Ray Mears' Winter Layering System

[leatherneck]

I've seen a few of his shows where he is in Arctic Sweden and Canada. It appears that all he wears is a green turtleneck base layer, followed by a Swanndri wool half-zip shirt-jac, a norwegian type wool sweater, and finally an uninsulated cotton anorak. He also mentioned temperatures of -30 to -50.
My question is this, for those of you with cold weather experience, is two wool sweaters and a windbreaker all that's really needed? It doesn't really seem like much insulation to me.

 

[addyb]

That's a genuine question Leatherneck, but just remember that His Royal Highness "Chubby" Mears is....oh heck he carries a lot of insulation around with him.

On a more serious note...no, that doesn't seem like a lot of insulation. I have different layering systems for different weather, depending on how cold it'll be. For example:

Helly Hansen Life Active polypro baselayer, followed by a hooded fibre pile jacket, followed by my Entrant GII-XT jacket if it's going to be cold and drizzly.

If it's going to be cold and dry, I add a Malden Mills polartec baselayer on top of the Lifa, and then a wooly pully sweater, and finally a double layered Ventile anorak. Sometimes I'm STILL cold.

For my legs, I have a pair of army issue gabardine windproofs that are just as good as the Ventile anorak, a pair of fleece trousers underneath, and my usual Lifa/Polartec base layer combo.

Then again, I'm skinny like a rail.

Adam

 

[longshot]

good question leather neck.

depands on where you are, in the places listed the winters tend to be cold but dry, here in Newfoundland the winters tend to be cold and wet, with snow, freezing rain, rain, and ice pelletts in the same day not uncommon along with wind off the atlantic and the Labrador sea or the gulf of st lawerence adding to the mix. so someting thats water resistant is a plus along with being insulated.

dont know if this helps or just muddies the water

dean

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hi Leatherneck,
I suppose it depends upon many things, to my mind its all about how you personally cope with the cold. I'm a big bloke, chubbier even than the man himself. I was born in the winter months and I think this goes some way to deciding whether you are comfortable or not in cold situations. I have always "prefered" the colder months of the year, so the few layers mentioned seens fine to me. I'm often out shooting on the Welsh mountains, in winter wearing a Montane Extreme smock, OG trousers, boots and a hat. I rarely stop moving and I'm comfortable that way. But I know that many folk would not be!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Simon E]

Some people run hotter than others too, I dont feel the cold much when others around me are almost blue. Anything over 18C in the summer kills me though as I sweat like a pig

 

[TallMikeM]

a lot of it's also down to what you're doing. If you're active and moving about then you don't need much (being too warm is as dangerous as being too cold).
I'm sure I've seen Ray also wearing what looks like a down parka of some sort for when he's less active.

 

[leon-b]

Some people run hotter than others too, I dont feel the cold much when others around me are almost blue. Anything over 18C in the summer kills me though as I sweat like a pig

same here winter is my favourite time of the year, i dont feel te cold much but in summer i sweat like a pig
leon

 

[Dougster]

I think if you find the right level of base layer (I have moved to exclusively merino now) you would be surprised at how little you have to wear over the top - one or two fewer layers than I had to wearing poly base layers. In the Cairngorms last Feb I just had a wool base layer and a windjacket almost all the time.

 

[pothunter]

I believe the Inuit say 'take something off before you sweat and put something on before you get cold', I've been doing this for the last few years and it works for me.

Pothunter.

 

[Tor helge]

I`ve not been so much out in temperatures around -30 or less, as the winter temperatures along the coast seldom goes below -20, but enough to know that the layering system you ask about is enough.
When ice-fishing in such temps (mostly inner parts of Troms county) I wear a syntetic shirt as base layer, then a wool shirt. Over this I mostly use a norwegian army shirt (cotton), a woolen sweater and a Bergan`s ( don`t know it`s name)jacket.
The woolen sweater is taken off when skiing.

Tor

 

[Bjorn Victor]

I wore an icebreaker 260 T-shirt and a Buffalo special six shirt and was fine when it hit -20 as long as I kept (slightly) active.

I found that wool is a great and underestimated insulator. We should all go back to the "wool age"...

Bjorn

 

[dommyracer]

Merino is the dogs danglies, and its EVERYWHERE this Fall / Winter.

I have a couple of Howies fine merino baselayers that are great next ot the skin - warm in the winter, cool in the summer, wicks away moisture and doesn't start smelling after a short amount of time.

If you have one near you, Uni Qlo are doing some quite nice merino sweaters at the moment, not designed for outdoor wear but would be fine as an insulating layer I reckon.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Don’t rule out an element of what the Director thinks Mr. Mears looks ‘cool in for any given shot. Out of camera he might be freezing hit n--- off!

Speaking of Directors, when are the Beeb going to get to grips with Bill Oddie’s attire as sported on the current “Autumn Watch” programme? I can look at Ms. Tangle Mop all night but the sooner they conceal the undeniably knowledgeable ‘twitcher’ in full DPM the better!

Cheers

 

[oetzi]

Most important for extreme cold:
Nothing waterproof/breathable!
Because water is usually found in frozen form, you dont need Goretex etc. . One will encounter liquid water only when, for example, breaking through a layer of ice into a lake.
And then its most likely that you are dead anyway.
Everything else, be it an outer layer of cotton or polycotton or windstopper, wool or plastic next to skin etc, is down to personal preference.
Really important is not to start sweating to much, moving a bit slower and adding layers at a rest is what makes cold weather enjoyable.

 

[big_swede]

As long as you move insulation is never a problem. The problems start when you have to stand still, or have to be stationary.

In extreme cold (-20-30, plus high winds) I found to be enough to wear a woolen baselayer (not merino, ordinary wool), cotton anorak, cotton bibs. And sealskin mittens with wool liners and a woolen neckgaiter. Bear in mind that I was skiing with a heavy backpack and a "pulk" (uhh, no good english word really).

During breaks I had to pull out a down jacket and the old fur hat.

As somebody mentioned before, no membranes in cold weather! The moist will only freeze inside, making the membranes work even worse. Unlined Cotton is far superior to any material as a outer layer under cold circumstances. Why unlined? Because it will eventually get wet from sweat anyway, and then you can just leave it to freeze and then smash the frozen ice out of the fabric. This is not possible with a insulated jacket.

(edit: spelling)

 

[addyb]

That's true Big Swede, and it's also the reason why the BAST swears by Ventile.

 

[rik_uk3]

Ray Mears looks like he carries an extra couple of pounds, but thats good in very cold weather, and remember the guy is well over six feet tall, maybe the camera is not kind to him.

I'm a creature of old habits, and while not experiencing the kind of conditions some of you guy do, I stick to wearing a layer system of things like, tee shirt, thin merino wool V neck, norgie shirt (yes I know its cotton, but I find them great), and maybe a wool shirt or wooly pully. Finnish off with a fleece and or Berghaus gortex jacket (in Wales, we tend to need the gortex because of the wet weather ). I pick and mix from that lot, but the norgie is a firm favourite, works really well for me.

Looking for a good winter hat though, those thinsualte ones are tight and crap, any ideas?

 

[BorderReiver]

I believe the Inuit say 'take something off before you sweat and put something on before you get cold', I've been doing this for the last few years and it works for me.

Pothunter.

Words of wisdom.The Inuit know about cold too.

What works for RM may or may not work for you.
Much depends on the amount and type of activity you're undertaking.You will have to find your own balance.The important thing is not to sweat;that's why layering is so important.

Try taking too much stuff with you the first couple of times and you can then safely work out the amount of insulation that suits you.

 

[BorderReiver]

That's a genuine question Leatherneck, but just remember that His Royal Highness "Chubby" Mears is....oh heck he carries a lot of insulation around with him.
Adam

I don't think personal comments like this are necessary.

 

[Montivagus]

It doesn't matter what you wear when its really cold if you don't eat and drink enough! It's not just a question of clothing.