josephusminimus
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<h2 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: small;">Most readers here almost certainly already know this. Those of you who don't might want to give some thought to the matter as winter sets in. Below is extracted from one of my blog entries last winter when staying warm was a preoccupation with me:<br /><br /><a title="Permalink to What’s with the pointy nightcaps? Sensible Sleep Headgear" href="http://sofarfromheaven.com/2011/12/12/whats-with-the-pointy-nightcaps-sensible-sleep-headgear/" rel="bookmark"><br />What’s with the pointy nightcaps? Sensible Sleep Headgear</a><br /><br /></span></h2><p>The function of a nightcap is to keep a person from losing his body heat through his exposed scalp and hair. Besides doing that it needs to stay on the head while you toss and turn. Those pointed hats do none of that.</p><p>I’ve tried a lot of different types of sleeping caps through the years and found it’s not easy to find one that satisfies all the minimum criteria:<br /><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/jackrabbit1.jpg?w=500" alt="" /><br /><br /></p><p>This one’s sheepskin and I’ve used it for 30 years when the weather’s cold enough. But it’s stiff and doesn’t stay on all that well because one of the straps for tying under the chin broke off sometime way back there and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it. The temperature has to be not-too-warm or it becomes a cranial sweat lodge and not-too-cold because it doesn’t provide any protection to the exposed part of the neck.<br /><br /><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/balaclava-2.jpg?w=500&h=666" alt="" /><br /><br /></p><p>A balaclava solves some of that, but it’s only one layer thick, somewhat expensive, and tends to wear out at the chin. When the ambient temperature gets down around freezing it needs some help.<br /><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files....alaclava-and-fleece-cap2.jpg?w=598&h=1024" alt="" /><br /><br /></p><p>They make those fleece caps for women and I find them in thrift stores for a buck frequently. When I find them, I buy them and wear them a lot, outdoors, indoors and as sleeping caps when the weather’s cold, but not cold enough for something more extreme.<br /><br /></p><p><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/fleece-blanket-cap2.jpg?w=500&h=678" alt="" /></p><h2 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></h2><p><span style="font-size: small;">During this last cold snap when the water froze inside the house I came up with this, and I like it a lot. It’s a fleece blanket folded four times lengthwise, wrapped around the head and tucked into/zipped in to the fleece vest. It stays in place and is warmer than anything I’ve ever found. It’s tempting to drag out the scissors, needle and thread and cut it down to a four-layer balaclava, but I hate to mess up that fleece blanket. The “<em>don’t fix it if it ain’t broke</em>” school of winter headgear might apply here.</span></p><h2 class="entry-title"><br /><br /></h2>
