Also, if you’re living outdoors or in a place with poor heating/insulation, packing up your blankets into a tight roll until you’re ready to sleep will prevent them from absorbing damp air and will keep you warmer at night.
Also, change your socks before going to sleep if you can- damp socks will be colder. They can be dirty, so long as they’re dry.
Sleeping with a toque or beanie on will help you retain heat.
If you can help it, don’t blow on your hands to warm them up- stick them in your armpits or between your thighs instead. Your breath is humid and will only leave your fingers colder once the initial heat wears off.
If you’re going to spend a lot of time outdoors in the snow, wear sunglasses if you have them. Snowblindness is a real thing, and sensitivity headaches are a bitch.
An old truck to keep your hands warm is to plain-bake a potato or two and keep it in your pockets. My mom and I did it as kids and it works really well.
On that note, if you need to keep food warm, use the aluminum foil with the shinier side facing the food.
As for layers, go cotton first, then a shirt, then wool or other insulators, and THEN a waterproof layer. The cotton will absorb sweat from your skin so you won’t cool down too much, wool is ideal and will keep you warm even if you get wet but it’s not an end-all material, and keeping more water from getting on you will go a long way.
Remove layers if you get too hot or find yourself physically working hard- heatstroke and heat sickness are common problems in the cold, too, and you need to be aware of dehydration as well.
If your shoes aren’t waterproof, tie grocery bags over your dry socked feet to keep them from getting soaked and cold. I do this all the time and you can hide the plastic relatively easily. Saves my life on trips to the store.
Finally, signs of hypothermia can include hallucinations, disordered thinking, slurred speech, a lack of shivering, and discoordination. Be aware of people on the street exhibiting these behaviors, and don’t write them off as ‘crazy’ or ‘just another addict’. That’s never a kind move, and a lot of people with substance abuse issues, mental health problems, and disabilities end up in hard times as well, but that doesn’t mean they can’t suffer from the cold on top of everything else. As always, value your capacity for compassion and try to help where you can. Be aware that you can be influenced be the behavior of a crowd and know that just because other people aren’t paying attention, it doesn’t mean that everything’s okay.
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