Layering Up - How To Stay Warm in Winter Weather

It's officially winter in only two weeks. But for much of the country and the world, winter is already showing it's ugly head. The weather is getting frigid and cold and there's nothing but fluffy white snow and slick ice on the ground. And the temperatures will continue to drop.

What if you're stranded outside in the cold? What if you furnace or heater stops working? What if shit hits the fan during the low temperatures? How are you going to keep yourself warm? One word - layers.

Sure, it's great to have a nice and warm puffy, down-filled jacket handy, but that alone may not save you. But layering your clothing just might. And besides most down-filled jackets aren't that great when they are wet. And it's pretty easy to get wet in winter - after all, snow is just frozen water.

So how do you layer your clothing?

It's pretty simple really, start with thinner stuff closer to the skin and put on as many layers of clothes as you can (without making it hard for yourself to move around).

For example, wear a pair of long underwear or some runner's tights underneath some light and thin sweat pants. You could throw on jeans over top and then go a step further with ski pants on the outer layer. And you could do something similar with your upper body. Wear a tight t-shirt on the first layer, followed by a slim cotton shirt, sweater, vest and jacket.

Now you might be thinking that's a lot of layers of clothing to put on. But you'd be surprised at how much you can layer up without actually affecting your mobility. Try it out and find what's most comfortable for you.

For your head make sure you've got a great set of ear-muffs, a thick toque or hat, a face-warmer and maybe even a scarf. When it comes to your hands and feet wear thin gloves underneath a pair of thicker ones (and obviously do the same with socks for your feet).

Another thing you can do is keep some heating packs nearby. Not those big, bulky ones. But the thermal packs that you break to start a chemical reaction that creates heat. Keep one in each hand and foot and you'll be golden for a while (especially if you're smart and keep backups handy for when the originals run out).

It can be a winter jungle out there in the barren tundra - have you ever been to Northern Canada? - so you want to make sure you're ready for anything. If you have to spend a prolonged period of time outside, then make sure you're layering up.

Remember, more is better. If you get too hot, you can always remove a layer. But if you get too cold and don't have extra layers - you're sweet out of luck.

Stay warm my friends!