Winter Wear

Hello, my darling anchovies! I would say, "Has it really been 5+ months?" but the date-stamp is right in front of me, sooo...  I plead chaos of every possible kind, including a whole lot of ambivalence regarding, I'm afraid, my middle-term future in horses. It, like everything these days, depends.

But I'm back to riding again after a longer-than-expected school-and-stress-induced break! So that's nice. I've really missed the view through Tucker's ears and his particular what-adventure-next?!? expression. Even if the extent of our adventures right now is toddling around the indoor.

And I have accidentally stumbled on the holy grail: reasonably streamlined barn-chore (and riding, and being-moderately-active-in-unheated-space in general) garb that keeps me comfortable all the way to my easily-frozen fingers and toes. I've been thisclose for a while -- tolerably warm -- but a few minors tweaks this winter have leveled me up and so, gentle readers, I share with you.

(I'mma let you figure out your undergarments situation for yourself, though.)

Word of caution before we start: gear is spendy stuff. There are workarounds; I paid full price for exactly zero of the items I'm going to list below. But if you can swing it and/or make it work, quality gear is worth having. The SmartWool and Arc'teryx items, in particular, wear like absolute iron. (I have SmartWool socks that are older than my horse.)

So! Toes up and inside out?

My best discovery of the last year has been SmartWool tights. Mine came from Socks Addict at just over half their current price and were acquired because I decided that damnit, I wanted to be somebody who wore fun tights. Now I am and that's delightful! And I'm also somebody who wears fun tights under jeans and, apparently, while mucking out stalls. The sizing is a bit wonky, but they've made the single greatest difference in upping my winter-wear game from "good enough" to "actually good."

Quality wool socks. I've been a SmartWool purist for years but have recently added some Darn Tough socks to my collection and so far I'm really impressed with those as well. My biggest gun is a pair of SmartWool hunting socks that aren't significantly thicker than their hiking model but somehow manage to keep my toes cozy at temperatures when I've historically shoved a chemical heat pack in my boots.

Speaking of, I'm doing chores this winter in my Muck boots because, basically, I can. I would much rather have stall-cleaning smells attach themselves to my Mucks than to the only pair of insulated non-riding boots that I have. But my walk-or-snowshoe-to-the-barn and walk-the-dog boots are the North Face Chilkat II. Mine are probably half a size too big for me, but for cold weather footwear, that is definitely an error in the right direction.

I ride in Kerrits year-round at this point, switching from summer-weight tights to fleece-y tights and back again. On the coldest days, I pull out the Sit Tight 'N Warms. I have two pair, both of which are torn and mended (or not), but they're slightly warmer than the PowerStretch tights, even if they don't have the fantastic pockets.

And the final layer on the bottom is a set of rain pants. My go-to for the barn happens to be from the Outback Trading Company and I may have lied about not paying full-price for anything on this list; I acquired these pants on a horrifically wet weekend at a horse trial when I'd left my raingear (and show shirt, and breeches, and...) in my car back home at the barn; I basically just handed the wonderful folks at the Vermont Horse Country Store my credit card and begged them to help. Their purpose is windchill protection (I don't believe in wind-resistant fleece; I do think its better than non-, but a real wind layer is so much better) and one more layer holding warm air, and also to keep the underlayers cleaner so I can wear them a billion times between washings and to the grocery store without feeling even one little bit bad about it, so there.

On the top, we're back to SmartWool again for the base layer, this time a mid-weight shirt. I'm especially fond of the zip-neck shirts in ridiculous patterns; I have one in orange and purple stripes that I wear during no-jacket weather in hunting season and also anywhere, anytime, when I feel my life would be improved by dressing like a Dr. Seuss character. You can pick your own poison. For warmth and flexibility, though, I do prefer the zip-neck over the crew, but as long as you can zip one of your layers to your chin, it doesn't really matter which.

Over that, I have the most surprising addition to my winter wardrobe, a really lightweight Land's End fleece that I received as a gift and used exclusively as flopping-around-the-horue wear for the first few years because I'm a gear snob and it just didn't measure up to my more technical fleeces. It still wouldn't be my first choice for sweatshirt-weather outerwear; I have better options and I suspect it would wear through almost instantly. Buuut as a mid-layer it's been fantastic: an additional layer of cozy without much weight or bulk. Sorry, Land's End fleece! I underestimated you.

The big-spender item is next: my magic jacket is an Arc'Teryx Atom LT Hoodie. I know. I know! I leveraged a coupon and a dividend check and a return of another item to get mine and I still agonized over the buy. Two years later? No regrets, except maybe that I didn't buy a second when they had it in that wonderful dark red color. This jacket is the best. It's super sleek and lightweight and dare I say stylish if you're into that kind of thing (which I am)? It's my everyday-around-town jacket basically down to almost freezing -- seriously, you guys, I feel the cold something awful and this over seasonally-appropriate street clothes is plenty of coat and my hiking/riding/snowshoeing jacket down to...I'm not climbing mountains, but I haven't found a too-cold-for-it temperature yet, especially with a wind layer, as above, over top. Wears like iron. Washes beautifully. My secret weapon!

And that wind layer is, for me currently, a Marmot rainjacket that...I don't actually love for its intended purpose? I've generally been happy with Marmot gear, but this one has not held its waterproofing well despite relatively light use. It's not totally porous; it's just not great. It layers nicely over the Atom, though, and is gangbusters blocking wind and shedding snow, so for this purpose it fills the necessary niche.

Yes to a wooly hat; mine are courtesy of my mom's knitting habit and I have a strong preference for a watchcap style that I can pull down snug over my ears, and no shame about pulling one or both hoods up over top. And while I also have a strong preference for bare hands, that's just not viable in some weather. My go-tos are an ancient pair of EMS ski gloves or, worst-case scenario, the Mountain Horse Tridurance mittens. I am not a mitten fan in general, but these do a nice enough job to overcome my claustrophia on the really bitter days.

And that's it! The missing piece is something to protect my face against a brutal wind. I have a couple of loose-knit scarves that I've finally trained myself to wear, but I have serious stuff-over-my-mouth claustrophobia, so filling this particular gap has been an uphill battle. If anyone (Liz?) has suggestions, I am all ears.