Thats fine for most of the time, but if you are doing something a bit more vigourous like XC skiing you cant afford to start sweating or you will get cold really fast when you stop (like when you break your leg!) So thats where I find layering (and sweat wicking , ie non cotton fabrics) the best thing.

Not that there has been much oportunity to do that kind of thing recently

If its "working out" outside

For me its the wicking T.shirt and a Canadian goose parka

that good to about -20, I'll put a shirt on for -30

modern fabrics "breath" so the sweating isn't an issue

-20! Lucky you!! We've been getting -30 and lower (down to -44 the other week)!!!!

of snow that is. The view at chez AX last weekend....

Ok Coming from a place where the only green from dec - May is a christmas tree,
If you have a 100' drive about 12' wide and a snow dump off 28" and its your 4 th storm shouldn't the drifts be higher?

Or do you warm up enough for it to melt in between storms?

May help with insulation.............but could look REALLY ugly

Can't say how we've survived the first winter yet, as I've got a sneaky feeling it aint over yet !! Just one thing, we should have bought a bigger shovel. Our neighbour over the road shovelled his driveway on Saturday morning in half the time it took my other half. Then again my hub is a perfectionist, or is it just that my neighbours had more practice !!!!?????

We e-mailed some pics back home of the snow and one of our friends came back saying the driveway was so clear we must have underfloor heating !!!

" the driveway was so clear we must have underfloor heating !!! "
Now there an idea to add to the list of summertime repairs/renovations

Some houses here do have heated driveways I seen'em fella

Mental given utility prices and the fact that winters are lame here by comparison to you east coasters.

Hereby as proof I am home sitting in shorts and t-shirt and have been wandering around doing yardwork in same attire

Rich.

The sun is so warm when it shines here that if you can get most of the snow off your drive it dries in a very short time. We still have a good 10 inches of snow in our yard, but the thermometer on the deck was showing 20 degs C yesterday in the sun!

I had to go clear the drive at our new house as I was expecting the builder to start today, and it took ages as the snow was over my boots. I got so warm, I wasn't wearing a coat and soon had to take off my hoody, so just a T-shirt. Unfortunately I also took off my gloves and now I have a blister --- LOOK!

ps clearing the snow also cleans the drive!

Yes it is. No matter how "breathable" the outer layers may be, if you're doing activities that generate perspiration you'll need at least one, if not two, wicking layers to take the sweat away from the skin. Silk u/wear or Helly Hansen stuff is good.

I run, snowshoe, XC ski and cycle in low temps, and all of those generate heat and perspiration. Doing any of these activities for a few hours in temps below -10c without a couple of wicking layers is unpleasant and can get dangerous.

For downhill skiing I wear similar but perspiration is not such a problem.

Can someone tell me what a JCB is? Somebody said they had to get one to clear their driveway.

I have a remote starter for my car. I leave the car parked in the garage and it doesn't need plugging in - even when its 40 below. We have a little heat going in there - one pipe from the house so it keeps it a bit warmer - but not much, just enough so you don't need to plug it in.

A remote starter is really nice to have, whatever anybody says. I start the car from inside the house and let it run for five minutes. Some people will let the car run for 15 minutes but I just like to get the heat started a bit and I have heard its not good for the car to let it run too long.

On a really cold day, I can start the car from inside the grocery store and so it doesn't take so long to warm up once I get in it.

That was me. JCB translated into Canadian is a backhoe. JCB is actually the initials of the company that builds 'em, JC Bamford in the UK. Its kind of a generic term for a 'digger' in the same way that 'Hoover' is for a vacuum cleaner.

Here's a picture....

They should've worn layers:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/4780952.stm

Obviously they didn't take a flask of hot PG Tips.

Rich.

Not wanting to start another debate with OceanMDX, but I cant believe youve been in regina so long and no one has said anything.

Block heaters are NOT about getting the car started most of the time. They are about minimising wear on the engine caused by the thickening of oil below (insert debatable temperature here) lets say between -10 and -20.

If its -40 outside, its probably below -20 in the garage? So please do our engine a favour and use the block heater.

An autostarter is great, I love mine, but its not helping the engine in any way on startup, its still cold at that point.

With a block heater the heater will warm up the car that bit sooner anyway.

The downside to idling for a long period is to do with fuel consumption, and possibly that there might be condensation building up on the bits that dont get hot enough under idling alone, which might cause some problems in the long run.

Most autostarters will turn off the engine after 15 mins anyway, and personally I think it was one of the best $200 I ever spent in Canada

I knew iaink would jump into the discussion when "block heater" was mentioned. LOL.