Farm and Fleet Winter Wear Update

update to

I am well into the second season of this gear. So thought it would be a good time to update my reviews.

Start with the hat. No problems, warm and comfy.

The clip on light failed, as one of the clips broke off. I had a second one and switched to it. I suspect it will also eventually fail. The plastic clip is just not the sturdiest of things. But, they have served well while they lasted, and made for a very convenient light. Maybe I can find some kind of clip to glue on in place of the broken one.

Next the gloves. They have also held up well, and are still warm and comfy. Maybe not quite as warm as last year, although that might well be my imagination. They are not waterproof though they are fairly water resistant. I was out snow blowing a couple weeks ago and had to clear the blower of slushy wet snow a number of times and used my gloved hands to do so. The gloves got pretty wet. Even wet though, they still were reasonably warm, although it was only about 30 degrees at the time. I had to drive somewhere after snowblowing and I set them up over the defroster to dry. It only took about a half hour for them to dry in the hot air of the defroster.

Last but not least, the Ranger boots. They have held up OK, except for the insoles that failed. I am a heavy guy so I guess that should not be a huge surprise that they failed. The boots themselves seem fine.

I replaced the factory insoles with the Dr. Scholls insoles I bought for the Chinese jungle boots that failed. They seem to work fine.

I also took the extra set of booties that came with the ICW boots I bought and started using them with these boots. It seems to work pretty good.

I have been wearing both these and the ICW boots. Both seem about as warm, especially with the booties in the Ranger boots. The ICW boots have a big edge in foot and ankle support though. Even on ice and snow. I have tried the ICW boots while walking around the neighborhood streets and they seem to do OK on ice. They seem to slip more than the Ranger boots, but also seem to catch better when I do slip a little. Maybe it is the extra ankle and foot support.

The Ranger boots are much easier to get on and off though, since they have a side zipper, so they tend to get used when that is an issue such as when I am going to visit someone.