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How-To lifehacks

Day 13: Minimalist Winter Gear

It’s day 13 of my challenge not to do laundry in washing machines and dryers and just hand wash for a month. So far it’s going great. $20 saved which I’ll use for tacos once I finish this post.

Let’s talk winter gear.

What’s the least you can wear and still stay comfortably warm? I recently went to Tahoe for work, and had this chart to work off of. The idea behind Clo values is that a Clo value of 1 will keep you comfortable at 70 degrees Fahrenheit without having to move. The colder it gets, the higher the clo value.

The chart below is the recommended clo values for keeping warm and comfy while not moving.

clo	degrees F	degrees C
1	70		21
1.3	66		19
1.6	62		17
2	59		15
2.3	55		13
2.6	52		11
3.2	45		 7
3.8	27		-3

I was on the slopes and perfectly comfortable thanks mostly to the North Face Thermoball Full Zip Jacket which has a clo rating of 2.08. This jacket packs down to a small 7″ x 4″ rectangle that you can attach to a carabiner on your backpack.

Also of note is the ExOfficio Trail Crest Flannel that has hollow threads for a high warmth to material ratio, and the ExOfficio Kahve Hoody. Both dry over night in 8 hours after washing and both are warm enough to be the only layers you’d need while walking around when it’s around 40 degrees.

If you look at the chart below, you’ll see that what’s minimalist is skipping ski pants in favor of a lighter rain pant, and skipping the outer shell. Instead of looking like a stay puff marsh mellow on the slopes, you look lean and mean.

I was very warm in below freezing weather thanks to the gear below.

Item				Clo Value
patagonia long johns		0.35
exofficio nomad pants		0.2
LL Bean rain pants		0.28
briefs				0.04
exofficio flannel		0.3
exofficio kahve hoody		0.37
thermoball inner jacket		2.08
outershell	
boots				0.05
socks				0.1
gloves				0.1
scarf				0.1
hat				0.1
TOTAL CLO			4.07
Categories
lifehacks

Handwashing Clothes for a month: Day 3

When I was traveling through Iceland in November, I tried to travel as light as possible. I did this by handwashing my clothes: long johns, shirts, socks and underwear. If I could go 14 days without having to do laundry while traveling, could I go a whole month without doing laundry. This Saturday, I started in earnest and am on Day 3 of doing no laundry and just handwashing.

Why handwash?

Laundry can be a negative suck on time and energy. By handwashing items that can dry overnight, I am totally saving time. Instead of having that 2 hour block of time devoted to laundry each week, I can instead, put my clothes to wash in the sink with soap, take a shower, and then dry me and my clothes.

Here is what I’ll be wearing this month:

Lots of gear from ExOfficio because this gear can hang dry from anywhere from 2 hours to 8 hours. This is perfect for travel.

On top of saving time, I’ll also be saving money. I usually spend about $10 / week doing laundry, so by handwashing, I can save $40 per month.