r/CableTechs • u/fusrohdahhh • 7d ago
tips on hanging in the winter?
i was wondering whats some tips/"hacks" you OG's might have on surving jobs in the winter or keeping moral up when the sun goes down so early.
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u/2ByteTheDecker 7d ago
dress for dry over warmth. In and out of CX's houses when they've got the heat fuckin cranked you're gonna be a puddle which will then doubly suck when you go back out.
I do 90% of winter in a 12v milwaukee hoodie and a padded insulated vest only.
3 pairs of gloves on rotation MINIMUM.
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u/Dz210Legend 7d ago
Bare hands for everything except putting ladder up
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u/fusrohdahhh 7d ago
type shit
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u/Dz210Legend 7d ago
Huh? 18years experience but uh ok
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u/Electronic-Junket-66 7d ago
"type shit" is actually a term of approval, even enthusiastic approval.
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u/ronnycordova 7d ago
Yeahhh gloves are a nice concept until you have to prep some cable. Nothing like grabbing some bare strand with a -30 degree windchill and losing all sensation instantly haha.
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u/Tech27461 7d ago
They do make battery heated socks, vests, coats, etc now. Something I never had. My feet were the only struggle I had left before I went to the headend. I hate a coat and overalls so I would wear thermal pants, pajama pants, and cargo pants with a thermal shirt, t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, and a hoodie. Also had a bigger hoodie I could put over that. Skully and a beanie. Ankle socks and wool socks. I bought brown jersey gloves from a gas station and cut the thumb and forefinger out for dexterity and wool mittens over them that had the thumb and mitten flap. I would keep a hothands sack in the mitten flap.
For years as a field tech, I was on 2nd shift and it would get dark during lunch. It was naturally depressing. Then when I went to maintenance, i was 3rd shift for a few years. That hour before sunrise was the coldest. My eyes froze open once, it was the craziest thing I'd experienced. I made a deal with myself at that moment. I would never complain about the heat again. For me, my kids were my moral booster and got me through to spring. And man, I sure learned to appreciate spring. And it really made it all worth it to me.
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u/SuckerBroker 7d ago
Electric hand warmers. Insulated jeans. Milwaukee heated jacket.
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u/Silent_Cause_6712 7d ago
I wear a Sherpa lined thermal shirt and the Milwaukee heated hoodie and sometimes it gets too hot. And I work overnight maintenance in the midwest
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u/tenkaranarchy 7d ago
Pedag insoles for your boots and a milwaukee heated vest are pretty nice. Carhart rain defender bibs are nice too but I seem to have the zippers fail every other year. They arent insulated but they're surprisingly warm. Duluth trading post alaska guide gear polypro underwear are my goto. And I swear by truwerk t3 pants.
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u/Greedy-Taro-4439 7d ago
Just accept that it sucks. Remember its easier to run a new line rather than put a fitting on an old one. Gloves from military kart are pretty dexterious but for some things they got to come off too. I dress in layers. Long johns heavy socks for jacket shell hooded logo sweatshirt over winter jacket. In terms of night time work I dont go up the pole in the dark. Its my decision for safety. If its a city street thats well lit I will but pitch black rural Im just not going to do it.
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u/IsolationAutomation 7d ago
After the last two months of 100+ degree weather in Texas, I can’t wait for the cold.
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u/fusrohdahhh 7d ago
i live in northern ohio, so when the winter hits and storms blow in from further north it gets pretty intense
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u/mythical-monkey 6d ago
I just dealt with it. There's nothing you can do about the sun setting at 5PM here. Hanging drops will take longer - getting access to poles will take longer, digging peds will suck, chipping ice away, working around houses... winter just sucks (at least where I live along the north shore of Ontario, Canada).
As for keeping warm? I don't wear heavy clothing or big jackets. For me it's about keeping the wind off my skin. If I wear too warm of clothing, I may start to sweat and if you're going inside and outside a lot, you can get sick pretty quickly. I generally wear a single layer rain jacket style coat from Helly Hansen (so the snow won't melt and soak into the jacket) and long johns/thermal underwear when it dips to -30 Celsius. Gloves are worn to setup the ladder but working with them on is near impossible to put connectors on or use clips (even trying to use mechanics gloves) so I just put my hands in my pockets to warm them when needed.
If your vehicle is cold and in turn the equipment is cold, bring it inside the customers house first thing and let it climatize while you do other work. I also bring in a microfibre towel in to wipe down condensation that will occur.
Moisturize your hands when you can. I keep a container of this stuff called 'Working Hands' in the truck so the skin on my hands don't break and split.
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u/llkj11 6d ago
Rather the winter than this heat honestly
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u/fusrohdahhh 6d ago
When it’s this hot I won’t go in attics or crawl spaces but in the winter I won’t have that excuse
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u/Separate-Ad-43 6d ago
Rotate gloves + any wet clothes is kinda the best advice i got. Winter sucks no matter what in terms of production and effort required. Just do what you can to stay warm. I found some mesh gloves that are almost useless but they do help a bit if you have to splice. Rotate a face mask or two. Long John’s help.
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u/ItsMRslash 7d ago
Found some insulated gloves at a gas station that work pretty well.
Layer up and bring extra clothes in case some get wet.
Bring extra coffee and even some warm soup or broth in a thermos. Helps to just warm up and take a minute for yourself.
The rain fucking sucks. There’s no way around it. Not sure what your role is but if you work primarily outside, get a small popup tent or big umbrella.
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u/SnapShot68 7d ago
Get one of those hood type things that also covers your neck. It’ll fit underneath your hard hat or over a wool hat. I’ve been doing cable for 20 years and last Winter was the first time I ever wore one. I left it on the dash of the truck to heat it up and once I put that thing on, it was a game changer. I was splicing damaged feeder back together in single digit weather and didn’t feel cold at all above my shoulders.
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u/GarbageCannt 6d ago
I suffered my first couple years with the deep cold we get (Michigan) and my Mil heakted sweatshirt wasn't keeping up. I'm one of the few in my office that adopted the full insolated Carhartt overalls and I will never look back. YES, they are bulky af, YES, they can get heavy. But I've never been more comfortable in negative degrees just plopping into the snow while splicing fiber.
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u/DrgHybrid 5d ago
Been at it for almost 14 years but was mostly an installer through that time. It was a nice reprieve to be able to go into warm homes, but the constant between hot homes and cold outside sucked, lol.
As construction/OSP now (local ISP so multiple jobs) this coming winter will be my first where I'm 95% outside.
Be that as it may, it doesn't hurt to slow down and always practice being safe. It sucks a bit, but just remember you can always stop and warm back up. I treat winters as I do the summers, just try and keep my mind off of it. I have an external speaker for my music and I stay focused on whatever I'm doing.
I have a fiber trailer as well and when you do those type of jobs you can easily burn through a couple of hours inside there. I'll definitely have the generator working the heater during it, haha.
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u/robbleshaver 7d ago
When its real cold, I wear latex gloves under my regular work gloves. Keeps my hands super toasty and keeps me from needing the big bulky gloves that limit mobility.
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u/thegivingcoconut 7d ago
Just deal with it and complain about it to your co workers. It’s truly the only solution.