Back in mid-January I was sitting around the dining table at the in Colorado after a long day of backcountry skiing with Primaloft and San Juan Mountain Guides聽 and casually brought up the subject of jacket hoods. Never in my life have I created such an instant and intense conversation about outdoor gear. People all around the table immediately chimed in with loud and passionate opinions, advice, preferences, and stories.

Patrick Ormond, the head guide for the who鈥檇 been leading my group of skiers that day, was unequivocal about his stance:

鈥淭he more hoods, the better,鈥� he said. 鈥淒id you see me today? At one point I had five hoods stacked together up on the ridge. When I鈥檓 belaying ice climbers, I鈥檝e had eight hoods all stacked on top of each other.鈥�

For Ormond, who finds himself in sub-zero temps all winter long, hoods equal essential warmth.

Former ski racer Colin Suszynski said his approach to hoods was 鈥淥CD.鈥� If he鈥檚 wearing multiple layers that all have hoods he鈥檒l spend the time to pull them over his head or helmet one at a time and then take them off so that they nest together and can all be pulled up at the same time if need be. He鈥檚 so particular about how the hoods fit together that he鈥檒l often check his shadow while riding the lift to make sure nothing is askew.

The Cozy Beauty of Hoods

I鈥檓 not as particular or familiar with hoods as Suszynski or Ormond, but I too have a deep appreciation for this often overlooked gear feature. In fact, if I were to list the things that make me feel the coziest, I鈥檇 say sitting next to a wood stove, climbing under a down comforter, and pulling up my hood.

Physically, a hood adds warmth by trapping warm air that escapes from your body around your neck and head. Psychologically, a hood makes you feel protected and less susceptible to the wind, snow, and or rain.

All聽 winter, which has been particularly cold this year, I鈥檝e been choosing hooded sweatshirts and jackets over their non-hooded counterparts because I can鈥檛 fathom going outside with the extra protection. The few times I鈥檝e been out in the weather, reached back for a hood and found I wasn鈥檛 wearing one, I鈥檝e felt completely exposed and unprepared鈥攍ike I was walking around in flip flops and shorts, or with my fly down.

Design Details from the Hood Geeks

This talking and thinking about hoods prompted me to learn more about the design and development that goes into the modern hood. My first call was to Dan Abrams, who co-founded 20 years ago, and is known among friends and colleagues as a true hood geek.

Abram says his love for the hood comes from years of storm chasing, which gave him the understanding that when you put up your hood, especially when you鈥檙e skiing on a cold and snowy day, it almost feels like you鈥檙e 鈥減utting on an entire other midlayer.鈥� It adds important warmth that will help keep you on the chairlift and out of the lodge.

When Abrams and his co-founder were designing their original hoods, they realized that smaller jackets鈥攅specially those made for women鈥攃ame with much smaller hoods. This made sense on paper, but the problem is that all helmets are big, so a small hood was never going to cover one, even a small-sized one, much less a medium or large one. To make the Flylow hood functional, the duo figured out the rough dimensions of a hood that would fit the largest helmet but not be so big that it swallowed smaller helmets.

鈥淚 always tell people you need something that鈥檚 about 16 inches tall and 11.5 inches deep,鈥� Abrams says, rattling off the numbers from his memory.

Flylow also puts a lot of emphasis on how their hood adjusts and moves with the user. On their top-end jackets, you鈥檒l always find three points of adjustment: two drawcords by the cheeks and one near the crown. These adjustments ensure a snug fit, and also allow users to cinch down the hood around a ball cap or beanie if they鈥檙e touring instead of downhill skiing.

The hood design also needs to strike a delicate balance in terms of movement. If the hood is too baggy, it stays static, so a skier will turn their head and be staring at the inside of the hood. If the hood is too tight, the skier will feel like they can鈥檛 turn their head without a fight. Abrams says that with the right tailoring, however, the hood never feels restrictive but fits snug.

Flylow pays extra attention to the height of the front collar as well. The height, when zipped, should come over the user鈥檚 lips but sit below their nose. It鈥檚 important to nail that exact spot because it provides warmth for the user鈥檚 face, but doesn鈥檛 cover their nose, which tends to push hot air into a skier鈥檚 googles and cause them to fog.

鈥淭he Foggy Goggle is a great bar in Steven鈥檚 Pass, but you want to stay away from foggy goggles when you鈥檙e skiing,鈥� Abrams says.

Finally, Abrams knows that skiers want their hoods to look good when they鈥檙e not in use, so Flylow spends a lot of time making sure the hoods fall correctly onto the back of the jackets and don鈥檛 look bunched and tangled or skew to one side or the other.

鈥淚t has to sit just right,鈥� Abrams says.

Engineering the One-Hand Pull

Wanting to know more, my next call was to Patagonia, which is also full of great design stories after decades of iterations and thousands of products. Both Corey Simpson, who leads their communications team, and Maggie Elder, a senior designer for technical product, had lots to say.

Simpson said that he鈥檚 watched hundreds and hundreds of hooded product samples come through, and when a hood is designed well, no one notices or talks about it. But when a hood is off, testers and designers notice immediately.

鈥淭he minute that a hood is off even just a little, people absolutely lose it,鈥� he said, laughing.

Elder was the lead designer on Patagonia鈥檚 , one of their top-shelf ski products, and said lots of extra time was spent designing a special hood for that jacket. The hood鈥檚 unique idea came from Elder who loves backcountry skiing and knew that almost every time she crested a ridge she had to pull on her hood to fight off the wind and cold.

On most jackets you have to unzip the collar a bit in order to squeeze the hood over a ski helmet, which takes a while, lets in cold air, and requires two hands. She wanted the process to be easier, so she set out to create a hood that could be pulled up with just one hand, without unzipping the collar.

The solution was to build a little elastic into the front of the hood so that it could squeeze over a helmet but regain its tight shape once it was up. Elder didn鈥檛 want the hood to look scrunched so she designed an elastic hinge on each side of the hood that allows it to expand and contract. She then covered that hinge with a shingle of face fabric. That way, it鈥檚 hidden and the hood didn鈥檛 look like a Pacman eating your helmet.

Elder said she was happy with the design, but then Patagonia had to work extra closely with the manufacturer because it鈥檚 more complicated than you think to build a hinge into a hood and make it 鈥減assive,鈥� a term Patagonia designers use to describe a feature that works seamlessly.

鈥淲e got there with the Untracked jacket but it took a lot of work,鈥� Elder says. I tested an Untracked jacket and confirmed that they indeed got it right: pulling the hood up with just one hand, Elder鈥檚 hinges expanded under their fabric shingles and allowed the hood to easily and smoothly glide over my helmet with minimal effort.

Getting the design right has even higher stakes for Patagonia鈥檚 climbing line because hoods can literally be the line between life and death. A hood needs to provide warmth for climbers who are dangling off the side of a giant wall, but if the hood has too much insulation it could prevent them from hearing instructions from their partner and lead to a mistake.

Plus, climbers are even pickier than skiers.

鈥淪ometimes we鈥檒l get a hooded sample out to two world-class alpinists and one will think it鈥檚 the best thing ever and the other will tell us that the product should never get released to the public,鈥� Simpson says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because one person loves the field of view on the hood but the other complains that it lets in too much snow.鈥�

The hood is so important, Simpson says, that it鈥檚 an easy way to tell if a product is more everyday focused or is designed for a bigger and more serious adventure. The serious product always has a hood.

I don鈥檛 have any problem wearing a hoodless jacket around town, but I agree with Simpson that whenever you鈥檙e in an outdoor situation with higher stakes, a hood makes a big difference. The day after our dining room conversation on that Colorado backcountry ski trip found us all standing on a windy ridge at 12,000 feet. There was no way to stay warm without a hood, and everyone automatically pulled theirs up without a second thought. I don鈥檛 know if they noticed how easily the hoods came up and fit just right, but I sure did.

The post Why a Hood Can Make or Break a Winter Jacket appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

An icy wind stings my cheeks as I sprint from my warm Subaru to the front porch of a stranger’s home in my suburban聽neighborhood. I look between the milk delivery box and a patio chair and locate my prize, wrapped in a plastic grocery bag.

Back in my car, I pull up my phone, open Venmo, and send $30 to someone named Julia. I unwrap the bag and marvel at my loot: a purple and pink pair of girls rubber snow boots, dotted with a stylish flower print, in child’s size 12.

These are no ordinary boots鈥攖hey are a pair of . Parents everywhere, including yours truly, have come to appreciate the brand for keeping our kids’ feet cozy and dry on the coldest winter days. We also love Bogs’ extreme, eye-popping durability. In my experience, Bogs rubber-soled winter boots are virtually impervious to the highly destructive forces that a typical child can muster. Bogs can survive the harshest sandbox grit and cheese-grater-like playground equipment. Take a belt sander to the sole of your kid’s Bogs and the vulcanized rubber may still grip icy pavement.

I want to stress how unusual this is to all of the child-free readers out there. Should you someday welcome a small human into your life, then you鈥攍ike me鈥攎ay marvel at your child’s ability to immediately transform new apparel or footwear into thread-bare rags.

Bogs’ extreme durability creates a dynamic that fans of the boots know well.聽 Your kid will outgrow his or her Bogs long before the boots wear out. Thus, you can sell them online when they no longer fit your kid’s feet and fetch a good price.

A thriving secondary market exists for Bogs on websites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. If you check out the “Kids’ Bogs” page on the , you will scroll past hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of used pairs for sale.

My wife and I began buying and selling our daughter’s used Bogs on Facebook Marketplace a few years ago. Our five-year-old is on her fifth pair. Here’s the thing: we’ve only purchased one pair new. The MSRP on a pair of Bogs kids winter boots is $85, but you can easily score a set with plenty of life left in them online in the $30-50 range.

For years I wondered whether this dynamic was hurting the company’s bottom line, since so many customers, like me, simply buy them from other parents.

I posed this question (does Bogs’ extreme durability hurt sales?) to Megan Vinton, Bogs鈥� senior director of product, during a recent phone call, and I got a murky answer: probably not, but honestly, who knows?

“We’ve never really analyzed the secondary marketplace that way,” she told me. “But the price that people can command for a used pair is pretty impressive.”

Vinton told me that the company has long known that used Bogs are sought-after items online. A few years back, she said, there was an internal conversation among company officials about creating Bogs’ own re-selling marketplace for used boots. But employees struggled to find the right e-commerce infrastructure and model to pursue. Plus, there was a decent argument that Bogs’ popularity on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace actually boosted the brand’s popularity. So the whole project was scrapped.

“We’re content and happy to let the online community of used sellers thrive,” she said. “So many people’s entrance to our brand is from word-of-mouth and community purchasing.”

Bogs Neo-Classic Solid Kids鈥� Boots

Instead, Vinton said, Bogs has found ways to lean into its reputation for longevity. Each pair of Bogs kids’ boots comes with a name tag inside that has room for three different names. And a few years ago, Bogs started a program called . The company will cover the shipping cost for customers to mail their used boots to the Portland, Oregon headquarters. Employees will then freshen up the footwear and donate them to outdoor kids’ programs and preschools.

“We want to keep them out of landfills,” says Chris Enlow, the company’s head of sustainability. “Creating a plug-and-play method to give them to a charity is how we prefer to engage in re-circulating boots.”

So, why do these kids boots last so long, when a typical child may only wear them for one or two seasons? Vinton said that, years ago, the company committed to using the same durability standards for a toddler’s boot as for the ones it manufactured for ranchers and dairy hands. Employees lay vulcanized rubber strips by hand over a neoprene sock to construct the waterproof lower. The company seeks out the strongest rubber compounds that won’t crack after a year spent in the sun, wind, and rain.

The company applies its latest technology to all of its boots, not just the ones made for lumberjacks or ranch hands. The newest models are made from vulcanized rubber that’s injected into a hard mold to create a seamless sole and lower area. And yeah, your three-year-old nephew can stomp through puddles in rocket ship-emblazoned boots that are made this way

“You don’t want people saying ‘Oh, these boots used to last longer,鈥欌�� Enlow said.

The lifespan of the pink and purple Bogs are far from my mind as I park in my driveway and hurry indoors. I find my daughter scribbling in a coloring book, and I slip her feet into the new boots to make sure they fit.

Then I step out of the way and let her gaze at the color scheme and the fancy flower print. It’s somewhat similar to the design of her older pair, which sit near near our front door, ready for me to post online.

“Good,” she says, and then returns to coloring.

Fred was the editor-in-chief at VeloNews from 2016 to 2021. Prior to that he was a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The New York Times. Fred is the proud father of his five-year-old daughter, Magnolia, whose feet are growing like weeds.聽

The post These Boots Will Last Longer than Your Child Can Wear Them appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Anyone who鈥檚 watched Cody Townsend鈥檚 The Fifty series, which documents his multi-year attempt to climb and ski North America鈥檚 50 most iconic ski lines, knows he鈥檚 a big fan of large-lens sunglasses鈥攏ot the type of giant, round-lens glasses commonly worn by celebrities, but outdoor-focused, wrap-around glasses that look like goggle lenses without the goggle frames. Townsend says he鈥檚 adopted these large glasses for several reasons. For starters, they keep out more of the sun during his 12-hour days on the skin track. And because they鈥檙e big enough to shield his face on most descents, they make for a lighter and less cumbersome option than goggles.

Townsend isn鈥檛 the only one choosing glasses over goggles. If you show up to your local ski area before work, you鈥檒l find plenty of uphill skiers wearing large-lens glasses. Same thing out in the backcountry. When it鈥檚 not hammering snow, skiers love to wear glasses instead of goggles.

For years Townsend wore various models of large-lens glasses from Smith, one of his sponsors, and this year he launched a Smith model of his own design called the . 鈥淚鈥檝e now spent more time skiing in the Pursuit than any other glasses I鈥檝e ever worn and because of their coverage I find myself leaving my goggles at home more and more,鈥� Townsend told us via phone while he was driving home from a recent ski tour in California鈥檚 Sierras.

I got my hands on a pair in January, skied with them in Jackson Hole, and then brought them back to New Mexico for the rest of the winter. And as big-lens glasses go, the Pursuits are definitely a step above and, in my opinion, worth the eye-watering price tag of nearly $300.

Townsend thought of everything. First, they come with photochromic lenses that change their tint based on the amount of sun hitting them. They adjust from a category one (allowing 43 to 80 percent of visible light through) to a category four rating (allowing only three to eight percent through). This means I can wear them at 7 a.m. on the skin track just as the sun is rising, and keep wearing them comfortably all the way through high noon when the New Mexico sun and white snow collude to try and destroy my retinas. Category four, the highest level, is often what you鈥檒l find in traditional glacier glass lenses.

For extra sun protection, Townsend also included side shields (like you鈥檇 find on glacier glasses) that keep sun from poking in peripherally. The side shades snap into and stay in place when they connect with magnets on the frames, but they fold down easily when you want to pack the glasses away. The shields are removable, but I leave them on because they鈥檙e so well-designed that they never get in the way.

鈥淚 wanted the side shields because light has a way of leaking in from all angles, even with large-lens glasses,鈥� Townsend says. 鈥淚f there are gaps where light gets in, it causes eye strain, so I knew I needed more coverage.鈥�

In terms of size, the lenses are on the bigger side even for large-lens glasses. That has been fine by me because the extra size makes them truly big enough to replace my goggles in nearly every instance. Since getting the Pursuits, I鈥檝e only returned to goggles for a big inbounds day when I was ripping groomers at speed, or when fighting off snow during a blizzard鈥攂oth places where I needed the extra protection offered by goggles that seal to your face.

Some users have complained that the Pursuit will fog because they provide such extensive coverage and don鈥檛 allow enough airflow when you鈥檙e huffing up the skin track. But I never found this to be the case. It might be because I have a large nose and the glasses sit off my face enough to breathe, but I suspect most other people won鈥檛 have problems either, because there鈥檚 plenty of room at the top of the glasses for airflow.

Townsend told me that while geeking out in the design phase, he and the Smith designers spent a lot of time thinking about how far off his face the glasses would sit. He wanted the lower part of the lenses to sit closer to his cheek to cut down on light coming off the snow, and he was fine with a larger gap at the top for airflow. That upper gap didn鈥檛 present as much of a light leak problem because he, like most people on the skin track, usually ski with a hat that shields the sun.

Thanks to rubber grippers on the nose and temples, the glasses always stayed put, even when I was a sweaty mess. Townsend says that the arms are customizable and can be shaped to match the shape of your head and ears. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e wearing sunglasses for a long time you want them to have the perfect fit or they鈥檙e going to start to hurt,鈥� he says.

One other detail I love: the Pursuits ship with a smartly-designed case. It鈥檚 not a traditional hard case that takes up too much space in my pack, or just a fabric sheath that only protects from scratches but not breaks. This case is somewhere in between. It鈥檚 built with a rigid front that should protect the glasses if I accidentally sit on them (I haven鈥檛 yet), and a soft back that allows me to wedge the case into the sunglasses pocket of my backcountry pack. Included in the case is a clear lens that I could swap in if I wanted to use the glasses at night.

The glasses also come with a removable nose guard, which I took off and promptly lost. It鈥檚 the kind of guard you鈥檇 wear if you were climbing Everest and sunscreen wasn鈥檛 enough. I chose to take the guard off because, even though my nose eats sun, I didn鈥檛 want to deal with carrying an extra piece. Reapplying sunscreen works for me.

国产吃瓜黑料 of skiing I鈥檝e used the glasses on bike rides and loved the coverage they provided in this context as well. During a windy spring of riding gravel, the side shields kept dust out of my eyes, and the frames fit well under most bike helmets. True roadies will think the glasses are too heavy and cumbersome, but the rest of us who ride gravel, trails, or just commute to work, will find them useful. Anyone worried about the shields affecting peripheral vision on the street can snap the shields off.

I鈥檓 also looking forward to wearing the glasses while driving on long summer road trips because the extra coverage will cut down on eye fatigue. And I鈥檒l be wearing them when I run, hike, backpack, or do just about any outdoor activity I can think of. The only places I won鈥檛 use them are while hunting鈥攂ecause I constantly have my glasses off when I鈥檓 looking through binoculars鈥攐r when hanging out, because they make me look like a total poser. While some of you younger folk can get away with wearing large-lens glasses in social situations, I鈥檒l stick to regular dad glasses when poolside or at work.

Townsend says the aren鈥檛 just something he put his signature on but glasses he helped design from the ground up to solve problems he encounters in the mountains. 鈥淚 never want to just throw something onto the market,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to make something that I use every day鈥攁nd that鈥檚 totally true with the Pursuit.鈥�

The post Cody Townsend Just Designed the Perfect Quiver-of-One 国产吃瓜黑料 Glasses appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I love my backpacking buds, but route-finding isn鈥檛 their forte. Nor mine. So in retrospect, it鈥檚 not surprising that the 鈥渢rail鈥� we thought we were skinning to Peter Eiseman Hut in the shadow of Colorado鈥檚 Gore Range was actually a set of random ski tracks leading to nowhere.

That鈥檚 how I found myself bushwhacking along a ridge at 10 p.m. on a February night, staring holes into the conifer forest for signs of light and life. Four hours past the point of exhaustion, I caught the scent of woodsmoke; the hut was ahead. We staggered into the fire-lit living room in a fog of fatigue, and I fell onto a couch, shivering. I was still wearing my Scarpa touring boots, too weary to pull them off.

A few minutes later, an Irish lilt called me out of my coma: 鈥淪ure but you鈥檇 like a wee cuppa?鈥� a Gaelic angel said, as she handed me . Her smile could have melted glaciers.聽

Outdoor adventurers know the feeling well: A transition from hard boots to down booties, from cold wind to warm sleeping bag, from suffering to safety. The Danish have elevated it to a national obsession, in fact. They call it hygge, the Danish art of coziness and connection.聽

You鈥檝e no doubt heard of the concept, put forward in endless hygge posts on Pinterest, and hygge appeals from the Danish tourism bureau. Fuzzy slippers. Firelight. Throw blankets. Steaming mugs. Purring kittens. Goose-down duvets. But hygge also applies to hardy outdoorspeople like you.聽

So says Meik Wiking, CEO of the 鈥攎y new dream job鈥攊n Copenhagen, and author of The Little Book of Hygge. As Saint Francis of Assisi was to asceticism, Wiking is to cozy.聽

鈥淗ygge is about enjoying the simple moments in life,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he ones that bring us feelings of gratitude, togetherness, pleasure. Hygge has often been associated with log fires, woolen blankets, and candles, however these should be seen more as mediators of hygge. Getting outdoors offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy those simple moments: the sounds of nature, the wind in our face, the view of the trees.鈥澛�

On my tortuous route to Eiseman I鈥檇 had enough of trees, their frozen sap creaking in subzero temperatures. (Or maybe I was hearing my own knee joints, hard to say.) But the hut was a temple of hygge: wood stove, warmth, friendship, and candles casting their magic. If all that cozy combustion doesn鈥檛 burn down the聽 hut, it鈥檒l be warming cockles for centuries.聽

Are your cockles, in fact, a bit chilly? Put these five Fs鈥攁ll portable forms of hygge鈥攊n your backpack, and you鈥檒l maintain a hygge-glow wherever you wander this winter.聽

1. FNUG

That鈥檚 the Danish word for fluff or fuzz, and residents of that country need plenty of both to help them through the wet, chilly, dark period between September and salvation (May). But that doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檙e suffering; Denmark continually ranks among the happiest places on earth. Hygge gets them through, along with wrapping themselves in fnug. As Wiking puts it, 鈥淚n Denmark, we say there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.鈥�

Kelvin Meeks, a senior material specialist with Marmot, advises that you to 鈥渢hink about snuggling in front of the fire鈥攖he classic hygge. Until the fire gets going, you need your cozy blanket. Once the fire鈥檚 roaring, you might be cozy in a tee-shirt.鈥� Planning for outdoor cozy isn鈥檛 that different. The trick is to stay flexible: cozy is the right amount of the right clothing for what you鈥檙e doing right now. And you can pack to prepare for that.

He proposes this mnemonic to max out your fnug factor:聽 Dress in TRP on your TRiP.聽

Transport鈥�: A synthetic, wool, or wool-blend shirt that鈥檚 soft, comfortable, and easy to move in, with quick-dry and wicking properties to move sweat away from your skin so it can evaporate. Cotton is the anti-fnug鈥攃lammy, clingy, cold.聽

Regulate鈥擫ightweight fleece, stretch fleece, down, or synthetic insulated layering jackets have enough loft to hold body warmth, but they are breathable so you don鈥檛 overheat.聽

P谤辞迟别肠迟鈥�Your shell keeps out rain and snow and wind. Breathability is also a benefit here. It should protect you without turning into a sweat terrarium.聽

HYGGEAR: Kelvin Meeks gets his fnug on with . 鈥淚t鈥檚 light and warm for layering,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t also works alone on cool days at moderate activity or on freezing days for high aerobic output like snowshoeing or trail running.鈥澛�

2. FLASK

I left the trailhead below the Mount of the Holy Cross in full sunshine and optimism. It was late September, the aspens were aglow, and the sky was the limit. But this being Colorado, the weather turned once we hit about 8,000 feet. As the graupel doinked off my skull, I became sullen and silent, and my buddy Dave grew concerned. 鈥淧eter,鈥� he said, 鈥渓et鈥檚 stop and have some cocoa.鈥澛�

Moments later his Svea was roaring, the water boiling soon after. When I brought the warm mug to my lips, hypothermia turned to happiness. His kindness warmed me as much as the hot drink did鈥攁nother key lesson of cozy.聽

In The Little Book of Hygge, Meik Wiking writes: 鈥�Hygge is about being kind to yourself鈥攇iving yourself a treat, and giving yourself, and each other, a break from the demands of healthy living. Something sinful is an integral component of the hygge ritual. Especially if we all share the same bowl.鈥�

HYGGEAR: Last winter I skied near Colorado鈥檚 Cameron Pass, where the Never Summer Range meets the Medicine Bow, for Backpacker. My favorite vessel from that trip: The Stanley Classic Trigger-Action Travel Mug, which can keep your hygge hot for up to seven hours. Add a nip of something sinful and share it with a friend for extra human warmth.聽

3. FEEL

Hygge has heart. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word is derived from the old Icelandic 鈥渉ugga,鈥� which means to embrace or to soothe. If your down sweater is giving you a warm hug, you should hug it right back.聽

As Wiking writes in The Little Book of Hygge, 鈥�Letting your fingers run 鈥� through the hairs of the skin of a reindeer is a distinctly different feeling from being in contact with something made from steel, glass, or plastic.鈥�

I haven鈥檛 petted a reindeer recently. But I instinctively know that touch is important, like when I walk through L.L.Bean obsessively running my hands across the fleece, the sweaters, the ski socks. Now I know: I鈥檓 feeling for hygge, and you probably are, too.

鈥淭he human body doesn鈥檛 know when it is 鈥榗omfortable,鈥欌�� says Ray Davis, comfort and durability research associate for W. L. Gore & Associates. 鈥淭hat is a learned trait. You have trained your brain to associate . So when you are shopping for gear, eliminate potential non-thermal factors of discomfort before you proceed to checkout.鈥澛�

He鈥檚 talking about fit, functionality, stiffness, weight鈥攅ven the noise a zipper makes, or the swishing sound of arm friction when you walk. (You can鈥檛 unhear some things!) According to Davis, these psychological factors add as much to comfort as the loft of the insulation.聽

For maximum hygge, you must actually visit the outfitter, rather than just clicking through your gear list online.聽 鈥淧ick up the garment, feel it, wear it, stretch, and move around in it for a few moments in the store,鈥� Davis advises, nerding out on cozy. 鈥淎ssess your ergonomic and sensorial comfort.鈥�

HYGGEAR: Backpacker gear testers assessed their ergonomic and sensorial comfort in various puffies, while preparing for the winter of 2022-23. Their hyggeligt (adjectival form of hygge) pick: 鈥� Mythic Ultra removes the usual trade-off between warmth and packability. Thanks to a generous amount of 900-fill down in offset box-wall baffles, as well as a heat-reflective aluminum scrim (think gauze, but with the ability to bounce body heat back at you), the Mythic Ultra was warm enough to be one tester鈥檚 go-to ice climbing belay jacket in the , even on zero-degree days.鈥� If I was single, I鈥檇 marry that jacket.

4. FEET聽

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.聽

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.聽

For want of a horse the rider was lost.聽

For want of a rider the battle was lost.聽

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.聽

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Swap in 鈥渟ock鈥� for 鈥渘ail,鈥� 鈥渇oot鈥� for 鈥渟hoe,鈥� and 鈥渉ygge鈥� for 鈥渉orse,鈥� and you get the picture: , the backpacking battle is lost.聽聽

Owen Rachampbell is a product line manager for Darn Tough鈥攁 kind of in-house expert on all things cozy. Not surprisingly, he sees hygge as a sock thing: 鈥淵our feet are not going to be happy if you are wearing a crappy pair of socks.鈥�

Rachampbell thinks everything from the shins down is a system, and merino wool makes it run optimally. His logic: 鈥淪heep have been hiking and running in wool for 10,000 years. Synthetic fibers cannot beat this track record.鈥澛�

Darn Tough engineers comfort with soft, wicking, and anti-stink merino wool up top, merino 鈥渢erry loops鈥� to cushion the foodbed, and spandex to keep from rubbing you raw. Rachampbell alternated two pairs of Darn Tough while through-hiking the AT, and he claims his dogs never barked. in your boots. Socks can wander, stretch, bunch, and slouch. Buy a pair that will hug your feet, not hurt them.

A further tip from Wiking, to warm you from your soul to your extremities: Associate gear purchases with a happy event. Go sock shopping when you schedule that much-anticipated snowshoe adventure with friends, or just before you take the correct trail into Eiseman hut. Elevated emotion + elevated gear = hyggemotion, which is the best kind of warmth.

HYGGEAR: Rachampbell cites a notoriously cold-footed woman (know anybody like that?) for his sock recommendation: 鈥淢y wife swears by our for chillier nights on the trail or even at home.鈥� We also love pairs from Smartwool, Kora, and Swiftwick. Just remember: Try before you buy.

5. FIRE

Much of the mountain west will enforce fire bans next summer, so the classic hygge . But there are other ways to kindle warmth without it.聽

鈥淚n its more contemporary usage,鈥� Wiking writes, 鈥溾�榟ygge鈥� emerges in nineteenth-century Danish literature as part of a more integrated sense of community and belonging, especially following the Prussian-Danish wars in 1848 and 1864.鈥� I have no idea what those dastardly Prussians were up to back then, but the point is clear: There鈥檚 real warmth in camaraderie, so you can produce it even if your matches are wet.聽

Wiking identifies the ten key factors for hygge as atmosphere, presence, pleasure, equality, gratitude, harmony, comfort, truce, togetherness, and shelter. Alpenglow can supply that, as can your attitude when it鈥檚 time to filter water for dinner. And what my hiking buddies lack in map skills, they make up for in lightweight guitars and singing. Friendship has been the best part of backpacking for me, and it鈥檚 at the core of the Danish art of cozy.聽

Wiking defines the hygge hiker as 鈥�one who is intentional about how they enjoy the now and make the best of it.鈥� Or to put it proverbially: It鈥檚 better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

HYGGEAR: 鈥淣o recipe for hygge is complete without candles,鈥� says Wiking. 鈥淲hen Danes are asked what they most associate with hygge 鈥� 85 percent will mention candles.鈥� The is designed to operate safely in a tent, and can even help to heat it. All that, and the glow is blissful鈥攖he very essence of hygge.聽

Be cozy out there.聽

Peter Moore, the former interim editor of聽Backpacker, is a contributing cartoonist to the , and he posts other fun/weird/adventurous stuff at .

The post Want to Make Your Next Hike Cozy AF? Embrace the Art of Hygge. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.