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Contest for the C-C-C-Coldest!

I work in Dallas Texas. Not many cold days here. But I’ll never forget the year the roads froze over in 2003 I think it was.

The smart thing would’ve been to stay in the house but I’m a firefighter here and that was one of the longest and busiest days I can remember working. We had to put chains on the tires to be able to drive the roads. Froze my butt off that day.


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I went to Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in India after the last rites of my father.

We live in the plains and doesn't get much cold, but Allahabad is an area where three rivers meet (Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati river), this results in especially chilly weather.

We had heard about the cold there but just wasn't prepared nor in the state of much care about it, as it wasn't a recreational visit.

So, we are accustomed to at the most 10°C winter in our city, but the temperature of Allahabad on that fateful day dipped to 1°C in the early morning and we were out in the river performing religious rites (in scantily clad, thin cotton clothes) and my hands, feet, nose and anything else exposed to the chilly wind and river water went numb.

We returned to the hotel and believe it or not, the hotel was unaware of anything called Heater !

They are used to such cold weather and we had to warm ourselves with many Chai (Tea with milk, so not Tea but Chai) and Chhole Bhature.
 
Not in, but my coldest wasn't the coldest temperature. 31 years ago next month was the great Valentine's ice storm. Many residents were without power for more than a week. My parents were sleeping on the foldout bed next to the gas fireplace and doing all their cooking on the fire. I was using the gas stove to hear the house, shave, and cook. I spent a lot of time at work.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
My honeymoon. My wife and I live in Arizona. We were pretty broke from the wedding itself (and student loans, and a new mortgage), but we wanted to go somewhere that actually had a real fall season. A friend of ours offered the use of their home in New Hampshire that they only use in the summer. This was early October and the lows were around 15 - 20 F. Perfect weather...if you have heat.

We didn't find out until after we got there that it was a 110-year-old farmhouse with no central heat. The fireplace hadn't been used in over 20 years, and being AZ and CA natives, neither of us felt comfortable enough with our ability to clean out the fireplace properly and not set the 110-year-old house on fire. Since they only use the house in the summer, they didn't have any heavy blankets either. Luckily we brought our warm pajamas and robes. Not exactly the honeymoon either of us was expecting, but it was certainly memorable.

I actually owe my wife a do-over for the honeymoon. We were planning to do that last year, but the dreaded C-word has postponed it.

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My friend, this is priceless. Made my day!
 
I went to Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in India after the last rites of my father.

We live in the plains and doesn't get much cold, but Allahabad is an area where three rivers meet (Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati river), this results in especially chilly weather.

We had heard about the cold there but just wasn't prepared nor in the state of much care about it, as it wasn't a recreational visit.

So, we are accustomed to at the most 10°C winter in our city, but the temperature of Allahabad on that fateful day dipped to 1°C in the early morning and we were out in the river performing religious rites (in scantily clad, thin cotton clothes) and my hands, feet, nose and anything else exposed to the chilly wind and river water went numb.

We returned to the hotel and believe it or not, the hotel was unaware of anything called Heater !

They are used to such cold weather and we had to warm ourselves with many Chai (Tea with milk, so not Tea but Chai) and Chhole Bhature.

I forgot to put Not In, because I'm in Yearly GRUME, but wanted to share my only cold weather experience.
 
Wow, I feel fortunate not to have ever been as cold as some of you!

I think the coldest I can remember being is walking twelve blocks down the streets of Boston one very windy day in January. Then, there was walking along the Chicago lakeside on a Winter night with what felt like a gale coming on. Camping in the North Carolina mountains with a blanket instead of a sleeping bag led to a rather sleepless night with a lot of shivering. I had more fun skiing one extremely cold day near Durango, Colorado. I was still learning how to ski and I fell a lot! Still, it was beautiful and fun.
 
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It is winter and some of us are shoveling these days. What better topic for a contest?

Tell us about the time you were the coldest you have ever been.

Random.org will select the winners in a few days - yes, I said winners! There will be three chosen so everyone has a much better chance of winning. Here is what each winner gets: A $50.00 credit to buy anything in our store and, believe me, there is a lot to choose from these days: All Products — Captain's Choice - https://www.captainschoicestore.com/all

It may be after the winners are chosen that The Captain will tell a tale about his experience in the cold he won't ever forget.

I have had the opportunity to grow up in North Pole, Alaska. I have had countless nights and days of sub 40 below days. The coldest night however was -65F, I was camping with my best friend in a snow cave. It was an amazing sight to see a thermometer hit -65F but dang It was a nice cold night camping with my best friend haha.
 
I have had the opportunity to grow up in North Pole, Alaska. I have had countless nights and days of sub 40 below days. The coldest night however was -65F, I was camping with my best friend in a snow cave. It was an amazing sight to see a thermometer hit -65F but dang It was a nice cold night camping with my best friend haha.
This one makes my story seam like a summer day.

1985 Northern Illinois. I was in high school are was supposed to have a double date movie night. Our dates lived about 20 miles away in the country. My parents told me that I could not drive to get our dates but since we already had the VHS movie and snack, I could go get my friend from across town and we could have movie night. When I went to go get my friend it was -26F. The other funny thing is that we heated our house with a wood burning stove in the basement. So we went from -26F outside to 120F in the basement next to the stove. That will warm you up quickly.
 
I have had the opportunity to grow up in North Pole, Alaska. I have had countless nights and days of sub 40 below days. The coldest night however was -65F, I was camping with my best friend in a snow cave. It was an amazing sight to see a thermometer hit -65F but dang It was a nice cold night camping with my best friend haha.
How warm is a snow cave when it is -65F outside? Does it get above 32F?
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
I forgot to put Not In, because I'm in Yearly GRUME, but wanted to share my only cold weather experience.
YES! Thank you for the reminder friend! @Captain Pre-Capsize : I too AM NOT IN! I have no intention of messing up yet another PIF. Since I win even when I lose I'm staying out of this one. Thank you so much for what you do for us here on B&B.

And: good luck to all the entrants! And stay warm. I'm about to go put a log on the fire. It's 23 USA degrees here outside, and the inside temp beside my Lazyarseboy chair is 72 and dropping!!
 
YES! Thank you for the reminder friend! @Captain Pre-Capsize : I too AM NOT IN! I have no intention of messing up yet another PIF. Since I win even when I lose I'm staying out of this one. Thank you so much for what you do for us here on B&B.

And: good luck to all the entrants! And stay warm. I'm about to go put a log on the fire. It's 23 USA degrees here outside, and the inside temp beside my Lazyarseboy chair is 72 and dropping!!

By the way, I got my Arko sticks yesterday and today I got an excellent shave with it.

Lather is slick, shiny and behaves nice.
Face does require a bit of aftershave pamper with some moisture, but I like the Arko very much.
I'm glad I tried it.

Ps : Arko's smell is good and I may have to find an empty container to keep the stick and preserve the scent.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
It's 73 degrees right now in Honolulu. Does that count? I have my sweatshirt on to keep off the chill..
LOLOL! Speaking for the Captain, and all his frozen deckhands, you are now thrown overboard!

Here is the look before I added the logs, and after piling up the coals to the north:
IMG_20210124_134700830.jpg

This is the best place to be after loading up the firebox!
 
Ever see a guy surf a 100 foot wave? A guy on Maui just did that!
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FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Ever see a guy surf a 100 foot wave? A guy on Maui just did that!
<iframe width="964" height="1709" src="
" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That type of thing always fascinates me! I've not yet decided if they are incredibly brave or insane. Maybe both?
 
Ever see a guy surf a 100 foot wave? A guy on Maui just did that!
<iframe width="964" height="1709" src="
" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I can't do a 2' wave!
 
Hello Captain,

My C-C-C-Coldest memory was back in 2004 when I was in the Canadian Army on my Recce course (Reconnaissance). It was -43C or -45.4F! (-36 is where both units actually are the same temperature).

We were north of Toronto driving around in jeep doing our training. Our Jeeps (actually VW Iltis's for those who might know the vehicle) had the windshields in the down position to allow for better off-roading and visibility. At one point in the day I went to fill my canteen and then the water overfilled, it instantly froze on the side of the plastic canteen, I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't there.

It was at about this time that I was searching for my scarf and realized I had forgotten to pack it!! Well it was so damn cold I used what I could find...my Long John's Underwear! (See second photo) Thankfully it was freshly washed...although I probably wouldn't have cared when driving 60mph in a vehicle with no windscreen!

Shiver me timbers indeed!!!

Andrew
My first B&B post

P.S. Thank you again for the quick service today in ordering the copper shave bowl :)
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Time to pick a winner!

First though, the coldest that The Captain has been. As cold as it was for The Captain it is nothing compared to some entries here. Snow cave? Duluth? North Pole? Yeow!

Was in high school back in the 1970's. My 1953 Dodge truck is what got me back and forth. Not sure which winter it was - maybe 1976 - but it was way below zero for many days. Truck was plugged in so the heater coil kept the block warm and you had a good chance of it starting. The tires were bias ply tires on that truck - remember those? I would drive off but the part of the tires in contact with the pavement all night had frozen somewhat. As the tires would rotate, that flat spot on all four tires would hit the pavement at the same time and the entire truck would shudder. BAM... BAM... BAM... Could only go real slow for the first hundred yards until the tires would round out and begin to rotate properly. THAT, my friends, was cold for that high school kid.

On to the contest! The three winners were selected by random.org and they are:

@KeenDogg, @Atlantic59, @South Dakota Guy

Congratulations to our three winners! If you are a winner just email The Captain at: [email protected]

Tell him what you would like to spend your $50.00 credit on. Please include your address and he will get it on the way to you.

Great contest guys - stay warm out there!

~ The Captain
 
Time to pick a winner!

First though, the coldest that The Captain has been. As cold as it was for The Captain it is nothing compared to some entries here. Snow cave? Duluth? North Pole? Yeow!

Was in high school back in the 1970's. My 1953 Dodge truck is what got me back and forth. Not sure which winter it was - maybe 1976 - but it was way below zero for many days. Truck was plugged in so the heater coil kept the block warm and you had a good chance of it starting. The tires were bias ply tires on that truck - remember those? I would drive off but the part of the tires in contact with the pavement all night had frozen somewhat. As the tires would rotate, that flat spot on all four tires would hit the pavement at the same time and the entire truck would shudder. BAM... BAM... BAM... Could only go real slow for the first hundred yards until the tires would round out and begin to rotate properly. THAT, my friends, was cold for that high school kid.

On to the contest! The three winners were selected by random.org and they are:

@KeenDogg, @Atlantic59, @South Dakota Guy

Congratulations to our three winners! If you are a winner just email The Captain at: [email protected]

Tell him what you would like to spend your $50.00 credit on. Please include your address and he will get it on the way to you.

Great contest guys - stay warm out there!

~ The Captain

Thank you @Captain Pre-Capsize ! I am going shopping!
 
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