Originally Posted by
tandempower
Although I empathize with those in freezing regions, I am curious how comfortable it would be to hike all day in freezing weather with a really good/warm outfit on. I would guess that with sufficient face, hands, and feet protection, you could walk around all day in super-cold temperatures. I guess you would need some kind of spiked cleats to avoid slipping on the ice, and maybe some kind of ventilation mask to filter the outside air through in between your layers before putting it into your lungs, but if you did all that, how cold of temperatures could you comfortably spend the whole day outdoors walking? And how annoying would it be to breathe through a tube and look at everything through a face mask for all that time?
Well, I live in Wisconsin which is a freezing region, but it's not Antarctica in the winter and I've never had any reason to walk around all day in a get-up like you describe. I'm not sure if Nanook of the North would routinely dress up like that. I've lived here for 60 years and am well acclimatized and have worked outside when then temps were -20 without the wind chill being factored. But even if they're working outside here, nobody walks around all day in cold weather (cold weather here is not freezing, but at least 20 degrees colder.
It is very possible to be reasonably and comfortably dressed for cold weather, even very frigid weather, without appearing like you are on a trek to the North Pole. But in my entire life here I have never seen anyone breathe through a tube in a face mask. In fact, walking outside in even below zero weather on a clear day with no wind is very ice.
But if it came to it, I could walk for hours in very cold weather--below zero--appropriately dressed in the right clothing and be comfortably warm. But in very hot weather, over 100 degrees and sun, there is no way you are going to be able to walk for hours and be comfortably cool. We do get 100 degree days here but not a lot of them as well as many frigid days with snow and ice in the winter. Living in a northern climate is not for sissies.