North to Alaska!

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by fisheye

Thank you for the update on the construction!

I never liked the hand and toe warmers. If you have the right pair of gloves, liners, mittens or right socks, liners, and insulated steel toe work boots; you will not have to worry about hand warmers. That is coming from somebody that survived five nights on a forklift at -20. But it takes time to find just the right gear for the job. For super cold I liked the insulated boots with liners. The reason I did is because I would pull out my liners when I got home and place them on the radiator to dry for the next shift. But they are hard to find now and I have no reason to look anymore. For my hands I liked the lined leather work gloves and I had cotton or insulated liners to put on my hands first. I also had mittens and mitten liners. When it got really cold I would have my glove liners inside my mitten liners inside my mittens. But it will take you time to learn the perfect combination.

If you ever see a prediction for the -15 and colder you should also think of your face. I also had one of the pullovers that covered most of my skin.

I do have a balaclava for my face so the only thing that is showing are my eyes when its bold cold. The steel toes do make your feet cold and that is not good. I find that layers work best for me because I hate being hot.I must look into the insulated boots with liners. Hubby is very good and surprised me with battery socks and gloves just to try them. I found the gloves very big for my hands, but the socks worked well.
Tons of overtime these days. Last week I worked my first 60 hours. Boy was I wrecked. But its all good. At least I am fit to do it and the extra money is good esp as I needed new sneakers for my car.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I do have a balaclava for my face so the only thing that is showing are my eyes when its bold cold. The steel toes do make your feet cold and that is not good. I find that layers work best for me because I hate being hot.I must look into the insulated boots with liners. Hubby is very good and surprised me with battery socks and gloves just to try them. I found the gloves very big for my hands, but the socks worked well.
Tons of overtime these days. Last week I worked my first 60 hours. Boy was I wrecked. But its all good. At least I am fit to do it and the extra money is good esp as I needed new sneakers for my car.

Just always be careful; you never know what is coming out of the trailer next. I had a coworker that got his foot crushed when he opened the trailer door and a 200 pound cylinder fell on the top of his foot (where there is no steel toe to protect him). Another worker had one of the heavy sheets of steel fall against the side of his knee. I jumped down on the edge of a skid and broke my foot. The trailer doors are very heavy and if the cables ever broke they could seriously hurt somebody. If you ever get a trailer with one broken cable ask your foreman and try to have the shop fix it right away. Sometimes it is hard to anticipate the unknown - but that also makes the job interesting. I have seen everything from the hazardous materials, to antique cars, to munitions, to trophy polar bears. We even had skids of dead cats from Mexico for our veterinarians to practice on in our universities.

It is possible that you might find fiberglass safety toes with the same rating as the steel toes? But you would still have to check and see if the company would allow them on the dock. There is also the possibility that the insulation material might not be as effective as some work boots with steel toes. I really do not know what is available today. You might try asking workers that work in huge refrigerators all year long what they use?