NEED some really warm gloves.

[Bad Water Bill]

When I was a kid I frost bit my fingers a few times to many. Now when the temp drops below 45 my fingers go numb and they loose all color for about 2/3 of their length. I have tried many types of gloves with no luck. Yes I do have good mits but try shooting with them. Any suggestions for some really good ones.

[Gussy]

no on gloves, but the disposable heat packs work for me. I also have the problem but not nearly that bad. Fingers and ears got it when I lived in Minn. I put the packs into my regular gloves but there are gloves made with a pocket for them.

[canyon-ghost]

Found some cheapy Thermolite insulated ones from Walmart, I liked a lot.

[Tom-ADC]

I like the black knit gloves with the leather glove combo. Navy and Border Patrol used them

[kbstenberg]

I'm with Gussy. At any temp. below 50 deg. my toes an fingers get frostbite very fast. (when I was younger I seriously frostbit my fingers an toes fishing) Now every time I go outside in any kind of weather below 50 I have to have the disposable heaters in both my socks an gloves.

[Bret4207]

Gloves alone won't do it. Find yourself some decent buckskin choppers (mitts), treat them for water proofing with Sno-seal and get a good pair of light wool gloves to wear inside the choppers. You could even get the lined choppers and wear the gloves underneath. You can't shoot with the gloves on anyway unless the gloves are so thin they won't offer any warmth, so get used to shedding the glove on the shooting hand quickly.

Gloves are a very poor way to try and keep you hands warm in cold weather.

[Wayne Smith]

Gloves won't work. Your fingers have had the capillaries damaged and you don't get the blood circulation that you would normally have. Thus, you don't get body heat transferred to your fingers. Gloves/mitts only trap body heat that is there. When your fingers aren't getting the body heat you need to add artificial heat. Get some heated gloves or some hand warmers that work and you will be fine. Otherwise you will suffer.

[redneckdan]

When is gets really cold and I have to work a ski race I wear these suckers.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP4203.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/redneckdan/IMGP4198.jpg

Wool liner inside a poly batting liner inside a canvas/elk ski mitt. Yer doin good if you can pick up and hold onto a mag lite while wearing them, but dang if they don't keep your hands warm. When it is ten below and the wind is ripping of lake superior they make a huge difference.

[Bad Water Bill]

Thanks for the help.

Wayne your answer tells me why my fingers are transparent 2/3 of the way up my hand.

I guess I will have to keep my WW2 surplus mitts handy in cold weather from here on in. They are big enough to wear 2 pair of gloves inside.

[Harter66]

When I started asprine and BP meds the cold effects on my hands became much more noticable. I used to buy 2pair of ragwools 1 w/o fingers and hunt ducks to 0*F . Now I need much more, compairitively, so far the best I've found are some thinsolated Rockies (qualifier I'm 'frugle' and generally work w/a $15 cap for gloves to ruin in the field/at work) they fit have a synthetic leather palm and fingers,poly backs w/elastic and velcro cuffs. They were billed as shooting gloves and worked well for me. They stayed soft and warm and kept my hands dry untilli picked up the decoys.

Mechanics, the real ones, are worth every penny and I believe they make an insulated glove now. You can't pick up a dime w/them but #10 nuts and 1/4" wrenches are easy.

[runfiverun]

the best i have found so far for shooting in are ducks unlimited waterproof insulated.
the shooting fingers are thinner and you can actually feel the trigger.
they are not cheap though. [50.00 range]
i wouldn't use them in below temps but down to 10 or so they are adequate and you can fit a pair of knit cotton/wool gloves in them easily enough.

[jcwit]

I've always had good results with ski gloves. You might also want to check here

http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/mens/mens-accessories/mens-work-gloves/gloves-for-men.aspx?feature=P9895-C81273-L2

I know where you're coming from, I've had 2 fingers reattached and frostbite on both hands when I was a youngster.

[Lloyd Smale]

find a local snowmobile dealer of do a search on line. Ive got a pair of artic cat leather gauntlet gloves that are flat out the warmest gloves ive ever owned and if you knew where i live youd know it gets COLD! Any glove thats warm enough isnt going to be any good for shooting though. There just to bulky. When im hunting i usually wear a warm glove on the left hand and a mechanics glove on my trigger hand. Not to warm but better then nothing. I just stick my hand in my pocket when it gets cold. Those shooting mitts with the hole to let your fingers out are just way to slow.

[winelover]

Best combination I've found is to wear the thickest gloves that still allow you to feel the trigger with heat packs inside. For the really cold days, add an insulated water proof muff around your waist.

Winelover

[cajun shooter]

The word glove is your worst enemy. Muffs will keep your hands many times warmer. Gloves allow the lost of too much body heat.
Once your body has received your type of injury it will not come back to full normal but can be made better with the correct equipment. Buy a pair of insulating type of snow mobile gloves with the light material then top them off with the best mitten you can afford. Purchase the model with the finger slit if possible and make sure that they are tied together so that they may be thrown around your neck.

[Bent Ramrod]

My fingers chill easily when I ride a motorcycle in the cold. I don't like to lose the control that individual fingers give, though. The best deal I've found are gloves that are marketed under the name "Thinsulate." They're not overly heavy, but warm above and beyond their weight and thickness.

[Iowa Fox]

Anything under 50 degrees and 2/3 of my fingers turn transparent and go numb. I wear Heavy moose hide mittens with removeable wool inserts, they help but I still get cold and numb very easy. My hands get cold no matter what. Maybe its time for Arizona as this state just isn't what it used to be.

[MtGun44]

There are two issues here. The obvious one is to have good insulation on the hands, but the
non-obvious one is whole body physiology.

The human body will react to a temperature drop in the core by reducing blood flow to the
hands and feet. IME, one of the best things to do to keep your hands warm is to put on
really warm pants and long johns. Most folks do a good job on the upper body, but many
completely miss out on the very large area and large muscles of the lower body. I shoot a
lot in the winter at the range and have found that if I wear very heavy Swedish military
surplus wool pants over US milsurp HEAVY polyester long johns, plus layers of sox and good
boots I can stay warm for hours in cold weather, and my hands stay warm, too. Another
huge one is the head and neck area. A balaclava that covers the head andneck as one
continuous knitted cover. I bought a really warm fur hat in Russia a few years back and it
is WONDERFUL to help in keeping my whole body warm.

If you do dress you WHOLE BODY better, you will find that your glove situation is much, much
less critical. If your core temp stays up, your body will continue to send the full flow of blood
to the hands and they will stay MUCH warmer.

I can shoot for hours in 10-20F weather with wind if I dress properly and pull my heavy
gloves off for shooting with a thin polypropolene glove only and hands stay warm.

If you focus on only the hands, you will fail. It is a whole body issue. Probably THE warmest
is a full snowmobile suit, and the main gain is that the lower body is treated as well as the
upper body, something that most miss out on.

Bill

[Wayne Smith]

Bill, I agree with you completely except, in Bad Water's case, he doesn't have the circulation in his fingers to bring the body heat there in any circumstances. Thus anyone in this situation needs artificial heat to heat the extremities. As long as the ambient temps are above what is needed to keep his hands warm he's fine, but when you get to extreme situations the only workable solution is to add heat. Same thing is true with those with peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes or other medical cause. There are not enough working capillaries to bring body heat to the fingers or toes.

[cgtreml]

My daughter bought these for me last Christmas for ice fishing. They even have a little zippered pocked on top for a hand warmer. They are to warm for me except on the coldest day. Take a look or google them. The only thing better I have found is mittens from the same company. I only use them after may hands are we on the coldest day. They work great.
Ice Armor X Glove is the brand name

[Bad Water Bill]

Thanks for the info guys.

DR Wayne You just explained what has been wrong with my fingers and toes for the last 60 years. Now I know I am not a sissy but actually have a damaged set of digits. I have watched over my kids all their lives when winter came. Keep your gloves on and your fingers and toes will tell you when to come in.

Keep the information coming as I am sure there are a lot more folks here with the same issues.

[MtGun44]

Wayne -

Thanks for the info. I was reporting my experience, was not aware that having had
frostbite would kill off capillaries permanently. I can see that if the blood flow is really
marginal, it is pretty hard to keep the hands warm.

Bill

[Bad Water Bill]

Bill When My fingers get COLD they look like the filet of fish you see in the fresh meat dept. Then when they start to warm up it feels like the frost bite all over again only it has not been cold enough to freeze them.

I am hoping to be able to go out in the winter without worrying about that pain again.:Fire:

[Le Loup Solitaire]

What makes the situation even more difficult and/or painful for some individuals is having diabetes. This usually creates a condition called neuropathy....it is usually felt more in the feet and legs as cold and is painful. Another factor that worsens with cold temps, is if the person is taking BP control meds especially if the med(s) contain what is called a beta blocker. Yet another source of trouble occurs when people take blood thinners like plavix or coumadin...usually prescribed for coronary and/or circulatory disease. Those two also interfere with clotting. Its a wonder that some of us are not killed by the remedies rather than what we are being treated for. Good head covering/protection is a must for if the head is cold then the brain takes heat away from the extremeties....whether you like it or not. Turtle-necks, scarfs, facemasks and warm headgear will all help. Handwarmers, electric(battery run) socks and gloves will also help a lot. Its all a pain in the butt, but all you can do is try to prepare for it by taking care and doing the best you can. LLS

[Three44s]

While I don't doubt Bad Water Bill's situation for a moment, I think that MtGun44's thoughts are still worth consideration.

The more you retain heat in the core ........... that is going to help the extremities.

Now I would be very surprised that just retaining core temp would do it all in BWB's case, and that some hurculean effort would still be needed as to warming his hands ............ I think that heating the core is also required to allow any sucess as to the hands.

Just my .02

I don't have any circulation problems AFAIK, but my best working setup is to use the heaviest wool liner (military surp) glove with a heavy outer glove. In my case, I wear Large so the outer glove has to be Extra large. For shooting I drop the outer and shoot with the liner on when I need to retain at least one layer.

For sub zero, I lean towards an mitt outer, which would have to also be dropped for a shot.

Three 44s

[Wayne Smith]

Gentlemen, you will please note that I agreed with MtGun44 100%, then pointed out an exception.

When I was backpacking the standard advice was "If your feet are cold, put on a hat". This says the same thing - Protect the core and the periphery is OK. Ignore the core and the periphery feels it first. That's good advice for everyone, but not enough for some.

[schutzen]

Bill,

I have had good luck using a mitt/ thin glove combination and placing the disposable heat pack inside the mitten. I use a set of military surplus mittens with cuffs and a flap to slip your finger out. MIlitary Nomex flight gloves have worked for me in this comb, but the area I am in now never gets that cold.

[MtGun44]

Bad Water,

I'd start off with getting some of those brown polyester milsurp long johns at the next gun
show. Godawful ugly brown, but they are the warmest things I have ever worn. Get them and
put on the pants and top first and see if it helps the hands at all. Shouldn't have to pay
more than $10 each for a top or bottom.

Sounds like you need some good mittens and hand warmer packs inside, too.

Like Wayne said, backpacking will teach you about dressing for the weather. There is no place
to go to warm up except your sleeping bag or a fire. You learn some hard lessons that way
about dressing properly, but you remember what works.

Rooskies have a good saying "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes."

Bill

[MT Gianni]

One thing not yet mentioned is the body's natural heat loss sites. The top of your head and the back of your neck are where there are a lot of blood vessels. If you make sure that those areas are covered you do not loose as much heat from the blood that will go to your fingers. I am bald and shave the rest so I need a warm hat in cold weather. I make sure that my neck gets a wrap, hood or a high collar depending on wind and temperatures. Cover your ears also, lots of blood vessels there.

[Ugluk]

IME, Mtg44 is really spot on here!

I've got some damage to my fingers as well and being a smoker has damaged my small blood vessels as well.
When doing a lot of wintertime revolver bullseye practice a few years ago I found that long johns with just the right itch under heavy trousers, three layers on torso and arms and a shoulder holster for the S&W made it possible for me to shoot for hours barehanded in temperatures down to 0*F.

I had tried gloves, mittens and heat packs to no avail.

Good overlap between jacket and pants is important too as well as extra wool socks in roomy dry boots.

[MtGun44]

Here's a picture of me with my Rooskie fur hat on. It is really warm. I always take it on the
deer stand, man does it make a difference in how warm you are with the ear flaps pulled
down over the back of your neck and ears and sides of neck. Nothing is even close to as
warm as fur. It is actually unpleasant to wear if it is warmer than 20F or so.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4440

Bill