Winter Gear List

Winter may not officially begin until Sunday, December 21st this year, but the chill is in the air!

One of the most rewarding parts of having a fully outdoor program is being pivotal in building up students’ stamina and resilience in all types of weather. It reinforces the idea that there is something valuable that comes with being surrounded by nature, even when it’s raining or snowing.

In colder weather, students and staff alike should be dressed using the layering system:

Cold Weather Gear

Some specific cold weather gear to have are the following:

• Merino wool base layers

• Waterproof gloves

• Wool socks

• Balaclava, ski mask, or fleece tube

• Insulated waterproof boots

• Rain pants and raincoat or rain suit

• Snow pants and coat or snowsuit

• Warm hat

Interested in some of the gear that we recommend to students in NOLA’s EverWild Forest School program? Check out our gear shop here.

Gear Lending Library

It is important to add that a large barrier to getting outside for some families is accessing the proper type of gear needed. A sustainable outdoor education program needs to have a Gear Lending Library available.

At NOLA’s EverWild Forest School, our School Director is in charge of maintaining our Gear Lending Library. Staff - or families - can request specific types of gear they are needing for their student(s). This includes high-quality outdoor gear such as BOGs boots, rain jackets, snow jackets, snow pants and suits, hats, gloves, base layers, and more.

You can create your own Gear Lending Library by reaching out to organizations or families directly for donations. Often times a students will outgrow a size of boots or pants and their family is willing to give it to the Gear Lending Library for another student to use, creating a sustainable cycle of gear.

Our students are encouraged to come to school wearing the same thing every day; one set of gear per season is plenty!