Beating the Cold with Snug Pack Poncho Liner

Yes, I know. It's almost June and spring is here. Thank God winter is over. Obviously, this particular post is a bit overdue.

One of the biggest frustrations I had with trying to keep warm in the wheelchair was that no matter what we did or what I'm warm. I would still get this cold draft coming up from the small of my back. In addition, I would very often feel the cold for my jacket rather quickly around my shoulders and upper arms. Even though my Milwaukee heated hoodie was working great. It couldn't help with some areas.

Notice how open the back and sides are
Drafty!!!

So I started looking at poncho ideas. Obviously the first ones I looked at were wheelchair ponchos. These looked okay but seem to be more have a cover for the wheelchair occupant that covered the legs arms and top of the back wheelchair. They kind of tapered towards the front E.g. Long enough to cover the knees on the front, but only just past the shoulders on the back. Would do nothing to keep the back warm.

That and it also cost upwards of $200!

… Not to mention that you look like a fashion reject from an old folks home.

Start doing some shopping around I found the snug pack poncho liner. Usually priced around $100, but I found it for about $50 on Amazon.ca (the price has since changed)

It is extremely light, huge and surprisingly warm. It is insulated with the material called travel loft, similar to prima loft. It's not really rated for the deep cold, only to about 10°. But as an additional layer. It works extremely well with all my other winters got. I was outside for long periods (well over an hour) at less than -20°C. It made all the difference.

It is meant for some pretty hard-core outdoor type activities and the military. So the back of the poncho is really quite long, designed to go over a backpack. What this means is when you put on and then sat down in the wheelchair, it covers my back all the way down to just about my knees. Using the poncho, I never had that cold draft going up my back.

It is windproof and water resistant. So by itself, I would not use it in the rain (it is intended to go inside the enhanced control poncho) but I wouldn't worry about it in a light drizzle.

Putting it over top of my winter coat and tucking it down it worked great as a windbreaker and greatly improve the cooling problem I was having on my shoulders and arms.

my dog found the hood to be
pretty great

It is really easy to put on and big enough that if you so choose you have more than enough to cover the headrest and the back of the wheelchair yet of talking in. The hood is also great, it tightens up fairly comfortably to help keep out the draft.

I have also used it as a regular blanket around the house to keep warm. In less extreme temperatures I had even just use the poncho without a coat. It's been quite convenient.

I am very happy with the purchase, it does a great job.

Beating the Cold with Milwaukee's Heated Hoodie & Camping Slippers

Seeing as it's freakishly cold here in Montréal right now, swinging between a balmy -20°C and -40°C. It seemed like a good time to introduce a proper Canadian tradition, the good old the Canadian "two-fer". As in two for one… But sometimes also applies to a case of 24 beer… Sorry kids, not that one. ;-)

Before hoodie...

Around about this time last year, you may recall I posted an article about the Milwaukee heated jacket. While the jacket was very good, it was just not quite right to replace a winter jacket. The big issue lies in the fact that, by itself, it was quite warm enough. Especially in the arms. So I would find I had to put on another layer between my skin and the heating elements, which in turn reduced the effectiveness of the heating element.

This is where the heated hoodie is really great. The material is made from is basically like a jogging suit. But a bit heavier, so it's quite warm as is. It has the same heating elements and functionality as Milwaukee heated jacket. But, being a hoodie . I find I am able to put on a regular T-shirt (sometimes longsleeved), hoodie and then my regular winter jacket. And this combination works out really quite well. Beginning elements of liberty are brought much closer to my skin and consequently have much more affect. This also means I can run it on the lower setting and still have a similar effect. Usually, when I first leave the house I turn it on medium. Only posting at the high after I have been out for a while. Needless to say this extends the battery life by about an hour.

I should however mentioned that I've only tested this off to about -20. I have not tried going out in colder weather. Mostly because the sidewalks are not that clean. Makes it hard on my neck, and is a real mess in the house afterwards.

If I have to say anything against the hoodie, is that the battery pouch is a little bit awkward. In the jacket, it's a nice tight pocket. They keeps the battery in place and consistently oriented in a vertical fashion. The pocket in the hoodie is much larger and looser, causing it to travel in more of a horizontal position. Which can sometimes get in the way when sitting down. It is usually easily adjusted to fit in the void of my wheelchair back. Also, unlike the jacket the battery pouches on the inside of the hoodie. Meaning that if you have to change it, you have to open the hoodie up. This is not an issue for me yet.

After hoodie...

One item I've been looking at is an extension wire for the battery. That way I could leave the battery in the pouch on the side of my wheelchair and easement. The changeup while I'm out. However, I have only found one with a car adapter. Not only did it yet, so I'm not too sure if we will suit my needs.

So all told, the heated hoodie is great! For the price of the $150 (including the battery and charging unit) At Home Depot.ca (Pro tip: I found it to be about $20 cheaper in-store than online) it's kind of like wearing a portable electric blanket. It comes in four colors: Black, gray (I have this one), khaki and special edition red. If you have a disability that impairs your ability to keep warm, get one! Well worth the money.

I have also been wearing a pair of down camping slippers quite a bit. The original idea, based on my reading was that I could possibly wear these out instead of winter boots (given the fact I'm not walking anymore). They were after all kind of like sleeping bags for your feet and being down feather they are in fact we comfortable and warm. But not quite good enough to replace winter boots simply because the wind goes through them pretty easily which quickly translates into cold feet. Even with heavy winter socks…

I bought the red ones just to be different

That being said, the slippers are still extremely good and works just fine for short trips outside. For example, going from the car into the shopping mall. I'm finding I am wearing them a lot. Especially around the house.

Been made with down feathers the weigh practically nothing  (Less than 300 g for both of them!) and are extremely comfortable. Also, because they are feather I find that they keep my feet at much more of a Goldilocks temperature. Not too hot, not too cold… Just right.

They also have a very good, durable no slip sole. But because of my particular walking technique, I preferred to kick them off when I have to walk. It's easier for me to shuffle my feet in my socks.

I bought them from Mountain equipment co-op for about $65. A bit more than one we usually consider spending for slippers, but at the same time I'm using them much more generally then I would a pair of slippers.

I'm finding I'm very pleased with the slippers and recommend them. You can also order them online from MEC.ca On this link, you will find several different styles and colors of the slippers, ranging in price from $39-$89.

To summarize, both of these win the awesome award!

That's One Fine Coat

One of the ongoing problems I've been continually trying to address is that of comfort. With the extension of atrophy in my arms, which are essentially skin and bones these days. I'm finding that propping my elbows on pretty much anything can get rather uncomfortable rather quickly. Including my wheelchair.

I looked up all sorts of elbow pad options in the past, these tend to be rather tight fitting around the arm making them happy and not terribly comfortable to wear. Not to mention hot. The gel filled elbow pads were particularly bad for heat. Not to mention they were rather heavy. I will admit, they worked rather well.

Velcro insert pockets
on the elbows!

The other day while rotating around the Internet doing some window shopping for a light coat to replace the one I have I stumbled across the tac.u Coat from propper. It's basically a military style field jacket. But what is interesting about it is it has Velcro insert pockets on the elbows. Allowing you to insert elbow pads, or in my case a thin sheet of high density foam. The foam is very lightweight and being only half an inch thick makes it rather flexible. This is just enough padding to add an extra layer of comfort and take the sharp edges off of whatever I'm putting my elbow on.

The jacket is available in all sorts of other military colors/camouflage and is quite reasonably priced at US$40. Myself I chose the black one, but I do have to admit. The subdued urban camo is pretty cool.They are easy enough to find on Amazon.com, eBay and various tactical websites. I ordered mine from ACU.com which seem to offer the best shipping rate Canada.

On a side note, one of the fun things about the Coat is and has all sorts of Velcro patches on the shoulders which are intended for military badges and insignia. However, we've taken a bunch of Velcro tape and stuck it to some fun things/toys from my Four year old boy to Stick to me. Including the back of my iPhone. He finds it rather hilarious to watch YouTube while it stuck to my shoulder.

As limiting as I am in the way I can interact with him, got to find ways to be creative. And this that means looking a little silly, so be it! ;-)

All in all, so far I quite like the jacket. I should point out however the slaves are quite baggy. I ordered a large, which usually works out quite well for me. However in this case it turned out to be rather loosefitting around the chest. I probably could've done with the medium. But it does make for very good spring jacket.

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I would also like to just take a second to send a big thank you to Albert Wojciechowski for his contribution to this site :-)

Milwaukee battery powered heated jacket.

Jacket heating zones

Back in the fall, my father had his birthday and he's a bit of a wimp with the cold. So we thought that would make a cool gift to try to buy him the Milwaukee battery-powered heated jacket. Especially now that he will be spending more time Montréal and it's a lovely winter climate.

As winter arrives, he loaned it to me to try out for a few weeks as he was going to be away and I needed to go collect my son from daycare in my wheelchair (with the help of an assistant).

Winter has posed to serious issues for me, And sometimes you absolutely need to leave the house to attend appointments or whatever.A

First off is due to the amount of muscular atrophy, I don't have as much muscle mass to keep one. This my core body temperature is at risk of dropping much more quickly.

It would seem winter is getting a bit out of hand here in Montréal

Secondly, and is apparently a fairly common issue for people with ALS is the cold can really exaggerate muscular spasticity. I have found that on occasion, being outside at -15 or less (And this year we've had cold snaps down to -40 before Wind chill!). Even for a very short duration, say transiting the distance from house to car of around 40 or 50 feet can be enough to trigger a rather serious reaction. To give you some idea, on Christmas Day we visited my wife's parents place for dinner. When they left the house around midnight, I had to walk a very short distance to get to our warm vehicle. By the time I made it from the door to my vehicle, the muscles in my jaw tightened to the point that I could no longer hold my mouth. I had to talk soon my teeth. And my legs were stiffening up to that point I could barely walk.

The most annoying about this, is my body starts reacting this way and as though I have hypothermia. But I don't feel cold at all… Once everything warms up, I'm okay.

The jacket works as advertised and has three heating modes. When set for high, the heating zones actually do get quite warm (but comfortably so) for a duration of up to 4 hours. But I'm finding consistently of the less, closer to three.

The jacket is not constructed as a winter jacket. I would say more of a spring or autumn jacket men's for the person that works who is someone physically active in the cold, humid environment. The biggest issue I found using it as a winter jacket is it did not have a sufficiently good windbreaker. Once we got down to about -10°C, the call would go right through the arms and the non-heated areas. He really does require a shell.

Flame on!

We tried removing the lining for my present winter jacket (shell) and using this jacket in its place. While that works quite well, between the weight of this jacket and my winter shell. I found it to be quite heavy, and I was unable to move my arms, and as you know, my arms are suffering from significant atrophy. But with the shell on, want wise it was much more comfortable.

The temperature was controlled by the power button located on the left lapel. We push and hold for 4 seconds to power on, and when ready to go it lights up. Due to the placement of the button, and the difficulty of pushing it, I am unable to actuate it myself. I require assistance. But those light up quite bright, and my four-year-old finds that be pretty cool. :-)

The jacket, complete with the charging unit and one battery retails for about C$200 at Home Depot. I find this to be quite well priced in the jacket is very well made. But unfortunately, because it didn't need to use my shell over top of it I can't justify going to buy one for myself. It doesn't quite suit my needs, as matter of fact it complicates things a bit.

That being said, they do have a hooded jogging suit version which is much lighter and retails for C$150. I think this might suit my needs much better, It should be sufficiently Lite that would fit well in my existing winter jacket with the liner. It should not add as much weight or inflexibility. I plan on trying this out.

Oh Just Kilt Me Already!

That's right, I've decided to start wearing a kilt around the house. But before we get into talking about that, we need to make one thing clear first…

 

Okay, now that we've established the rules. Kilts are not dresses or skirts and exceptionally manly… Why am I wearing one? (As matter of fact I'm wearing it right now)

Kilts, in the traditional sense are supposed to be worn "commando", and although they are quite comfortable worn in this manner and provide good "air conditioning" its not exactly why I'm wearing one. Due to the illness, and the restricted movements of my arms I started finding it very difficult to go to the washroom on my own. Getting my pants and underwear off was not that big deal (it has become more challenging), but afterwards it's become nearly impossible to put them back on. For months, I would have to shuffle into my room in various states of disrobe, lie down on my bed and perform all sorts of gymnastics to get my pants & underwear back up. Then of course came the chore of doing them back up.

trying it on, fresh out-of-the-box

Of course, if you see my previous post about my status you will no doubt have noticed that I rate the function of my hands and arms in around 15% right now. Because of this, and the fact that I spend large portions of the day on my own, I needed to find a solution that provided a better "access" to prevent "accidents". So far the kilts solution is working out reasonably well. Much easier than dealing with pants and underwear. But the key to this is of course wearing them "commando". It's also for this reason, I wear them around the house only, kind of like pajamas. They are not intended to leave the house.

Sorry folks, a little bit more in the graphic details in this paragraph… Going to the washroom now is much easier. Especially to go pee. Because of the dexterity problems I do have to sit to urinate, this eliminates "accuracy problems". The kilt is very easy to keep out of the way when sitting. However, when I have to "drop the kids off at the pool" its a bit more challenging to make sure the kilt is out of the way. But with a little bit of effort, it is much more manageable then dealing with pants and underwear afterwards. So far I've not had any "misses".

So where do I get mine? I'm wearing a deluxe utility kilt purchased from http://www.utkilts.com/. Not the traditional wool type. A traditional wool kilts would be far too heavy and unmanageable (I used to have one for Halloween costume). The utility kilt is great and has some really cool cargo pockets on either side. There are surprisingly accessible and very easy for me to keep my cell phone in. They come in a variety of designs and colors and are fairly reasonably priced.

Before finding this website, I actually ordered mine from eBay from this company. Consequently I ended up paying a little more than I otherwise would have. If you order directly from http://www.utkilts.com/ it works out to be a little less expensive, saving you about $15. The kilts are shipped by the pound, with a minimum shipping cost of about $30. But adding more than one kills only adds about six dollars to the shipping cost, so if you are serious about wearing a kilt ordering more than one might be in your interest. As a matter of fact as soon as their stock is back in, I am going to be ordering two more deluxe utility kilts.

You can also check out http://www.utilikilts.com/ for more options. These people look to provide very good quality and I believe have been in business longer. They are however significantly more expensive. Don't be confused by the second, they're not the same company as http://www.utkilts.com/ 

Pros:

• very comfortable
• price for the kilts is reasonable. Ranging from $50-$80 depending on the design you choose
• makes "access" for nature's call much easier for me

Cons:

• you will no doubt have to deal with the jokes of it being a skirt. If this is a real problem I recommend the following kilted T-shirt as well
• can obviously be a little cold in the winter
• unfortunately shipping costs are little high here in Canada
• the fabric is a little bit stiff, even after the first wash. Making him a little bit hard to sit down comfortably and not on a wad of folded fabric
• pay extra attention to the sizing instructions! This is critical. They are not in size like regular pants

Conclusions:
very happy with the product, find them reasonably priced and work well as adapted clothing. I am buying more :-)