Clothing for Winter Hiking

Introduction

You Too Can be Warm and Comfy Outdoors in the Winter

It's unfortunately a true statement that some people who bitterly complain about the supposedly fierce New England winters do so largely because they never quite learned how to deal with them. Sure, there are times that it truly is insufferable out (33deg. and raining comes to mind) - but even then, there are a number of simple "tricks" you can learn which will keep you nice and warm and comfy while outdoors in the winter:

(1) How to dress to keep warm and comfy.

(2) How to eat to keep warm and comfy.

(3) How to avoid overheating, and thus getting sweaty, damp, and cold.

These topics will be the main issues of this chapter, and are, in some ways, the most important points in this book. The correct use of clothing can transform a potentially dangerous situation (being deep in the woods in winter) into a far safer and surprisingly comfortable place to be.

In this chapter we describe the purpose that particular articles of clothing serve to keep you comfortable and safe. We discuss the different materials that work well for these purposes, and briefly mention how to equip yourself inexpensively for winter sports like snowshoeing, skiing, and hiking. You may find it odd that we talk quite a bit about clothes designed to keep you cool enough rather than warm enough - which (believe it or not) is a more significant problem for winter hikers.

You will find that everyone you talk to has a different idea about exactly what you should wear and eat in the outdoors. Clearly, no one person has the right answer, and with experience, you will develop a system that fulfills your needs. In this manual, we hope to teach not a recipe for equipping yourself, but rather the issues and trade-offs involved, so that you can make good decisions about what to use, when, and why.

On the other hand, it is quite easy to clothe yourself incorrectly. For safety on AMC trips, we need to set minimum guidelines for what we consider "well prepared," and we must insist that all participants meet these guidelines. Hikers do get away with less, but we hope to convince you that those risks are not worth taking. The "Equipment Checklists," contained at the end of this book demonstrate guidelines for typical AMC hikes. What we present here hopefully will explain the logic behind this list.

In the next chapter, we discuss (among other things) proper nutrition for winter sports, which is as vital as clothing to keeping you warm and safe. Together, proper clothing and nutrition allow you to practice heat management - the art of regulating your body heat, allowing yourself to become neither too cold nor too hot.

We stress these points simply because failure to do these things properly can put you (and your group) at great risk. Be sure to read this chapter and the following ones carefully and remember to ask your trip leaders any questions you may have.

Heat Management and Layering Systems

Heat Management Involves Balancing Heat Production and Heat Loss

Whenever your body is exposed to cold or wet weather, the environment steadily removes heat from it. Your body can work to replenish this heat, but only so long as the rate of heat loss is not too great. There are very effective ways you can use clothing to minimize this heat loss, as you will see in the next section.

At the same time, when you are exercising in the cold, your body is in fact generating a tremendous amount of heat by burning food to make energy. Even for only moderately strenuous activity, you actually produce a substantial amount of heat - almost always more than you loose if you are dressed correctly. This leads to the fundamental issue of heat management for winter outdoor sports - to remain comfortable and safe, you must balance your body's heat production with its heat loss to the environment.

You should become familiar with the general consequences of getting too cold (an important discussion of the symptoms and first aid for hypothermia and frostbite is provided later in this manual). However, getting too warm turns out to be a more dangerous problem for winter hikers. Why? Well, it's easy to warm up again, as will be discussed below. However, when you're too warm, you sweat to get rid of this heat, and in the cold, this sweat rapidly forms into liquid on your skin. (Actually you get sweatier in winter than in summer, since in warm weather, much of the water is expelled as vapor.) When you're damp, the water very efficiently sucks heat from your body into the environment, and can defeat quite a bit of insulation.

This is the paradox of winter sports: if you get nice and warm and sweaty from exercise, soon you will get quite cold. One major issue in winter hiking is not only how to keep warm enough, but how to keep cool enough. Strange, isn't it?!

Proper Clothing Minimizes Heat Loss Under Many Different Conditions

Before particular clothing items are discussed, let's first discuss what we want from a set of winter clothing. By examining what we need the clothes to do, and what the materials are capable of, selecting a wardrobe will be easy.

Body heat can be lost in four ways: conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation. Let's look at each of these methods, and see how clothing can be designed stop the heat loss.

Conduction: Heat flows from any warm body into any cold bodies (liquid, gas, or solid) contacting it, unless something blocks it. Some materials help conduct heat from your body more readily than others: water and metal are very good conductors (beware of getting wet and touching cold metal objects with bare skin). Air is only a mediocre conductor (that is, it's a good insulator).

Warm clothing reduces heat loss, not because the material itself is such a good insulator, but because it traps an air layer between you and the cold, which is in fact a very good insulator. Thicker and fluffier clothing traps more air and thus keeps you warmer. Some materials loose their ability to trap air if they get wet (an all too frequent occurrence on winter hikes) and these must be avoided.

Convection (Wind Chill): Surely you know that when it's cool and windy out, it can feel awfully cold. Even though air isn't a very good conductor, quite a lot of cold air can pass over your body in very little time, and it will take plenty of your body heat with it.

However, people often misunderstand the effect of wind-chill. When the weather report says, for example, that the temperature is +20[[ring]] , or 0[[ring]] including wind chill, that doesn't mean that it's 0[[ring]] out. That means that if you are not shielded from the wind, you will loose heat from your body as fast as if you were standing unprotected in 0[[ring]] still weather, despite the fact that it's +20[[ring]] out.

Wind-chill is easy to deal with: wear clothes that keep the wind off of your body. Water helps wind conduct heat from your skin, so it's important not to get too sweaty or wet.

Evaporation: The raw process of simply having sweat evaporate off your skin is an energy-absorbing process, vaguely similar to the principle under which refrigerators work. Wind speeds up this evaporation, and thus makes you even colder. To minimize both evaporative cooling and wind chill, you need a wicking layer closest to your skin - this pulls the sweat away from your skin where it then slowly evaporates without cooling you down. Combined with a breathable outer layer, to let the moisture escape, wicking layers keep you dry and comfortable.

Radiation is similar to conduction, except that it refers to the transfer of heat as infra-red light. Almost any material captures heat radiation, although darker ones work a bit better. (On bright sunny days in open snowy areas, dark clothes will help you quickly overheat!) Generally, this is not an issue in New England.

A Flexible Layering System Will Keep You Warm and Comfortable

Having read the preceding digression into physics, you should now be able to figure out many of the fundamental requirements for a good winter sports clothing system. For example:

(1) You need to insulate yourself by keeping a trapped warm air layer next to your body.

(2) You need to protect your body from cold air and wind, and, if need be, other inclement weather, like snow, rain, and sleet.

(3) You need to keep as dry as possible, particularly from your own sweat. Clothes that wick moisture off the skin to the outside, and clothes that breathe, allowing moisture to pass through while still insulating and protecting, are best.

(4) Your clothes should be flexible, allowing you to adjust for changing temperature and exercise conditions easily, allowing you to remain warm without overheating.

(5) In case you do get wet, your clothes should do as good a job as possible keeping you warm, even when damp. Clothes that dry quickly are preferable.

You can accomplish all this using the following layering system:

Inside wicking layer: Usually synthetic long underwear that wicks sweat away from the skin, and provides some insulation.

Middle insulating layers: Breathable clothes that insulate by holding a warm air layer near the body, such as a wool sweater or fluffy synthetic jacket. Multiple thin layers are much better than one single very warm layer (for flexibility's sake), and materials that retain their insulating ability while wet are a must.

Outer shell layers: Should provide wind protection and help trap air within your insulation, while still allowing some ventilation and breathability. During inclement weather, you will need a waterproof outer layer to keep you relatively dry inside.

That's all there is too it. Below, we'll talk about what to wear for each layer. To answer that question, let's first discuss which materials are appropriate to use for these purposes. This will help you quickly design effective clothing systems.

Outer Shell layer, Middle Insulation, and Inner Wicking layers.

Cotton is the Work of the Devil

While most major world religions help you develop important sets of moral and ethical values, none teaches the crucial eleventh commandment:

THOU SHALT AVOID COTTON IN ALL WINTER HIKING CLOTHES AT ALL COSTS.

To hear AMC leaders say this, it at least sounds like it should be a mortal sin. Why? Well, cotton has none of the properties we just outlined:

(1) Cotton absorbs water (and water vapor) like a sponge and holds it near your body for a long time. Then, cotton takes a long time to dry. Cotton does not quickly let water evaporate.

(2) Cotton fibers shrink when they get wet, and thus cotton fabric looses its loft and hence its insulating ability.

(3) Unless it's very heavy and dense (and thus highly absorptive and poorly breathing), cotton affords poor wind protection.

The worst of the bad are denim and corduroy. These materials are very dense and absorb a lot of water. Cotton T-shirts and socks must also be avoided, and long underwear with any cotton in it (for example, much of the stuff you will find for sale to downhill skiers) will make you colder rather than warmer. You're better off without any at all.

So If I Can't Wear Cotton...

What can you use instead? Let's take a look:

Polypropylene, a synthetic, and its derivatives (Thermax, Capilene, Cool-Max, etc.) are excellent materials for underwear, lightweight shirts, and the like. They wick water, insulate, and dry quickly. They're also light and pack well. As a class, these materials are often affectionately referred to as polypro.

Pile, or Fleece, is basically fluffy polyester, and makes great insulation for pants and jackets. Thin pile is good to hike in; thick pile is very warm. Pile also wicks water and dries very quickly.

Dacron, Polyester, Acrylic, and other synthetics were often used to make cheap, often very tacky, sweaters and shirts. This stuff is great to hike in! Go to your local Goodwill store before the outdoors stores. Watch out, though, rayon is made from wood fibers and is as bad as cotton.

Spandex or Lycra tights are worn by some people instead of polypro long underwear, although they do not wick as well and are definitely not as warm.

Wool and silk do not wick as well as polypro, but they do OK, and they retain their insulation ability even when wet (although wool dries very slowly). Wool sweaters are standard fare as inexpensive hiking clothes go, as are wool shirts and lightweight wool pants. Wool or silk underwear is worn by some people, although it is not as good as polypro.

Down and its synthetic substitutes (Hollofil, Thinsulate, etc.) are always too warm to hike in, but they make great Parkas and mittens for camp and emergencies, as well as sleeping bags. The only problem with down is that it looses all its insulating ability when wet - you absolutely have to keep it dry. The synthetics do not have this problem, but they are bulkier and heavier.

Nylon and similar synthetics are used to make raincoats and windbreakers, and come in two types: Uncoated nylon is used for breathable windbreakers (jackets and pants), and makes a great outer layer to hike in. It traps air, blocks wind, and still breathes really well. It is not at all waterproof, however. Coated nylon is used for excellent inexpensive and lightweight rain gear. It forms a vapor barrier, however (your sweat will not evaporate out), and thus is not good to wear unless it's really raining.

Gore-Tex, and its spin-offs (Ultrex, Klimate, etc.), are breathable, waterproof, trendy, and over-priced materials used for making jackets and pants. Truth be known, they're not as waterproof as coated nylon, and they don't breathe as well as uncoated nylon, but they allow your wind gear to double as rain gear. It's your money.

Vapor barriers are somewhat bizarre articles of gear which work by trapping all of the evaporating liquid from your body within an unbreathable waterproof layer (usually coated nylon) creating an air and water vapor boundary surrounding your skin, and thus preventing evaporative and convective cooling. Vapor barriers are the only reason you would ever allow yourself to get wet in order to stay warm in the winter. Moreover, vapor barriers are only for two special items: socks and sleeping bag liners, and in either case, only under special circumstances. Most people dislike vapor barriers because they make you feel gross and sticky. Yech.

Basic Articles of Winter Clothing

How much clothing and other gear you need to bring depends on where you are going. The AMC often categorizes trips into (a) those that involve extensive above treeline travel, where conditions can be more extreme, and (b) those that don't. Here, we'll discuss only clothing for the basic winter dayhiking trip (that is, no significant above treeline travel and no camping). Above-treeline and winter camping clothes are discussed later in this manual.

Long Underwear, including both shirt and pants, is crucial to keeping you warm and comfortable. Long underwear must be breathable, wicking, quick drying, and able to insulate when wet - we strongly recommend polypro or similar synthetics. Polypro underwear comes in various weights (or thicknesses), usually called light, medium, and expedition weight. Most people hike in light or medium weight, and use expedition weight for an emergency layer or while camping, as it is simply too warm for most New England hiking conditions. (Remember that multiple thin insulating layers are better than fewer thick layers). Wicking zip-neck shirts (for example, the sort sold for bicycling) help you ventilate.

Wool or silk long underwear, or Spandex or Lycra tights are acceptable, but they are not as good at wicking or as warm as polypro. There are a number of types of long underwear made which contain cotton - avoid these like the plague.

Shirt: An additional lightweight shirt or thin sweater worn over your long underwear usually provides ample upper body insulation while exercising (in fact, it may be too much - be prepared to take it off). Buttons or a zipper in front are nice to have since they easily allow you to adjust the ventilation. (In fact, some people replace buttons with velcro, making the shirt easier to open and close with mittens on.) Other good choices are a lightweight wool or synthetic sweater, or a very lightweight pile shirt or jacket. Remember the three important points: no cotton, no cotton, and no cotton.

Pants: Similarly, a pair of lightweight pants over your long underwear is all you generally want while hiking. Most people use either lightweight wool pants (or knickers), or breathable uncoated nylon or Gore-Tex-type wind pants.

Wool pants insulate well and will keep you warm if you get wet. However, they do not afford good wind protection if you go above treeline (you would need to wear wind pants over your wool pants). Tropical-weight military dress pants or an old pair of wool dress slacks usually work best. Be sure to get smooth finished, rather than fuzzy wool, as the fuzzy wool tends to pick up snow which then melts on you. Some people sew zippers into the sides of their wool pants to allow better ventilation. Fairly heavy and warm wool pants are available, but these are very warm and are only useful as emergency gear or while camping.

Wind pants are a good alternative because they trap an insulating air layer between your underwear and the outside, they breathe well, and they generally don't get wet. They also provide wind protection for above tree-line travel, and the Gore-Tex-type pants also provide rain protection (do not use unbreathable coated nylon rain pants except as emergency gear). Pants with full-length side zippers are nice because they are easy to take off and put on while on the trail, and they allow you to ventilate. However wind pants do not afford much insulation if you are stopped for an extended period, and thus you also must bring adequate extra insulating layers.

Hat: Any hat that is made of an appropriate material (pile, polypro, wool, etc.) and that completely covers your ears is fine. Balaclavas (hats that also cover your neck) are even warmer, and you can always fold the neck part up above your head. Alternatively, a hat and separate scarf or neck gaiter, or a hat and a jacket with a high storm collar, will serve the same purpose. It's good to wear a lightweight hat (or even just a headband, that covers only your ears) while hiking, although bring a warmer hat or balaclava for times when you are stopped or for colder situations. Most hats offer little resistance to the wind, and should be used with the hood on your wind jacket.

Mittens and gloves: What to wear on your hands is a tremendous matter of personal preference. Some people chronically get cold hands and thus need lots of insulation - others overheat rapidly and keep their hands uncovered for ventilation. Some women particularly have frequent cold hand problems (due to otherwise unimportant differences in peripheral circulatory physiology between men and women) and benefit well from good mitten systems.

Generally, mittens are much warmer than gloves, because all of your fingers are warming one single compact space (you get a low surface area to volume ratio, to be technical). Solid wool or pile is almost always the right material, because it insulates well but still breathes. One popular brand of wool mittens and gloves called Dachsteins are made from boiled wool and are probably the warmest breathing handwear you can find.

You can use a layer system on your hands that mimics what we have recommended for the upper body: Wool or pile insulating mittens under nylon or Gore-Tex-type mitten shells, sometimes with wicking polypropylene inner gloves or mittens underneath. Having inner gloves (or a pair of light wool gloves) is always recommended, so that you can use your fingers to do things (eat, drink, adjust clothing or equipment, etc.) without exposing your hands completely.

Most types of down or synthetic gloves and mittens (particularly most of those made for downhill skiing) are just the wrong type of gear for hiking in. They don't layer well, the lightweight ones don't breathe well enough (even the trendy expensive Gore-Tex models), the thick ones are far too warm to hike in, and the down ones quickly become wet and do not insulate. Leather mittens also are very bad, because leather absorbs water and does not breathe.

Socks: Again, there is a lot of personal preference regarding socks, but the same layering principles hold, if you consider your boots and gaiters as an outer insulating and shell layer. Most people wear polypro inner socks with thick wool or synthetic insulating socks to improve wicking and reduce the chance of blisters. The amount of insulation you should wear depends on your body and your boots, but always remember to leave adequate room for free blood circulation or, guaranteed, you will get cold feet! Do not use worn socks with holes or wrinkles that will cause blisters, and it's a good idea to make sure your outer sock is higher than the boot top, to reduce chafing.

A few folks will use the opposite principle instead (vapor barrier non-breathing socks) either by wearing vapor barrier boot liners or insulating socks made of neoprene rubber. Vapor barriers do keep your boots dry, particularly on multi-day trips, but your feet remain wet and sticky (however warm) all the time. Yuk.

Wind Shell: A windbreaker jacket worn as a shell layer may be the most important of all winter clothes - it keeps snow off your other clothing and your body, and keeps you warm by trapping air and blocking wind. Any type of hooded wind jacket or pullover made of breathable uncoated nylon, nylon/polyester blends, or Gore-Tex-type material is good. Inexpensive nylon windbreakers are great to use, (you probably already own one or can borrow one), although fancy expensive hiking jackets often have a number of nice extra features, like underarm and two-way zippers for more ventilation, lots of pockets for munchies and gear, and large storm hoods. Remember, Gore-Tex-type material doubles as rain gear, but it does not breathe quite as well as uncoated nylon. Jackets which have insulating layers built-in are not recommended, as you can not wear just one of the layers at a time. Coated nylon rain gear is not useful for this purpose because it traps sweat and literally soaks your clothing.

Wind and rain gear: Whatever else you decide to bring, you will always need adequate outer clothing with you to protect you from both wind and rain, over and above your windbreaker jacket. For the legs, wool pants may provide enough wind protection for below treeline trips and beginner hikes, although uncoated nylon or Gore-Tex-type pants are certainly required as wind gear on above treeline hikes.

Full-body rain gear, both jacket and pants, is a must-have item for safety. Coated nylon is perfectly adequate, and if you don't already own some, it's cheap, although because of its vapor-barrier properties, you will only want to wear it when it is raining. Gore-Tex and its equivalents are nice because they double as rain and wind gear, but they're pricey.

Gaiters are sleeves of nylon, sometimes with Gore-Tex, which go around your boots at the ankle to keep snow out, even when you step deeply in, and they also help keep water out if it rains or if you accidentally step in a stream (Yuk!). Gaiters also keep your feet warmer, by trapping an air layer in your boot. Gaiters should fit easily over your boots, however, baggy gaiters may get snagged by your crampons.

So called super-gaiters are also available. These are basically insulated overboots for mountaineering, and are usually considered overkill for New England, although some people use them here.

Boots are a vital piece of gear for comfort and safety. Hiking and mountaineering boots are discussed in detail below - backcountry skiing boots are discussed later with skis. Familiarize yourself with this material before you go shopping for boots.

Getting in Cheap: Hide your MasterCard

A quick reading of the above sections may make you feel as if your credit card bill following your clothing purchases of will rival the National Debit. While you are welcome to rush out to your local Expensive Mountain Sports or Really Exorbitant Items store and plunk down $1,000, there are ways to start out cheaper:

* Wool or synthetic shirts, sweaters, socks, mittens, lightweight pants, hats, etc., are reasonably common items. Try to mooch from friends, dig through boxes in your parents' attic, etc. If this fails, go to used clothing stores, clothing discounters, Army/Navy surplus stores, etc.

* Similarly, you may be able to borrow a nice storm jacket and pants from somebody. If not, certainly you can borrow or buy cheaply a standard breathable nylon windbreaker and a coated nylon rain jacket. Try some of the stores listed in the back of this manual for cheap coated nylon rain pants and breathable wind pants.

* Unless you have really good friends your size, you will need to buy your own long underwear and winter boots (discussed in the next chapter). These are items that should last quite a few years, are generally nice to have, and you should be able to find at a discount (try Army/Navy stores, hunting/fishing stores and catalogs, and look for sales at full-service outdoors stores).

* Many of the non-clothing items we mention later in this manual can be rented (e.g. backpacks and snowshoes). Some smaller items (like flashlights and water bottles) are cheap and good to have anyway. Crampons are one of those things you need to spring for.

Christmas and Chanukah are coming up soon... nudge, nudge, wink, wink

Boots for Winter Hiking

Winter boots are very different than three-season hiking boots: they must protect your feet from cold air, snow, and water for an extended time. While your feet might be warm enough while you are dry and moving, unplanned events could require stopping for a long time, and accidentally plunking your foot into a stream is not uncommon. Thus having very warm boots is vital. Also, winter boots need to be specialized to attach well to snowshoes and crampons (pointy metal things you wear in icy conditions, discussed later in this manual).

For safety reasons, you will not be allowed on an AMC trip if the leader considers your boots inappropriate. Ordinary three-season (that is, single-layer) hiking boots and insulated work boots are always considered "inappropriate." Be careful, many outdoors stores are now selling alleged "cold weather hiking boots," which look an awful lot like ordinary three-season hiking boots, perhaps with slightly thicker insulation, and are not presently considered appropriate for AMC trips. This is not equipment bigotry on our part; rather it comes from our extensive experiences and the many problems we have had to deal with over the years. Wear the wrong boots and you won't be happy (not that you'll be hiking with us, of course).

There are three types of boots we consider appropriate for New England winter hiking:

Felt-lined pac boots, of which Sorel is the most common brand, are inexpensive (about $100 for genuine Sorels, less than $50 for imitations), easy to fit, comfortable, warm, and work well on snowshoes. They have an outer shell of rubber up to the ankle, and flexible leather up another six inches. For insulation, they have a removable inner boot of wool felt (thus, they are double boots). The less expensive Pac boots have 1/4-inch thick felt; better ones have 3/8 inch, which is the minimum recommended. Some models have a lugged Vibram sole which will provide more stiffness and better traction than the cheaper sole, although either works.

The major disadvantage of Sorel-type boots is that, because of their lack of rigidity, they will not work well for extended crampon use or technical mountaineering. See the section below on crampons.

Pac boots are similar to the classic L.L. Bean type "Maine Hunting Shoe", but which do not have the removable felt inner boot and which are not appropriate for winter hiking (L.L. Bean also sells a good Sorel-style Pac boot, however).

Plastic or leather technical mountaineering boots: These look like a cross between a hiking boot and a downhill ski boot. They have a removable inner boot of wool felt or foam insulation. Because of their stiffness, mountaineering boots work well with full crampons. However, they are expensive (new $200-$500), a precise fit is required, and they can take a good deal of time to get used to. If double boots don't fit just right, they will cause you much pain. Plastic double boots can be rented at some shops, and renting different types is a very good idea if you wish to buy a pair.

Leather double boots are no longer sold new, but you may find used ones out there (a good deal!). Used plastic boots are also relatively easy to find.

Military cold weather boots, usually affectionately are called Mouse boots (because they make your feet look like Mickey Mouse's feet), or sometimes K-boots (K for Korean War, for which they were developed by the US. Army) or Bunny boots (for indescribable reasons). Relatively few people use these today, as Sorel-type boots have become more popular, but you may still see some around. They are made of two layers of soft rubber with wool felt insulation permanently sealed between. Be careful: Army rejects, repaired boots, and poorly-made Asian copies are available in some surplus stores, although most surplus stores carry good ones too. Usable boots can also be found through the military or at a PX. These boots work partly as a vapor barrier (see description in clothing section), which not everyone will find comfortable. However, some models were designed to be warm to -30[[ring]] F, and they are completely waterproof.

Their main drawback is that, like pac boots, they are difficult to attach most types of full crampons to, although they work fine with instep crampons. Some people find they are prone to blisters in mouse boots, although others swear by them.

Other Types of Boots. This is a trick entry - there are no other types of boots allowed on AMC Boston Chapter winter hiking trips.

Boots and Crampons - OR - Which Kind of Boot to Get...

The type of boots you should buy depends on many things, but it all boils down to what you want to use them for.

* Sorel-style pac boots are highly recommended for beginning winter hikers, although many AMC leaders use them as well! Pac boots are not recommended for those who will be doing extended above treeline hiking or climbing. That is, pac boots are most useful for those using instep crampons. While it is possible to use some types of full crampons on pac boots as well, you should heed the warnings in Chapter 5 on this subject. Pac boots are also good general purpose winter boots (e.g., for walking to work or shoveling your driveway).

* Few people buy Mouse boots these days, although, if you have them, you're welcome to use them.

* Plastic boots are well suited for advanced winter hiking (including extensive above treeline travel), alpine mountaineering, and technical ice climbing, although they also work fine for basic New England winter hiking and snow shoeing. Purchasing plastic boots is generally not recommended for beginners - at least rent a few different types before you spring for a pair of your own.

How to Buy a Pair of Winter Boots

Go into the store with the list of appropriate types of boots above. Do not let the salesperson sell you anything else without first asking an experienced AMC winter leader, if you intend to use the boots on AMC trips. You should always bring the socks you will wear hiking with you, so that you can fit the boot well. See the discussion of socks above.

Allow at least an hour for fitting (of course, timing your visit to avoid busy times will get you better service). Discuss with the salesperson your use for the boots, and try on a few models that seem appropriate. Finding boots that fit you well is the most important thing to do. Never rely on breaking in to make boots fit better - the boots don't change that much. Also note that different brands and models will fit differently, even if the marked size is the same.

For soft winter boots (Sorel-type boots or mouse boots), fitting is simple. In fact, usually only whole sizes are available. You should get boots that do not flop around when you walk, but they must allow sufficient room to wiggle your toes easily. These boots may need extra insoles to get a good fit. Some brands make women's sizes, which also may fit men with narrow feet better. Some don't, which may make life tricky for some women. (Write the company!)

To fit plastic double boots, perform the following tests:

(1) Put on both boots and stand up. With loose laces, slide your foot forward until it touches on the front or sides (no toe crunching allowed). There should be just enough room to slide your index finger all the way down the back on your larger foot.

(2) Set your heels back, lace normally, and walk around the store for five or ten minutes. Are they comfortable?

(3) Re-tighten the laces and find a ramp in the store. Facing uphill, rest your weight on your heels, then stand up on your toes. Up to 1/8 inch of slippage between your foot and the inner boot is fine, but more than that will give you blisters on the back of your heel. Try a smaller size or another model.

(4) Go to the top of the ramp and face downhill. Wiggle your toes, then walk down the ramp and backwards back up. If there is not enough room to freely wiggle your toes, try a larger size or another model.

The right boots will feel comfortable and pass both the uphill and downhill tests. Hopefully, the salesperson will know a lot about the models the shop carries and will be able to help you find the best fit. If nothing at one shop seems quite right, take notes on what you tried and go to another shop with different brands. If no standard boot works well, try using additional insoles or pads. Do not compromise with your feet, and don't stick with a hard boot that's only "OK."

When you have a pair that seems right, take them home and wear them for a while (several hours for rigid double boots) staying indoors on carpet to make sure they will fit well after a day of hiking. Most shops will allow you to return the boots for fit with no problems at this point (check their policy before buying).

Many shops sell winter hiking boots; you will find the best selection and service at an outdoor specialty shop. Ask about the suitability of different boots for your intended use. Specialty shops include: REI, Moor & Mountain, All Outdoors, Wilderness House, IME, Ragged Mountain, and EMS. See the list of stores in the Resources Chapter of this book.

Take Care of Your Boots

Since boots are the sole transportation for hikers, proper care is essential. When you buy them, ask what care is recommended for your boots. All leather boots should be treated with a moisture repellent paste: wax-based for chrome-tanned leather (Snow Seal), or oil-based for oil-tanned leather. Some pastes (Aquaseal, Ultraseal) will work for any leather. Also, you may want to seam-seal your boots before treating them to protect the stitching from dirt and water. Not only will your feet stay drier, but your new boots will last much longer. Clean the boots and reapply paste at least once per season. You also will need to replace the inner boots occasionally.

When your boots get wet, dry them carefully. Do not use heat; it will shorten the life of your boots. Rinse and brush off mud before it dries, then put the boots in a warm place that is dry and well-ventilated. If it is too hot for your hand, it's too hot for your boots.

© 1997 H-B Committee, Appalachian Mountain Club-Boston Chapter