A Guide to Selecting Long Underwear for Cold Weather
There are some places in the American Midwest that can experience long spells of sub-zero temperatures. The only solution is to wear several layers of clothing. There are sets of long underwear specially designed to keep in heat and block out any cold drafts. They’re a great way to stay warm during cold weather!
You’ll notice a wide range of fabrics being employed in thermal underwear nowadays. Many of them are blends of wool, polyester, and spandex, all known for wicking away perspiration so that sweat doesn’t accumulate while engaging in different outdoor activities. These materials are woven in such a way as to be snug enough to trap in heat, but without feeling tight or constricting.
We’ll go through the different styles of long underwear for cold weather. Whether they’re for outdoor activities, as a warm pair of pajamas, or just to get through the winter, you’re sure to find something to suit your needs!
Types of Long Underwear For Cold Weather
You can get long underwear in sets, or individual tops or bottoms:
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Thermal Underwear Sets: You can purchase matching tops and bottoms of thermal underwear, such as the CL Convallaria Thermal Underwear Top and Bottom.
CL Convallaria Thermal Underwear Top and Bottom
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Bottoms: You can also buy individual thermal underwear pants, such as the Carhatt Men’s Force Midweight Base Layer Pant. Many are equipped with webbing around the ankles to keep warmth in.
Carhatt Men’s Force Midweight Base Layer Pant
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Tops: It’s also possible to order only thermal shirts, like the Thermajane Thermal Shirts for Women. They will have special webbing on the wrists and neckline, to keep warmth in and cold out!
Thermajane Thermal Shirts for Women
What reviewers say
Here are some customers’ impressions about the long underwear that they bought:
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Whether to order a size larger: People who don’t want their underwear to be snug may be tempted to order a size larger. One customer said that this doesn’t always apply: he bought one size larger of Thermajohn Long Johns for men and found that he had to pull the waistband up to his ribcage to make it fit. Look at customer reviews to see if the product’s size is “true to size”, or is a bit smaller or larger than advertised.
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Comfortable when exercising: Lots of outdoor winter activities are only fun if you manage to keep warm while doing them. Most of these underwear options are suitable for jogging, skiing, hiking, snowboarding, biking, and more!
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Great as pajamas: Thermal underwear used to be something that you’d wear outdoors in the subfreezing temperature, but take it off once you’re indoors. Otherwise, you’d be sweltering hot. However, many of the long underwear nowadays is comfortable enough to wear indoors as well, even to use as pajamas!
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“Squat-proof”: Some thermal underwear leggings are advertised as being “squat-proof”. That means that even if you sit squatting and you have stretched the underwear to its extreme, it doesn’t become sheer. At the same time, the leggings still manage to be lightweight and stretchy. That’s a desirable feature of the ViCherub Thermal Underwear Set for Women.
Important Features
Here are some tips about long underwear that can help you decide which are best suited for your needs:
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Perspiration-wicking: Certain fabrics, such as cotton, tend to absorb perspiration. That’s not very desirable in athletic wear, and all the more so in cold weather, since it will make you feel colder when you’re resting. Instead, long underwear for winter use will be made from wool or synthetic material, which is moisture-wicking. That means that the fabric is permeated with narrow spaces that allow moisture to go through and then evaporate at the surface of the fabric. Instead of absorbing perspiration, it adsorbs perspiration, by allowing it to move to the surface. Wearing underwear that is moisture-wicking will allow you to feel dry even when exerting yourself. And if you feel dry, you’ll also feel warmer. Since the perspiration evaporates, the underwear will be odor resistant as well!
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Features to reduce irritation: Some of these offerings will have special features to ensure that you don’t feel any irritation, even if you do a lot of physical activity wearing long underwear. For example, some manufacturers employ a “flatlock” seam, where there is no overlap between two pieces of fabric. Instead, wherever two pieces of fabric meet, they’re sewn together smoothly side-by-side, as in the Carhartt Men’s Force Midweight Base-Layer Pant that we mentioned above. The stitching is still resilient enough to ensure that it won’t tear along the seams.
Another feature to reduce irritation that many manufacturers employ is to use tagless labels inside the clothing. The Weerti Thermal Underwear has the fabric composition and laundry details printed on the fabric, instead of on a separate tag.
Weerti Thermal Underwear tagless labels and flatlock seams
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Pull-on closure: You’ll see that many types of long underwear advertise having a “pull-on closure”. It applies to a wide range of garments (even slip-on shoes, that don’t require tying shoelaces). Long underwear with a pull-on closure means that they have an elastic waistband that fits snugly enough that you don’t need a drawstring or buttons.
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Full mobility: If you intend to wear long underwear when engaging in winter sports, you don’t want your underwear to limit your freedom of movement. Many of the options in the Best Reviews Guide list of the best long underwear for cold weather use four-way stretch fabric, such as the Thermajohn Long Johns Thermal Underwear. This is a feature in most athletic wear. It means that the fabric can be stretched both widthwise and lengthwise at the same time. (Other fabrics used for casual wear can only be stretched in two ways at a time: either lengthwise or widthwise, but not both.) A stretchy fabric will also last longer since it’s designed to revert back to its original size afterward.
4-way stretch of the Thermajohn Long Johns Thermal Underwear
Final Verdict
We went through some of the offerings in the Best Reviews Guide list of the best long underwear for cold weather. Many of these sets can be worn comfortably under casual wear, as pajamas, or just while exercising or lounging around the house. Besides keeping you warm, you’ll find them stylish as well!
