What's Your Cold Weather Cut-Off Point?

Do any of you go barefoot throughout the winter? This is my second year going all winter without shoes. I can handle being outside barefoot in temps down to about 20. Any lower than that and I limit my outdoor exposure or just stay in all together. What is your cold weather threshhold?

 

I'll wear flip-flops in the 40's or 50's. I'll consider bare feet in the 50's and almost always in the 60's. All deg F.

 

I've had to get shod for now, it's icy outside.
My usual cut-off points are 5c when dry, 10c when wet.

 

I'll go short distances - on ice and snow - even in the single digits (F) - if a warm car or a warm building is near. I'll go anywhere barefoot if it is 30 degrees or above.

 

A couple of years ago in the early spring I was on a crazy road trip with a wildlife biologist. We stopped in the high plains of the northeastern Sierra to look for a hot spring. There was a couple of feet of snow on the ground and a layer of ice on top. After getting the car stuck we had to walk almost a mile to the spring and the wind was blowing cold air in the 20's (F). I walked barefoot the whole time but it was rather uncomfortable each time my feet broke through the ice because ice sheet edges poked into the tops of my feet and around my ankles. But I survived OK. The only injuries I sustained were on my arms when my friend's big dog jumped on me when I was sitting in the hot spring and a spider jumped off the dog and onto my arm. I got scratches from the dog's paws and a spider bite.

On a farm I went barefoot in temps in the low teens, in frosty grass, and that was fine.

However I do remember a time in 1991 when I got out of my car and it was in the single digits or maybe below zero. I stepped on the icy ground and thought it was really uncomfortably cold and couldn't stand it for more than a few minutes.

 

Hey Sweet Dream, from reading your story I assume that you don't even have shoes with you when you travel or go places. You sound just like me. I never have shoes, so I just have been in the same situation as you were if I ever got stuck with someone in the snow.

People just assume that going barefoot in the winter or in the snow is impossible, but I found out that it's actually no big deal if you rarely wear shoes and your soles are tough as leather.

 

I don't have a certain cutoff point. I've been barefoot in temperatures well below freezing, but it depends on so many other factors. Whether the ground is dry or snowy (not to mention slushy, that's colder than fresh snow or ice), what the windchill is, what I'm wearing from the ankle up, the length of time I am going out for, whether I'm walking briskly or standing around or riding my bicycle (the last is cold because your feet catch more wind on the pedals than when walking), and even what I've been eating (if you go out in cold weather a lot, you can stand a lot more fat in your diet, and it sure helps to keep warm). I walked for an hour in the snow with temps just below freezing the other day, and went out for shorter trips in colder temps several times this past month. There are a few pics of my barefooting in the snow on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myranya In the deepest snow I still walked barefoot to the store and back (about half a mile each way).

 

Myranya, you are definately an inspiration. I have to ask, how do you stand walking through the snow for periods up to an hour? It doesn't snow too much here. If it does usually about 1-6 inches. Anything more than that would be a blizzard...lol.

I have not owned shoes in at least 2 years, so my soles are as tough as a piece of leather they are sort of insulated agaist very cold surfaces. I can be outside barefoot in temps down to the teens or even zero. The only thing I mind is walking through snow for any length of time. Since I have no shoes I have to go outside to shovel when it snows. I noticed that after about 15 mins of walking in the snow my toes and tops of my feet start to get red and actually burn. I don't see how my feet could get any tougher than they are now, so what is your secret to trekking through snow barefoot for long periods of time?

 

There is no secret except what you already can make up out of my post above. Dressing up warmly from the ankle up, a bit more fat in my diet (in summer I often eat just a salad for dinner, I couldn't barefoot in the snow on that!), keep moving rather than standing around... I've posted in more detail a few times already this winter, look through my old posts, it should be there.

Only thing I've added recently is I put some bag balm on my feet, mostly to protect my feet from salt/chemicals. The salty sludge always feels much colder than the regular snow does, but back in December I encountered some *nasty* stuff at the bike shed at the train station. No clue what it was, but it just burned even after standing on it for only a few moments (way too quickly to be just from the cold, I'd been out in the same temperature for quite a bit and there was salt on the platforms too, enough that it was gritty underfoot. I'd stood on that several minutes while waiting for the trains with no problem). I even got a few very small blisters on my toes. I Googled a bit trying to find what it could've been, didn't really discover what stuff they used but I did find quite a few sites saying that dogs sometimes can 'burn' their feet or otherwise have irritated pads from salt and slush, and those sites recommended putting bag balm or something similar on as a protective layer. The 'regular' salty sludge on the streets near my home isn't nearly as bad but it's never pleasant to walk through, and especially now the cold weather is sticking around for so long (most years we only have a few days of snow, some years none at all) I figured it was a good idea to protect my feet a bit more even when I don't have to go to that particular bike shed.

 

I'm a wuss and have very little "natural" insulation I'll go barefoot to about 60F, flip flops to about 45F; any lower and I dress like I'm going on an artic expedition, I guess it comes from living in SE Texas.

 

You're not a wuss. It's just that if you get used to a warm climate your blood thins and you get cold easier. If you are exposed to cold weather for a period of time, your blood thickens and you can handle the northern exposure.

This even happens to us Pennsylvania people. For example, it's been in the 20s and 30s everyday but this weekend it's going up to 45. It will feel like a heatwave and I will probably wear just a t-shirt.... However if this were summer when we are used to it being 80 and 90 degrees, I would be freezing my ass off in 45 degree weather.

My feet are imune to it all though because not wearing shoes for 2 years gave me about an inch of extra padding on my feet. This kind of insulates me from hot or cold temps, at least on my soles

 

An inch of extra padding? I am SO jealous!

 

I measured it at the back of my heal with my fingers. I just can't believe how much extra padding I have built up since I haven't owned shoes in at least 2 years.

 

Mine's more like half an inch there, but i tend to walk more on the front of my feet (fox walking) so that's enough to do the job. My fore-foot is quite well padded.