Originally Posted by
ADVWannabee
I am glad it works for you but I can't believe that 29 is considered cold. I thought you were going to say it was in the teens or lower. I hunt below freezing and even into the teens and can stay warm enough without the HBS. The best investment I ever made was in a pair of insulated bibs and a new hunting coat. I have an Arctic Shield coat from Bass Pro, a Field & Stream inuslated bib plus I wear long johns and a fleece under the coat. With that and a good hat I stay much warmer than I ever use to in cold weather.
You mentioned your feet got wet, are your boots not waterproof? Also, what kind of socks were you wearing? Wool socks keep their warmth even when wet but I would say it is best not to get your feet wet anyway.
29 was mainly cold because of the stiff blowing right into my face and I didn’t wear many clothes in to the timber as I wanted to test the HBS. I figure a few less layers at 29F with 20 mph wind would come close to the 0F with the same wind. Either way that wind was definitely pulling the heat away a lot quicker.
I don’t think 29F is very extreme but it was the coldest day we have had so far. Very mild for Iowa this time of year. Been a hot summer and a mild fall.
My boots are supposed to be water proof as they have gore-tex but they do seep when I walk through standing water. I had on just a liner sock. My feet sweat all the time and when I wear wool they sweat even more. Having cold feet was my main reason of buying the HBS as I have literally tried everything to deal with cold feet. Rubber boots, liner and wool socks, liners only, wools only, cotton, plastic bags in my boots then put on dry socks once I got to my stand, sprayed my feet with unscented antiperspirant… nothing works as my feet constantly sweat. I came to realize that keeping my core body temp up was the only way.
Ive hunted in -30 before and that will be the real test. Hope I get my deer before that though LOL.