The top five pocket essentials you’ll need to get you through the deep freeze of winter.
1. A couple sheets of plastic sandwich wrap. Don’t throw out the wrapper your bagel and cream cheese came in– that plastic wrap might save your toes from frost bite if you have a long wait for the train or bus, or while cheering your team on. Simply wrap your toes (the most likely part of you to experience serious damage from the cold), cover with socks and put your feet back in your shoes. Since the plastic isn’t breathable, it re-circulates your own body heat back to your precious digits. This isn’t a long term, every day solution, but a great idea to keep in your pockets for those random “I can’t believe the bus is taking so long” moments.
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2. Touchscreen gloves. The first generation of touchscreen gloves only let you browse, text, or work with one or two fingers… the newer generations come in leather styles and feature every single finger tip as able to browse, text, and catch up on important work emails. Brands like Glove.ly are bringing warm fingers with simultaneous texting to the masses with their leather gloves that are totally touch-screen friendly. Check them out here.
3. A tiny jar of Vaseline. While regular lipbalm is great, it’s only for lips. I keep a tiny jar of Vaseline in my pocket for unexpected heel blisters from new boots, dry crackling knuckles from dry air, and of course the obvious chapped lips and spots of weather-induced eczema. It’s a one stop shop for just about everything, and I’m obsessed with carrying my bejeweled Vaseline Lip Therapy Crème Brûlée because it’s fashion and function all in one tiny container (this is topping my personal list of pocket essentials, obviously).
4. A large zipper baggie, folded up. If you drive, you’ll notice your side mirrors getting icy in under an hour– and it could take you valuable time to de-ice and clean off those mirrors. Instead of spending time and energy on this, put baggies over your side view mirror, zip as far as possible, and carry on with your day. When you come back to your car it’ll be moisture-free (which means ice-free) so you can focus on hopping back in the car and turning the heat one.
5. Zip ties. If you ride a bike in the city (who doesn’t?), carry zip ties to winterize the tires. Tie the zips every 6-8″ around the tires to give them extra grip on slippery streets. This will work on some baby strollers, too, although it’ll make it harder to push.
