Honestly one of the key skills of my larger social group is the ability to adapt to cold. People who don't adapt to cold haven't been able to live the lives that my people have been able to live.
I know someone who is about to get a capstone position, but it's largely based on his willingness to live north of the Arctic Circle.
When I took physical anthropology in college, the college had basically condemned the anthropology department's building. It was demolished the next term. But while we were there, in winter, there was no heat in the building. We all wore our coats indoors and could see each other's breath. The instructor (a hardass old archaeologist) realized the upside for him, as this meant he was free to smoke indoors.
Anyway the bottom line is that I listened very closely to the part about thermoregulation
Basically the takeaway I got is that I (given my genetics) probably have good non-shivering thermogenesis, and I've run with this knowledge since then. I have worn a coat maybe a handful of times in the past five years. I wear a windbreaker to keep the windchill off my skin, but that's about it. I go curling in shorts and a tee-shirt.
The only thing that stops me from being one of those sadist ice-swimmers is that I have shit-ass swimming skills.
