It is Cold Out There - Think About Layering Your Lid!

I love hats; always have. When I was a kid, I used an old coat rack for a hat rack in my room. I had everything from cowboy hats, to baseball hats, to my “crash helmet” that I wore on my bike.

Anyways, I still own quite a few hats; all different styles and weights. But what I’ve found is that the thin ones are usually the most useful and the most versatile. Thicker hats can come in handy when you’re hanging out around camp or town on a really cold night, but during the day I’ll take a thin hat every time.

There are umpteen articles written about layering your clothing. Almost all of them mention the importance of wearing a hat. And yet, I don’t think I have ever seen one that applied the principles of layering to your head. There are a couple of layering principles that are specifically applicable. Thin to win and layer evenly. Thin to win is the idea that using multiple thin layers are usually better than using one heavy one, and layer evenly addresses the need to layer all parts of your body evenly as opposed to piling on the layers on one specific part of the body while not addressing the rest.

Layer your head in the same way you layer the rest of your clothing. When you are working hard, strip down to your lightest layers including your head, and when the time comes to add a layer or zip up a shell, add a head layer as well. You will stay much more comfortable throughout the day, and you will have a number of layering options if the weather becomes severe.

My favorite combination of head layers, bar-none, is the Craft Race Hat and Headband. I tend to heat up fast, so for those of you who run cold you might try the Pro Hat and Headband. The versatility and lightweight of these layers is amazing. Many times I’ll forget I have one or the other with me due to their lightweight and size. I use these items by themselves, together, and in combination with other hats I own. In moderate temperatures, I layer headbands both inside my hat and outside. I think you will be surprised at “how low you can go with this combo” (sorry). When it gets really cold or windy, I layer two hats, because I find it gives me better wind protection, better coverage and better insulating properties.

I am not saying abandon all your heavy hats. When I am out photographing in sub-zero weather, where I am not very active, I layer the Race Hat under a heavy wool hat. What I am saying is rather than rely on just one heavy hat that will only serve one purpose, bring a couple of hats or layers and use them consistently to manage your body heat and moisture throughout the day.

Layering your head has a number of benefits. One, it allows you to regulate your body heat. This is pretty obvious, but wearing a light headband or hat on an uphill allows you to strip other layers keeping the even layering principle in mind. Another related benefit is sun protection. If you are balding like me, and you’ve got to keep that noggin protected, The Race Hat is perfect. Moisture management is much easier with two layers. After skiing uphill the other day with the Race Hat, it became pretty soggy. So before the descent, I threw on the (dry) Race Headband for dry warmth on the downhill, and to dry out the hat (which it did). This leads us to another benefit, and that is coverage and protection against freezing. It is much easier to completely cover your ears and back of your neck with two layers. It doesn’t take much to protect against frostbite, but how many of you have beanies that are not big enough to completely cover your ears? I find the Race Hat and Headband to be much more comfortable than the hat/earmuff combination and much more versatile as well. And finally, another benefit of thin layers is the ability to use them throughout the year and to layer them with other headwear, including helmets. The Race Hat and Headbands easily fit under a helmet, and you’ll find yourself using them for a variety of mountain activities in every season of the year. The Race Hat is my favorite summertime hat around camp.

Here is another combination to consider for Nordic skiers. If it is snowing and the temperatures are fluctuating around 30 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, consider a baseball cap with a headband over the back if needed. In these conditions, snow crystals will melt on your glasses and then refreeze, rendering your glasses useless, which you need for eye protection. The baseball cap will help keep the snow crystals off your glasses and the headband will keep your ears warm and your hat on your head. About 6 or 7 years ago (maybe more) the Boulder Mountain Tour had these conditions. I was one of about 3 guys with this set-up at the start (out of about 600 skiers). My biggest concern that day was trying to avoid the guys who couldn’t see. About 597 people skied almost blind that day, while about 3 of us enjoyed relatively unhindered skiing. There were some pretty funny stories that day, but I think I enjoyed them more as a listener than as a teller.

So next time you head out into the mountains, think about layering your lid, you’ll be glad you did (couldn’t resist that one).

Ground and Craft Jacket Sale!

Puffy down Jackets, synthetic insulated jackets, insulated vests, soft shell jackets, training jackets and shells are now all on sale! For a limited time only all our in-stock Ground and Craft Jacket prices have been reduced. Take advantage of this in-season sale - CLICK HERE.

Winter Report: Wavelight & Prime Jackets

The Wavelight is a thin, lightweight synthetic jacket. It can be used as a stand alone layer in cool weather or as a middle layer for winter cold. It is roomy enough to layer underneath it, and lightweight enough to layer over it. This jacket, with its rip-stop nylon exterior, is also great in the wind. I wore this jacket almost non-stop through the fall, and I am really enjoying its light weight and design. This winter I have worn the Wavelight on cold Nordic ski trips where I had a chill and wanted something beefier than a shell. It kept me warm, I did not overheat, and it's roomy design worked well through the poling motion. My wife has been wearing hers as a middle layer on alpine ski days. On New Years Day, the morning temperature hovered around 4 degrees. She had the Wavelight on underneath a heavy shell, and she was totally psyched about how toasty she was all morning. She had skied two days earlier in slightly warmer temperatures with a fleece middle layer rather than the Wavelight, and was cold all day.


I was wearing a Prime Jacket with only a base layer underneath on that same trip. Skiing off the tram, I wasn’t sure how cold it was, but my face was stinging slightly from the cold wind yet I was completely comfortable and protected with the Prime Jacket. We have experienced a lot of wind (with cold) this winter and the Prime Jacket has really worked well as a stand alone outer layer.

ProZero Base Layers

When I first tried on the Craft ProZero long-sleeved crew, I wondered how a shirt that was lighter than a regular T-shirt - the material is only as thick as a handkerchief - was supposed to keep me warm. "Maybe under a sweatshirt and coat," I rationalized. And so it was with quite a bit of skepticism that I headed out for a short walk on pretty easy trail around dusk. The temperature was 27F and there was only a hint of a breeze, but the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping with it.

After about a quarter of a mile, I chucked the coat, sweatshirt, hat and gloves in the backpack. It was a bit chilly, but I wanted to "test" the shirt and see how long it took me to freeze to death. It was remarkable. Everyone else in the group had at least two layers on, and I was tramping around in a handkerchief-shirt, quite comfortable. It was too easy of a hike and too cold to work up much of a sweat, so I rubbed snow on a sleeve, just to see what happened. After a minute, there was no noticeable difference in heat retention, and I rubbed on more snow - same results. On the way back, my legs were colder than my arms, even with basic long underwear under my Carhartts. The only time I became noticeably chilled was when I stopped walking; the shirt lacks wind resistance and wasn't designed to be worn as an only layer or outer layer.

The ProZero crew is an incredible top; uber-lightweight and super-comfortable. Craft uses flat-lock stitching, so there aren't annoying seams anywhere in the garment. That, plus the wonderfully soft ProZero material mean you can wear this next to your skin all day long without a complaint. The fit is perfect for me. The Craft base layers are designed to fit like a second skin, and the ProZero crew really lives up to that promise. Its long enough that you won't bare skin when you bend over or reach up, the sleeves reach all the way to the base of my thumb - neither too long or too short, and the mock neck is never binding. So far, the shirt's mobility has been above par: I can bend and reach in any direction and the shirt never bunches up under my ribs or limits movements, and the cuffs alway stay around my wrists instead of riding up my forearms.

The ProZero fabric is designed to perform according to temperature and exertion levels. Craft recommends wearing it at 55F at low exertion levels to -10F for high exertion activities, though I wore it at 25-30F at a pretty low exertion level and was fine. This shirt would be perfect for rock climbing during cool conditions, either early in the morning or towards the end of the climbing season.

I can imagine this top easily becoming too hot during high exertion level activities at cool temperatures. I might grab it for an easy run at 50F, but I would choose a cooler top for a fast game of frisbee, football or basketball at the same temperature. Likewise, if I was heading out into the mountains either for strenuous skiing, hiking, or snowshoeing on a colder day, between 20 to -10F, I could wear a lighter jacket with wind and water resistance rather than bringing my full down jacket. Heck, I might even get away with just a heavy sweatshirt, depending on conditions. And athough we don't have any reliable ice here in Bozeman yet, this is going to be a great top for playing pick-up games of hockey.

-Randi