By: Blonde One
Now don’t worry readers, the Two Blondes aren’t giving up writing, walking or anything interesting. But I am indeed giving up. I surrender. I quit. I am waving the white flag of defeat.
I hereby declare that after years of experimentation, purchasing and practicing, I am never going to be warm on Dartmoor! You may remember that every year I purchase more and more expensive kit in an effort to keep myself toasty when camping and walking during the autumn, winter and spring months. Well after careful consideration I have decided that I have spent enough! This weekend on Dartmoor I ended up with 7 layers of clothing and I was STILL COLD!!! How is this possible?!
My 7 layers included: 2 layers of wool, 2 layers that were windproof, 1 layer that was waterproof and 1 down layer. I also had 2 pairs of gloves, 2 pairs of socks, thermal leggings, windproof trousers and waterproof and windproof over-trousers.
I looked a little bit like the Michelin man and even if I wanted to I couldn’t fit any more clothes on without losing the ability to move my limbs.
It is not often that I give up on anything but I think that this time the forces of nature have well and truly beat me!
I think its a woman thing not just a blonde thing. My other half works hard at burning fat and trying to stay trim, she runs most mornings getting up at around 5.30 -6.00am. Even sat at home with heating on at 20 degrees C she is still cold.
Maybe for your situation get rid of all the layering except base layer and buy some gear suitable for arctic expeditions.
I was told a while ago that before putting on all your gear or getting into your sleeping bag to run on the spot as fast as you can for about a minute. That gives the body the heat to warm up the clothing.
I trawled the quote sources but couldn’t find much to help you, however this one is at least relevant with the recent tv series:
“Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
From a fellow cold sufferer my only other suggestion is b and b.
You’ve created a very complicated system to retain moisture in your clothing 🙂
This chap is worth reading:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6903
Hope you’re all ok, I’ll get be in touch with the welshman and try catch up with you all in the late spring.
Dave
As always, you can go this way:
http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/
I have a sneaking feeling that you should be looking at what you are eating rather than piling on the layers. Start with porridge but add some ginger to it – complex carbs like quinoa, brown rice, oats and pearl barley are ideal because they boost your thyroid and adrenal glands which help to regulate body temperature, even though those glands work less well in cold weather. Lots of hot drinks but forget the sugar. Soups and stews with lots of pearl barley added. Top up hourly – they carry well in flasks. Spicy foods can be good because they boost your metabolism, but if they are too hot they will set you sweating, which is not good. Oils rather than fats – try coconut oil in the soups and stews and use the rest of it on any dry or chapped skin.
you beat me to it – as ever !
this time, it’s the first law (of T) – and the Krebs cycle you need to ‘pedal’ – you ‘gotta feel the burn’ and then keep it in – too much clothing inhibits activity (as you say), which is the best source of warmth, given the right nutrition.
Maybe you should adopt the motto ‘shivering is good for you’ – it’s the involuntary working of the muscles to generate heat – if you feel cold and don’t shiver, you need to be worried – even when wearing your hair shirt!
I just think you’re going the wrong way! I’ve always found less is more with layers on cold days. I walk throughout the year in shorts and I’m in the Lakes, Peak District, Welsh mountains, Shropshire Hills etc (admittedly not Dartmoor). Above the waist; base layer and a Rowan top. If it’s really cold woolly hat and gloves and waterproof jacket if it rains. My theory is that you can walk faster with less clothing which increases your natural body heat and actually pushes you that little bit more. I’ve walked like this for most of my 66 years and I can’t imagine what it would be like with all the layers on that you have on Blonde One – not sure I could even move! Try less – much less -and you may be pleasantly surprised. Yesterday was a cold but sunny day here in Shropshire and I did 16 miles in shorts and tee-shirt (with base layer) – didn’t feel the cold at all. Of course, you’d need an extra layer or two if sleeping out.
Everone has a theory, I see.
After six years in centrally-heated USA I came home for my mother’s funeral in the UK and took in various friends and relations while over here. This was in early January 1972. With one exception none of the houses I stayed in had CH. The nights were purgatory and I now have some idea of what it is like to be pressed to death, a medieval form of execution visited upon those who didn’t pay their TV licences.
I cowered under piles of fabric (carpet in one instance), making a mockery of the theory of insulation. Going to bed cold and lacking the wherewithal to generate heat within my body I remained cold; being entombed did nothing for me at all.
Your problems may be physiological – an inability to profit thermally from the byproducts of digestion. I find this very unlikely given that you posted once about immersing yourself in a pool way out on Dartmoor, with a photo to prove your point. Had you been thermally inefficient then I suspect we would now be discussing the format for your memorial service – held beneath the squat towers of Wells Cathedral, attended by thousands, men of certain age having to be restrained from casting themselves over the coffin, the air made joyous by Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor. I think I would even be planning to travel down myself, strictly for the music you understand.
Denied that experience I have only one comment. VR and I live in a centrally heated house and we take full advantage of this. To do any other at our ages would be pure suicide. However the CH switches off at 22.30 and our bed is covered by two lightish (ie, in avoirdupois terms) blankets. It’s not surprising they are lightish since they consist mainly of holes. Cellular manufacture in fact. They are sufficient to keep our aged bodies on this – active – side of the grave.
Air, properly contained, is an excellent insulator. Compressed by the weight of other coverings air goes elsewhere; tightness is the enemy of spatial insulation. You might consider this simple fact (proven in our case) as a worthwhile starting point. In the meantime I am having a novena uttered aimed at prolonging your life until the turn of the next century. A secular novena, of course, based on the second law of thermodynamics which should be of more than passing interest to you.
Your comments and suggestions are valued and interesting – thank you all. However, before I try the ‘less is more’ theory I will have to check how Blonde Two and The Welshman feel about it as they are the ones who have to revive me from my near hypothermic state.