To fight the cold, you have to understand how the body works, take a little physiology class. The body maintains a constant temperature between 36.1° and 37.8° depending on where on the body the measurement is made. To keep this temperature constant, the body expends energy. It has several solutions to warm up:
- work the muscles in the form of chills (uncontrollable reflex)
- do a vasoconstriction (reduce the size of blood vessels) so that less blood flows through them. This decrease in circulation begins at the extremities, resulting in a feeling of cold in the hands or feet before anything else
A hat to keep your feet warm!
To protect itself, the body first preserves vital parts of the body such as the head, neck or rib cage organs (heart, lungs...). By keeping these parts warm (with a cap on the head for example), the body can then better irrigate and warm the rest of the body.
So to protect yourself effectively from the cold, you will start by protecting your head. 50 to 60% of energy losses go through this, especially since vasoconstriction is not effective on the scalp (and for me who don't have hair, it's even worse!).
Then we'll think about defending his neck, another heat loss zone. To do this, avoid cold air inlets by closing all hatches (collar, fleece...). Finally, the extremities are cared for by covering them with gloves or boots.
Air is the best insulator
To be warm, you have to be able to trap a layer of air around you, and maintain it. Once heated, it will form the best insulation. That's why polar fur is so warm: it retains air in its curls.
Keeping this principle in mind, we understand that you should choose loose fitting clothing, a good advice for gloves and boots. Hands and feet should not be compressed to keep warm.
