Clothing is kept dry by adjusting the layers

In cold and wet, warmth is not settled by equipment alone. It is settled by how the layers are adjusted through the day. Dry fabric holds heat; damp fabric carries it away. Keep the moisture out while you are moving and the evening is easier.

Layers are adjusted before moving and before a break

Clothing is matched to the weather, the exertion and the breaks. Setting off, a layer comes off so the body does not overheat and sweat. Stopping for a break, the layer goes back on before the body cools. The adjustment is made in time, not once it is already too hot or too cold.

Sweat is avoided by adjusting, not by enduring

Sweating inside your clothing reduces warmth in the cold. Damp fabric conducts heat away and adds discomfort. The same applies to footwear, where sweat lowers the temperature and is felt quickly. Moisture is managed by opening a layer in good time, not by gritting your teeth and sweating through it.

Snow is brushed off before it melts

Snow that has stuck to clothing goes off immediately. While it is dry, snow is brushed or shaken off the fabric, before it melts into the fibres and turns into damp. It is a small habit that preserves the clothing's dryness for the whole day.

Wet kit is dried with care and feet are kept dry

Wet clothing and footwear are dried whenever there is a safe opportunity. Heat sources are used with care, so the fabric or the boot is not damaged. Wet socks are changed for dry ones when conditions allow. A plastic bag protects a dry sock from a wet boot in an emergency, but it also collects the foot's own moisture, so it should not be relied on too heavily. The head, hands and feet are protected first, because they affect warmth and capability most.

The information here has been gathered and summarised in our own words from the public guide Selviytymisen käsikirja (Survival Handbook, 2024), pp. 30, 31, 32 and 33.