THE warmest boots for Fairbanks. (North Pole: rental, Home Depot, buying)

[riceme]

I had family in the mountains outside Flagstaff for many years. Sadly, they are gone now. My buddy in AZ has run into the same permitting problems with his homes and I told him he needs to get tough and roll on up to Alaska, lol.

The electronic coupons will simply be populated in your offers and you can use them or not, but I agree that it's a little freaky. Fact is, big brother is everywhere whether we like it or not. We can choose to be off grid but as we are all on a forum using computers and email here, none of us have made that choice as of yet. :/

[riceme]

Oh.... the boilers. You should google the different designs because there are too many to list and some of them are pretty cool

I like the indoor boiler with the stacked combustion and gasification chambers. To refine your search look at homemade versus storebought designs.

[warptman]

Back to warm feet, nothing beats a pair of yarn type knitted socks. I've had a few of them over the years that were gifts, they are very warm and I used them inside my bunny boots to keep my feet from sweating. I know, makes no sense to use them in bunny boots, but they do absorb a lot of moisture. You can get some different type of yarn now, find someone to knit you some or have your wife take up a hobby for those long cold nights.

[6.7traveler]

Thanks for the advice warptman. When you say yarn, would wool yarn be the best? What type of yarn do you use.

[riceme]

I recently switched from SmartWool to Darn Tough socks. I used to wear Wigwam merino wool socks, but I like knee highs and I can never find Wigwams in knee highs, plus Wigwam don't have enough elastic (any??) and never stay up. I've been getting increasingly ticked off with SmartWool over the past couple years... my socks get holes in weird places (like, not the toes) and most recently I noticed that they're getting an increasingly higher elastic content every time I buy them (less wool + more elastic = more sweat => cold, wet feet). Darn Tough are lifetime warranted and so far I like them way better than SmartWool or Wigwam.

For bunny boots I wear men's wool (dirt bike) riding tube socks. They go way up over my knees, but I like it... that works for me. I have not been able to find them in wool for a few years, so if anyone knows where I can get some that are close to 100% wool, let me know.

[riceme]

Merino wool is usually the most desirable for anything coming in contact with your skin. It is very soft.

Merino - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[warptman]

The socks I've had were Christmas gifts. If you look online they say that Angora yarn is the yarn to use for warmth. The sock that were given to me were made from regular yarn, well, that's what they feel like anyway.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by warptman

The socks I've had were Christmas gifts. If you look online they say that Angora yarn is the yarn to use for warmth. The sock that were given to me were made from regular yarn, well, that's what they feel like anyway.

Angora is good stuff and it is soft, soft, soft! But it is so common for socks because it doesn't have any elasticity and the fibers are very slippery because... well think of it like straight hair compared to kinky hair, which is how you'd describe sheep's wool. I am not a fiber artist, so I'm not sure but I think you would spin it with wool to help give it better elasticity then you might have better luck with socks.

Um, wow. I just looked online and you can buy angora/merino wool blend socks for pretty reasonable. If you want 100% angora socks you might have to buy them from Scotland and you might have to pay $60/pair plus shipping.

[6.7traveler]

Thanks for all the tips.... Before I start a new thread on such a specific issue, my bunny boots have a slight tear in the front toe where all the rubber overlaps. There is rubber underneath and it isn't all the way up but I don't want to get any worse. In the picture I am holding the flap back so you can see what I am talking about. I tried white gorilla glue but it only lasted a day or two. Anyone have any experience with a good rubberized adhesive that can stop this from getting worse? The rest of the boot is in good condition. Thanks

[grandma4mom5]

Wood pellet stove with a hopper feeder.

Qiviut wool from musk ox is expensive, but 8x warmer than sheep's wool. You can also knit/crochet with a cotton or other blend.

The large dome on the road was a hotel but closed.

You can google all of this.