Manileno's guide to winter wear in Sapporo (and other cold places) part 1

We've officially entered the "ber months" in an otherwise bizarre and sad year.  Hitting September has most of us nostalgic over travels of not so long ago so just wanted to hit up this entry on my guide to winter wear, Manileno style. 

Full disclaimer: I've not not been to every conceivable location in the world but i have done some travel in autumn, late autumn, winter and spring so here are some tips I've pieced together for those of you looking to build wardrobe for the cold weather in your next trip.. whenever that will be.

Part 1 of a two part series, we'll start with some basics then get down to more specific pieces I've used, tried out or maybe just seen in stores for our options.

How to keep warm?

This is one question I've asked myself numerous times given how "ginawin" I am.  Staying warm in non-tropical weather revolves around two things:

1) Heat retention

2) Heat protection

Whenever we think about what we need to get as "cold gear" we need to think, how will this piece of clothing help me generate heat and how will this piece of clothing help protect/retain the heat my body is generating?

Heat generation

Heat retention can be achieved by wearing clothes made of materials that insulate your heat or in some cases, even amplify the amount of heat you are generating.  This is usually attained by clothing made up of wool, fleece or goose feathers (down). 

Heat protection/retention

Oftentimes I would equate this with "wind protection" as cold air blaring in your face will strip away any heat off your body no matter how much "heat retention" your outfit offers.  This is generally achieved through wearing clothes (usually the outermost layer of clothing) that aren't permeable.  Most waterproof or water resistant jackets generally offer some form of wind protection but not all waterproof materials are created equal.

Cold air gusts are the reason why we have "wind chill factor" which is something you also need to account for on top of the forecast temperature for the day.

Now that we know the two ways to stay warm here are some tips that (I'm sure you all know) may be helpful in your cold weather gear build up.

1) Tip #1: layering is key

2) Tip #2: watch the extremities

3) Tip #3: moisture control is just as important

Tip#1: Layering is key

Oftentimes we can gauge how cold a place will be based on the number of "layers" you need to wear.  Of course, cold is relative so 5 layers for me may be your "4 layers" weather or my 5 layers is colder than your 6 layers and so forth. Two things i wanted to share about layering

a) A better structured layering concept is better than having less "thick" layers.  Whenever we're traveling we need to be ready to face blistering cold temperatures but we also need to be aware that we won't be in the coldest of the cold ALL THE TIME.  There will be times we enter a store for a meal with cold but not freezing temperatures. Having a good structure of layers allows you to "peel off layers" to achieve the right amount of warmth for the places you will visit. Harder to do if you only have 3 really thick layers as once you take off one layer you're not left much to protect yourself.  Just my suggestion but i guess you can get away with it that is your style.

b) Order matters.  Taking into account our two ways to achieve warmth (heat insulation + wind protection) setting up a proper sequence for layering a system is key with more insulation needed the closer to your body (inner layers) and the less when you move out.  Meanwhile, as you move on to outer layers, you must also ensure increased levels of wind protection especially for your outer shell layer.  Lastly, also remember tip#3 which is coming up, with inner layers needing more moisture control (ventilation) to limit sweating. 

Tip#2: Protect the extremities

This is something I learned from my dad.  Heat generally escapes from your extremities; i.e. your hands your feet and your head.  So make sure you apply the concepts of heat retention and wind protection to all the tips of your body.  This makes head gear, mittens and a good pair of shoes important with each piece of your winter wonderland outfit incorporating just enough heat retention and wind protection as well.  

Tip#3: Moisture control is just as important

On top of having clothes that help retain heat, you also need to make sure that you control the moisture that can and will build up underneath all those layers, usually done by wearing materials that offer good ventilation.  

Yes you can achieve a warm winter system jacket but if you're sweating underneath and your back is wet, you're just as likely to catch a cold.  Thus on top of looking for clothing that helps retain heat, also consider if the material you've chosen has the ability to "wick away" moisture without slippage in heat retention.  Same concept applies to all pieces of your gear so keeping your feet dry and your hands dry are important as well. 

So now that we've gotten through the basics, let's get you started in building your winter wonderland wardrobe. Follow these steps as loosely as you want, always making adjustments given that your cold is different from my cold. 

Step 1: The base layer

This is what we generally refer to as "thermal underwear", which are usually long (my dad still refers to them as long johns) and cover as much as your body as possible.  They are also usually "body fit" so expect and look for them to fit close to the skin as this helps retain body heat.  Several options are available to you and I'll mention those that I've tried out.   The few that I've tried range from relatively pricey (Body Armour) to less expensive but not too comfortable (Marks and Spencer) all the way to the ones sold by Decathlon, which I would not suggest given they had almost zero moisture control.  

By far the best choice for me would be the ones sold by Uniqlo given their relative affordable price tag, decent warmth and flexibility with three levels of warmth to choose from. The spectrum moves from Warm, Extra Warm to finally Ultra Warm, progressively getting thicker.  

What I like about them is that they provide a decent balance between heat retention and moisture control, all in a nice affordable price tag. Wondering which one to get? Here's my approximation for the temperature each level of warmth can handle, all in Celsius

Warm: between 10-20 degrees 

Extra warm: between 5-15 degrees

Ultra warm: anything colder than 10 degrees 

I generally bring two types in each trip to increase flexibility. So if its rather warm, i would tend to bring a couple of sets of the Warm with one or two "just in case" sets of Extra Warm. If your destination would be on the cold side all throughout (Sapporo or Finland) then i guess you bring the Ultra warm version exclusively.

A big part of the base layer is your footwear! So don't forget to pick up a good pair of warm socks that should help check off the "extremities matter" box.  In the Philippines I do know that Uniqlo carries a range of Heattech socks at relatively affordable prices.  The one drawback is that non of them (at least the ones I've seen so far) have wool content, which means that they may be warm compared to cotton socks but they're not likely to keep your toes toasty in sub zero temperature.  

If you're not heading off to some heavy snow capped areas then the Uniqlo Heattech socks should hold up just fine (granted of course you have a good set of waterproof shoes/boots.

Step 2: layers of insulation

You can get creative here with one or two layers of cardigans, sweaters zip ups and hoodies to provide you with a zone that helps your body retain as much body heat as possible.  As discussed above, there are several options for these in-between layers with materials of wool, fleece and down the usual weapons of choice.  Insulation can be a stand alone layer or one that is built into your outer layer. I generally have at least two layers of insulation:

 

1) a wool cardigan (for warmer temperatures) or a zip up fleece shirt for heavy action as my 1st layer 

2) a built-in insulation layer of Down in my outer layer acting as my 2nd line of insulation

These two layers should help your body retain enough heat and should you venture into colder temperatures you can either add a layer or swap out one of the layers with something thicker.  

I would tend to say based on my experience that Down provides the most warmth, followed by Fleece then lastly Wool (I could be wrong of course). 

Step 3: the Outer shell       

This is the last piece to the puzzle and choosing an outer shell is crucial to keeping your warm in colder climates.  Wind protection is just as important as heat retention and i learned this the hard way when i visited Vienna in the winter. I had a heavy wool coat with several layers of insulation but almost zero wind protection.  The polar vortex came through the platz and bye bye warmth. 

Thus, always make it a point to bring at least one backup outer shell that provides wind protection to help ensure all that warmth you've worked hard to generate stays with you.  What's more, wind protection usually coincides with rain protection which would come in handy when it starts snowing. 

One good option would be to get a waterproof outer shell that can zip in a layer of insulation.  Many examples of these "system" jackets are available in the market with North Face's Triclimate edition and Columbia's Interchange system jackets two of the more prominent examples.  More price friendly versions are available at Uniqlo and i do remember seeing some at Decathlon.  

With this blogpost quite long, I'll stop right here and give you guys more concrete examples of pieces I've used or tried out to help you in your winterwonderland outfit buildup.  

Do check out part two of this blogpost in my next entry: 

Manileno's guide to winter wear for Sapporo (and other cold places) part 2