How Do Jackets Keep Us Warm?
Short Answer: The way your body emits heat and the way jackets are made are what make jackets really good at keeping you warm during the winter.
Image 1: Jackets allow us to navigate the cold more effectively by keeping us warm
Some of us look at jackets as nice accessories during the fall and winter. Others use them purely for functional purposes. Either way, the jacket’s main goal of keeping you warm is in effect in both scenarios. We know that jackets keep us warm, but how does this work exactly?
This is where the principles of heat transfer come into play. You see, your body generates heat regardless of the season. The jacket you’re wearing on any given day tries to keep that heat from escaping. How do jackets keep the heat our bodies generate on the inside?
Image 2: A person wearing a jacket to face the cold winter air
The types of materials used to make your jacket and the way your jacket is made are mainly what determines how well your jacket can keep your body heat from escaping and, thus, keep you warm the best. For jackets designed to take on the frigid cold air, there’s usually an inner surface layer, followed by the jacket’s insulation and then followed by an outer layer. Depending on which materials are used to make the jacket and how thick each of your jacket’s layers are will determine whether your jacket can help you stay outside for long periods of time or whether it’s something that can keep you warm long enough to do some quick errands to the store or to get groceries.
Figure 1: A diagram showing the different layer types in a typical jacket
Furthermore, depending on how thick each layer is and what material each layer is made from, the heat generated by your own body might not be able to fully pass through all the layers of the jacket, which would mean the jacket is doing a good job of keeping you warm. In most cases, the thicker and heavier a jacket is, the better it will be at keeping you warm.
In addition to the layers that might be used to make your jacket keep your body heat from escaping, some manufacturers make the ends of the jacket sleeves wrap around your wrist as a kind of seal to prevent or minimize heat from escaping outside the jacket sleeve opening.
Bottom Line: Having a jacket made with multiple layers from different materials that either greatly inhibit or prevent your body heat from escaping is your best bet in bracing the cold weather.
Image 3: A person wearing a well-made jacket braves the cold during an adventure in a winter wonderland
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