If there’s something most of us can all agree on, it’s that there’s nothing fun about walking through campus in the rain. There’s nothing worse than getting out of your warm bed in the morning and heading straight out the door into the wet and cold.
While you can’t stop the rain and temperature from falling, you can prepare your wardrobe for the inevitably adverse weather.
The best idea for making it through the cold and rainy season ahead is to waterproof your boots and shoes. For less than $10, you can buy a bottle of water-resistant spray that will be large enough to waterproof the majority of the shoes you’ll be wearing through the end of winter.
Not only will waterproofing your shoes keep your feet dry, but it’ll help maintain the shoes’ condition and keep them wearable for years to come. But make sure to buy wax-based, spray-on waterproofing for leather shoes, because an oil-based variety can leave dark splotches if not applied correctly.
You can find water-resistant sprays anywhere from department stores to Target, but your best and easiest bet is to search online. On the web you’ll be able to find the right spray for any shoe, and probably some better deals as well.
Dressing in layers is another way to ensure dryness on your way to class. While a lot of thicker jackets might be better for fighting the cold, it’s more important for your outermost layer to be waterproof than lined with fleece.
Find a thin but completely water-resistant raincoat to wear over your other coats when it’s raining. This way, if the rain stops you’ll be able to take off your top, wet layer and still have some thicker layers on underneath.
The best places to look for water-resistant jackets are outdoor apparel outfitters such as Columbia, Patagonia and The North Face. These brands put practicality as their top priority but also feature designs up-to-date with those you’ll see in any menswear magazine.
Lastly, stock up on some cheap umbrellas to carry around campus. Odds are, any umbrella is going to break after repeated exposure to the wind and rain, so an expensive design probably won’t be worth the cash. I can’t even begin to recount the number of umbrella tops I’ve had fly off the handle and into the street, only to leave me wet and shivering all the way home.
Also, cheaper umbrellas are usually smaller so you can carry them all the time in your backpack with no inconvenience.
Lastly, remember this is Ohio. We can only go so far to predict the weather.
