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These Cold Weather Items Will Keep You Toasty in the Great Outdoors

My name is Jack Spicer. I am the editor of MTB, Skiing, and Fitness, a blog dedicated to the action sport’s lifestyle. Every year I spend 100+ days outdoors during the winter. Here is a list of gear I have compiled from personal use that makes the outdoors more enjoyable during winter.

The harshness of winter can easily scare one away from the outdoors. But with the right gear, you can enjoy the outdoors no matter the weather outside.

Here are seven pieces of gear that will help you have more fun outdoors this winter.

Flylow Tough Guy Gloves

Flylow is a skiing company that has made a name for themselves with their gloves. Designed for the ski resort but equally at home in the suburbs, their Tough Guy gloves will keep your hands warm and dry no matter the activity.

Each pair of gloves is hand-treated and has a tripled-baked water repellent coating. The cuff is long and narrow, making it easy to fit any sweater or jacket. At $40, this pair of gloves is a great value and perfect for all sorts of winter activities, from walking the dog to sledding with friends.

Flylow Gloves $40

Yeti Rambler 20 oz Tumbler with Magslider Lid

A secret to enjoying the outdoors during winter is to keep something hot accessible at all times. Yeti built the Rambler 20oz tumbler for this purpose.

The tumbler is made out of double-wall vacuum insulation and features a thick plastic lid with a magnetic closure providing extra protection against the cold. All of this means that your hot beverage will stay warm for hours, giving you a way to warm back up during or after your time in the elements.

This tumbler is built to last. The 18/8 stainless steel is dishwasher safe and will survive years and years of daily use.

Yeti Rambler Tumbler $29.99

Patagonia Men’s Nano-Air Hoody

When trying to stay warm during the winter, moisture is the enemy. As it evaporates, it will leave you shivering and wishing you were back home by the heater. Patagonia makes some of the best outerwear on the market.

That’s why it’s important to have a jacket that stays warm even when wet. Patagonia’s Nano-Air Hoody is made of synthetic insulation that keeps its warmth even when wet, unlike traditional down jackets.

Further, Patagonia uses Bluesign approved fabric and a Fair Trade supply chain to make environmentally and ethically friendly garments. So while you’re staying warm, you can feel good about what you’re wearing.

Patagonia Hoodie

Navigate the Outdoors with the Bivy Stick Cellphone Booster

Navigating the outdoors during winter can be hazardous. Icy roads and snowy conditions can turn even the most mundane adventure into a risky situation.

For your safety, it’s handy to have a device like a Bivy Stick with you during your travels. Bivy Stick is a satellite communication device that acts as an antenna for your cell phone. Which allows you to send texts, phone calls, share your location, and call for help when you are out of cell service.

What sets the Bivy Stick apart from other satellite communication devices is its credit system. Unlike other devices that make you pay an annual fee to activate your device, Bivvy Stick’s credits are only used when you use the device.

Bivy Stick booster $349

World-BIO Hand Warmers Disposable Heat Pads

Winter is cold. There is no way around it, but you can make the cold more enjoyable.

These hand warmers are a staple for anyone leaving the house this winter. These warmers activate as soon as you pull them out of the packaging and stay warm for eight hours or more. They are perfect for walks around the block, a trip to the local sledding hill, ski hill, or any outside activity.

Best of all, these hand warmers are biodegradable, so when you toss them in the trash, you can feel good knowing that they will decay quickly.

World Bio Heat Pads 50 for $24.50

Dry Guy Travel Boot Dryer

If you live in a snowy climate, you know how miserable it is to put on cold, damp shoes in the morning. Thankfully there are products like the Dry Guy Travel Boot Dryer.

This compact gadget has two wands that slip right into your shoes. These wands are small fans that blow warm air through your shoes, drying them from the inside out.

It plugs directly into any outlet and features a car outlet letting you dry your winter boots as you drive home from building a snowman or a day in the mountains.

Even if you’re not heading out on an adventure this winter, the dry guy is the perfect compact way to warm up your shoes before you head to work on a cold, snowy morning.

Dry Guy Boot Dryer

The North Face Thermoball Slippers

During winter, some of the best adventures happen around the fire in the comfort of your living room.

The North Face’s Thermoball Slippers are built for just this. These insulated slide-on slippers are super warm and light. These slippers use synthetic insulation to stay warm even when wet and have a fleece lining, making them easy to wear all night long.

North Face slippers

Jack Spicer is the editor of MTB, Skiing, and Fitness, a blog dedicated to the action sport’s lifestyle. He works in digital marketing and, when not in the mountains, spends his time dialing in his pour-over ratios.

Burgeon Outdoor Gear Made in Chilly New Hampshire

Burgeon Outdoor offers a full line of cold-weather outerwear and well-made layering pieces for men and women that really keep you warm. I like that the pockets on this winter coat are deep so you can store your gloves down there without worrying about losing them.

Wind protection, insulation, breathability, and rain/snow protection all in one. This softshell jacket has it all. Tested in blizzards in Wyoming and Utah, as well as the windy conditions of the Franconia ridge, this softshell will keep you warm, dry, and insulated from the wind.

I used this during a very cold day and found it was better for moderate cold, it’s not as thick as other parkas so it would be better for moderate cold.

A must-have item for the active hiker, cross country, and/or back-country skier. Burgeon Outdoor $199

A Canadian’s Choices for Cold Weather Comfort

Here are some suggestions from Matthew Bailey, an outdoorsman from chilly Alberta Canada.

Thermal Base Layer: Whether we’re skiing or snowshoeing or doing anything outdoors in the winter, we always wear a base layer. There are all sorts of brands and materials, but the best is Merino Wool or a Merino Wool Synthetic mix.

Personally, I own 100% Merino Wool, with my upper layer coming from Smartwool and my bottom layer coming from Icebreaker. They’re a tad expensive but they’re warm and can be worn for a solid week before having any bad smells.
Icebreaker Merino Wool Base Layer

Icetrax Ice Cleats Keep Your Feet on the Trail

Ice Cleats: We recently bought a pair of Icetrax Ice Cleats and love them as something to throw on over the boots when walking around snowy or ice conditions, whether walking around the neighborhood or on a hike.

They’re not as extreme as microspikes, which makes them much more useful for most situations. They’re also quite cheap and small, allowing them to be packed anywhere.

The Essential Balaclava

Balaclava: I mostly wear these when skiing but they’re good for any type of cold weather. Mine covers everything except for my eyes but it has a fold that allows me to have my whole face exposes as well if it’s not so cold. It’s thin enough for my ski helmet to go over it and it keeps my hold head and neck warm.

Bulabula Balaclava $35

Fleece Sweater or Vest: For most winter activities, layering is key. Unlike walking around town with a thick parka, it’s the last thing you want when doing activities like skiing, snowshoeing, etc. Working out causes you to heat up and if you can’t layer down, you’re going to sweat and ultimately get cold.

One key layering item is a fleece sweater and/or fleece vest. I typically wear a base layer followed by a normal t-short followed by the fleece sweater and/or vest depending on the cold weather. Then, I add a waterproof shell on top of that.

Hand and Foot Warmers: These eco-friendly little packets warm up once opened and can be used inside gloves, boots, or anywhere really. On really cold days, especially with low activity, these things really do help. There are a variety of brands, such as HotHands and Little Hotties, see above.

Matthew G. Bailey reports from chilly Alberta Canada with his ideas about how to stay warm in winter. He publishes MustDoCanada in the province.

A Collection of LED Lights for Every Use

Everyone gets a light! This set from Vont doubles up on the light, with two of each of these essential lights, so everyone will have a light, lantern, and headlamp.

You really never can have too many flashlights. This is a hell of an assortment, each light is solidly made of aluminum and all but the regular flashlights INCLUDE their required AAA batteries.

This is a great deal considering you get six very high-quality lights in one box.

Ultimate Survival Kit $43

Appalachian Gear Co’s Toasty Neck Gaiter

The one place you’re often the most vulnerable to cold is your neck. Warm that up and you’ll stay toasty. We’ve been testing this very soft alpaca fleece neck gaiter and it doubles as a temporary face mask. Very warm and keeps the air from getting down there. On hiking trips and up on a high ski slope in Maine, this piece performed admirably.

Appalachian Gear Company’s gaiters are crafted in the U.S. from 100% Alpaca fibers, creating the first new sustainable performance fabric to be introduced to the outdoor industry in decades. This patent-pending fabric is lightweight, environmentally friendly, hypoallergenic, and offers unmatched breathability, moisture management, and odor control.

The Gaiter features two layers of All-Paca Fleece for extra warmth, with a longer front so it can be tucked into a jacket or worn untucked to help shed snow and rain. The Gaiter is lightweight and highly packable at just 3oz. and offers incredible comfort and softness.

All-Paca Fleece Gaiters  $39

ExoSpikes Give You Traction Even on the Ice

Exo Spikes from Kahtoola, in Flagstaff Arizona provide excellent traction and grip on the sheerest ice. There is more winter coming so these will come in handy if you have to traverse ice, across a pond or just navigating a parking lot.

Extremely durable TPU Traction Matrix fully engages frozen and mixed terrain, with an open design that quickly sheds snow and adapts to a wide range of flexible footwear

Designed to take a beating, TPU Traction Matrix is more lightweight and abrasion-resistant than steel, 0.29 in. integrated tungsten carbide spikes per foot provide three levels of traction. Aluminum steps grip uneven surfaces while TPU lugs dig into loose terrain and tungsten carbide tips bite into ice and packed snow. 

Kahtoola EXOspikes Footwear Traction –$54

Krimson and Klover’s Sundown Sweater

The 1/4 zip Sundown sweater is made of 100% ultra-fine Merino making it extremely comfortable and practical. The abstract nordic snowflake pattern is a classic and will surely fit nicely into your sweater collection.

Merino wool is a natural fabric that offers a superior combination of breathability and warmth for high performance on and off the slopes, or in and out of the snow. The benefits of Merino is that it has moisture-wicking and odor control properties, it’s soft against the skin, and has natural stretch and recovery. Its antimicrobial properties means that it stays cleaner for longer, less washing, and less wasted water.

Krimson and Klover Sundown Sweater $194

The Warmest Toddlers Around with Morrison Kid’s Sleeping Sack: The Big Mo 40

The ultimate kids camping companion, the Big Mo 40 is the first sleeping bag with adjustable sleeves designed for kids ages 2-4 years old. Guaranteed to never get kicked off while your child is sleeping, no matter how much they roll, the Big Mo 40 is fun to wear and stays warm all night long, for toasty toddlers.

Age Range: 2-4 Years Old Best Use: Camping Weight: 1lb 3oz / 537g Temperature Range: 40°F to 60°F / 4°C to 15°C Length: 42in / 106cm Sleeves: Adjustable Open-and-Close Sleeves Shell made of 100% ripstop nylon.

Morrison Outdoors Toddler Sleep Sack $89