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Cold Weather Active Wear Headwear
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Oct 27, 2006 at 10:59 pm #1220008
I’m looking at my headwear situation right now and trying to figure out what would be a good choice of headwear for the 30-50 degree weather range for hiking. I have the possum down hat but that’s way too warm so I’m wondering about a headsweats cap, OR Airfoil beanie, Cloudveil 4 Shadows, or a merino cap. What do other peole wear in these situations? The OR Airfoil Beanie seems like it might be overkill but I like the added wind and water resistance that it and the Cloudveil beanie might provide. Thanks for your insights :)
Oct 28, 2006 at 6:26 am #1365673For that temperature range (30-50 degrees F), I’m only looking to take a slight chill off my ears and maybe avoid some heat loss through my scalp.
For that I prefer the multi-purpose Buff headwear http://www.buffusa.com/index.html
Its extremely lightweight and can be worn in many different ways. I use the original version, but they make other types with wind resistance or fleece for added warmth.
Oct 28, 2006 at 6:44 am #1365674I agree that it’s mainly cold ears in the upper range of the figure but if it’s windy and overcast my head does get a bit chilled. I have a windstopper headband but it’s not terrifically breathable so I’ve also played around with the idea of either going with a powerstretch or windpro headband rather than full cap/beanie.
Oct 28, 2006 at 6:10 pm #1365724Hood of your hooded windshirt.
Oct 29, 2006 at 6:48 am #1365738I use a simple Serius Thermax skull cap. It’s small and light enough that it stays in a pants pocket in cool weather and comes on and off as needed. It functions as a base layer for my head and combines well with other headwear.
Oct 29, 2006 at 4:14 pm #1365763I like my Smartwool 100% merino wool beanie. It is very lightweight, thin material. Would need additional insulation for nearer freezing.
Oct 29, 2006 at 4:23 pm #1365764Possum Fur Beanie is the best way to go, however, on a recent trip I used a Smartwool Hoody which worked well in conjunction with a windshirt.
Oct 29, 2006 at 4:57 pm #1365765Army surplus wool watch cap. Makes you look kinda mean or like youre in training or something, but extremely warm and inexpensive. If it gets wet, still keeps your head warm. Wont rip or tear, super rugged. Doesnt retain odor even if you sweat like a pig. I never have to wash mine (well maybe once every four years in some Woolite).
Combine it with the hood of a good parka , and you aint gonna get cold.
Gets the job done…
Vlad
Oct 29, 2006 at 5:45 pm #1365770AnonymousInactiveI use a Mountain hardwear Transition Featherweight Dome. It weighs 1 oz and is constructed with a Windstopper membrane and microfleece lining for the headband. It breathes plenty well enough for my high output pushes up Cascade slopes on training hikes and is my standard outer layer when things get cold in camp and for sleeping, usually with a MH Polarstretch balaclava and/or Possum Down beanie.
Oct 29, 2006 at 7:57 pm #1365779A Tilley suits me fine for that temp range. I’ve been trying out an OR Storm Bucket for rainy weather (I like it). The OR Peruvian Hat is great for colder weather and sleeping. A good ol’ Polarfleece beanie is light cheap, warm and breaths.
Oct 29, 2006 at 11:27 pm #1365781Home-made wide-brimmed cabbage hat, calico, very like a Tilley.
Works fine to sub-freezing.
QWorks fine in the rain.
Works fine in hot weather.
Works fine.Oct 29, 2006 at 11:41 pm #1365783One thing I would like to point out to a few of you is that when your humping it hard on the trail, even in subfreezing winter temps, its easy to overheat if you wear too much clothing. And a warm hat will be one of the first things to come off in cold weather backpacking.
As long as you are moving and heating, unless its REALLY cold or maybe freezing rain or sleeting or something, that hat goes off.
When you really need that warm hat is when you stop for any length of time. In camp, on breaks, when eating lunch…at nighttime. Then you NEED a warm hat. You arent moving, you arent being “fast and light.” You arent generating body heat like when you are on the trail.
Reading a few of the posts here, I get the impression some think they will be moving ALL the time. A calico wide brimmed hat for wintertime backpacking? COME ON!
Ever had hypothermia before? Even early stage, mild hypothermia?
Vlad
Oct 30, 2006 at 1:44 am #1365785> When you really need that warm hat is when you stop for any length of time.
That may be a little more than I would endorse, but I should add that our windshirts have good hoods. These can make a lot of difference – either under or over the hats.
That said, we DO take fleece ski hats in winter for sleeping. Yeah, good stuff then!> A calico wide brimmed hat for wintertime backpacking? COME ON!
Well, all I can tell you is what we do. I could show you pics of us ski-touring with those hats on. Can get rather sunny in the snow, with lots of UV. But once again, our tops have hoods, and we carry fleece hats as well.> Ever had hypothermia before? Even early stage, mild hypothermia?
Nope – but that is because we carry enough clothing and are extremely careful about NOT getting hypothermic. I walk and ski with my wife, and we watch each other all the time.
Well – a bit cool sometimes in the snow when putting up the tent, but that’s usually a calculated gamble on what we know about each other’s reserves.Now, Heat Stress and even Heat Stroke – ah yes. I’m in Australia, remember!
Oct 30, 2006 at 12:28 pm #1365797>I could show you pics of us ski-touring >with those hats on.
Man, you arent going to spread UL with statements like that! Come on! A calico broad brimmed hat? A hat like that is for warm weather…summertime, perhaps springtime or early fall here in the USA.
Not for wintertime usage. Unless perhaps you are a skin cancer survivor and trying to avoid any sunlight.
> Ever had hypothermia before? Even early stage, mild hypothermia?
Nope – but that is because we carry enough clothing and are extremely careful about NOT getting hypothermic. I walk and ski with my wife, and we watch each other all the time.
Well – a bit cool sometimes in the snow when putting up the tent, but that’s usually a calculated gamble on what we know about each other’s reserves.
You carry enough cold weather clothing to prevent hypothermia, yet your cold weather hat is a broad brimmed calico hat? LOL That makes no sense whatsoever. The hat you describe is like a boonie hat or a modified cowboy hat here in the USA. It is a medical fact that a huge amount of heat loss is thru the head and neck area. The hat you describe isnt going to insulate your head very well (except perhaps in heat in Australia).>Now, Heat Stress and even Heat Stroke – >ah yes. I’m in Australia, remember!
I think this explains much of your answer about a “cold weather hat.”
Vlad
Oct 30, 2006 at 1:14 pm #1365805Vlad – you’re kidding, right? It makes perfect sense to me as long as there’s a woolie somewhere about for when the sun goes down… The sun crisps the back of your ears just as nicely in winter as it does in summer.
IF you’re kidding, you got me. Great poker face. If you’re not, very few things in life make “absolutely no sense whatsoever.” Something to think about in your work with kids…
Oct 30, 2006 at 1:44 pm #1365807I layer my head wear like I do on the rest of my clothing. My base layer is either a Smartwool Shadow’s Hoody or an Ibex Hooded Shak. As it gets colder I add a Patagonia Houdini and finally a Seirus Quick Draw Hat. I love hoodies. They encourage me to fine tune my comfort. Nothing to look for, they are always there, and no drafty necks.
Oct 30, 2006 at 3:23 pm #1365816My first choice still seems to be a headband, something along the lines of powerdry, but I always have a synthetic beanie, sweatvac,underarmour tech., or craft windstopper. These are all made essentially for under bike helmet applications.
Some kind of insulated headgear goes in the fanny pack/pack when the temp. swings too much. I have been caught in the first stage of hypothermia cross-country skiing in freezing rain [alone], it was all I could do to get the key in the ignition of my truck to start it from the shaking/shivering. Sun protection is way important on the snow, some of the old timers probably remember smearing a little glacier cream under your nose to keep from burning.Oct 30, 2006 at 3:30 pm #1365817The OR Airfoil is very versatile but it’s going to be overkill if the Possumdown hat is too hot for you. I’d take a look at the MH Transition Dome mentioned by the other poster. That looks like a good compromise.
Oct 30, 2006 at 4:25 pm #1365820I have had first stage hypothermia before. It caused confusion and loss of coordination along with severe shivering. It was beyond “just being really cold.” It was a long time ago and if I had been alone, I probably would have progressed into the deeper stages of hypothermia and died.
You cant think clearly when it hits, you lose manual dexterity…cant even tie a basic knot. You are screwed if you are by yourself.
It sneaks up on you real gradual like. Being ignorant about it, being overconfident and in denial about the possibility of it ever happening to YOU is what usually leads to it.
A warm toboggan type hat, wool/fleece/primaloft/whatever is essential to help prevent it in cold weather. If you stop for any length of time, that hat goes on. A broad brimmed cowboy or boonie hat isnt going to cut it. Thats a hat for warm weather, not cold weather.
Hypothermia has killed plenty of “tough guys” who never thought it would happen to them. In the first Iraq war, several British SAS troopers were killed by hypothermia when they went deep behind Iraqi lines on foot and their patrol was compromised and they had to E&E.
There were three or four Army Ranger trainees (all officers if I remember correctly and several were West Pointers) who died of hypothermia during the Florida swamp phase of Ranger school. That was back in the nineties, during a winter Ranger class and caused a big stink…probably because they were officers and mostly West Pointers.
Advising someone to go backpacking in the winter with a broad brimmed hat is negligent. Unless your winters are warm <grin>.
Vlad
Oct 30, 2006 at 4:40 pm #1365822Vlad the thread is about active headwear … not camp insulation. The things you say are true, yes, but from my own limited experience with cold weather, (10 – 30 degrees) a super warm hat is not really ideal while moving. I’ve used a patagonia R1 balaclava and and even this was too warm while on the move. The top of my head and neck would get quite sweaty while my ears were a little cool. I’ve been considering a wind pro (or thinner) head band and now that Larry has suggested the same, will give it a try. I suspect it would work well in the temps listed in the original post as well.
This would be on combination with a OR sun runner cap for sun pro.
Oct 30, 2006 at 5:53 pm #1365824Vlad, I agree that hypothermia is nothing to mess around with. But this thread is about what you wear while on the move in 30F to 50F temps. Your solution, a wool watch cap, would be way too warm for me. I also wear broad brimmed hats in the winter sun, with a thin thermax skull cap layered underneath. And I keep a windstopper fleece peruvian type hat in reserve for evenings, sleeping, and very cold weather.
Oct 30, 2006 at 6:49 pm #1365832I know the thread is about active outdoor headwear. That was my whole point. I made the point in an earlier post that when you are on the move and sweating heavily in wintertime, there is rarely a need for a hat of any type at all. In fact I said earlier that the hat is usually the first layer to come off during winter backpacking.
Hence, I was a bit confused about the term “active wintertime headgear.” Because going by my experiences and training, which are extensive, when you need that warm headgear is when you are inactive in the backcountry OR when it gets REALLY cold…well under 30F. More like 20F or under.
In the temp ranges mentioned in this string, when I’m humping it hard in the winter, usually I have to strip down to just a pair of pants, my boots/wool socks, a T-shirt and a wool shirt. The hat comes off. If it gets to the high thirties or above, the wool shirt goes off and I hump a ruck in just the T-shirt.
At night in camp, when I cool down and the temperature drops more, the hat goes on and stays on til I go to bed.
You put on layers (hat) when you are inactive and cool down, take layers off when you are really active and heat up.
While I focused on hypothermia with Jaffin’s posts, I should also mention it is possible to get heat exhaustion even in the winter while backpacking. If I did twenty miles a day in the winter, I wouldnt be wearing a hat of any type when on the trail unless it was really cold or perhaps sleeting or freezing rain. Otherwise, Id overheat fast…then when I stopped Id cool down really fast.
How about altering the mindset here and just saying “whats a really lightweight but warm winter hat?”
Vlad
Oct 30, 2006 at 9:18 pm #1365846After those four Army Ranger school students died of hypothermia back in the nineties, the Federal government passed this statute to try to prevent hypothermia (and other wilderness medicine related problems) from killing military personnel going thru Ranger training.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+10USC4303
TITLE 10–ARMED FORCES
Subtitle B–Army
PART III–TRAINING
CHAPTER 401–TRAINING GENERALLY
Sec. 4303. Army Ranger training: instructor staffing; safety
(a) Levels of Personnel Assigned.–(1) The Secretary of the Army
shall ensure that at all times the number of officers, and the number of
enlisted members, permanently assigned to the Ranger Training Brigade
(or other organizational element of the Army primarily responsible for
Ranger student training) are not less than 90 percent of the required
manning spaces for officers, and for enlisted members, respectively, for
that brigade.
(2) In this subsection, the term “required manning spaces” means
the number of personnel spaces for officers, and the number of personnel
spaces for enlisted members, that are designated in Army authorization
documents as the number required to accomplish the missions of a
particular unit or organization.
(b) Training Safety Cells.–(1) The Secretary of the Army shall
establish and maintain an organizational entity known as a “safety
cell” as part of the organizational elements of the Army responsible
for conducting each of the three major phases of the Ranger Course. The
safety cell in each different geographic area of Ranger Course training
shall be comprised of personnel who have sufficient continuity and
experience in that geographic area of such training to be knowledgeable
of the local conditions year-round, including conditions of terrain,
weather, water, and climate and other conditions and the potential
effect on those conditions on Ranger student training and safety.
(2) Members of each safety cell shall be assigned in sufficient
numbers to serve as advisers to the officers in charge of the major
phase of Ranger training and shall assist those officers in making
informed daily “go” and “no-go” decisions regarding training in
light of all relevant conditions, including conditions of terrain,
weather, water, and climate and other conditions.(Added Pub. L. 104-106, div. A, title V, Sec. 562(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996,
110 Stat. 323.)Accomplishment of Required Manning Levels; GAO Assessment
Section 562(b), (c) of Pub. L. 104-106 provided that:
“(b) Accomplishment of Required Manning Levels.–(1) If, as of the
date of the enactment of this Act [Feb. 10, 1996], the number of
officers, and the number of enlisted members, permanently assigned to
the Army Ranger Training Brigade are not each at (or above) the
requirement specified in subsection (a) of section 4303 of title 10,
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the Secretary of the
Army shall–
“(A) take such steps as necessary to accomplish that
requirement within 12 months after such date of enactment; and
“(B) submit to Congress, not later than 90 days after such date
of enactment, a plan to achieve and maintain that requirement.
“(2) The requirement specified in subsection (a) of section 4303 of
title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall expire
two years after the date (on or after the date of the enactment of this
Act) on which the required manning levels referred to in paragraph (1)
are first attained.
“(c) GAO Assessment.–(1) Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act [Feb. 10, 1996], the Comptroller General shall
submit to Congress a report providing a preliminary assessment of the
implementation and effectiveness of all corrective actions taken by the
Army as a result of the February 1995 accident at the Florida Ranger
Training Camp, including an evaluation of the implementation of the
required manning levels established by subsection (a) of section 4303 of
title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
“(2) At the end of the two-year period specified in subsection
(b)(2), the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report
providing a final assessment of the matters covered in the preliminary
report under paragraph (1). The report shall include the Comptroller
General’s recommendation as to the need to continue required statutory
manning levels as specified in subsection (a) of section 4303 of title
10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).”Oct 30, 2006 at 9:58 pm #1365849Vlad,
I disagree. Starting around 30-50 degrees some lightweight headwear is appropirate for some. I know how heavy pack can change your need for insulation ( because your working much harder ). For me a headband to protect and warm my ears while allowing my head and neck to vent ought to be perfect.
Oct 31, 2006 at 1:14 am #1365853> > I could show you pics of us ski-touring with those hats on.
> Man, you arent going to spread UL with statements like that! Come on! A calico broad brimmed hat? A hat like that is for warm weather…summertime, perhaps springtime or early fall here in the USA.
> Not for wintertime usage. Unless perhaps you are a skin cancer survivor and trying to avoid any sunlight.It may be that you haven’t met the full range of winter snow conditions which are possible in the mountains. There have been days in the snow when we were wearing, not only our calico hats, but also silk face masks across almost all of our face. Yep, you are right when you mention skin cancer as the danger. No, we haven’t had skin cancer – because we cover up.
Perhaps I should add that I have spent several years as a consultant research scientist developing imaging systems for the diagnosis of skin cancer. I KNOW what skin cancer is like. I remember asking whether we could get another few images of one particular example of a lesion, but was told it was not possible. I asked why, and was told the patient died a few weeks later, of that skin cancer. Reality hits.
> You carry enough cold weather clothing to prevent hypothermia, yet your cold weather hat is a broad brimmed calico hat? LOL That makes no sense whatsoever.
I beg to differ. On a clear day high up in the mountains I have been ski-touring with light Lycra racing tights, a light Lycra top and my hat. Oh yes – and light gloves as well. Without those I would have been severely sun-burnt. Mind you, that night, when the sun went down, it dropped to about – 10C (14 F). That clear sky …Cheers
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