Sounds like you might have borderline
Posted by: g2d
on Feb-09-13 5:35 PM (EST)
Raynauds, like me. The most peripheral capillaries in the limbs tend to constrict.
I once tried to help a guy who had a bad case of Raynauds (bad enough that his fingertips were getting ulcerated) with biofeedback training, but the results were inconclusive.
A Canadian researcher, intending to help tundra mechanics to be able to remove mitts for short periods for exacting work, developed a classical conditioning method, where the hands were first in a jacket circulating cold water. Then the subject would recite some chosen mantra, while jacket flow was changed to very warm water. He was able to show that subjects could use their mantra to temporarily warm their hands.
Your hands, or feet, will not stay warm unless your body core is warm enough to get the periphery to dilate. So, even if your torso is comfy, you may need to wear more insulation, overall.
I've paddled LA streams maybe a dozen times now. I don't paddle there, or here in Atlanta, unless the temperature is nearing 55 and the wind chill is low.