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Comment by forgotmypw17 | Hacker News Reader

This is anecdata. I am also not a bird.

Inspired by Wim Hof, I've started doing short barefoot snow walks. Within days, even between multiple walks on the same day, my feet became more cold-tolerant.

They now recover from the cold faster, stay warm in the snow longer, and when I'm indoors, my feet are no longer cold without socks.

My feet used to be cold to the touch and feel cold subjectively without socks.

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I used to never be cold. Could sit in open below 0C air after a shower without cooling down. I never really wore thick sweaters, where some would insist in them.

Then I moved to a Mediterranean climate. When I go back now, I find I've become a wuss. Can't handle cold at all anymore.

Don’t know if basing your identity on reaction to weather is a good strategy, but your body adapts. And that’s the reason you don’t die during a Mediterranean summer.

I always love that in the spring and fall with the warm days I enjoy a nice 60F/16C evening and leave the windows open but then comes winter and those numbers just feel cold.

the human body adjusts but we don't notice is as much when we let the weather change around us instead of moving to where the weather has already changed

I don't often choose what I wear, though I'd choose scratchy wool over most materials. I find that layering is a great strategy, and usually wear 3-5 layers in most weather conditions.

Who chooses what you wear?

Depending on your worldview, it is "circumstance" or "the Universe" or "entities beyond choice".

I've chosen to abstain from buying clothes, so I get most of them by finding them in donation piles or from hand-me-downs.

Out of this selection, I pick the lightest, most comfortable, and least dangerous, layering from smallest to largest, and softest to most elements-durable.

Wool my friends. It is the only way.

but wool is so itchy and scratchy, isn't it?

"Wool" is a very broad category that pretty much means "material made out of some kind of animal hair". And since there's quite a few animals with hair, there's quite a few types of wool. I suggest trying high quality cashmere (note: cheap cashmere is typically mixed with other types of wool).

It depends on the wool. Finer wool like Merino wool tends to be nicer to wear directly on your skin. But you don't have to do that. You can and should wear cotton underwear. The extra layer keeps you even warmer and means you won't have to wash your outer wear all the time (wool should not be washed more than is absolutely necessary and ideally not at all). You'll also find heavier garments encase the wool in an outer material like cotton. You can get cotton duvets like this and they are wonderful. You can use them all year round. I will never go back to polyester again.

Have you tried pashmina? If there existed a real invisibility cloak, it would be made of pashmina! Soft, thin and magically warm

Wool socks are amazing. Warm and more importantly dry.

In a similar way down comforters are wonderful (get the right weight).

Don't you find wool not stretching is a real problem? I struggle to get well-fitting wool socks that I can also get around my ankle, as they have no stretch.

Did you know people used to use sock suspenders to keep their saggy wool socks up before we started to use synthetic fibres for socks?

I think my wool socks have a little synthetic fiber to help with that.

I tried less expensive wool socks, like from costco, and they were too warm and moist.

Then I tried darn tough wool socks and they are always warm and dry - even in summer.

It's not a problem if you find appropriate quality and thickness. One example is Icebreaker Ultralight socks. I use them in summer and they are rather thin.

> One example is Icebreaker Ultralight socks.

The website says they're actually 38% polyamide and 2% elastane. I think they're 'wool mix' socks rather than wool socks.

Indeed. I think that is to allow them to stretch. If you take something like a shirt, for example, it'll be all merino wool.

EDIT: Also I see that the proportions differ based on the type of socks.

Try bombas wool. Great everyday wool sock

I've never tried bombas wool, but I have a pair of bombas socks which were gifted to me, and other than being quite tight, they are serviceable. Make sure you get a large enough size.

Bombas are one of the few brands I would recommend to anyone because they donate one pair of socks for each that you buy.

Even more importantly: wool still insulates really well when wet.

I thought so too. At some point, I realized I'm allergic to wool and that was why it made me itch.

FWIW.

Wool with short fibers thick tends to be. Wool with longer thinner fibers like merino is much better.

This used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore. Somehow, I got over being bothered by wool's scratchiness, and even began to see it as a good quality.

I think this is an unintended consequence of my meditation efforts to dissipate my annoyance reaction.

Always use cotton as a first layer, because you can just put it in the laundry. Cleaning my woollen coat is more difficult than changing a cotton shirt underneath it.

Also: most “wool” is polyester because it’s like 10 times cheaper.

Cotton remains damp after you sweat and eventually also stinks of sweat. It's not a good base layer in cold weather. A lot of merino wool products are easy to clean and maintain. I have never seen polyester called wool.

No don't, you're going to be in for a bad time if you wear cotton as a base layer in -10C weather.

If you wear cotton socks and they get wet you might lose tour toes.

Most wool is definitely not polyester. At least not in Scandinavia.

This is good - potentially even life saving - advice if we're talking about doing serious activities outdoors. And in that case, even wool is probably best replaced with synthetics that are lighter and dry quicker when wet.

For around town, though, a cotton base layer and wool works pretty well.

I must side with the other replies to your comment.

I have been wearing cotton as my top base layer for a while, and it is not great at staying dry or drying out while damp.

I'd certainly choose it over any synthetic fabric, but once you go over that low mark, just about anything is better, e.g. wool, linen, help, silk, etc.

maybe they mean "grow wool", not "wear wool"

Acclimatisation is real. I've noticed a trend in the UK over the past 20 years or so. Previously many people, like my parents, used the central heating minimally. It would come on in the morning just to take the edge off in the winter. But that was pretty much it. Nowadays people are trying to keep their house the exact same temperature year round. That means it's warm in the winter and (if you have ac) cold in the summer. But people never acclimatise to the outside temperature as a result. So outside always feels way colder than it really should, or way hotter.

This winter I've reduced my study temperature (where I work every day) from 21 degrees to 19 degrees. It didn't take that long to acclimatise and now I'm not only saving money, I'm more closely acclimatised to the outside temperature.

I think ideally we wouldn't use thermostats, but instead use a system that adjusts inside temperature some percentage towards the ideal. So in winter when it's 0 degrees outside it's 17 degrees inside, and in summer when it's 30 degrees outside it's 25 degrees inside. Just think of the savings and how much nicer it will be to go outside when you're acclimatised.

The problem with that is that modern houses are very well insulated and unfortunately the insulation also traps moisture. If it gets too cold water condensates in the walls and mould can form. 17° in my experience is too cold and poses a risk.

> 17° in my experience is too cold and poses a risk.

Interesting, I have my thermostat set to 17° and the house is only 15 years old. What temperature should it be set to?

If you have no issues with mold than it's totally fine. It really depends on lot of variables, like outside temperature, humidity in your region, the quality of the insulation and building materials. But given the right (wrong) circumstances too little heating can become a real problem.

Interesting. From my experience, coldness of feet is correlated with blood circulation. There are periods when my feet are cold (going together with the restless legs syndrome at night), and I think it goes away when circulation improves. My theory is that exposing feet to elements is another trick to improve blood flow to them, I’ve been meaning to try that.

If you don't have any snow to walk through, just give 'em an ice water dip. You can do your whole body, too, with similar benefits. It's uncomfortable, but what isn't...

In my experience, and I've not found any studies to support this, restless legs correlates with oxygen levels vs carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide levels. Check your air.

It’s also highly correlated to issues with dopamine, which is why it’s an extremely strong symptom in opioid withdrawal

Yes, are bodies are wonderful and still mysterious miracles of spaghetti code.

Maybe oxygen then? Worse circulation or carbon monoxide could be involved, then.

I don’t think there’s anywhere for CO to come from, however air quality varies (CO2 levels easily reach 1000 ppbv at times).

Yes, that's what I meant. I've edited my comment.

>restless legs correlates with oxygen levels

yep, my RLS has pretty much gone since i started iron&B12 supplementation after i discovered anemia on my blood test (i have a condition affecting B12)

+1 for ice baths. I used to do them regularly when I ran cross country. Invigorating.

I have this with cycling. In the winter I never wear gloves (hate to carry these around), and when going about in the first cold days your fingers quickly go numb. By wriggling them and with body heat generated after a while they become warm, and you can even place them comfortable on the iron parts of the steering wheel. After some days in cold weather like this they don't go cold at all anymore.

Unfortunately doesn’t work for me. I have (self diagnosed) what is called raynaud syndrome where my body sends a signal to immediately draw the blood out of the hands when it’s very cold. They literally turn white. I need to cycle really hard and stop for a couple of minutes so that there is less cold airflow to get them back and usually they get cold again over longer rides. This is only a problem at below say 5-6 degrees but it’s very annoying.

You should specify which Winter you're experiencing. I'm assuming you aren't in sub zero temperature

I wear gloves for the first 3 minutes of cycling. After that heating has booted up, circulation has made a first full cycle and unless its very windy and snowy, I take my gloves of and my hands stay warm for the rest of the ride. Nice feeling actually.

Hot and cold treatments were used to kill infection before we invented antibiotics.

Not sure how pertinent that is to your experience, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

Yep, immunity strengthening is a nice bonus.

Well, what I was actually thinking was that cold treatments could be killing off unrecognized, low-grade chronic infections and that may be leading to improved circulation and improved homeostasis.

Feet are notorious for being impacted first and worst by any circulation (blood) problems, which is why diabetics sometimes lose one or both feet to it (have them amputated, cuz reasons). And oxygen is a known means to kill certain kinds of infections (a la HBOT for Gangrene).

I think it's more likely a circulation workout.

But, sure, anything is possible.

I don't have a proper opinion on Wim Hof and his methods. On one side, he seems a nice, genuine person. On the other, I've read things that didn't necessarily add credibility to his methods.

Plus, his appearance on Gwyneth Paltrow's show (considered by many non scientific) was a bit of a downer for me.

I have friends who followed a workshop with him and had good results.

He also claims to have studies that support his method. I don't know if that's true, but I would look there more than the shows he's been on. If he wants to reach larger audiences, he will surely accept any invite.

If you see him speak in person, like in a documentary, he always seem high on adrenaline. Don’t know whether thats a good or bad thing.

What if it is neither good nor bad?

Indeed! I just don’t know anyone who is this hyped all the time.

I think it is just a matter of functioning at one's peak efficiency and health. I have experienced that state when I abstain from all the things which tend to drag down my state, including but not limited to processed foods including anything with added salt and sugar, coffee withdrawal, dehydration, inadequate sleep, lack of exercise, unchecked negative thinking.

One can spend all of eternity forming a "proper opinion", based on third-party information ten times removed, and end up having not moved an inch... -or- actually take a leap of faith and try it, and have a real first-hand experience and information knowledge.

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