What's your temperature?

[eyesup]

I live in the American desert southwest.  Where I live the coldest it gets in the winter is maybe into the upper 20's at night.  On rare occasions it may stay in the 30's during the day, but in general I don't live where it gets bitterly cold.

I have gone on day hikes when the temps were in the mid 30's.  The forecast for the day might be in the mid 40's or 50's, so those of you that regularly have extreme cold to deal with probably would welcome those as warm days.

On the day I went out, as I walked, I became aware of how my body was reacting to the temps.  I could feel the cold air on me.  I have read that a layer of warm air is held in place by our body hair and helps control skin temperature.  As long as the wind doesn't disturb this insulating layer we have a limited ability to stay warm.

I find it interesting how the body adapts to conditions when neccessary. When we are clothed and exposed to cold we expect to be cold, so we are.  Well, I was in a cold environment and had no clothes on.  I could sense the cold on my skin but my body wasn't cold. I was not shivering.  Fortunately it wasn't windy or cloudy which would have made a huge difference.

As the sun rose so did the temperature.  I actually worked up a little bit of a sweat.  Initially I was a little concerned about getting too cold because of how fast body heat dissipates.  I never got cold in the way I had imagined and I did have a good hike.

I was wearing my Vibram 5 Toes which makes the sense of wearing nothing even more noticable.  I noticed that my calf muscles got a particularly good workout as a result.  You are using your toes just as if you were barefoot and the muscle ache was noticeable, but not painful.  It is better exercise for your legs.

I was out for a total naked time of about 5 hrs. and the temp when I headed back was in the mid 50's.

I was wondering what is the coldest that anyone has been out for an extended period and what was your reaction to and how did you deal with the cold.

Duane

[jbeegoode]

30F degrees for around thirty minutes at a time, no wind, nor breeze, just dead of night. I wore just snow boots once. I wore the boots, gloves and a light hat another night. My strategy was to just keep move’n. I gathered enough inner heat running or doing Tibetan dance and then just cruised, walking for a while. It was invigorating. My body was alive in the crisp. Grand fun. I could have been out much longer, but then working out in the middle of the night made me tired. I’m sure, if I was more athletic, I could stay out until I dropped.

I assume you mean naked. When the wind makes chill partial clothing works if I keep moving. A terrycloth bathrobe breaks the wind. A warm jacket around the torso and waist down and I’m good, keeping the legs moving. Gloves keeping hands warm seems to help, I’ve heard that extremities covered helps. That seems to be true.

Apparently, as long as the wind is calm and preferably the sun is on me, I’m comfortable for nude desert distance all day at 40F to 70F. How much the wind is creating chills is the dictating factor. I’m just partial to nice or hot weather, where it suits my lack of clothing, if not rendering clothing silly. Some days the winter deals us the hand that we have to play.


I’ve noticed this winter that my Vibram five fingers have not been warm. I bought an Injini liner sock and the two layers worked well. They are supposed to be good for wet feet, but I’ve yet to explore that option.
Jbee

P.S. Three months later we slogged through Arivaipa Canyon Creek and Hot Springs Reserve for a couple of days and the liner wicking sock combo worked excellently.

[eyesup]

I forgot I had posted this when I read Karla's post about the BBC article. Afterward I remembered it and reread it.

"from her "Guess who he's referring to " post"
I explained that it's not actually that cold, it just feels that way because you notice the difference in temperature between a clothed part and a naked part which makes the bare part feel cold. This is not an issue if you're fully naked. Also if you stay active then your muscles generate heat.

I noticed that my body adjusted to the temperature and was surprised that I wasn't cold. I imagine a regimen of cold hikes would help but then you would have the reverse problem in hot weather. Here it is cold enough in the winter to do a cold hike, it just doesn't get very cold.

Karla, what is the cut off temperature for you and Stuart? I suppose it would involve more than temperature. In your area the overall weather can change quickly, where you just say, "That's just too cold".

Duane

[jbeegoode]

I have noticed the kinesthetic expression of frickin' cold, take this shot quick, to joyful frolic, to relaxed demeanor in their pics. Also color changes, like pink, especially on Stuart. The windchill in some of those Monroe pics must be at times staggering.
Jbee

[Karla]

Karla, what is the cut off temperature for you and Stuart? I suppose it would involve more than temperature. In your area the overall weather can change quickly, where you just say, "That's just too cold".

The coldest we had was a wind chill of -9 C. We were only naked for a short time though but certainly wouldn't want to go any colder. Generally we found 8C in a strong wind without rain is quite sustainable and quite stimulating.

Wind and rain make all the difference because they both cool you down much more than the ambient air temperature.

[reubenT]

somewhere in the general vicinity of 98.6 F  most of the time.        Outside it's cooled a bit,   75 now.   Supposed to be in the low 80's for several days.   Better than the mid 90's that it was for awhile,   but with the very high moisture it still feels pretty warm, specially when doing anything.   

[nuduke]

In my comparatively brief forays out in cold weather you can get down to, like, 0°C and standing on icy frosted grass provided the air is still.  But a cold, damp british breeze even at, say, 10° and you're chilled uncomfortably in no time. 

John

[milfmog]

I rarely stay still when out naked, tending to walk, which generates some warmth.

I have walked comfortably in temperatures as low as -4C (25F) when the air is dry and still (though I have to wear shoes of some sort to insulate my feet against the cold ground). Add a bit of wind or rain and the minimum temperature that is comfortable starts to rise rapidly.

Have fun,


Ian.

[HillwalkerDundee]

As a keen naked hill walker in Scotland i have to understand the weather for safety. Wind chill and water are killers.

I walk naked four or five times a week for three or four hours at a time and my body has become more hardy than many but i still need to be careful.

For most of this winter i have been walking in minus 2c perfectly ok and enjoying especially when the occasional burst of the sun rays breaks through. I understand that the skin starts to freeze at minus 4c which is where wind chill makes such a difference.

I have misjudged the cold on a couple of occasions and finished up with a chilled bladder. The symptons include "must pee" moments where you have virtually no notice that you have to go. And when you do go it is extremely painful. This can last for 24 hours or more.

Hypothermia kills so you must be careful.

[MartinM]

I was out cross-country ski-ing on the hills last week. The temperature was -8C when I started but no wind and sunny when I got away from a little mist. I quickly warmed up so stripped off, just wearing hat, gloves and boots. I was still too warm so off came the hat and gloves. I was ski-ing like that for about an hour or so, all uphill, my only concern that I might get sunburnt.

I saw a skier in the distance coming the other way as the breeze also began to pick up. I was still going up so I didn’t want to dress despite getting cooler. After disappearing from sight, he appeared over the ridge in front of me and passed quickly by me, simply saying, ‘That’s one way do do it, you must be cold’, to which I had barely time to say that I had been too warm, and he was gone.

After he had gone, I stopped for a break and had to dress due to the windchill, so that was it for the day.

The previous week I was out walking the hills with only some snow on the tops. Not so sunny and a significant breeze. As usual, I was barefoot, which means staying warm is more important. I managed about an hour before stopping for a break and dressing. I could no doubt have carried on for a while but I was then onto a popular walking route and into thin snow. The top was in cloud so I needed two thin merino shirts and a windproof shell when I stopped for lunch.

I have done many early morning runs when it is sub-zero (C), and usually no problem if not too windy. However, I now usually take my gloves as my hands are probe to Raynaud’s syndrome and suffer more than any other part. On occasions I have wished I had a willy warmer! It can suffer when sub-zero although rarely below minus 2C - just no warming sun that time of the morning.

For walking, not dependent on sunshine, I generally find 12C is comfortable with a typical gentle to moderate breeze

[ric]

ive recently found a weather station about 8 miles south that posts live data and records to the net.  intresting to compare the weather were actually geting to the headlines in the media.
http://www.chilthorneweather.co.uk/

about minus 5 c seems to be the normal coldest we get, rare to get a max daytime minus, though we can get down into the low teens minus at night for a few nights in a bad winter. its also rare for a frosty spell to last longer than a week.

[BlueTrain]

The temperature in our basement, where I spend a lot of time doing little projects and drinking coffee, is just below 60°F on a cheap thermometer placed at eye level. That is barely comfortable most of the time to be nude but then I'm not exactly all that active down there. Outside right now, it's about 28°F, well below my comfort level for more than a few minutes.

I have hiked nude, however, in temperatures that were probably in the 50s and it's bearable. But my skin did feel cool, maybe even cold, to the touch. That's also true when I'm nude in the basement. I'm wearing shoes and socks, though, and that makes a big difference to me. Nevertheless, I can still be fairly comfortable if I'm active enough. It's hard to say ow much is "enough," though. Under any conditions, when I go out for a long walk, I will be much warmer when I get back than when I started, which seems logical enough. In freezing or near-freezing weather, though, on, say, a two-mile walk, my hands will be cold until I've finished the first mile. My feet are perfectly fine but my face stays chilly the whole time. So much for "face all over." Sometimes, I've been out in cold, snowy weather and eventually my hands warm up enough to remove my gloves.

Another curious thing is that when I've been nude indoors and been fairly comfortable in a cool house, when I've gotten dressed at last, mainly to go outside for the paper, I am chilled for a few minutes by my cool clothes, until I get them all warmed up again with my body heat. I have seen it mentioned that if you have trouble staying warm in the winter, you probably aren't eating enough of the right foods.

Some of the coldest times I've ever experienced were when I was in the army in Germany, standing around outside waiting for something (you spend a lot of time standing around and waiting in the army), and could not stay warm for anything. I recall one occasion when we were having a vehicle inspection. I was standing next to my Jeep (which was a Ford), hood up and everything and it started snowing. I don't remember what happened next.

[jbeegoode]

Spring seems to have finally Sprang!

Starting to get normals in the forecast. Bugs are coming out, lots of flowers this year because of the rains. Some weeds are chest high.

Anybody got a good recipe for mustard greens? We have a bumper crop, but I can only accept so much In a salad.
Jbee

[locksmith]

we are sitting around single digits from temperature.  just above 32 to our american neighbours. 

[jbeegoode]

Your Easter eggs will freeze...oops, uh oh, pun....

You all do know that it is April...don't you?

I do still remember the radio in Michigan broadcasting its "Think Summer" campaigns starting April 1st. I do remember standing in a freeze, snow crackling under my feet, waiting for a bus. Maybe, it isn't that it is cold, but it has been cold so long.
Jbee