Practical tips for dealing with cold weather

Ambersky · 10-12-2010 7:41pm #1

Hi Ive been enjoying checking into the weather forum over the past couple of weeks, especially checking in on what new legend of the boards M T Cranium has to say every morning.
If he and others are correct we may have a bit more of this icy weather ahead of us.
Even if we have seen the last of it this year looks like this may not be a single incident and we may be looking at a repeat of these conditions in future years.

Last year during the cold spell I went for a walk on the beach and fell flat on my back giving my head a nasty bang.
It really shook me and I decided to look up someting I could put on my feet to make myself feel less afraid and give me a bit of freedom when snowy conditions came.

I hope it is ok to start this thread but Ive been stopped so many times being asked whats that on my feet and where did I get them that I thought maybe it would be good to share tips like this in the weather forum.

I know I am not the first to mention Yak Trax but they are so good I think the HSE should be giving them out to people.

They really do provide secure traction on snow and even compacted pavements. This slush we have been experiencing is dangerous because it can give way beneath you but I wouldnt walk on it without my Yak Trax.
Elderly people especially would benifit from them.
You can get them online if you google Yak Trax there are lots of sellers including their own UK site.
Some sporting shops do sell them but Ive been told orders are selling out within the hour. Some shops will take an order over the phone and they will save you a pair when they do come in.

So anyone else with some little tips for dealing with this cold weather?

Cantona's Collars · 10-12-2010 9:00pm

Keep some blankets in your car and some bottled water,imagine getting stuck in a jam miles from anywhere-it doesn't need to be a back road,motorways are very lonely places too,just look what happened in England and Scotland last week.A strong tow rope is a good idea just in case.
Stock up on big bags of salt-Lidl have them for €2.99 as do local farm supply stores.Handy for keeping footpaths around the house clear,fatalities of old people tend to happen due to falls around the home due to ice.
While we have a thaw,check heating oil levels and stock up on fuel if needed.Make sure pipes are well lagged or if they are outdoors e.g running from a well a good layer of sand is a good idea.

goodies · 10-12-2010 9:04pm

Hello there...I purchased myself a pair of snow boots from great out doors today and first time in days my feet are not frozen after a trek to the shops. I think they might be a good investment.

The women on the magic mum forums are great for tips too. One really good one I thought was to start brushing the snow from when it is fresh before it starts to compact..saves alot of trouble later on.

My dad suggested putting an old coat/blanket under the bonnet of the car and obviously taking it out before you drive but my car been starting no problem even unused a week later....

bionic.laura · 10-12-2010 9:47pm

As a knitter and a person who suffers from reduced circulation my tip is wool and lots of it! If you can get a merino base layer like an Icebreaker top do. They're expensive but worth it as they are lightweight, breathable and give you a warm layer under your clothes. Also long johns under trousers keep you nice and warm. I got a pair of wool and angora ones in Lidl for €13. Layers of clothes keep you warm and then you can always take them off when you go inside or start to heat up.

A hat is essential as are gloves. Mine are hand knit but any wool ones will work. I say wool as synthetic fibers just don't have the same insulating powers and they aren't as warm when wet. Silk, alpaca etc are also good if you are allergic to wool. On my feet I wear woolly socks and my leather hiking boots with a pair of these mini crampons and I didn't slip at all this year. They are the best €15 I ever spent.

This one is more for the ladies but I started using a rucksack instead of a handbag as if you start to slide it's easier to stop your fall if you aren't trying to save your handbag at the same time and you have both hands free.

cabot · 10-12-2010 10:05pm

To prevent water pipes freezing in the kitchen, keep the cupboard doors open so the air can circulate.

If you cant get any shoe grips, use wool socks on the outside of your shoes.

Novaman · 10-12-2010 10:12pm

Keep some blankets in your car and some bottled water

Ditto, but one word of warning, I found out through my own stupidity last week after filling a GLASS bottle of water and left it in my car overnight at -13C, the glass bottle exploded after the water inside froze and expanded, glass bits were not nice to clean up inside your car :eek:

Obviously a plastic bottle should do

NM

cabot · 10-12-2010 10:13pm

Or maybe just dont fill the water up to the top.

serendip · 10-12-2010 10:24pm

+1 on Merino wool vest and long johns to stay warm.

Also, my plea to the people of Ireland: Please clear the snow from the pavement outside your home.

If you do it when it's just fallen it's not so much work, and it saves so much trouble and slipping later on (when it freezes).

gerrycorrigan · 10-12-2010 10:45pm

zerks wrote: »

Keep some blankets in your car and some bottled water,imagine getting stuck in a jam miles from anywhere-it doesn't need to be a back road,motorways are very lonely places too,just look what happened in England and Scotland last week.A strong tow rope is a good idea just in case.
Stock up on big bags of salt-Lidl have them for €2.99 as do local farm supply stores.Handy for keeping footpaths around the house clear,fatalities of old people tend to happen due to falls around the home due to ice.
While we have a thaw,check heating oil levels and stock up on fuel if needed.Make sure pipes are well lagged or if they are outdoors e.g running from a well a good layer of sand is a good idea.

did I hear that salt doesn't keep???

roy rodgers · 10-12-2010 11:21pm

move to oz for six months. happy days:D

garancafan · 10-12-2010 11:35pm

gerrycorrigan wrote: »

did I hear that salt doesn't keep???

I have heard this too and I am at a loss to understand it. Salt will absorb moisture over a period of time but will, in my view, continue to be effective at melting snow for a long time.

garancafan · 10-12-2010 11:36pm

Golf shoes, in particular water-resistant ones, are very useful in the current conditions.

B0X · 10-12-2010 11:37pm

Put a pinch of sage in your boots and all day long a spicy scent is your reward.

rc28 · 10-12-2010 11:37pm

Does anyone know where in Dublin stocks these Yak Trax or ice cleats? Everywhere I look online is sold out.

desolate sun · 11-12-2010 12:15am

Hot water bottles! Not just for bed! If like me you live in a cold draughty house, a hot water bottle on your lap or under your feet while watching TV is great!

Always keep a bottle of de-icer and a scraper in the car. Last week it was so cold, when I poured lukewarm water on my windscreen, it froze on contact!

I heard this one on the radio and don't know if it's that good but AFAIK it's tried and tested - Rub fire ashes directly onto car tyres for grip.

I also saw a lot of cars with newspapers on their windscreens - I assume it's for insulation?

Duiske · 11-12-2010 12:27am

cabot wrote: »

If you cant get any shoe grips, use wool socks on the outside of your shoes.

This is useful advice, and works great. Just use the odd socks that the sock monster left behind.

Oh, and the most important tip during snowy weather ?

Never, ever, eat yellow snow !!

mvron · 11-12-2010 12:50am

rc28 wrote: »

Does anyone know where in Dublin stocks these Yak Trax or ice cleats? Everywhere I look online is sold out.

I just ordered something along these lines through the link below. UK and Ireland online stores sold out of anything decent in traction devices. Amazon UK not due new stock of most traction assist products until Dec 17-19. Did a fair bit of research online before going for these. Being shipped from Finland, shipping charge €25 but should be here before Christmas at any rate. Looks like an excellent site but haven't used them before so can't vouch. Will update when they arrive.

http://www.scandinavianoutdoorstore.com/en/jalkineet-ja-sukat/liukuesteet/cross-country-liukuesteet/

Ambersky · 11-12-2010 1:58am

If you cant get Yaktrax anywhere else, that is if uk online stores are out and places like the Great Outdoors are out too, try Amazon.com the US branch.
Ive just checked it out and I saw the Pro Yaktrax, ie the ones with the extra strap across the top for sale and in stock in the second box down.
Things Ive got from Amazon.com usually arrived within a few days so it might be worth ordering from there.

Joe Public · 11-12-2010 2:23am

I heard that Yak Trax or ice cleats are fine for walking on snow/ice but not good on ordinary ground or for going into shops as they have no grip on hard ground. I guess they are probably like wearing golf or running shoes with metal spikes. If this is the case it might be a bit awkward to keep taking them off and putting back on too often. Has anyone here any experience of wearing them?

Mountainsandh · 11-12-2010 4:37am

If you live up a hill, in a less cleared spot, get snow chains.
The idea seems to be daunting to a lot of people in Ireland, but I'm French, and it's just normal practice to have a pair of snowchains in the boot if you live in a remote-ish area.
So after getting snowed in a few times, got Mum to bring over a pair of snow chains (around 30 euros in France).
Once you've learned how to put them on, really handy. Now it takes me all of 4 minutes to put the 2 of them on, and I'm female by the way, not the best at car/diy stuff.

It's a dirty job to stick them on and off, and a bit of a pain to have to stop and do it, but so worth it when it means you can get out of your place, and get to the shops/work/get out in case of an emergency. It's not half the ordeal people think it is, you can drive on them on a bit of dry road too if your stretch is patchy (20km/h max though), and you're not going to be destroying the road.

For heavier snow you'd need 4 snow chains though, front and back, so if you're going to get them you might as well get 4 straight away.

I wish everybody got them around where I live, now I feel much safer driving with mine, but am always afraid some idiot driving stupidly in these conditions will slap into me.

Discodog · 11-12-2010 10:58am

I also heard that most of the crampon style grips are lethal if you walk into a shop especially on shiny stone floors.

I work outdoors & I have become an expert in keeping warm.
The base layer is critical. I use Helly Hansen thermals. Then a good fleece & top it off with gortex. Another great buy is a windproof beanie made by Musto - merino & goretex.

I bought a pair of Salomon snow boots in TK max last year. They are superb, really comfortable & warm. It makes a huge difference if your feet are warm so much so that I bought a pair of the North Face Traction Mules for wearing at home.

Finally good gloves. The Snickers or Youngstown winter gloves are superb.

Fiskar · 11-12-2010 11:06am

Try this site

http://www.basegear.com/crampons.html

I got a pair of Due North from Amazon a week or so ago but if order a few pairs the shipping and exchange will work out pretty reasonable.

Ambersky · 11-12-2010 1:35pm

On the question of using YakTrax on indoor flooring, no they are not designed to provide grip on such flooring and you could slip or I suppose damage a floor with them.

However they are just a strong elastic band that you pull around your ordinary shoes.
It takes a couple of minutes and I would advise the small YakTrax only be used up to a size 5 shoe. Buy a medium for a size 6 or 7, not sure what shoe sizes for the large YakTrax but they provide a size chart.
If you buy the right size you should be able to pull them over easy enough.
You just place the toe end on the toe of your shoe and pull. Thats it.
If you buy the Pro Yak Trax you will have to pull a felcro strap across the top.
Some people may need to sit down to do this.
It is a bit of hassle but worth it.

Yak+Trax.jpg

So usually in town, I take them off If I know Im going into a couple of shops.
Once Im finished they are back on again.

Elderly people, with hands that maybe are not as strong as they use to be, could put them on a pair of slip on shoes before going out.
If they carried a bag with another pair of slip ons they could swop shoes at the door of shops and not have to do any pulling at all.

Where YakTrax really come into their own is walking to and from work.
To and from a local shop or just out for a walk.

Discodog · 11-12-2010 1:44pm

I think that there are two types of "crampon". Soft ones that are safer when indoors but they wear very quickly outdoors. The long lasting ones have tungsten carbide points which last well but indoors they can slip or wreck the floor.

Irish Steve · 11-12-2010 2:23pm

At a more fundamental level, there are massive numbers of houses where the insulation has not been correctly installed, and the roof tanks are at risk of freezing in a prolonged cold spell.

Have a close look at the tanks and the supply pipes. No matter what make the pipe is, (copper or heavy plastic) they need to be insulated. Both the supply and the draw off pipes need to be covered, and a layer of fibreglass insulation over them is not enough, they need to be in the enclosed close cell foam insulation.

The tanks themselves also need to be checked. Make sure there is NO insulation directly under the tanks if they are above an area that is normally heated, as that will allow heat to rise from below. The tanks themselves do need to be insulated, with either a blanket wrap type of insulation, or a box made of thick sheet polystyrene of the type that is used in walls and the like, the objective being to retain the heat that's coming from below. If the area below the tank is not heated, then that's a different scenario,

If you have 2 tanks in the roof, the liklihood is that one of them is the header tank for the heating system. If the tank supply does freeze, as long as there is still water in the smaller of the 2 tanks, the heating system can still be used.

External water supply. In some cases, the builders didn't put the external water feed deep enough in the ground. The most vulnerable point is probably the external stop cock where the supply comes off the local main. If you can find the cover, open it and have a look inside, If the stop cock is relatively close to the surface, see if you can find a piece of polystyrene that will fit in the hole and provide a restriction on air circulation, to try and stop cold air sinking down to the valve. The polystyrene needs to be cut to be a very good fit in the hole, and it might need to be 2 pieces so that they will fit through the cover and then still be large enough to block the hole. It might be the difference between the supply freezing or not freezing.

Make sure you know where all the water systems stop valves are, and make sure that they can be moved, if they've not been moved for a while, that can be a lot harder than expected. Inside the house, there will (should) be a valve where the incoming supply comes in to the house, that will stop the supply to the kitchen sink, and to the tanks, and possibly other cold taps. There should then be at least one other valve, probably in the hot press, which stops the supply from the roof tank into the hot water tank. and that will stop the supply to the hot taps. There may also be another valve that stops the supply from the roof tanks to things like the WC cisterns, the bath and things like that. Another valve may also shut off the supply from the incoming main to the roof tanks, but that would be more unusual. Some houses may have a separate cold feed to a washing machine, which may have it's own valve. Now is the time to be sure what controls what, if a pipe does freeze and burst, that's not the time to be trying to work out what valve controls what, or worse, how to unstick a valve that hasn't been moved in years. A tip in that respect, to keep valves working, close them completely, then make sure that they are closed by turning on something that they supply, (the hot water may run for a short while as the header pipe empties), turn it back on, fully, then close it half a turn so that the valve is not jammed against the end of the thread.

If you take any long term medication, check how long you have stock for, and if you're down to only a few days, try and top up with your pharmacy, if things get bad, they may not be able to get restocked in the normal timescales.

Same applies to any other essentials like baby formula and the like if you are in a remote or difficult access area.

This may all prove to be "crying wolf" but given the number of people that are now starting to go with it, I would rather be prepared and not need to use the standbys than not be prepared and end up with problems.

Steve

jprboy · 11-12-2010 2:57pm

Irish Steve wrote: »

External water supply. In some cases, the builders didn't put the external water feed deep enough in the ground. The most vulnerable point is probably the external stop cock where the supply comes off the local main. If you can find the cover, open it and have a look inside, If the stop cock is relatively close to the surface, see if you can find a piece of polystyrene that will fit in the hole and provide a restriction on air circulation, to try and stop cold air sinking down to the valve. The polystyrene needs to be cut to be a very good fit in the hole, and it might need to be 2 pieces so that they will fit through the cover and then still be large enough to block the hole. It might be the difference between the supply freezing or not freezing.

My external stop cock is located on a grass verge and very close to the surface. After being without water for 5 days last Jan, I took action at the start of this cold spell.

There was a piece of polystyrene as described above already in the chamber but I reckon the cold seeped in from the sides last Jan. So, I packed attic insulation in to the chamber and put the piece of polystyrene back in on top. After replacing the lid, I piled a mound of rotted grass cuttings on top for extra insulation. Result: running water all through the cold spell.

The final element (rotted grass) is probably not a runner for most instances where the external stop cock is on the road/footpath ! One possible option is to park a car over the chamber.

Pangea · 11-12-2010 5:19pm

Where the best place to get these yak trax online?

cabot · 11-12-2010 5:53pm

Someone recommended Amazon.com, yaktrax.co.uk is out of stock for all styles. Asda Walmart in the UK had them at the start of the last spell and I bought a pair for £9 then, wish I'd bought more though. Ebay have increased prices but if youre desperate then maybe worth a shot, not sure how the prices compare with Ireland.