re: I'm in Chicago. Tomorrow the high will be 4.

quote:

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You can’t embrace or dress for this shite, man.

Wind chill of -20 below when I was waiting on the El this morning...which was twenty minutes delayed.

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I'll respectfully disagree. I grew up in Minnesota and rarely wore more than a varsity jacket and sock hat all winter if I was walking to school, driving around or playing street hockey or basketball. If you're moving around generating heat you'll be sweating your arse off in much more than that.

On bad days, I'd wear a hooded parka with a sock hat and scarf. If your feet get especially cold they sell felt lined rubber boots called pack boots, otherwise it was always tennis shoes.

Then when you're ice fishing, snowmobiling, etc. or going to be out in for hours, you wear a snowmobile suit, pack boots and leather felt lined mittens we used to call choppers. If you're waiting on a train I'd go with the parka, pack boots and whatever else you want for head and hand protection.

You may never get used to it, but in my experience the desire to have fun in the outdoors would always outweigh the realization it would likely come with chapped cheeks and legs and frostbitten toes.