How to Keep Your Feet Warm When Backpacking in the Winter

Frostbite can be a real risk when backpacking in the winter. Keep your feet warm by covering them sufficiently to insulate and keep them dry, but allow enough room for adequate circulation.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hiking Boots
• Liner Socks
• Vapor Barrier Liners
• Wool Or Fleece Socks
• Down Booties
• Gaiters

1. Make sure your boots are thoroughly waterproofed before setting out into the snow or rain.

2. Wear only as many layers as necessary to wick moisture away and to insulate your feet. This generally means first putting on a pair of socks specially designed as liners and then covering these with thick, insulating socks.

3. Wear a vapor barrier liner between your wicking sock and your insulating sock if your feet still are not warm enough with these two layers alone. A vapor barrier liner will keep sweat from dampening your insulating layer ' meaning your feet will be wetter, but warmer.

4. Consider wearing winter boots a tad larger than your shoe size to allow you to wear thick, insulating socks and to insert an insole into the boot. The insole will insulate the bottom of the foot from the cold ground.

5. Wear gaiters to keep your boots dry and to prevent snow from getting inside your boot.

6. Carry extra socks with you to wear as camp socks and change into these immediately upon arriving at your campsite, even if the socks you have been hiking in are only slightly damp.

7. Sleep in fleece socks or down booties for maximum warmth at night.

8. Dry your soaked boots as thoroughly as possible at camp before wearing them the next day. Try drying them slowly near a campfire, placing them in a plastic bag and sleeping with them in the bottom of your sleeping bag, or lining your sleeping bag with a plastic bag and sleeping with your boots on.

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on 12/19/2008 Silk socks go a long way. A nice article about warm foot gear:
http://asiteaboutnothing.net/b_warmfeet.html
Has anyone ever tried electric socks?

on 11/22/2005 If your feet get cold, put on a hat. I have been told this so many times by survival instructors that I now consider it a cliche. Most of your body heat is lost through your head and your breath. When you lose body heat, your body shuts off the blood to the extremities in order to keep your brain alive. For even more heat retention, wear a heat exchanger and breathe warm air. This new device works well. It is made by The North Face and Psolar.

on 11/22/2005 Use saran wrap and some packing tape. Wrap your feet in the saran wrap and then the packing tape so that it stays secure. You can go as high on your shins as you want.