The Cold Start

Hands, feet, and the head. Two of them are where the cold actually starts, and the third is the only skin most people still leave bare.

Contains one pair of Winter Gloves in your chosen size, one pair of Winter Crew socks and one Fleece Beanie. WHY THESE THREE: under cold stress the body protects the core by constricting the peripheral vessels, and the hands and feet are the first circulation to be withdrawn, long before core temperature moves. They are also the worst-defended tissue you own: the extremities carry the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio in the body, and the digits contain no muscle bellies of their own. Fingers are worked by tendons running from the forearm, toes by tendons from the calf, so neither can produce heat locally. That is why the hands lose grip and fine control while your chest still feels fine. THE BEANIE, HONESTLY: the head is here not because you lose forty per cent of your heat through it, which is a myth from an old army field manual, but because on almost every walk it is the last surface still uncovered. Glove size: S/M, L/XL.

If you are between two sizes, take the larger one — everything here is meant to be layered. Garment measurements are on the page for the pieces where the maker publishes them.

Machine wash cool and inside out, and skip the fabric softener — it coats the fibre and is the most common way people ruin the wicking on a base layer. Do not tumble dry fleece or anything waterproof. Heated pieces are washed only with the power cell removed.

Exchange or return within 30 days, unworn and in its original packaging. The return instructions come in the parcel.