Some people from the Discovery Channel did a show on hypothermia and frostbite. Here's the short version of what they had to say:
The key to staying warm and keeping your toes and fingers nose and ear from freezing up on you is a matter of taking care of your internal organs. Your extremeties get cold because your body is diverting energy from those parts to keep your heart, lungs, liver, kidneys etc warm. The body has a given amount of energy at any one time. Those parts get priority over your extremeties (check spelling on that one). So, to fix the problem, I layer up my chest. A few sweat shirts with the sleeves cut off and a vest will keep your innerds warm, your sleeves unstuffed and your tips as warm as you need.
Give it a shot. It worked for me when we were sitting in the tree stands for 6 hours at a time when the temp was a high of 5. Quality clothing is also essential, but when you keep your chest and stomach well insulated, you are going to multiply the benefits of the money you spent on your $100 boots and the other $$'s you sank into jackets, pants, hats and gloves.
Keep your stick on the ice...
-Red Green
