Good time for layering

Hi Geraden,

Layering is a good way to cope against the cold winds blowing from the east having their origin in Siberia, or from north, the Arctic Ocean. Of course we Finns are used to the chilly climate and our system and technology don’t collapse with the first snowstorm.

After a very mild autumn and mid-winter the winter did finally arrive to The Nordic Countries. During the last two weeks the temperature in Helsinki has veried from –5 to –25 degrees Celsius.

To adapt to the changes in weather and different temperatures I have some principles in using various tights under pants. Here is the scheme I follow, but quite loosely. I apologise that I prefer Celsius degrees to Fahrenheit.

From +12 to +5 degrees 8-15 den; From +5 to –5 degrees 20 den (Typical late autumn and winter temperature in Southern Finland); From –5 to –10 degrees 30 den; From –10 to –15 degrees 40 den; From –15 to –20 degrees 50-70 den; Under –20 degrees two pairs of tights in layers: sheers under and opaques above.

Of course there are exceptions. For example when I go strolling or work outdoors I wear warm cotton or sometimes even wool tights under pants or jeans.

Hi Kaj

We in Britain do not get temperatures like yours, but we cannot cope with ice and snow. Usually we remember to put salt and grit on the main roads – but not on the side roads where people live. Two inches of snow causes all schools to close, which in turn keeps staff away from work looking after children.

Yesterday my wife and eldest daughter (both teachers) went sledging on the Lickey Hills with the whole family - apart from my second daughter and myself who both work in offices. I doubt if any of them were sensible enough to wear tights under their trousers! I did, and was very glad of them. My office worker daughter did wear opaque tights for work, but she insisted (against my advice) in wearing a mini skirt with them. She looked good, but I bet she froze on her bus journey to work.

Your temperature / denier scheme sounds highly organised. I just wear whatever weight of tights I feel like: usually opaques in winter and early spring, sheers in late spring and autumn and ultra sheers in summer. If ever I come to Finland in winter I shall wear 3 pairs!

Geraden

Kaj, you are made of sterner stuff than me, that's for sure!

I have mentioned in chats and elsewehere several times how I believe that wearing tights under trousers in cold weather actually makes the legs feel colder than they would otherwise (an opinion which usually meets with puzzled silence) so I have also recently experimented with layering. 2 pairs of 15 denier tights are definitely more effective than 1 pair of 30 denier tights, but even that wasn't enough to keep me totally warm on a fairly cold day we had very recently (about 0 degrees at a guess, but quite windy). To be totally comfortable I think I would have needed 3 pairs but then I suspect that might begin to cause er....other problems. Maybe I just have really bad circulation....

Smoov

Hi

Three pairs of tights! In that case you MUST really love them. It might be comfortable for a masochist, but there is certainly use for a huge pile of ice cubes in the underpants. While writing this I am listening to Jerry Lee Lewis’ song ‘Great Balls of Fire’.

Yes, Smoov. You are completely right. I have also experienced that phenomenon of cold legs in tights under pants; something that one usually doesn’t like to sense. I have tried to find out why it is occurring when wearing some sort of tights but not the other. At least I have come to one conclusion: Those tights that fit looser have greater isolating qualities than those that fit tighter. In other words air between the fabric and the skin functions as a barrier and isolates both warmth and cold. That is why too small a number of tights can be experienced either colder or hotter than too large (loose) ones. That is also the reason why people living in extremely hot or cold climate dress up in layers and wear wide clothes.

But to the ‘cold tights’ phenomenon there must be other explanations as well; different materials can be sensed in different ways etc.

___

This morning - 21 Celsius and sunshine. Fantastic! Now out with Debbie the Dog. Time for layering :)

I too find three layers too much – it is just not comfortable to do this!

The cold legs phenomenon is interesting. My wife always says nylon is a cold fabric, compared with natural fabrics like cotton and wool. That is one of the reasons she does not like nylon. It is true that the natural fabrics can be warmer, because they trap more air between the fibres and even inside the fibres. That is what cotton soaks up water far more than nylon. It is why cotton/lycra is warmer than nylon/lycra.

But even with artificial fibres there is a great variety of yarns these days, and some are specially designed (with micro-fibres) to have thermal insulating properties better than those of natural fibres. So it can be done.

Thermals aside, nylon tights are not usually designed primarily for their good thermal insulation: looks, feel and compression are more important. That said, hosiery yarns these days are complex multi-filament, multi layer, multi fibre pieces of technology. So there is a wide variety in their properties of insulation. I am not knowledgeable enough to comment further form a technical point of view.

However, there is one other factor that is often overlooked: Kaj mentions that looser hosiery is warmer than really tight hosiery. This is true, and not only for the reason he gave, of air being trapped underneath a looser fitting item. Hosiery which gives support or compression does a number of things: it reduces the amount of fluid in the leg tissues and it reduces the circulation of the blood. Both of these have a cooling effect, because they restrict the volume of the legs and the flow of warm blood to the legs.

Geraden