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I have always suffered with cold feet. Here is what I have found works for me.
1. Keep the rest of your body warm. Especially lower body. Keeping the major muscle groups in your lower body helps tremendously. I do this by making sure I have ample insulation with warm baselayer, midlayer and carry in heavy outer layer.
2. Mickey mouse boots are not for moving and too big/heavy to carry. 3. 1000gm boots are too warm for walking then sitting, feet sweat too much. 4. I bought a new pair of 400gm boots for hunting this year. Spent 8 days hiking in a ways and sitting. Liner socks with varying weights of wools socks worked very well. Temps ranged from ten to fifty degrees. After this I gave my 1000gm boots away to my son who can really use them.
5. I like handwarmers, depending on conditions chest pocket helps keep core warm, kangaroo pocket for hand/core warming. What I discovered this year is a handwarmer in each cargo pocket really helps keep lower body warm when sitting. So much so, that a few times I did not have to pull on my heavier outer layer.
6. When in a blind I have found something as simple as a small blanket over the lower body/feet really helps. I have used cheap fleece all the way to heavier wool blankets.
7. Another good thing to have is hot drinks, warms one up from the inside.
Ponderings for next year would be overboots, or something as simple as carrying a sleeping bag in to the blinds. I have used catalytic heaters in my pop blinds all the way done to -10, but am not completely sold on them. I think they would work better in a box type blind, which I will have in one spot next year.
I have spent lots of time in pop up blinds bowhunting the last 15 years or so and have tried everything, above is what has worked for me.
Arcus Venator
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There is a lot of good advice here. I took notes. I was in the LL Bean store in Paramus, NJ today and happened to look at the boots on display.
A saleswoman came over to me and started to tell me about their pac boot - leather upper, rubber bottom, wool felt liner. I have used this type of boot in the past (Sorels) and am familiar with them. I have worn them hunting and when operating excavating equipment in winter. My feet would sweat, and they got cold when my socks and the boot liners got wet with sweat.
The saleswoman told me that they are almost too warm for "around here". I mentioned that they were warm until your sweat wicked into the liner. She countered with "you need to wear wool socks, they wick the moisture". I said no, when the boot liner is wet with sweat you are cold. She didn't like that, so I walked away.
I wonder what her cold weather outdoor experience might be.
NRA Endowment Life Member, G.O.A supporter
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take my flip flops off and put shoes on
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When it's really cold,I wear a pair of Sorel boot pacs with rubber bottoms, leather uppers and felt liners. A good pair of wool socks rounds out the foot warming requirements. I've worn this same combination for the past 20+ years, including ice fishing trips and my feet have never been cold. One of the lakes I ice fish gets down to -25 degrees sometimes in January and February. My feet stay warm.
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When it's really cold,I wear a pair of Sorel boot pacs with rubber bottoms, leather uppers and felt liners. A good pair of wool socks rounds out the foot warming requirements. I've worn this same combination for the past 20+ years, including ice fishing trips and my feet have never been cold. One of the lakes I ice fish gets down to -25 degrees sometimes in January and February. My feet stay warm. Sorel pac boots were standard ice-fishing footwear when I was a kid.
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Chemical toe warmers & Arctic Shield boot covers.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Chemical toe warmers & Arctic Shield boot covers. I have a pair of Arctic Shield boot covers, but didn’t try them with chemical toe warmers. Maybe that’s the trick. Alone, they didn’t seem to make any difference.
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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A couple of buddies at deer camp have tried Thermacell rechargable electric heated insole with remote this year and really liked them. Thinking of givin'em a try next season.
My heart's in the mountains, my heart is not here. My heart's in the mountains, chasing the deer.
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A couple of buddies at deer camp have tried Thermacell rechargable electric heated insole with remote this year and really liked them. Thinking of givin'em a try next season.
I've had several pairs - they work for long sits in the cold, and light duty walking in. IME, the insoles are good for about two seasons before they lose enough charge to need replaced. IMHO - spend the money and get the variable heat output, they keep my feet warm without as much overheating aka sweating in your boots.
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""Mute the Greeniacs. Open the pipeline. Bury the Russians." - JPR - 2022
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Finally ---- Just stay home in front of the fireplace, throw on a big chunk of oak, get some hot chocolate, some snacks, warm blanket, and wool lined slippers! Turn on the TV and watch outdoor channel hunting adventures. Nap is optional! CJ
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About the worst thing for an active hunter. They just dont wick away moisture fast enough. Feet get clammy and cold quick. They are fine for stand hunting though . Same story for merino underwear. Some may disagree with the above, but that's what I have found to be true over the years.
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And so BWalker, what socks do you recommend instead of merino wool for active hunting? I use poly liners under wool now.
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Regardless of temps, moving around warms me more than my cold weather boots and clothing. I think I would quit hunting if I had to sit still for more than a couple of hours. Further, I can't imagine the disappointment of walking to my hunting spot before daylight and finding that I'm hunting in an orange grove after sunrise.
Start young, hunt hard, and enjoy God's bounty.
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Easiest way to avoid cold feet is to shoot your critter early, spill the guts and head back to camp. But planning for the days when that don't happen is the trick. Just using simple stuff I'm better at keeping my piggies at least bearable than several years back. One thing I've learned if you're stand hunting is to walk in cold. Keep the coat or coveralls in the backpack till you get there. Then give a little time for the walking heat to wear off before dressing for the cold
Far as actual footwear I just use pacs with removable liners, thin poly base socks and a pair of wool/poly heavy socks. Above all don't over-sock and tighten everything up inside the boots. Follow with Toasty Toes chemical warmers designed for low oxygen environments. One or two of these same warmers can be added to the inside of your hat for a big difference add on. The kind I'm talking about have an adhesive side. Heat your head, warm your feet.
Body warmers that look like oversized hand warmers with adhesive back also help out. I like one stuck to the abdomen of my base layer long johns and if really cold one on my back. It ain't about just hearing the feet, it's beating the body so blood flow to the extremities isn't compromised.
“When Tyranny becomes Law, Rebellion becomes Duty”
Colossians 3:17 (New King James Version) "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
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Finally ---- Just stay home in front of the fireplace, throw on a big chunk of oak, get some hot chocolate, some snacks, warm blanket, and wool lined slippers! Turn on the TV and watch outdoor channel hunting adventures. Nap is optional! CJ A nap is not optional!
Arcus Venator
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You guys have it all wrong. I hunt from a blind every year in temps as low as -20f...and ive seen colder.
The trick is a heater! I get the inside of my blind to about 60f and am comfortable in standard leather work boots, blue jeans and a flannel shirt.
My problem is i get sick every year at camp...i think its the poor eating, lack of sleep and binge drinking. Stress of dealing with family is also a problem for me to be honest
GOD Bless America
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You guys have it all wrong. I hunt from a blind every year in temps as low as -20f...and ive seen colder.
The trick is a heater! I get the inside of my blind to about 60f and am comfortable in standard leather work boots, blue jeans and a flannel shirt.
My problem is i get sick every year at camp...i think its the poor eating, lack of sleep and binge drinking. Stress of dealing with family is also a problem for me to be honest Quack, it takes 3 days of a relaxed setting just to chill out so you can enjoy the time left ahead. Sleep time, eating, and drinking are up to you. I say this having walked the walk. 1) Let the family get over it. If you're a man responsible to your family then none should question your desire for personal time with friends. 2) EAT. And carry quality food and drink with you for the day's needs. 3) Embibe in a healthy manner. Drinking adult beverages with friends is part of the loosening up that leads to reduced stress. And it's a known fact Scotch is good for the Soul. When you reach your limit admit it and go to bed. You're a man. Men can control the amount of liquor consumed AND, as part & parcel, the resulting dream time. All this is up to you. Saw a sign once that said "Advice.......Free". "Good advise...... $20!" Hope this is at least somewhere in between. God bless and have fun.
“When Tyranny becomes Law, Rebellion becomes Duty”
Colossians 3:17 (New King James Version) "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
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Post-opening weekend probably makes a lot of places have a lot more room for the solitary hunter as well, in my experience. And how. The first two, sometimes three days are the worst. One because I don't dare move around much, stalk/still hunt. And two, my body's just not used to the cold. (Generally 15 - 30 degrees colder where I hunt than at home). After a few days go by and I acclimate, I wear less clothes and lighter boots.
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