Dressing for winter in the boreal forest

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Red Fox

Full Member
Dec 31, 2012
457
1
Cheshire
yes it looks like one .we will make one if the s..t hits the fan in finland lol I wuld like to try one for fun allthesame.
 

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Tenderfoot
Dec 16, 2013
83
1
Western Canada
I have learned from this thread, thank you. This was my outer layer while hunting Ptarmigan on Lake Athabasca. The Raber gloves from Winnipeg are the best I've ever worn for extreme cold.
 

Angry Pirate

Forager
Jul 24, 2014
198
0
Peak District
I suspect so but bear in mind it rarely gets cold enough in the uk to need arctic kit. You'd be best off just adding layers to your existing kit.
Wise purchases would include good base layers (synthetic or wool) inckuding long johns, a couple of light fleece (or wool)layers and a belay jacket, i.e. a warm over layer to chuck on over your shell.
For on the hill, I use a primaloft 100 Rab or a decent down jacket (though it's usually too damp in the uk for down). For bushy stuff I use an old buffalo mountain jacket. The army surplus "softie" gear is a good budget buy.
I've wild camped at -20 in Scotland using the above and been fine.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Excellent recommendations by Stuart, I fully agree with his choices.
The only thing I would like to add is that the first layer ( closest to the torso) can be a short sleeved cotton t-shirt, or even better one of those sleeve less "netting r-shirts" ( do not know english name) and a pair of thin Cotton socks.
The reason is that it is a goid idea to change these two items daily, socks maybe twice daily, as sweat and the skin oils lessen the insulation properties a lot.

They should be thin and light so not to weigh much. We used to leave the dirty items behind.
In bad cold a silk balaclava is nice too.

My experience is gained and learned during 3 years of working as an officer in Regiment K4 in the Swedish Arctic.
Winter temperatures going down to -50 Celcius, thermometer degrees, no windchill calculated.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I've lived in the boreal forst of British Columbia ( 53 - 54N) for the past 40 years. Some winter bush work, sometimes very cold.
From the thread title, only 3 things come to mind:
1. Get out of the wind. Some sort of outer windproof layer. For me, that's a hooded snow camo smock over my coat.
2. Frozen branches are brittle. Stay out of the closed forest on windy days.
3. If a big pine or spruce decided to dump several cubic feet of snow on you, above all,
keep that out of your neck, your mitts and your boots. For me, that's snowmobile gloves and boots.
Or, something like a 36" dump overnight.
 

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