Winter clothing and boots

I have a couple jackets and boots from LL Bean....Good quality and very warm
Also we have Academy Sports and several other chains of outdoor stores.

 

There are a lot of farm stores across the midwest. i.e.- Farm and Fleet, Fleet Farm, Tractor Supply, Big R, etc... that carry a good selection of workwear.

IMO there is no need for a lot of gear if you are not going to be in the elements for more than a couple hours. Don't get insulated boots, just get a pair of wool socks. Don't get a heavy coat, just get a couple sweatshirts or flannels to wear under your regular coat, longjohn's or sweatpants under your jeans. a good pair of gloves and a stocking hat with face shield or scarf.

I rarely even do the layers, I just wear my normal jeans and t-shirt, put a coat on and get it done. Sure I get a little cold, but you're not going to die, it's not dangerous unless we're talking below zero temps or something. just get done what you have to and get back in the cab, leave the engine running and the heat cranked so you can warm up when you're done. Who want's to carry a bunch of arctic gear and spend a half hour bundling and unbundling ?

 

yea brother its nice, especially up near the adk mountains, catskills etc. lived up here most my life, unfortunately the taxes arent cheap and the politics just as bad, but i still call it home.

 

I always go with Carhartt. They helped me survive working the dock in a Detroit winter.

 

For chaining or working in blizzard conditions there's nothing that can beat having a very good pair of gloves. I used to work with glove design for some major brands and did a lot of field testing. The best gloves for our kind of work will be snowboarding gloves, the kind with the "gauntlet" that comes partway up your sleeve toward your elbow with a shock cord that you can cinch up to keep snow, rain, or ice from getting into your gloves. Look for a pair with "precurved" fingers, not the ones with fingers that are straight, as they will make it much easier to grab things without the glove bunching up in the palm of your fist and creating a layer of fabric and insulation that makes it hard to hold onto something. Snowboard gloves will also feature very heavy duty fabrics on the outside of your hand with high grip material on the palms, they are designed for snowboarders to grab the sharp edges of the board repeatedly without cutting, so they often use kevlar fabrics inside the fingers and the back of the hand with thick rubber like material for the palms.

I've been using a pair of Burton snowboarding gloves for a long time. They are "bombproof" (don't fray or break down), warm, and I can do some fairly dextrous work with them on, like chaining up or working with pitons and ice climbing gear. They are pricey. However, I found a pair of gloves at Walmart for only $20 that were impressive for the price. "Precurve" fingers, cinch up gauntlets, grippy material on the fingers and palm, and plenty warm. I picked up a pair for back up for my Burtons... just in case. I learned THAT lesson after having 1/2 a pair of gloves blow away in the wind on a mountain.... DOH!

 

Have a coverall made by dickies. super heavy and wore boxers and white- t under it during brutal windy zero degree nights at the top of landfills. boots at the time wallyworld. my biggest problem quality gloves.

 

make sure what ever you buy doesn't contain polyester- at least if you plan to work in it. I'm an Eddie Bauer shopper because they are handy and I like quality next to my skin. My son who works in the -30 and more weather loves his Hely Hanson and Under armor stuff. My other son who loves hunting feels Dickies offers the best bang for the $. We all wear Sorell boots with removable liners. Loved them when they were made in Canada40 years ago, liked them when Columbia had knock offs and still like the chinese boots marketed as Sorrells
Nothin's nicer than real soft fur on the back of your mits to clear the icicles off your upper lip

 

Sportsmans warehouse. Cabellas. Bass pro. That's where I go!