A serious head cold.

Outside in cold weather, your body loses most of its heat through your head. The extreme cold-weather hood can cut down the loss of body heat, but only if its in good shape.

Keep your head--and your whole body--warm with these preventive maintenance tips...

* If the synthetic fur ruff gets wet and matted, it can't keep frigid winter wind away from your face. So, brush or shake frost and snow off the fur ruff often.

* Oil, grease and dirt on the fur ruff can irritate your skin. They also mat the fur and keep it from protecting you. Clean the fur by brushing off dirt and mud with a damp or dry cloth. Clean the cloth portion of the hood the same way.

* For more stubborn soil, you'll need to wash the hood and ruff. You can machine launder or hand-wash them.

* Machine launder the hood according to the wool method found in Formula II of Appendix E of FM 42-414, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Quartermaster Field Service Company Direct Support.

* If you choose to hand-wash the hood, use lukewarm water and a mild laundry detergent, NSN 7930-01-312-6389.

* After machine laundering or hand washing, rinse the hood in clean water. Shake out excess water and hang it up to air dry.

* Never machine-dry the hood, and never dry it near a hot stove or heater. That's too much heat and it'll damage the hood and ruff.