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They say if you don’t like the weather in Maine, wait a minute. But we’ve been waiting since November, and frankly, we’ve had enough of the following: snow, sleet, freezing rain, hail, subzero temperatures, temperatures moderately above zero, ice, slush, rime and any other as-yet-unnamed form of precipitation.
The calendar says we have only 10 days of winter left, but spring won’t register on the thermometer for another month or so.
Which poses a question for anyone who loves the outdoors: What to wear?
We recently interviewed a handful of writers and editors who spend a lot of time outdoors and, fortunately, they have the answers. Their recommendations are less about style than substance – but that doesn’t mean you can’t look good trying.
Take, for example, Joe Healy, the editor-in-chief of Fly Rod & Reel magazine. When he visits one of the 20 or so streams that are open for winter fishing in Maine, he swears by Patagonia’s Guidewater Jacket, designed specifically for anglers. It’s stylish in the Patagonia way, which my brother-in-law, a hard-core outdoorsman who lives in Montana, dubs PataGucci. This jacket has a million pockets, it’s lined with soft-as-suede microfleece, and it deflects both moisture and wind.
But you don’t have to fish – and you certainly don’t need to drop hundreds on Patagonia – to stay warm even on the coldest of late-winter days. Everyone we interviewed underscored the importance of layers. For Healy, that means a technical base layer (he prefers wool), followed by microfleece (L.L. Bean) and a Patagonia Micro Puff jacket, which stays warm even when wet.
“I like this because it’s packable,” he said, pulling a small “stuff sack” out of the pocket. “If I was on a stream and got hot, I could pack it and not have to go back to the car.”
Meg Adams, who writes the Pole Beat column for the Bangor Daily News, knows from cold. Before she began working at McMurdo Station in the South Pole, she stopped at the Clothing Distribution Center in Christchurch, New Zealand. There, she received a few bags of ECW (that’s extreme cold weather) gear, which included, among other things, a parka and a pair of insulated Carhartt overalls,
“These are issued to all … and worn six or seven days a week by 98 percent of the people I have met in Antarctica,” Adams said. “You can buy the same thing in the States; winter-lined, average Carhartt overalls. They are not too bulky, but very warm.”
She brought her own silk long underwear, which is “very light and very warm.” She wears thick socks with a thin liner, mittens with a liner, a gaiter, ski goggles that she duct-taped to keep her breath from freezing on the surface, and – always – two hats. Her most important advice? Don’t wear too many layers.
“If you have four layers of fleece on, they will be compressed together, flattening their insulation and rendering them far less useful than they would have been,” she said. “Overlayering and getting that ‘marshmallow’ feeling will actually make you colder. The same thing with clothing that is too tight. If your clothes are too tight, you are restricting your own blood circulation, which will make you very cold. … Instead, choose your layers wisely. Thin, light layers can still be warm. Put your lightest and thinnest on the bottom and work your way out.”
Ralph Stuart, the editor-in-chief of Shooting Sportsman magazine, knows all about layering. But that doesn’t mean he’s always dressed for the weather. Last year, during a late-season pheasant hunt, the wind chill dropped the temperature below zero, and his fingers and toes started to feel numb.
“I was worried about getting frostbite,” he said, sitting in the lobby of Down East Enterprises, which publishes Fly Rod & Reel, Shooting Sportsman and, of course, Down East. “Thankfully, we weren’t that far away from the lodge.”
In such a scenario, the best thing to do is warm your hands under your arms or in the crook of your knee. A best-case scenario would include light layers and, quite possibly, wool outergarments, which maintain their warmth even when wet. He likes the offerings from Johnson Woolen Mills in Vermont, and Filson gear, which is similar to Carhartt.
For sedentary hunting – sitting behind a blind during a cold-weather waterfowl shoot – his layering system includes a polypropylene base layer, fleece pants and a fleece sweater, heavy neoprene waders on the bottom, a Columbia Quad parka on top, and, of course, loads of camouflage.
“One of the hardest things is to find footwear,” Stuart said. “It’s a real balancing act.”
The Bangor Daily News’ own outdoor columnist, John Holyoke, swears by The North Face boots he bought during the St. Patrick’s Day sale at The North Face outlet in Freeport. And sports reporter Jessica Bloch wears her Sorel boots on the sidelines of late-season football games.
During a transitional season, dressing warmly – but not too warmly – can be a little trickier. A.J. Curran, the product line manager at L.L. Bean, recommends windproof fleece or, even better, a fleece jacket under a shell.
“Even for someone with a casual use, say, walking the dog down a greenbelt trail – it’s not just for hard-core mountaineers, the idea of layers,” Curran said.
Down East’s editor, Paul Doiron, travels all over the state in search of stories, so he has learned to be ready for whatever the weather may throw his way. His favorite item of clothing right now is L.L. Bean’s Jac-Shirt, which has a wool outer layer lined with a Gore WINDSTOPPER membrane. For colder weather, he recommends Bean’s Maine Game Warden’s Parka, a three-in-one system that pairs a Gore-Tex shell with a down liner.
“Nobody spends more time in the Maine woods than game wardens,” Doiron said. “These are things you can apply to your own life. You don’t have to be a specialist. … I’ve been all over the state of Maine in all weather, and as a state, you have to be prepared for all kind of extreme changes.”
Expert advice
From Meg Adams
. Drink water. Staying hydrated is good for your circulation, which keeps you warmer.
. Eat. Calories = heat.
. Stay active. Even if you are standing still, you can always flex your muscles. Go through your body and tighten and relax all of your muscles, from your face to your abs to your feet. You will feel warmer. Jump. Run around.
From Ralph Stuart
. Keep an emergency kit in your car with wool blankets, hand and foot warmers (the shake-and-heat kind you buy at ski lodges), extra gloves and a reflective “space blanket.”
From Paul Doiron
. If you’re visiting The County or any of Maine’s islands in the winter, know that the weather will always be colder than you imagined it could be.
. If your car goes off the road, you have to be prepared.
From Joe Healy
. “The weather can come up and change anytime, especially with coastal storms.” Be prepared for anything with layers.
. Invest in good gear: “A lot of this stuff lasts a really long time. I have some of my dad’s wool jackets. What’s the price of comfort and safety?”
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