What materials/fabrics will keep me warm/dry in snowy/wet climates?

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I live in Montana but am not native to the northwest, from the south originally. I don’t own a car (walkable cities ftw) so I’m exposed to the elements almost daily. I’ve been making it work in the winters with layering and clutch thrift store finds but I still don’t fundamentally understand what determines good vs bad fabrics/coats/socks for this climate. Please help!

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14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

To break off from the other discussions, it’s not the fabric that keeps you warm. It’s air that keeps you warm, it’s a much better insulator than the others.

So, you need a layer like polyester to wick the sweat away, because water can displace air and keep you cold.

Then you need a layer with a lot of air, like wool or down, because air keeps you warm.

Then you need a waterproof outer layer, like Gortex, to keep water off you because water can displace air in the fabric and make you cold.

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