The Best Winter Parka, Snow Pants and Other Winter Gear from Northern Outfitters

Advice on the best winter parka, snow pants, winter boots and other winter gear from Iditarod veteran Ken Anderson who wears Northern Outfitters gear.
By: Northern Outfitters
 
Dec. 31, 2009 - PRLog -- What’s the best winter parka, snow pants and other winter gear to keep you – or your loved ones – warm in the worst winter weather?  Who would know better than a veteran dogsled musher?  Alaska resident and veteran musher Ken Anderson recently talked about his strategy in grueling, bitter cold races like the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.  Here are his comments:

"Probably the worst cold I've ever been in was my rookie year in 1999.  They said it was one of the coldest races on record.  I camped just outside of Rohn (Alaska) in an area called the Buffalo Tunnels and wasn't prepared. I was exhausted but didn't bother setting my alarm clock because it was 58 below zero, and I knew my teeth chattering would wake me up.

"That year I had a full-body suit with some sort of synthetic fill that would never dry out because we never rest long enough at any checkpoint to completely dry out.  By the end of the race it weighed about 20 pounds and was totally soggy and obviously not very warm.  Staying warm on the Iditarod is all about dealing with moisture transfer.  A garment like that just trapped moisture in the “insulation” layers between the nylon inner and outer shells.  The outer shell was also very dense nylon which didn't breathe very well.

"The majority of the mushers use Northern Outfitter's clothing because it is designed to breathe and dries very quickly.  It can even dry on its own from the inside out just from your body heat as long as you're not sweating.  The patented Vaetrex insulation material is open-celled foam, which dries faster than any other type of fill I've found.  Find an unbeatable parka and pants system here http://northernoutfitters.com/p-43-9-piece-arctic-system....

"For boots, you have to stay away from anything with a rubber toe box.  They're totally useless unless your feet will absolutely, positively never release any sort of vapor. Since we're not canines and have pores in our skin, the chances of that happening are not very likely.  With the rubber toe box holding the moisture in, it doesn't take long until your feet start getting cold.  The Northern Outfitters Mountain Pack Boot and Arctic Boot both have a foam boot liner that allows your feet to stay dry.  I've gotten them totally soaked in overflow before and just wrung them out and kept on going.  After a few hours my own body heat dried the liners while we were still moving down the trail.  Boots that can't be beat http://northernoutfitters.com/p-24-mountain-pack-boots.aspx

"The thing that will keep you warmest is keeping your core warm by feeding it lots of high-fat foods and water and staying active without breaking a sweat.  I'll sometimes come into a checkpoint with cold fingers if I'm not very active on the sled but as soon as I start moving around and taking care of the dogs my core temperature rises a few degrees and starts pushing warm blood out to my extremities.  If my core is warm and I'm active, I can work barehanded for a half-hour or so in temperatures above 10 below.  Another quick trick to warming your fingers is doing windmills with your arms for about 30 seconds as fast as you can.  This will literally throw warm blood to your fingertips and warm them instantly.

"You also have to keep your head and neck warm.  This is where mushers spend a lot of time and money.  A good beaver or sealskin hat that breathes well is the best.  A parka with a hood and a fur ruff is an absolute must.  Wolverine, wolf, or polar bear are the preferred furs for the ruff.  All I wear under the Northern Outfitters system is a full-body, polypropylene suit with its own hood.  I pull the hood up over my head, then put my beaver hat on, then pull a large-cut polarfleece neckwarmer down over the top of everything.  You have to keep any sort of breeze from finding it's way down your neck.  The inner shell of my parka has a high zipper that comes up tight on my neck.

"Zippers always leak, no matter what steps you take to sew windbreaks into them.  When it gets really windy or below about 30 below I throw a wind shell over the top of everything.  It's an anorak-style, thin nylon windbreaker made by Northern Outfitters that doesn't have any zippers.  It completely cuts out any wind and will bring me 10-15 degrees more warmth.  The Wind Anorak http://northernoutfitters.com/p-48-wind-anorak-pullover-t...

"If you've got the right gear and you know how to use it you can be safe and comfortable down to 50 below and colder."

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About Northern Outfitters: Northern Outfitters markets parkas, snow pants, winter boots and other cold weather gear exclusively at http://NorthernOutfitters.com. The cold weather gear made by Northern Outfitters has been scientifically proven the best in heat retention, moisture wicking and wind chill resistance when compared with all other cold weather gear.
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Source:Northern Outfitters
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Tags:Parka, Parkas, Mens Parka, Womens Parka, Snow Pants, Winter Boots, Northern Outfitters
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Location:Jacksonville - Florida - United States
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