Keeping your feet warm . . .

[sumner4991]

There was a thread a while back about keeping your feet warm.

While on my last hunting trip, I have to admit, the weather was a bit warmer than I would have liked. However, I still have a tendency to get cold feet. It probably has something to do with my old age blood circulating.

I have found the best thing for this problem is the adhesive body warmer. I take one of those and stick it to the top of my sock. I make sure I get it over my toes good. I put on two layers of socks. The first is the thin sock to wick away the sweat and the next is my wool sock.

I saw a couple of the toasty toes products that are designed for the bottom of your feet. That doesn't work as well as putting it on top your foot. That's where most of the blood is flowing. Keep the blood warm and the body will be warm too.

Another trick is to keep everything loose. This allows heat to become trapped inside the layers of sock. My boots are two or three sizes larger than my regular tennis shoes. If your foot is tight, then there is a darn good chance they are cold.

Well, as far as the feet go . . .this works best for me.

Those body warmers are awesome.

[Pydpiper]

They are awesome!
A week or so ago my son and I did some winter camping, in a quest to fing a way to keep from freezing we ended up buying some of those chemical heaters. I always keep them in hunting packs and gloveboxes, but we found a new way to use them. While in the tent we cracked a few (9) and sent them to the bottom of our sleeping bags, in sub zero temperatures we stayed toasty warm all night in a summer tent. (not to be confused with sumners tent).
They were so hot it became important to avoid touching them with bare skin. In the middle of the night, woke up by coyotes, we decided to Google how those things actually work, pretty neat stuff!
Worth their weight in gold!

[B-Logger]

I agree on the heat wraps, but have found that they certainly are not all created equal.

Like Sumner, maybe my old blood is a bit different but then, I've had a big problem with cold all my life. Something to do with polio. When I found the ThermaCare products, I fell in love with them! They are super. The wrap for the back is amazing and it will stay hot over 12 hours!

[Bambiblaster]

I just wear socks driving out to area the put on boots. Keeps feet from sweating on the trip there...

[flbuckmaster]

dont think your thermacels are just for warm weather skeeter busting. I use them for body warmers when its cold. just lite and put one under your jacket. Leave a tshirt between the thermacel and your skin as they get pretty hot. you can buy the fuel real cheap by the case on ebay by using the curling iron fuel. You need to use the included adapter to work on your thermacell. just turn off and on as needed...better than sliced bread!
http://cgi.ebay.com/25-Butane-refills-C ... 255761a837
jay

[saxman]

My boots never quite fit right,they are almost always to small
I find to keep them warm I have to take my boots off,let the moisture evaporate from the socks then I put my feet inside the Boot Blankets.
They give me more wiggle room.

[Phoenix_Tom]

Just curious: Are your feet cold because they're wet? Bringing spare socks might help. So would wearing boots rated a little warmer (outside). If your feet are too warm they will later freeze because of the sweat. I have about 6 pairs of boots for different temps and try to wear the minimum insulation for the day. Goretex also helps. Sweat is your enemy. Don't get all hot and sweaty getting to your stand / blind. Go in cold then layer up.

If it's because of circulation, keep you core warm and it won't shut the blood flow down to the extremeties. Wearing a warm hat will help with that a lot. Solid fuel stick hand warmers in your pockets will help keep your core warm. A catalytic heater in your ground blind could really help. That last one is really nice!

[gerald strine]

I Have found that the best thing for me to keep my feet warm on stand are boot warmers they are supposed to go over a pair of lite boots but I take off my walking boots and put a goose down bootie inside of the boot warmers with a chemical hand warmer under mt arches and it is wonderfull for the long hours in the cold not the most convient but worth the effort.
See cabelas for boot warmres mite be called boot blankets they are big overcovers that are all insulation.
Gerald

[sumner4991]

Just curious: Are your feet cold because they're wet? Bringing spare socks might help. So would wearing boots rated a little warmer (outside). If your feet are too warm they will later freeze because of the sweat. I have about 6 pairs of boots for different temps and try to wear the minimum insulation for the day. Goretex also helps. Sweat is your enemy. Don't get all hot and sweaty getting to your stand / blind. Go in cold then layer up.

If it's because of circulation, keep you core warm and it won't shut the blood flow down to the extremeties. Wearing a warm hat will help with that a lot. Solid fuel stick hand warmers in your pockets will help keep your core warm. A catalytic heater in your ground blind could really help. That last one is really nice!

Good advice. I only have two pair of boots. One for temps above 40 degrees and a pair for under 40 degrees F. Both are GoreTex and I love them. I rarely walk over one mile to my stand and I'm in pretty darn good shape. So, I usually do not work up a sweat going into the stand. Getting physically fit for hunting season is probably another good topic. I am usually in my absolute best shpae just prior to deer season . . .probably in about my worse shape a week after.

I also agree on keeping your head warm or cool. You lose a very large percentage of your body heat through your head. So, if you want to stay warm cover up your head and if you want to cool off, then uncover your head. On cold days, I add a body warmer under my hat too.

Saxman, good luck on getting a pair of boots big enough.

This is the first year I tried putting body warmers on my lower back. Again, the adhesive ones worked very well. This served two purposes. It kept my back warm and it helped keep those lower back muscles loose. That felt good!