Stay Warm in Winter: Why Sweat Is Your Enemy

New Brunswick winters are a superb classroom, and an unforgiving one. Most cold-weather trouble starts with something simple: getting sweaty, then getting cold.

Five ways you lose heat

• Conduction: contact with cold surfaces and wet clothing. Water pulls heat away about 25 times faster than air.

• Convection: wind stripping warmth away.

• Radiation: heat leaving uncovered skin, especially your head and neck.

• Evaporation: sweat drying on your skin.

• Respiration: warming every breath of cold air.

Vent before you sweat

Sweat soaks your insulation and then freezes. Open zips or remove a layer before you start working, and put it back on as soon as you stop. Aim to feel slightly cool while you move. Remember C.O.L.D.: keep clothing Clean, avoid Overheating, wear it Loose and in Layers, and keep it Dry.

Sleep warm

• Eat some fat before bed.

• Change into dry socks.

• Fill a bottle with hot water, seal it and put it in your sleeping bag.

• Keep your boot liners in the bag so they don't freeze.

• Use two sleeping pads: cold comes up from the ground.

Student tip: mitts are warmer than gloves. Carry spare liners and a spare pair of mitts, always.

Want to learn this hands-on? See our field courses in Edmundston, NB, or start today with our online courses.