Clothing:  What you wear will make all the difference in the world. Cotton is out wool and synthetics are in. Those cotton jeans and shirts can do you in by absorbing water and perspiration hence lowering their heat retaining value down to nothing. In fact they will rob your body of heat and can cause hypothermia; a condition where the bodies core temperature is lowered to a point where it can't function. We've all had the chills when outdoors in the winter this is the first sign of the onset of hypothermia. Action must be taken at this time to prevent further lowering of the individuals core temperature by increasing activity, building a warming fire or if possible get them to a warmer environment.

If the person or yourself has reached stage two of hypothermia; in other words they had a severe case of the chills and no action was taken to warm them but the chills went away. They are in immanent danger. They will be losing the ability to think clearly or to manipulate their hand to light a fire very soon. It is imperative to get them warmed up now. Slipping into stage three will mean getting drowsy, frostbite, maybe falling asleep and possible death.

Ok if I haven't scared you off with that bit of gloom and doom let's get back to the cloths that you should be wearing for winter camping. We'll start at the bottom with footwear. Winter Pac boots like Sorrels, Lacrosse and Rocky make are ideal for cold weather camping. They can be a little on the heavy side for walking great distances though. A better choice for the higher activity level of hiking or snowshoeing is the new high-tech cold weather hiking boots. These have an aggressive tread, 400 to 600 grams of Thinsulate and various methods of waterproofing plus they are a joy to walk in being very light weight.

Long underwear the first part of your layering system. There's probably no better choice than polypropylene, they come in various weights, wick moisture away from your skin very good and they are probably the most affordable choice. Wool is the old standby but most people can't wear it next to their skin; but you can layer a lightweight polypropylene then a mid weight wool over it for very cold weather. Every year there seems to be new high-tech fabrics coming out. A thorough discussion of these would make a small book and is beyond the scope of this article.

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