 Irene Troy |
Keeping warm in the extreme cold Hi everyone! I am always writing to ask for help with various issues and everyone here has always been extremely helpful. So, I thought that for once, I would actually contribute some hard earned knowledge of my own! I recently returned home from a three week work trip to Northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. While there I encountered some of the coldest weather I have experienced for many years – some days the so-called “high” never got above -20. Although I was there primarily as a writer, I also did a great deal of photography and learned some important things about shooting in such severe cold. One of the big issues was keeping batteries warm enough so that I could switch them out frequently. At first I thought that by keeping the good battery in an inside pocket of my jacket that they would be warm enough. However, after finding that the batteries died very quickly after putting them into the camera, I came up with an even better solution. I took a hand warmer pack (those chemical packs that provide instant warmth) and put this into the inside pocket along with the good batteries. The chemical packs last hours, so the batteries stayed nice and toasty for hours and held their charge very well. My favorite lens cleaner is Eclipse fluid, but, this stuff really hates the cold! I left it in my car while I hiked, but it kept leaking when it got cold and because it is fairly pricey I was not happy at the loss of fluid. Once again, the handy hand warmer packs came in, well, handy. I placed two into the box with my cleaning gear and they kept everything warm all day. BTW: these same hand warmer packs saved my hands when shooting. I cannot shoot wearing gloves, but just wearing liners was simply not enough to keep my hands from freezing. My newish Bogan tripod has two rubber wrapped legs, but the third leg is bare metal. Don’t ask me why they do this, I have no idea. But, I found that using the same foam that is used to wrap pipes works great for wrapping tripod legs. The stuff is really cheap and easily found in any good size hardware store. I used duct tape to secure it to the tripod leg. Also, I found that when the tripod legs got even the smallest amount of water on them that they froze in place and were difficult to adjust. I ended up covering the latches with duct tape to protect them and never had to fight with them in the cold again. I’m still trying to figure out a way to keep fingers from sticking to cold metal on the camera…hurts like the dickens! Keep warm everyone and get out and do some shooting! Irene
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Colby |
Irene Thanks for the great cold weather tips. Colby
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Samuel Smith |
pick up some of those cool white inspectors gloves,very thin.but if you warm them up,like your hands,they still draw moisture and will stick.but at least it won't be your skin. surgical gloves give the same result. there are mittens out there with trigger fingers.clumsy yes,but do work. sam
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Who Me? |
That cold ehh, huh, I thought we were in a global warming phase? Thats what happens I guess when scientists try to prove God doesn't exist. PAYBACK!
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Irene Troy |
Colby – you’re welcome. I figured that after all this time of asking questions and getting good help that I should give something small back. Sam – I’ve tried the gloves you recommend and they didn’t work for me. I wear a pair of glove liners, a pair of “wristies” (these are fleece tubes with a thumb opening and are designed to keep your wrist warm – they work great) and then my good mittens. I have arthritis in my right hand (the legacy of a long ago injury) and that coupled with my being the world’s greatest klutz makes it hard for me to shoot with even fingerless gloves. I end up keeping the liner on, but when the wind is stiff and the temp is below zero…well, you get the idea. Derek – actually -20 as a high is warmer than many winters for that part of the world Irene
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