Technical Cold garage jacket recommendations?

I've been wearing fleece pullovers the past few years. They do get weld berry and grinding burns, but they're cheap to replace. Warm and not bulky. If it's really cold an insulted shirt under.

If I'm actually welding something and not just doing bodywork, I put on the welding coat.

 

I'm always on the lookout for old jackets at estate sales. I have several vintage Filsons that are the envy of the hipsters.

 

It is really hard to keep a nice grubby coat that I can work in when I have a wife who tries to get me not to look like such a slob.

 

Yes I live in sunny So Cal but worked where it was cold. Years ago my wife found a vest. It was lined had a zipper and snaps in front. Good size pockets and something I’d never seen. On the shoulders where you arms came out there was material with elastic which went snug around my arms. I had other vests but this really kept me warm and let my arms free. The elastics held in body heat which I needed.
The other item was what we called a “zero” hood. It was made to be installed in a hard hat but a lot of us used them without. I still have both and use them..

 

Define "cold" as I get older I find I'm much more of a wimp then I was when I was a young man.

When I opened my shop back in 94, I found a screen print guy that would sell me the thick heavy duty crew style sweatshirts with my shop name on them for less money each then I could buy the same grade of sweatshirt from Walmart! I bought 10 new sweatshirts for myself every other year. I'd wear a different sweatshirt every day (really helps them last a longer time).When I was welding I'd put on a leather welding coat over the sweatshirt, and I always used the long welding gloves. Usually the shirts would make it nearly 2 years before the arms above the gloves had too many holes and my wife through them away. You really need to pay attention to where the welding and grinding sparks are going. If it was really cold, I'd add one of those insulated flannel shirts over top of the sweatshirt, but you really needed to watch the sparks with those. I learned to take them off if I was welding or grinding. Even then, I'd have to replace the insulated flannels every year.

Any kind of heat source with a fan pushing the warm air around really helps. Just make sure the flame is exhausted and you have fresh air coming in someplace. Gene

 

I have a Dewalt heated jacket, built like a Carhart but maybe not as stiff. It has it's place. The battery makes it a little bulky at times.

 

I wear an insulated flannel too, plenty warm enough and flexible. Cheap to replace too. My biggest problem isn't staying warm, it's my hands. I wear gloves when I can, but doing body work is difficult to do in gloves, and without them my hands freeze! Haven't found a solution for that yet.

 

Long johns under sweat pant. Thermo long sleeve shirt covered by a hoodie covered by carhardts. Wisconsin arroved.

 

Yes my threshold for cold weather has diminished. I hate cold. But I keep my shop around 75 degrees. Always have my sock hat on.

 

Sock Hat only ?

 

Sometimes you know I'm not right

 

All great suggestions - thanks guys.

Here in New Hampshire, even though my 3 car garage is fully insulated (not heated), It gets to 50° out there in the dead of winter.
If I keep from opening the door, It usually hovers at around 55. My wife parks her car in the middle bay, so opening always lets a ton of heat out. Last year, I looked into many different methods for heating the garage - a unit heater, a propane wall unit heater, and an electric heater... The electric heater was the best option, coming in at around $1,200 - but electricity is already killer $ up here and I'm sure that that would cost me a lot. The unit heater and propane wall heaters are cheap, but the install is very expensive - because I'd have to have a propane line run from the basement, almost 100 ft. I also explored a wood burning stove and that was not an option because our bedroom is directly over the garage and the exhaust pipe would have to be crazy long to get up past the eve.
I've learned to clean and bear it - that's why I need something that's warm. I keep catching myself on fire or smoldering while grinding I had my thick denim shop apron smoldering just yesterday.
I think I may go for the Dickies Eisenhower jacket for warmth and leather welding apron to help out with catching myself on fire.

 

I insulated my garage and installed a mini split. Keeps the garage at a comfortable working temp, and gives a/c in the summer. Well worth it.

 

Nothing beats wool. Water repellant, breathable and wont burn if a spark hits it. I have a few vintage...old...wool shirts and jackets.

 

Yep, great for warmth, but it itches me like crazy! I can't wear it

 

@SDS is it possible to partition your garage during Winter so you only have to heat one or two bays where you do your work instead of three? A partition that rolls up to the rafters when not in use, similar to what restaurants use for shade/wind protection in outdoor seating areas. Maybe a couple of free take offs from a business that does heavy vinyl RV awning replacements.

Yeah, I'm in Socal, but have done a lot of windy, grave shift overhead utility work in a bucket truck and follow the cold weather basics of layering and keeping head, feet and hands warm. Nothing like the NE, but it's a damp cold here so the 20's with wind feels colder. Thermals, sweatshirt and an insulated vest keep the arms free to work.

Rubber matting in your main work areas may help keep the cold from coming up from the slab through your feet. I use Maxiflex gloves when wrenching in cold weather. They're nitrile coated and form fitting so you retain dexterity.
I have an old nomex work jacket I use when grinding.

 

Tell wife to park outside?

 

Don't forget flannel lined jeans...

 

I welded with a flannel shirt on..........ONCE! (bad idea)
Denim work shirt with a long sleeve T-shirt underneath always worked for me. REAL cold put on a hooded sweatshirt under the denim shirt.
A welders cap will hold in a lot of body heat. ( NOT those mesh ball caps turned around backward like a 4 year old wears!!!)
6sally6

 

I wear a Carhartt chore coat, mine is gray with a blanket lining. I find it to be quite toasty. I can go with a t-shirt for 45 and up... my brother would show up to help wearing like 3 layers including top and bottom thermals.

 

US M65 jacket. Those can be picked up for a few dollars, some are broken in; I have even found them new in the bag. They are washable and hide a lot of garage dirt due to the woodland camo pattern. They also have a green quilted liner for those lower temperatures.

 

Minisplits are great.

My shop is a concrete block building, which is like R .5 and the heat needs to be on continuous if you want it to stay at 60+. Some days I do and for the good amount I now work out there because, honestly, I get way more done with warm air blowing - the bill only went up $45 on the coldest months.

But, during the cold weather months, I rarely saw 50 degrees. It was always in the 40s. Plus, I got tired of the propane heater trying to kill me.

 

When it gets fairly cold in the shop I have always just used my black Carhardt jacket. It's waist length, so not too long and in the way. They sell them with a quilted lining for winter, but the standard wool lining is what I prefer, as the heavier lining is too much if I'm working hard.
I've worn these jackets and matching coveralls for many decades of working at my job, or home. I love them. They're not cheap, but they sure hold up well.

https://dungarees.com/carhartt-103828-detroit-jacket-blanket-lined?&cs=BLK&size=XXLREG&cid=35

 

WWII / Korea, Navy flight deck jackets are the ticket. get them at your war surplus store.

 

Hello,

My wife calls me a jacket aficionado. I have some jackets that are older than our granddaughter, but in pristine shape for use as the weather dictates. Most are a type of nylon, for water resistant times when it is raining in So Cal. Yes, it does rain in So Cal and gets so cold that our ski jackets are worn during the day/night.

But, I have two suede, Sherpa lined, leather jackets I used to wear when riding our Harley Sportster. After the bike was sold, I had used them for wearing when doing work in a cold carport on the 327 powered Ford Sedan Delivery and the 65 El Camino.

The Sherpa lining was warm and actually, within an hour of action, I had to change the heavy jacket to a lighter weight jacket due to the fact that it was hard work, moving around on a creeper and doing physical work that necessitated strength. No welding or fire action, so the rough suede leather was good for warmth and warm during cold metal surface touches, as well as any weather in an open carport.

The work on the hot rod sedan delivery was done in an open carport. It was how the house was designed and built. Fine for us, but bad for car surface maintenance due to the open sides. But, the jackets worked well for when those times of late night work that had to get done. As mentioned earlier, a long sleeve t shirt under a nylon jacket kept me warm during the motor work or repairing something that required some movement. It is not a snow condition area of So Cal, but cold enough for ice to form on cars left outside of any roof protection.

Jnaki

The days of car work over the years had gone to a two car garage and the one time we had a three car garage, I had to wear the old suede jacket with lining just to do wood work and detailing on our daily drivers. The three car garage created a tall open chamber and it was cold on most mornings, even with the garage doors closed. As young as we were, we did not even consider a garage portable heater for warmth.

A warm garage makes things go slower and the necessity of taking a nap pops up sooner from the warm glow. IOHO (These days as old as we are, portable garage heaters are the answer for longer stays in the winter months in our small two car garage.)

So, a heavy jacket might be necessary in a large garage, but have a lighter weight jacket for after you start doing heavy action on your hot rod. The heavy jacket does get warm fast and heat, as it feels great, is a depleting energy item and can’t be ignored. Gloves? Everyone has their own choices for cold hands. But, great accuracy and feel versus, warm hands and the need to be stronger for a better feel on intricate parts/assembly. YRMV

 

Nothing Carhartt with the nylon insulation. I made mention in another thread a few years ago about catching a brand new pair of Carhartt insulated overalls on fire and melting the insulation through my Levi's into my skin. Carhartt insulated jackets have the same insulation. Not fun.

 

The Borax formula works. Used it in the mid-60's when I was dirt tracking in California.

 

One of the drawbacks to fire resistant coveralls or fire resistant clothing in general I discovered is that they are much hotter due to the fact that they don’t seem to breathe like other fabrics.

I worked on petrochemical plant sites where they wouldn’t allow anything but flame resistant clothing and we were a sweaty crew on hot jobs even more so than usual.

The home made fire retardant formulas weren’t acceptable as the coveralls they required needed labels stating that they were fire resistant and they could only be laundered and number of times before they were discarded.

Thankfully we were represented by a good trade union and protective clothing was supplied from the company tool crib.

 

I have a old denim wool lined farmers coat that belonged to my granddad, it's pripprd nd ton and hs several patches but it keeps me warm until the tempatures get pleasant in the garage.

I don't use it near as much as I use to since I installed heat & air in my shop, in very cold weather I generall just wear a sweat shirt when working in the shop. HRP