and one way was to put on a pair of socks then a plastic bag over it covered by another sock... I tried that and like you said my feet sweated and then exposed to the super cold metal the sweat would freeze around my feet! I found 2 things that helped me, first, wool socks as you mentioned really helped keep my feet warmer and then I found a sawed off piece of scaffold board that I claimed and guarded with my life for as long as I could that I would use when I had the opportunity to stand in one place while doing my job. The 4 inch thick board acted like an insulator to keep my feet off the deck allowing them a chance to warm up. I know this really has nothing to do with what you are talking about but cold feet is no joke. I was an electrician and had the chance to work dong hook up where I had to stand in one place throughout the day, and standing there with frozen feet was absolutely miserable and not being able to walk around to stimulate circulation... But discovering wool socks was the best thing that happened to me, before then I had only worn cotton socks. I wish I had known about them from the beginning!

Used reflectors for years. Works great

All your advice is really useful. Old soldiers who have served in cold climates usually give good advice for foot care. They recommend wearing leather boots in before going out in the field.

What should I do for standing all day outside without much moving?

I worked 11 years in Prudhoe Bay , Ak and then 5 in Northern Siberia. We had rubber pack boots with removable felt liners and wool socks. You always had spare liners and socks when out in the field all day. At -40° and lower you had to have a plan or you could find yourself in a hospital where folks would be trying to save your toes!

This dude is amazing

Great information. I carry two waterproof shock resistant rechargeable hand warmers. I can throw them into my sleeping bag, socks boots or just warm my hands and with a solar panel I have an indefinite source of heat.

I live in the UK and often hike in Scotland in winter where it can get very cold and very wet. I found the advice in this video an excellent resource; clear and very informative. Well done and thank you.
Phil

You failed to mention bunny boots. Not the best to walk in maybe, but the best at keeping your feet warm. Pac boots never worked for me, because the sweat would wick out then freeze on the outside of the liner. But with bunny boots I’ve broken through the ice at 20 below zero Fahrenheit, and the water that gets inside the boots warms right up. On another trip I carried several boy scouts across a river when water got on top of the ice over night, so they could keep their boots dry. Afterwards just dumped the water out of my bunny boots, put them back on and warm as could be in no time.

I would really have liked to save this to my "Best Of: Winter tips" playlist but I am unable to save it for some reason. That sucks.

Wrong! When wearing a vapor barrier your foot perspiration will adapt, sweating less.

I switched to alpaca from wool. Doesn’t have the spurs on the hair like wool so it’s softer and without lanolin, some say prevents breath ability. If I’m going to be active in very cold conditions I spray my feet with antiperspirant.