Maine Fashion:
What I Wear When I
Manage Snow
In February
In Maine
Bottom to Top; Toe to Head:
L.
L. Bean Hunting Boots. I may
choose from five pairs. All pairs
from Thrift Shops, church sales or estate sales. I have never purchased a new pair. You can find them new pretty easy. People buy these and never wear them all the time; a
constant.
Two
pairs of socks: These last for
years. Inner pair 30 Below
Icelandic purchased from the Vermont Country store in Weston Vermont. I buy a pair or two when ever I go
by. Outer pair Wigwam
Diabetic. These “diabetic” are on
sale a lot. As the outer pair they
‘aren’t tight’. All mine have
holes in them; heal and toe, from constant usage. The last ones I bought from Sam’s Outfitters in Brattleboro,
Vermont. I stop most every time we
go by. This sock and boot set is
worn year round. YES: In July too.
Gaiters;
“the gaiters”: Currently I have
two pairs from Mountain Hard Wear I purchased at some gear type outlet in North
Conway, NH. Off the rack, I walked
to checkout and paid full price in cash.
All of this outfit was bought with cash. No charge card.
These gaiters are the most expensive and foundation piece of my
outfit. I wear them YEAR ROUND and
they have the crap beat out of them.
Forest slash protection (cutting; chain saw usage) and tick protection
(I NEVER FIND A TICK ON ME) when wearing this outfit. NO TICS.
NONE. This is ‘hot’ in July
but ‘you get used to it’ and if you don’t like it you weren’t working in the
woods anyway. In February it should be obvious these are a must for snow management across the whole task
list.
Carhartt
double layer (“slash layer”) on upper leg front brown duck pants. NOT BOUGHT NEW. These are hard to find in thrift shops,
etc until you know the secret: GO
TO THE BETTER (more well to do) church thrifts and sales. There at... perfect never used pairs
turn up from good homes who bought a pair once and never worn them or wore them
once to go to the mail box and now the wife has donated them so... six bucks
and they are mine. These, too,
generally are found in ‘girth is a factor’ waist sizes so they usually ‘fit
loose’ on me no problem. This is
important in actual usage for they are sweat soaked in July and
wet-frozen-solid in February. You
get used to it... LOOSE. ‘Tight’
just means your not doing anything.
Carpenter
suspenders. The ones they sell in
the tool section at the local old style hardware store. They are in the isle with the
hammers. OR: I find them in the thrifts or, better,
never used at the church sales.
Usually for, like, two dollars.
A lot of men wear these.
THEY HOLD YOUR PANTS UP.
That’s why we wear them. I
have eight or ten pairs attached to work pants at all times. That’s the way they are stored: ON THE
PANTS ‘ready to go’. They last for
years (twenty-five years).
Two
dirty old white undershirts. Worn out
rejects from coat and tie usage now used as sweat soaked protection ‘bottom
layer’. YES THEY GET sweat soaked
during snow management in February.
July should be obvious. I
have fourteen sets ‘in rotation’
In July I might use three or four sets a day for ‘sweat soaked’
conditions. GUESS WHAT: IF it is a Blizzard... I’ll run through
three sets a day in February. FOR REAL. And these old shirts can stand up by
themselves. These are outdoor farm
shed only undershirts. They are
not pretend. Until you wear them
all the time... you don’t.
And: NO TIC ever makes it
‘that deep’ to this ‘bottom layer.
The
scarf. My uncle, long dead, gave
this to me when I was six. I have
worn it as I wear it for, what?
SIXTY years. That’s that
huh. It goes under the suspenders
and on top of the undershirts.
Old
(vintage) L. L. Bean River Driver Shirt.
It goes over the undershirts, suspenders and scarf and is not tucked
in. Only the undershirts are
tucked in. These shirts are a
known classic. I pick these off at
church thrifts and sales. Often
find them ‘new’. Six bucks is
high. Two dollars is a classic
find. They X the label or cut them
off so criminals cannot exchange them for credit at Bean’s. I have a good slug of these in service. Sweat soaked in July they are the outer
layer. In February they are the
inner ‘stop the wind’ layer. A
VERY IMPORTANT LAYER. These are
‘stays in the shed’ grade too.
Okay: ALL of these clothes
never... come inside... unless it is a “BAD” “BLIZZARD”. Again: All these clothes are never inside. These are real farm clothes so the LIVE
ON A FARM. They are not house
clothes. They do not live in a
house.
Carhartt
heavy grade sweat shirt. Regular
‘large’ fit with hood and pouch.
Constant usage so “dirty”.
That means “dirty”. If it
is new and clean it will not be for long.
Used year round as a ‘core layer’.
Rain, snow, mud... whatever.
If you ‘hit’ one of these “new with tags” at a thrift BUY IT. It won’t be there ten minutes
later. As noted earlier the Church
Sales are the best source for this grade sweatshirt. These ‘cost a lot’ to begin with so to find them I shop in
the best neighborhoods. I know the
qualities so spot ‘em easy.
An
extra large high school sports and gym grade outer sweatshirt. I talking blizzard in February in Maine
here so once you pull this one on over the Carhartt grade above and step
outside you will know right away why your wearing this one TOO. These one may find ‘new with tags’ at
thrifts pretty easy. A lot of
times you can find them with a goofy printing like “I LIKE IKE” or
whatever. Right now mine are
plain. Okay so ah lets clear this
up here: These are never cleaned
(“washed”) except by ‘work in the rain’, etc. WHEN they get TOO BAD to be around... throw them out (use as
rags in the barn). Again: NEVER WASH... THROW OUT.
Head
gear... for winter snow management:
L. L. Bean safety orange hunting ball cap insulated with ear flaps. I lucked into this ‘new with tags’ at a
church sale for a buck. HEY: I got lucky. You will too
L.
L. Bean cross country skier’s head lamp... a beat up old one ...now seen being
used by working Maine men who have become ‘addicted to it’ as preferred
lighting “BECAUSE THEY WORK” and are ‘hands free’. Fresh batteries at the start of the blizzard. Back up set available ‘lock and
load’. These are now ‘I am lost
without it’ status because I am “ALWAYS WORKING IN THE DARK”. It is always dark in Maine in a
blizzard. Its dark right now while
I’m writing this. I am wearing the stupid head lamp RIGHT NOW. This is a go to the store and buy one
off the rack deal. It takes longer
to do now because there are a lot to choose from and... good luck with that. The big one is ‘can I turn this on and
off wearing gloves’.
Crummy
“Navy” blue cap. These are found
‘new’ easy for under a dollar. It
is what it is; an ‘under cap’ cap.
Hand
knitted safety orange colored heavy wool cap. My wife made two of these for my thirty years, at least,
ago. I use them fall and winter as
‘top layer’. Soiled (“dirty”) but
‘she made it for me’. Okay? Your not gonna get one of these
easy. IF you have a Maine woman
make you one of these to wear when you manage snow... you are... probably an
“In Maine” and “live that way” too.
Otherwise: “Have it
professionally done”.
Gloves: Safety orange rubber dipped work
gloves. They do not stay dry and
are not warm but they do ‘protect’ the hands (frostbite alert). It’s a blizzard in February in
Maine. The weather is brutal on
the hands. These are, in my
opinion, the best cosmetic solution to a ‘no win’ problem of “wet and cold”
hands. Note the duck tape
repairs. Doing those on ALL work
gloves ALL the time extends the ‘life’ of a pair a REAL LOT.
