Creature Comforts

[eleveneightnate]

These might work: https://www.injinji.com/boot-original-weight-otc.html

Their "original" weight seems to be somewhere between thin and midweight.

Edit: they also have these compression versions that look decently thin: https://www.injinji.com/ultra-compression-otc.html

[G.D.]

Fun discussion. Now that I'm thinking of it, don't really have too many that I can think of right now. Like Spenser said earlier, mainly having my balaclava with me is my main one. The Burton Ember fleece to be specific. Love the fit, feel, and warmth it gives. Best thing is the ability to slide the lower part up and down easily depending on the temp and/or preference.


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Come to think of it, prob my helmet and my Stance socks, as well (the park ones, cos they're the thickest/comfiest out of the 3 tiers imo). And my Air Pill goggs. All 4 of these are my essentials to having a solid time.

[C.Fuzzy]

on the grid fleece topic, i’d recommend folks check out the blooming cottage industry around handmade Polartech Alpha layering pieces. most of it is marketed towards ultralight backpackers/thru hikers, but I love my Senchi for splitting.

Those look coooozy. There's an "appointment only" company in Leadville that makes some similar pieces called Melanzana.

Melanzana has a fanatical following in the through hiking community. Honestly my suspicion is they’re probably overmarketed and overhyped, but maybe they’re really that damn good.

I loosely follow hiking / though hiking communities and I get the impression they're generally focused on performance over all else. Just the amount of gear swapping they do and that I see a good amount of "don't buy this 'big name brand' buy this 'cheap generic alibaba' thing instead because it's better"... a lot of these folks just keep dialing in and I find when a whole lot of them get fanatical, it's tried and proven.

I have a Mountain Hardware Monkey Man grid fleece similar to the Senchis… furry high loft fleece on a grid. They’re indeed cozy as hell but don’t really perform in the conditions I usually deal with. Comfy and light but packs really bulky and runs little warm for me in most Sierra temps. If I was in the Continental interior I’d probably use it more. As is I usually just wear it around the house for warmth on colder days. And my wife loves cuddling me in that thing because its very soft lol.

The Senchi stuff looks nice though and not too pricy. I’d grab a set of I wasn’t more than set on kit.

I have a few high loft fleeces and even with the single digit temps we get a lot around here, they're too warm for me if I'm active. The only time I can use mine is sitting on my ass.

[benjinyc]

I bought some $10 bungee cord that attaches your iPhone to your jacket. Sitting on the lift or being in deep pow, having the phone tethered to you eliminated any kind of worry about losing your phone. My local hill (and not a big one at that) found 40 phones after the thaw.

[unsuspected]

Weird one but.. Stance X Injiji X Scotty Wittlake socks. Yeah, they’re weird toe socks. I could never get my feet to stop being clammy and would end up being freezing cold in a variety of conditions. Those thin, stick-on toe warmers were a band aid fix for awhile. Different boots, plenty of different socks, anti-sweat lotion, etc. Found a random pair at my local shop in 2014, no one was buying them. Owner gave me a pair for free, changed my life! I think I have 6-7 pairs in rotation now and will seek them out once a season or so for back ups.

Colder days, the AK MFI hooded base layer - thin, polartec style. I think it’s the same as the Mine77 one. It seems like it was a one and done, always my go to layering piece.

Are the socks thick or thin? Need lightweight or ultra lightweight for my warm sweaty feet and would like to give these a go if they are thin.

[michaelangelo]

Pretty lightweight IMO. If a mid weight sock was a 5/10, on a scale, these are like a 2.5.

[unsuspected]

Hmm might have to try even if price is steep at 35usd without shipping.

[michaelangelo]

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Dug a pair out haha. The shin area is a little thicker/has padding, but overall pretty light compared to regular snowboard branded socks

[eleveneightnate]

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Dug a pair out haha. The shin area is a little thicker/has padding, but overall pretty light compared to regular snowboard branded socks

The sock porn we’re here for.

[kimchi]

Weird one but.. Stance X Injiji X Scotty Wittlake socks. Yeah, they’re weird toe socks. I could never get my feet to stop being clammy and would end up being freezing cold in a variety of conditions. Those thin, stick-on toe warmers were a band aid fix for awhile. Different boots, plenty of different socks, anti-sweat lotion, etc. Found a random pair at my local shop in 2014, no one was buying them. Owner gave me a pair for free, changed my life! I think I have 6-7 pairs in rotation now and will seek them out once a season or so for back ups.

Might be something to do this. This post inspired me to bust out my dormant Injinjis for an hour at the skate park. My feet cramped less and maybe all in my head, but I had a really good session... I was just feeling it today. Gonna keep them in rotation for a bit and see how I feel.

I've never tried them on snow, might give it a shot. I've talked at length about my boot fit / foot pain issues. Most of those are resolved with Adidas but my feet still cramp up occasionally. Maybe "weird toe socks" get me a little bit closer to 100% painfree.

Experimented with a bunch of different socks the past month skating, running, and lifting. Provisional rankings:

1. Injinjis toe socks.
2. A few pairs with dedicated left and right socks from Bombas, Stance, and Shred Sox
3. Various "universal fit" socks, from cheap Costco Adidas to ultrathin Smartwools.

I have better underfoot awareness and less foot cramping going bottom-to-top on my list. From 3 to 2 is drastic. From 2 to 1 is less drastic but noticeable.

I'm a split millisecond faster in making adjustments and reacting to what's happening underneath me. I can't tell the difference 95% of the time, but the 5% tends to be critical moments: exploding upwards on a power clean, sudden lateral cuts while running, riding crust on a skateboard, reacting to losing my footing on a hike, etc.

After the experiment, I'm planning to switching over entirely to toe or at least L/R dedicated socks for any athletic activity. Whenever I've hurt myself, I've flubbed on one of those critical moments I mentioned. If I can save myself a few injuries and some wear and tear ahead of my impending middle age, well worth the investment.