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Although global warming is in the headlines, it has yet to put a chill on the army/navy store business.
"We have no slow down in winter weather sales. As soon as the weather turns cold, we stock up, said Harold Hirsch of Schreck Wholesale.
The hands, feet and head are particularly vulnerable to cold. Protecting these extremities seals in warmth through the whole body. Socks, gloves and headwear are as important to staying warm as apparel that covers larger portions of the body.
It doesn't get much colder in the United States than in Anchorage, Alaska, where in any given winter temperatures drop for several weeks to 20 below, said Jeff Stultz, manager of the Army Store in Anchorage.
Understandably, Stultz sells huge amounts of cold weather gloves, hats and socks. But he emphasizes the importance of protective dressing for the entire body.
"There is no one item that is the solution in cold weather wear," he said. "It is the combination of dressing from head to toes."
Two of Stultz's most popular sock lines are thick wool socks from Fox River Outdoors and mountaineer socks from Smart Wool.
"Smart Wool is a more high tech sock, a nice Marino wool," said Stultz. "Socks are a part of the whole set of equipment. One's ability to stay warm will depend on the rest of the equipment."
Stultz also sells a variety of gloves. Workers on the north slope oil fields, where temperatures can drop to 60 below, wear a cotton work glove inside a large insulated arctic mitt. For tasks requiring dexterity, they remove the mitt.
The arctic mitt, also known as the EWAC mitt, is a standard protective item for people living or working in extreme cold. The large leather mitten is lined with Thinsulate™ and foam, and there is usually a layer of fur on the back of one hand for wiping the face without removing the mitt.
"It is one of our most popular impact gloves," said Stultz, who sells both commercially manufactured and genuine military surplus mitts.
Thinsulate lined gloves with a nylon shell are popular. Although generally marketed as ski gloves, Stultz's customers buy them for everyday street wear.
Balaclavas are top sellers, and Stultz even sells one model equipped with a windshield to workers on the north slope. Also popular is a hat called the Clavigator, a combination of neoprene and polar fleece that protects both the head and the face.
In relatively balmy Chicago, Hirsch enjoys surprisingly strong sales of the arctic mitt.
"They are bought by people who walk dogs or wait for buses," he said.
He also does a strong trade in polypropylene hoods and cloth helmet liners for extreme cold weather. The latter, which has a Velcro® closure, was introduced during the Korean War.
"They're very popular with outdoor utility workers and sanitation men," said Hirsh. "They can be worn under a hard hat and cover the ears, cheeks and chin while providing some insulation."
Military boot socks, a combination of wool, nylon and cotton, are an old standby. But for extreme cold, Hirsch sells navy arctic socks.
"They are much thicker than the boot sock and have a heavier wool content," he said, noting that they are popular with customers who go cross-country skiing or ice fishing in the upper Midwest..
Hirsch advises to try to sell foot powder to customers in cold climates. "When you put on heavy socks and boots, your feet sweat and that moisture is what makes your feet cold," he said.
Bob Broner of Broner Hats has seen a resurgence of interest in trooper hats.
"Trooper hats have been around for a long time but it seems that now they are more fashionable," said Broner, who has been selling more trooper hats this year because, in addition to protecting the head and ears, they have become a trendy pop culture style.
"When you think of the cartoon South Park you think of the kid character always wearing a trooper hat. Those trends translate into retail sales," Broner said.
Although he offers ten styles of trooper hats, the best seller is an overall faux fur model.
"It looks and feels like real animal fur," he said. Also selling well are ragg wool and camouflage troopers, the latter with faux fur lining. The basic vinyl trooper remains a standard cold weather item.
In Seattle, Jack Schaloum of Federal Army and Navy, enjoys strong sales of military issue arctic socks with thermal knit liners that trap heat inside the foot. Schaloum also carries socks by Gold Medal and Duofold, the latter made from Marino wool and J.D. Fields socks from Canada.
"These socks are all of thick material, some of thermal knit or wool lining," said Schaloum, who warns that the efficacy of the sock is inter-dependent on the boot.
Schaloum does a strong business supplying commercial fishermen in northern Canada and Alaska, many of whom buy the Gold Medal brand to which they add a sock liner. The standard wool military watch cap remains his top selling piece of winter headwear.
For additional bonus editorial content and images, please visit www.ansommag.com for even more about cold weather gloves, hats and socks.
The Great Canadian Sock Company, manufacturer of J.D. Fields and other brands, has been furnishing socks for extreme cold temperatures since 1934, said president Bipin Khimasia. The J.D. Fields brand was founded in Ontario in 1887 and manufactured socks primarily for the lumber industry.
"That was the beginning of the J.D. Fields name," said Khimasia. "They ran a small mill until it became uneconomical for them to operate."
The Great Canadian Sock Company bought the J.D. Fields name ten years ago, but the GCSC produces other extreme cold weather socks. For the coldest weather there is the Icelandic line which features socks that can withstand temperatures of 50 below zero centigrade.
"We spend a lot of time in research and development," said Khimasia, notes that the minus forty and minus fifty versions also use a special yarn and up to eighty-five percent Marino wool.
The company's Therma Trecker, although not designed for extreme cold, is popular with hunters in northern Minnesota and Canada. Containing seventy-four percent acrylic and sixteen percent wool, the Therma Trecker is Canada's top selling winter sock with 200,000 pairs sold each year, Khimasia said.
In the United States, Wigwam Mills has long supplied army/navy stores with a wide variety of both Marino and coarse wool socks. Wigwam spokesperson Donna Fischer notes that coarse wool is warmer but not as comfortable as softer Marino wool.
Wigwam's Thermax is a high tech model containing Outlast technology that traps the warmth inside the sock and releases it when required, said Fischer.
The system has a hollow core of polyester fiber that prevents heat loss by trapping a layer of warm air while carrying perspiration to the outer layer of moisture absorbing fiber, she said. However, in a choice between a high tech system and a simple coarse wool sock, Fischer recommends the latter for warmth in extreme conditions. Sock liners provide an added layer of protection, when needed.
But for hunters moving around in non-arctic conditions, it is often a personal preference between a coarse wool or high tech sock. The Outlast boot sock has advantages over wool socks in those conditions.
"It is temperature regulating, the heat encapsulates in the fibers and releases warmth when you need it," Fischer said. "You are walking around more in a hunting environment than in the arctic where you can't move as quickly in extreme cold."
author: BY HOWARD PROSNITZ