Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Dealing with cold and growing up poor

As a kid in the U.P. the snowbanks were often over our heads, being that we were only 3 or 4 feet tall. Just about every kid wore a one piece snow suit, mittens on a string, stocking cap or full face mask, scarf, and boots - from mid November through April. I remember layering 2 or 3 pair of socks then putting on plastic bags that a loaf of bread came in over those sock layers to help slide our feet into those boots easier. We all did it. We played outside in that deep snow and cold all day untl mom called us in for supper - the best was street hockey on our snow packed street. CAR! Those were the days!

In S. Florida sometimes in the winter it would get down to the low 60's or high 50's in the morning, so I had to put on a long sleeve shirt and a windbreaker jacket. Still got a little chilly waiting for the school bus....

Dad was a career military man. As a kid, thru my teens; i was able to go to the army clothing store or the military surplus stores around town. Mil-spec extreme cold gear was cheap. Some still avail from Korean war.

Haha!! Back then, Didn't have all those onion-head F-N-G internet heroes trying to make a scene with thier stolen valor crusade. I'd be an 11 yr kid with a pellet rifle and one of my dad's old field jackets still with his name, screamin eagle and captains bars sewed in. Lol

Worn out Corcoran chit kickers with 2 layers of OD green wool socks. Woooo!!! Fugg up some cardinals and mocking birds off of old neighbor lady's bird feeder.

I lived in Lake Linden when I was younger.It was not uncommon to have 300" of snow during the winter.We had a second story door to go out side from.I don`t miss that at all.

I grew up poor compared to lot of people I knew and don't remember being too cold or too hot when I was growing up In Texas. I walked to school rain or shine from 1st grade through 9th grade and I don't remember ever walking in the rain or being hot/cold. My Grandkids are just like I was. You have to make them put on warm clothes and hot weather doesn't bother them at all.

I grew up poor in southern Missouri—it’s cold when all you got is cotton clothes. Moved to Minnesota when a young teenager—got better clothes but I still think Granite Falls, Minnesota is the coldest place in the world. Moved to Canada after the service and it gets cold here. Worked outdoors my whole life and have always been dealing with the cold. Somewhere along the way I reckon I just learned to ignore it.

I have been overly warm a couple of times but have to study on it a bit to remember exactly where and when

I geuss tiny tim had it easy back in the day😃😃😃

we didn't have AC till i was about 9, imagine that in south TX

Ha, we got a tv and a swamp cooler when i was in the 4th grade. Man, you talk about being uptown.

Going out in the snow with a pair of my grandfathers old rubber high top boots with newspaper stuffed into the toes so they wouldn't flop off. Remember a couple tire patches on them too.

Nothing wrong with being poor,but it's damn inconvienent. Dealing with the cold can be done rich or poor. It only makes you decide which warm clothes to buy

We always had the money for 4 buckle over boots. But, it was tennis shoes under them with 2 pairs of socks and an extra pair of blue jeans over our blue jeans. As we got older, we could afford a pair of bibs and pull on boots and sweat shirts with hoods. After I got out of the Army and one 18 month tour in remote Alaska, I figured out what worked and I was willing to pay for it. I still like 4 and 5 buckle overshoes on my feet and an extra thick pair of warm socks on my feet.

I won't say we were poor but in retrospect, being hard up taught us some real lessons on survival and appreciation for the better things in life.

kwg

We had about a 1/4 mile walk to the road to wait for the school bus. We would fill up a hot water bottle with hot water and stuff it inside out snow suit. Dump it out when we got to school and fill it back up before getting back on the bus. When I was older I would do it when I played hockey until I got checked so hard it blew the cap off. I thought I was going to freeze to death before the period ended.
Anyone else play jr. or HS hockey outdoors?

Yep, in old town Maine, right wing. Pee wee up to h.s. Had to take care of our rink after practice and games. Scrape it, then flood it with a big old canvas hose. Then everyone in town would use our ice😲😲😲. Then the university of Maine at Orono built alfond arena. We got lots of ice time in their during my jr and sr year. Zamboni between periods. We placed 4th in New England in 1980, one of the centers on our team was gonna get into the Bruins farm system, till he got crushed to death under a car working on it with no jack stands , not a good thing.....

I got a scar under my chin to this day from a f u c k ed up high stick digging a puck in the corner I took when I was 15 and a faint scar along my right nostril from a glove in a fight, kinda funny cause i got my gloves off and got hold of the guy on the back of his shoulder pads and introduced his face several times to my right knee/shin pad, f u c ked him up fast and his nose gushing🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣, needless to say i received a major in the box.... we still won. i was legend the next couple of days in school sporting a butterfly strip on my nostril. We had a smoking area in high school. The assistant principle came out one day after that, me and the guys are like oh f u k k .... he comes over lights one up, everyone is looking at us. He is standing right next to us and says "eldridge I ain't seen nothing that violent since vietnam" smiles at us, flicks his ciggerette on the ground and walks away. We were dumbfounded...
We had helmets but no bird cage on em back then.

Sorry for the hijack. Reliving al Bundy glory days😃😃😃

I was born a poor cold black child!!!!

What a coincidence!

So was Michael Jackson. But he died a rich, white woman.

we also used bread bags to try and keep our feet dry, always got soakers! also used old news papers wraped around our shins, to play hocky as we didnt have pads!

Anyone else play jr. or HS hockey outdoors?............ Only played hockey outdoors informally with friends as a kid. All our skating was outside or not at all. Never even skated on any indoor rink in my life until I was at least 40.

you had your own plastic bags? you had it made. we had to wait for a sibling to die so we could get their bags.

Good one......and pretty much spot on.