Written By - Myrtha Chang - 01/14/2008
Link to Original Article here

My husband grew up hating fish " until he learned that that when it’s fresh and its not overcooked, fish actually tastes good. If you are afraid to enjoy the outdoors in winter, let alone go camping in January, could it be because no one showed you the art and science of dressing up for winter?

The essence of staying warm in the winter is minimization of heat loss. In terms of clothing, this is achieved by adding insulation to the body through 1) having proper clothing material, and 2) effective use of them.

Do you know your winter clothing material options?

1. Wool  the 3-dimensional wavy crimp nature of its fibers enables it to trap air very effectively. As much as 60-80% of a thick wool cloth can be air. Wool can also absorb a fair amount of moisture without imparting a feeling of ‘dampness’ because the water "disappears" into the fiber spaces. Even with moisture in the fabric wool still traps dead air space and still insulates you. Wool is relatively inexpensive. Once camping in the Berkshires, I did not anticipate the big drop in temperature at night. I dashed to a nearby Walmart and picked up a couple of wool blankets for $12 each.

2. Pile or Fleece - is a synthetic material that has a similar insulative capacity as wool but it will not hold water like wool, so it dries more quickly. The fabric comes in variety of weight/thickness, thereby offering different amounts of insulation. The disadvantage of pile is that it has very poor wind resistance and hence a wind shell, like Arcteryx's Windshell Jacket, on top is almost always needed.