(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)
Seasonal Considerations
One of the problems with planning any kind of self-contained outdoor survival kit for New England is that you have to be able to handle a wide range of weather conditions, including really cold and wet winters. Things like thunder snowstorms, freezing rain, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures aren’t uncommon, and if you’re not prepared for the worse than you’ll probably fail (translation: die). I don’t want to get into too much detail on the background for my decisions, but if you’d like to read more I had another article published on SurvivalBlog called ‘Cold Weather Considerations’ (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that might help fill in some of the holes. And yes, I had her read that article for background.
The first thing we looked at was her normal work clothing. She isn’t required to wear business dress or a uniform, since she occasionally needs to get down on the floor to work on the equipment, so I recommended that she upgrade her pants to something like 5.11 Women’s Apex Pants for colder weather and Mesa Pants for warmer weather. They both provide extra carrying capacity without screaming ‘cargo’ pants, and they’re a poly blend so they should dry quickly. 5.11 also makes a lot of nice tops for women, but I wasn’t about to get into a discussion on fashion with her so I just suggested tops with pockets and not 100% cotton. I did suggest she stick with real wool sweaters like Merino wool for winter, since they tend to provide warmth even when wet.
For outerwear, I recommended a lightweight waterproof/breathable shell jacket for cool weather, and a good quality long parka-style jacket like Columbia’s Mount Si Omni-Heat for winter. For shoes in warmer weather I recommended a good pair of walking/hiking shoes from someone like Keen or Merrell, and a good pair of insulated walking/hiking boots for winter. Something else I introduced her to that she absolutely loves are NEOS overshoes, which makes those long walks from the bus or train in freezing rain and deep slush a lot more bearable. These are going to be critical if she’s going to be walking home in cold, wet and snowy conditions for several days, since very few boots are actually 100% waterproof. If she doesn’t want to carry the NEOS overshoes (1.22 lbs.) another alternative are the Sealskinz waterproof winter socks, which weigh around 6 oz. a pair. One reason I recommend the NEOS overshoes over the waterproof socks is that if her boots get soaked that adds a significant amount of weight she has to lift with each step, and most boots take a really long time to dry.Continue reading“An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 5, by J.M.”