I found out if I tie the scarf around my face with the knot at the back of my neck, so the scarf covers the front of my face (mouth/nose/part of ears) and the loose ends loop around and get tucked between my jacket and my chest - I've been infinitely warmer since!

Hollywood doesn't know what winter is :P

I've been tying my scarf like that for quite some time! Haven't seen anyone else use it like that, though.

Hollywood does it that way so you can see the actors face.

That makes sense, sort of like a gasket. But for biking, I wear it on the outside so I can keep it over my mouth, allowing me to retain some warmth in my breath.

I use a gaiter for this and it's crucial. It gets damp with breathing, haven't really figured out a good solution besides spinning the gaiter around every once in a while.

I switched from a gaiter to a scarf precisely because of the dampness.

I can tie a scarf to be just slightly looser than the gaiter, and the extra space decreases the dampness massively, while still retaining almost all of the warmth.

I never understood putting things over one's mouth to keep warm. Doesn't it become moist and have a cooling effect?

What I have is a fleece scarf. I wrap it around my head (over my mouth in the front, back of neck in the back) and tie the rest under my chin. The part that's over my mouth is under moderate tension, but my beard pushes it away, so my breath goes up and down over my chin (not through the material). I then have the upper edge rolled to tighten it so that air can't escape upwards and fog my glasses.

It does get a bit moist after prolonged biking, but not badly, and that's not really against my skin.

The main effect is that there's a little pocket of exhaled warm air, just enough to mix with the next inhalation and help warm it a bit.

As someone who routinly runs practically half marathons in sub zero (during winter) I used to be like this as well, but if you do this type of activity often at some point cold air literally stops being a problem.

I don't know what happened but it is as if this was never a problem at all. And it is not "getting used to the bad thing" I just don't feel bad at all.

Breathing through the nose only helps.

Not for me. I have to breath only out through my nose, in cold weather, or my cilia stop moving and I need a pack of tissues. Ew.

* * *

Get a balaclava, they work very well.

Interesting. I think I may have acclimated somewhat, but I still find that biking hard below freezing makes me prone to respiratory infections—unless I breathe through/under a scarf.

Wait, some people wear scarfs outside unironically?

Yes, especially if they've lived their whole lives in places that never really get below 40F/5C and have just learned about scarves from a) fashion and b) TV, but are now faced with a Midwestern winter for the first time as an adult. They'll buy a heavier knit scarf to keep warm and then not understand why it doesn't work very well. When I taught in western Illinois I made a point to tell my freshmen this every November or so and always always caught at least a few whose jaws dropped and had never really thought about it that way.

As a Canadian my tips are:

At my local college there are a lot of people from the Bahamas. They often wear hoodies and sandals with socks in the winter! It can get to -20C here and hoodies just won't cut it and sandals with socks could very quickly mean frost bite.

Yes scarfs are great since necks are a prime spot to loose heat during winter. A scarf or even a hood both together are even better. Long coats too none of these waits level ones get a coat at least past your waist preferably past your butt.

Layers are important more for temperature control. Even a hoodies and some sweaters can be warm if you have enough and one outside with wind protection.

Boots not sneakers to keep warm and the grip. So many people wear sneakers all winter now it blows me away. They're slippery, cold, and they probably cost more than winter boots these days.

Similarly: make sure either your coat or your gloves keep the wind from blowing up your sleeves. Coats without cuffs are awful unless worn with gloves that fit over the coat sleeves.