this horse is dead. long live the horse.

you wrote: "Please, by all means keep your beanies on and I will do the same, but let's not do so out of ignorance."

i do not keep my beanie on out of ignorance, i keep it on out of experience. when i'm cold i put on my beanie, and guess what? i get warm.

and i think that's what your original myth was about - and what you are trying to determine. as has been said here, in better words than mine, when your feel that your feet are cold, it's your body telling you to get warmer. and most people overlook a hat as a means to becoming or staying warm. just watch the crowd shots at a winter football game sometime - i think you'd be surprised at how many people wear hats - and the ones that look miserable are hatless.

"I believe the 1957 study you link to is the same one referred to here: "

no, my first link was to a 2006 paper from the american college of sports medicine entitled 'prevention of cold injuries during exercise' in which they quoted and referred to my second link. that researcher was from the laboratory of biophysics, university of western ontario, london, canada. it doesn't state whether or not the military had anything to do with it or not.

please do not misunderstand, i think you raised valuable ideas and issues. and i hope you continue to do so. you certainly inspired a lot of people to respond to your initial missive. congratulations on stimulating the group!

and on the trail, i'll be the one in the beanie.