What is your temp threshold for wearing pants vs shorts when being outside?

[thspfc]

I have this down to a system for biking.

65+: shorts, short sleeves
50-65: shorts, long sleeves
45-50: shorts or pants depends on sun conditions and wind speed. Long sleeves and face mask
35-45: pants, long sleeves, gloves, face mask
35-: not worth it

Heh. Before my brother moved away, he used to bike to work from Falls Church to Fair Lakes, roughly 14 miles. He said that as long as the windchill was above –10°F it was warm enough. Anything colder than that was problematic. Of course, the windchill here seldom gets that cold. He did carry ski goggles on particularly cold days to avoid the risk of problems (primarily his tear ducts freezing) if it wound up being colder than he thought.

An important difference being I don't bike to work, and therefore if it's cold I'm freezing myself out of free will rather than necessity. I'm also not one of those people who derives masculinity from level of misery in cold or hot weather.

[1995hoo]

I have this down to a system for biking.

65+: shorts, short sleeves
50-65: shorts, long sleeves
45-50: shorts or pants depends on sun conditions and wind speed. Long sleeves and face mask
35-45: pants, long sleeves, gloves, face mask
35-: not worth it

Heh. Before my brother moved away, he used to bike to work from Falls Church to Fair Lakes, roughly 14 miles. He said that as long as the windchill was above –10°F it was warm enough. Anything colder than that was problematic. Of course, the windchill here seldom gets that cold. He did carry ski goggles on particularly cold days to avoid the risk of problems (primarily his tear ducts freezing) if it wound up being colder than he thought.

An important difference being I don't bike to work, and therefore if it's cold I'm freezing myself out of free will rather than necessity. I'm also not one of those people who derives masculinity from level of misery in cold or hot weather.

Heh. To be clear, I wasn't saying my brother was sane for doing that. He did have a car (he has a different one now), he was just big into biking. What's weird about it is that since he moved away, he's started acting like a wimp about weather. He now thinks a day like we're having in Northern Virginia today (it's 55° and sunny as I type this) is "cold." Not sure how you reconcile that with biking to work in single-digit cold, but whatever....

[kphoger]

Heh. To be clear, I wasn't saying my brother was sane for doing that. He did have a car (he has a different one now), he was just big into biking.

Reminds me of Calvin's dad.

[Rothman]

I have this down to a system for biking.

65+: shorts, short sleeves
50-65: shorts, long sleeves
45-50: shorts or pants depends on sun conditions and wind speed. Long sleeves and face mask
35-45: pants, long sleeves, gloves, face mask
35-: not worth it

Heh. Before my brother moved away, he used to bike to work from Falls Church to Fair Lakes, roughly 14 miles. He said that as long as the windchill was above –10°F it was warm enough. Anything colder than that was problematic. Of course, the windchill here seldom gets that cold. He did carry ski goggles on particularly cold days to avoid the risk of problems (primarily his tear ducts freezing) if it wound up being colder than he thought.

Sounds like a good recipe for frostbite.

[1995hoo]

I have this down to a system for biking.

65+: shorts, short sleeves
50-65: shorts, long sleeves
45-50: shorts or pants depends on sun conditions and wind speed. Long sleeves and face mask
35-45: pants, long sleeves, gloves, face mask
35-: not worth it

Heh. Before my brother moved away, he used to bike to work from Falls Church to Fair Lakes, roughly 14 miles. He said that as long as the windchill was above –10°F it was warm enough. Anything colder than that was problematic. Of course, the windchill here seldom gets that cold. He did carry ski goggles on particularly cold days to avoid the risk of problems (primarily his tear ducts freezing) if it wound up being colder than he thought.

Sounds like a good recipe for frostbite.

Depends on what he wore in terms of layers and covering up any bare skin. I've certainly been skiing when the windchill was below –10. The only time that sort of cold was a problem was when I had borrowed a ski suit from my father. It didn't quite fit correctly and when I wiped out at the top of the mountain, the crotch seam split as I was getting back up. That was a very cold run down to the base to go find a safety pin to hold it for the rest of the day.

[vdeane]

I live in Las Vegas, so I'm doing pretty good if I can even remember where my pants are.

I'm picturing something like this:

[Scott5114]

I live in Las Vegas, so I'm doing pretty good if I can even remember where my pants are.

I'm picturing something like this:

Basically, except for the part where he shouts "that's unusual", because something like this wouldn't be considered unusual in Las Vegas.

[Henry]

In Chicago and Seattle, I tend to wear pants a lot more than shorts. But when I lived in L.A., it was the complete opposite, mainly because of the fact that it's the sunniest and warmest of the three. As for temperature limits, I wear shorts for anything over 65, and pants below that number.

[kphoger]

Apparently a windchill factor of 46F wasn't enough.  Then again I was running which tends to override the outdoor temperature in body heat after about 1.5 miles.

Are you the reincarnation of James G. Watterson?  His son Bill said of the panel below:  "This is my dad.  No exaggeration."

[Max Rockatansky]

Apparently a windchill factor of 46F wasn't enough.  Then again I was running which tends to override the outdoor temperature in body heat after about 1.5 miles.

Are you the reincarnation of James G. Watterson?  His son Bill said of the panel below:  "This is my dad.  No exaggeration."

Not quite, there was some differences:

-  I started at 4:51 AM.
-  It was a weekday.
-  The distance was 13.1 miles.
-  There was no snow.  The wind killed the typical gloomy fog.

[webny99]

Presumably no sleet either. 46F and sleet would be something to behold.

[JayhawkCO]

Presumably no sleet either. 46F and sleet would be something to behold.

Technically impossible. Anything above freezing would be hail/graupel.

[kphoger]

graupel

you kids and your made-up words...

[JayhawkCO]

graupel

you kids and your made-up words...

My two favorite meteorological words are graupel and virga -- both very common in Colorado.

[Max Rockatansky]

For reference I've only experienced graupel once in Fresno.  It wasn't super uncommon during the winter in Phoenix.

[oscar]

Coming late to the party ... I will often wear shorts (and a sweatshirt) even in sub-freezing weather. Except I'll replace the shorts with sweat pants, if I'm doing short outdoor tasks like taking out the trash or recycling, when I don't need to carry anything with me more than my house keys. A wallet and smartphone will pull my sweat pants down to my ankles, but not if I'm wearing shorts (with a belt).

[JayhawkCO]

On a separate but related tangent, I generally dislike wearing socks. So, most mornings, I'll just wear flip flops to take my son to daycare and back. This morning it was only 29° and the daycare director was joking that it wasn't really flip flop weather. My feet felt completely fine, but obviously if I was spending a lot of time outside, I wouldn't have worn them. I'd probably wear flip flops for running an errand down to about 10° or so.

[kphoger]

On a separate but related tangent, I generally dislike wearing socks. So, most mornings, I'll just wear flip flops to take my son to daycare and back. This morning it was only 29° and the daycare director was joking that it wasn't really flip flop weather. My feet felt completely fine, but obviously if I was spending a lot of time outside, I wouldn't have worn them. I'd probably wear flip flops for running an errand down to about 10° or so.

My feet dry out too much if I wear sandals of any sort.  And I'm also paranoid about breaking a toe, now that I broke the same one twice in one year just walking around the house.

[JayhawkCO]

On a separate but related tangent, I generally dislike wearing socks. So, most mornings, I'll just wear flip flops to take my son to daycare and back. This morning it was only 29° and the daycare director was joking that it wasn't really flip flop weather. My feet felt completely fine, but obviously if I was spending a lot of time outside, I wouldn't have worn them. I'd probably wear flip flops for running an errand down to about 10° or so.

My feet dry out too much if I wear sandals of any sort.  And I'm also paranoid about breaking a toe, now that I broke the same one twice in one year just walking around the house.

Never had any issues like that thankfully. My Olukai sandals are arguably the most comfortable pair of shoes I own.

[kphoger]

My dry feet issue is aggravated by some persistent psoriasis or Athlete's foot that I've had on one of them for more than two decades and counting.

[JayhawkCO]

My dry feet issue is aggravated by some persistent psoriasis or Athlete's foot that I've had on one of them for more than two decades and counting.

Tough actin' Tinactin.

[Roadgeekteen]

On a separate but related tangent, I generally dislike wearing socks. So, most mornings, I'll just wear flip flops to take my son to daycare and back. This morning it was only 29° and the daycare director was joking that it wasn't really flip flop weather. My feet felt completely fine, but obviously if I was spending a lot of time outside, I wouldn't have worn them. I'd probably wear flip flops for running an errand down to about 10° or so.

I don't wear socks at all in the home no matter the season, but even in the summer I wear socks outside. I almost never wear sandals of flip flops I'm a sneakers all year guy.

[1995hoo]

On a separate but related tangent, I generally dislike wearing socks. So, most mornings, I'll just wear flip flops to take my son to daycare and back. This morning it was only 29° and the daycare director was joking that it wasn't really flip flop weather. My feet felt completely fine, but obviously if I was spending a lot of time outside, I wouldn't have worn them. I'd probably wear flip flops for running an errand down to about 10° or so.

My feet dry out too much if I wear sandals of any sort.  And I'm also paranoid about breaking a toe, now that I broke the same one twice in one year just walking around the house.

I busted up my right big toe in October 2022 when I was wearing a pair of sneakers. I was just about to walk up the stairs when our cat came racing down the stairs and startled me right as I started to take my first step up, and my right foot slammed into the vertical face of the first step. I don't know whether I broke my toe, but the nail turned black and eventually most of it fell off. Three years later it's regrown, but the discoloration has not fully pushed off the end.

I like going barefoot, but by this time of year my feet simply get way too darn cold if I try that. And I don't like going around in just socks, in part because they get holes worn in the heel. So I wear "indoor shoes" like driving shoes and some other things that perhaps look more like slippers but have more robust and supportive soles.

[RZF]

I live in Las Vegas, so I'm doing pretty good if I can even remember where my pants are.

I've gone to Vegas in the cooler months before, and I've definitely needed pants. Your winters feel much cooler than ours here in SoCal.

[Rothman]

I live in Las Vegas, so I'm doing pretty good if I can even remember where my pants are.

I've gone to Vegas in the cooler months before, and I've definitely needed pants. Your winters feel much cooler than ours here in SoCal.

Everyone's winters feel cooler than SoCal's...