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Thoughts on these gloves for hard-to-keep-from-freezing fingers

Mikey

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Does anyone have any experience of thoughts on these gloves?

https://uniqknits.com/about-uniqknits/

https://store.uniqknits.com/products.html

We went skiing at Big Sky for the season and we found it impossible to keep Nat's fingers warm. We tried everything short of heated gloves. Expensive Gauntlet mittens with the Chemical warmers helped, but on days below 15, it was about 2 runs, then go get warmed. Even on nicer days, her fingers were always cold. Toes as well, but chemical warmers seemed to help enough. We tried heated gloves in the store, but they didn't seem to get all that warm (maybe someone has a recommendation on a good heated glove?)

The selling point of the gloves mentioned above is that they are self-heating from their weave "technology" and are great for Raynaud's sufferers. Was thinking to get Nat a bigger mitten and a pair of these. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with these glove and can comment on how well, or if, they actually work.
 

raytseng

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I think they are a little disingenuous by saying "self-heating" when it's still insulation for your body heat. If you are truly suffering maybe it's worth a try though?
For the mittens, are you using liner gloves in addition?

I think you also can benefit from an electic heater instead or in additonal to chemical that you can put in a pocket that one can then stuff their hand into during the lift ride . At a minimum this will also help keep the core warmer.
I've had hit-or-miss with the chemical warmers due to altitude /O2 availability and getting a bad batch

this has good runtime, but is a bit bulky, possibly best for vest/core
https://www.amazon.com/EnergyFlux-R...d=1494043275&sr=8-18&keywords=usb+hand+warmer

or 2x of the smaller one for each hand pocket:
https://www.amazon.com/EnergyFlux-4...id=1494043513&sr=1-3&keywords=energyflux+slim
 
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CalG

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Hands down! The best solution to "warm hands while wearing gloves" is TWO PAIR! One pair on your hands, and the other pair deep inside all your layers of cold weather gear and close to your core.

Change gloves as needed!

I like the Kinko knit cuff insulated gloves in an Oh so Comfy over sized fit when it's cold.

Or

Wear mittens with thin inner gloves.
 

fatbob

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Youch at that price for a basic wool glove they had better work. Have you tried Cabelas to see if they have any of their heated mitts on clearance?

Out of other options I'd go for Kinco 901 mitts (add your own glove wax) with a good merino liner glove.
 

Monique

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Don't wear gloves if you're cold. Wear mittens.

I wear Hedtra heli mitts most days. Astis mittens on really cold days. Burton liners that work with touch screens underneath - they wick really nicely.
 

newboots

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I think these are designed for non-extreme cold. One of the testimonials references using them in air-conditioned space, and another is about cleaning out the freezer. Raynaud's is a nightmare in those situations, but it's not like skiing below 15 degrees.

I have cold hands, and use OR shell mittens with down, Gore-Tex liners. And chemical warmers, on the cold days. I have some very warm ski gloves but they just don't work on a cold day on the mountain.
 

graham418

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image_46223.jpg



These are Kombi XR-30 glove liners. $6.00 at Working Persons Store. They may work under your mitts


image_46223.jpg
 

pais alto

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You can only do so much with gloves/mittens. Don't forget to try something like an insulated or fleece vest under the jacket to keep the core warm and send warmth out to the extremities,

"If your feet are cold, put on your hat."
 
Thread Starter
TS
Mikey

Mikey

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Thanks for all the input folks. Lots of food for thought. I'm requesting this to try and figure out how to help my girlfriend Nat with her cold fingers. She has very skinny fingers and toes that get really cold very easily.

We are both pretty warm-blooded and she especially has a real furnace for her core. We were dressed with layers and both of us were very warm or at least comfortable down to 0 degrees, with the exception of course for her toes and especially her fingers. 30 degree days on up were tolerable with just cold fingers. I'd say 15-30 if it was nice and we were good for a few runs and then she needed a break. Below that and she was not a happy camper. I bought her a pair of Mercury Mittens that Ken_R mentioned and she felt just as cold, with her not-as-thick Swany mittens. We tried a thin liner as well and used it with one of the disposable hand warmers that really didn't get warm at all. Same issues in the same temperature zones, but just a little more tolerable.

My mistake was not getting a big enough mitten so she could wear a thicker wool glove underneath. For this next season, since she seemed to be so sensitive with cold, I was curious about using the gloves in the link I provided as the glove to wear inside a properly sized and warm mitten. I'm sure they aren't magic, and they are expensive, but if they work just *that much* better and makes her day more comfortable, I'm not bothered by cost.I also like the idea of one of those battery hand warmers that raytseng mentioned, or maybe one of the Zippo versions that provide constant heat for up to 12 hours https://www.zippo.com/products/12hour-black-hand-warmer. Maybe take her mittens off on the lift and warm her wool gloved hands up inside her jacket pockets with the hand warmer.

I'm just the opposite luckily. My feet/toes never got cold, even on a 0 degree day. For my hands, I seem to have a very narrow goldilocks zone for my Hestra Army Leather Ascent gloves that I have had for 4 seasons. I love that wool lining. I have hands that heat up and sweat easily and they never sweat in that wool lining. After 4 years, the lining was getting a bit thin, but I was good with those gloves to around 20 degrees. If it was 30 and nice and sunny, I sometimes skied with no gloves. Below 20 though and my hands started getting cold with 10 and below not being fun. I'm going to get another pair that's one size bigger and will allow me to wear a thin merino wool liner. I'm just going to get a new liner for my old gloves so I'll be covered in those temperature ranges. I also bought a pair of the Mercury Mittens and like Nat, I didn't have a good experience. My fingers were just as cold and almost instantly started sweating which made them even colder. Took both pairs back and stuck with my Hestras.

Thanks again!
 
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LiquidFeet

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Don't wear gloves if you're cold. Wear mittens.

I wear Hedtra heli mitts most days. Astis mittens on really cold days. Burton liners that work with touch screens underneath - they wick really nicely.

Exactly. Gloves will never do the trick for people whose hands stay cold (like me). Fingers need to touch each other. Do not buy mittens with finger pockets inside; the fingers will stay cold in those. Ignore the marketing that says they are warmer than normal mittens.

Mittens can hold more than one chemical warmer. I use three in each mitten. Some mittens have a pocket for the chemical packs; don't bother using the pocket. The chemical packs need to touch the fingers. I put two in the main compartment, loosely swimming above the fingertips. I carefully fold the third chemical pack in half lengthwise and insert it into the thumb cavity. That keeps the thumb warm. Sometimes on very cold days (below zero with wind), the thumbs still get cold while I'm riding the chair. I have to pull them out of their little cave and snuggle them next to the warm fingers. It doesn't take long for the thumbs to warm up, and for the thumb-cavity chemical warmers to get reactivated with new oxygen.
 
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David Chaus

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My fingers get cold, even with higher-end gloves, and even with mittens sometimes. I'm a diabetic, so even if my core is warm, the circulation to my extremities sucks. I used to use liners and chemical packs inside mittens.

I first tried heated liners, but the heating elements were fussy, unreliable and had uncomfortable hot spots. I then tried the Outfoor Research Lucent heated gloves. Worked well when not moving, but the air rushing by as I was skiing chilled my fingertips. OR was great with the guaranteed satisfaction return policy, so I was able to exchange them for the Lucent Mittens. Those were the ticket, worked great for a year and a half, however one of the battery connectors had a problem. The were willing to do a warranty replacement but were out of the heated mittens until the following fall. So what they did was replace them with the newer Capstone gloves, which use 2 batteries per glove, and reportedly have more efficient distribution of heat. These things are awesome! Very warm when I want, and often I can use the low or medium setting, which allows the batteries to last all day.

I'm very happy with them, but they're not cheap. I used a PSIA pro-deal; I think retail they go for $500.
 

raytseng

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i wrote up about the zippos on epic. but I dont like it for skiing for 2 reasons. ive tried zippo and the boston fancy electronic start one.
they still work on combustion (technically catalytic) so still require oxygen to work properly. So at altitude they work less than perfectly.

Despite burning somewhat cleanly if you get premium fuel they also still put out quite a bit of fumes or at least consume o2. if you put this in your inner jacket or vest for your core then o2 and ventilation issues are amplified. The fumes (including some CO) or at least zero o2 air will chimney up your neck to your face and you may notice the smell and get dizzy or feel sick after awhile. It wont be like smoke but like the same as an lit lighter or a little like a gas stove.
it is also tricky to be able to turn these on or off at altitude.

the zippo/ catalyst is better more for like a casual walk in new england sea level cold or around a campfire where you can just hold the pouch in your hand or a nonzipped pocket like a hoodie kangaroo pouch.

I will suggest the electic ones again that they have added benefit that can also be a phone batterypack (which also puts out heat to thaw out unruggidized phones (e.g. iphones)
 
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Monique

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You can only do so much with gloves/mittens. Don't forget to try something like an insulated or fleece vest under the jacket to keep the core warm and send warmth out to the extremities,

"If your feet are cold, put on your hat."

Generally speaking, yes ... but my hands are cold even when the rest of me is comfortable.
 

ADKmel

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ditto mittens not gloves so fingers can touch and you can ball up your fingers in the mitten to keep them active.
my warmest mittens are Swany Down Filled gloves (leather exterior) that my hands sweat even on below zero days. I have another cheaper pair w/nylon exterior but also down filled.

I also have a pair of fleece wrist-ies. they are fleece that cover my hands/wrists and keeps the cold from creeping up the sleeves (long underwear w/thumb holes works too) I use the wristies and the long johns w/thumb holders on sub zero days. yes to hand heaters in the mittens for ultra warmth.

https://www.wristies.com

I use toe heaters on cold days I stick them on the top of my feet and I have boot gloves.

but when it's minus 20 then add wind chill it's tough to stay warm.
 

pais alto

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Generally speaking, yes ... but my hands are cold even when the rest of me is comfortable.

Yeah but...the deal is that when you are somewhat overheated in your core, your body will shunt that extra heat out to the extremities. So if your core is slightly more warm than comfortable your hands will receive the extra heat.

Try it.
 

Monique

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Yeah but...the deal is that when you are somewhat overheated in your core, your body will shunt that extra heat out to the extremities. So if your core is slightly more warm than comfortable your hands will receive the extra heat.

Try it.

Dear sir,

I got this. Thanks.
 

tachedub

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My wife has the same problems and as stated in previous posts uses liner gloves inside mittens with chemical heater packs, which we have to take out and " refresh" with more oxygen in the lodge. Mostly what I want to add is that you need to consciously relax the chest and arms to let the blood flow to the hands better in cold condtions. Too often we tense up too much when we are cold and restrict blood flow
 

fff01

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Has anyone experience with glove heaters, like the ski boot heaters you can have on your ski boot during skiing?
 

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