New York City commuter winter survival kit

Since I started working in Manhattan again a couple years ago I’ve learned a couple of things about surviving the winters on the LIRR platform. This winter in particular has been pretty lousy, temperatures below 20ºF and gusty most of the mornings for the past couple of weeks when I’m waiting for the train. Here are some of the things that have made it bearable. This is kind of a hodge-podge as a result of complete trial & error, but when fully geared I’m totally comfortable in the biting wind and snow even as others visibly shiver.

Land’s End Commuter Coat (Tall)

I have this one (apparently discontinued), but in black.

When my wife got this for me in 2012 I groaned. I was concerned that it made me look like an idiot. Well, the next time it snowed I instantly got over any reservations I might have had because this coat was heavenly. It has lots of pockets, it’s waterproof and windproof, and it’s long enough to cover my butt – actually the first coat I’ve owned that was long enough for me. The only real negative is its bulk – on the train it’s hard to squeeze in a seat wearing this thing, but I often put it in the overhead rack if it’s crowded. Also it’s REALLY warm – you can’t wear it for very long indoors.

LL Bean Fitness Fleece (Tall)

I’ve owned a lot of fleeces, and while I like the Old Navy ones, the LL Bean Fitness Fleece is my favorite. It’s warm enough to be a great layer between the commuter coat and a T-shirt but not so warm that it makes you sweat. I also like the way it looks.

Land’s End Men’s Squall Gloves

I’ve tried many different gloves and these are pretty good. They’re best on really cold, windy days – when you’re scraping the ice and snow off your windshield at 6 AM in the dark, these are the gloves you want. They’re comfortable (even for my XL hands), pretty much waterproof and windproof, and they have a little zipper pocket where you can insert those hand-warmer packets. And they were pretty cheap – I think $10 on sale.

Columbia Men’s Bugaboot Plus

I ended up with these boots after my previous pair of boots sprung a leak and I complained on Twitter. These are amazingly warm – definitely can’t wear them indoors for more than about 30 minutes without getting swamp feet, but they’re perfect for shoveling snow or those 8º windy days. I usually wear them with some thick Hanes crew socks for ultimate comfort. On days I wear them into the city I bring some regular sneakers along for normal wear, otherwise it’s really uncomfortable.
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I have to add that while these boots are great, having worn them fewer than 20 times, one of the leather lace-holes ripped off completely. I could contact their CS about this but don’t want to deal with the hassle. The boots still “work” but this was a defect in a product that wasn’t used that heavily.

Chaos – CTR Chinook Micro Fleece Balaclava

My latest addition. I was pretty warm most days except for my face, which was freezing. I tried a few hats and a scarf but the scarf was too unwieldy and itchy. I realized what I really needed was a crazy ski mask. Again I was worried that this would look stupid but practicality quickly won. My main worry in buying a balaclava was finding one to fit my massive head. I took a chance and fortunately this one worked out. It’s just barely big enough – if I put it on too quickly I can hear it tearing – but it’s been wonderful. On cold windy days, now my only exposed piece of skin is around my eyes. I end up with icicles on my eyelashes but that’s a small price to pay for warmth.

Conclusion

I don’t really know why I wrote this, maybe just as a shout out to the brands that have made this awful winter bearable. But hopefully the info contained herein is helpful to someone. Anyway, thanks for reading.