"But baby it's cold outside..."

Ron Bird-freedigitalphotos.net

     As New York deals with some of the coldest temperatures it’s had in two years, I figured I would give you a quick tip to help keep you a bit warmer while out and about.  Hopefully by now you already discovered the wonderful three-layer system I suggest, and learned how to use proper fabrics and layers to keep you much warmer during the cold season.  If not I suggest you do it now because winter is a long way from over, and companies such as Patagonia are offering some of their best sales of the year, making it a great time to upgrade your winter wardrobe.

     The tip I’m going to explain goes beyond proper layers, and head protection.  It is more about conserving the body’s own heat.  We lose the heat our body’s work diligently to make four different ways; conduction, convection, radiation, respiration.  The key to this tip is the often overlooked latter of the group; respiration.  We lose boat loads of our natural heat through our breath by breathing in the exterior cold air, and then breathing out our internal ‘warmed’ air.  We can be instantly chilled to the core if we do not make an effort to warm the air before it enters the body.  Fortunately, warming the air you breathe can be done fairly easily by having a neck gaiter or scarf cover your mouth and nose allowing the air to be warmed before it gets to the lungs.  

     I wear a neck gaiter pretty much year long.  During the summer, I wear one as head protection and to sop up sweat around my neck.  In the winter time, I either wear the same polyester one linked above , or a thicker fleece or wool one for the extremely cold days such as today.  Conserving heat through protecting your respiration is very effective.  So much so, that I often wear the light polyester Recon Wrap, because anything heavier quickly heats me up.  (Remember; starting to sweat, or getting wet in any way during freezing conditions can make you much colder and lead to hyperthermia.)  I tend to start the day with the gaiter around my neck pulled up just below my eyes, covering the ears, nose, and mouth.  Then I place a good wool hat over my ears and head leaving just my eyes exposed.  Since this configuration is so efficient, I often lower the gaitor below my chin allowing me to cool off, raising it back over my face when I get cold.  This style often gets “looks” in Manhattan, but once again I prefer function over fashion.  Let the “sheeple” stay ignorant and cold.  Here is a good video explaining the three-layer system, and the proper use of a neck gaiter.  Here are some options that Amazon offers.