gloves

Skutter

Skutter

Location
Oxford UK
Woken up this last week with a frozen car most mornings and talk at work turned to the joys of January climbing, (you'v just got to love those blizzards
santa.gif
) and how its the hands that suffer the most.
What gloves can anyone recomend for climbing in real cold weather - anything out there that can stop the last remants of any heat being sapped from your hands whilst still being able to grip on your rope and open Krabs??
 
Start with a good breakfast and thorough hydration. Add a skull cap or thin hood under your helmet. Get rid of ALL of your cotton clothes and switch over to synthetics. Cotton Cools, Kotton Kills you know.

Add insulation layers to keep any heat calories inside instead of drifing away. Find shirts with super long sleeves to keep the 'wrist gap' to a minimum. Look at what mountaineers and ice climbers wear.

For more...

http://www.treebuzz.com/pdf/coldweather.pdf
 
It gets really cold over here (US) in the winter, 10 below in this area is not uncommon, but atleast it doesnt rain all the time like over there. Anyway the best thing Ive found for keeping the hands warm which is hard for me as Im a skinny runt with bad circulation is the charcoal pack hand warmer things that heat up when you open them and expose them to air. We can get them for about $1 for a pair. Put them inside your gloves on the back of your hands. I dont think I could work without them but then again I dont tnink I could work in English winters with perpetually wet boots agian either..........

Hey I got soft......
 
I've been hunting for years and years, and I am also a skinny lil guy. I have used those hand warmers a couple times every year, and I have yet have one work for me. Can't figure out why. They work for everyone else but when ever I try, it warms up for about 10 minutes then goes out.
Although I guess if I can complain about that, I am doing pretty good ey.
 
Best way to keep the extremities warm is to conserve core heat and remain active. It's also important to avoid anything that interferes with blood circulation like overtightening shoes or gloves that are too tight.

Good nutrition with plenty of carbs works wonders. Warm liquids on the job are pretty good for bringing up your core heat after a long spell in the tree.

...and my personal favorite, eat chocolate.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Warm liquids on the job are pretty good for bringing up your core heat after a long spell in the tree.

...and my personal favorite, eat chocolate.

[/ QUOTE ]

first rule of tree work - never turn down a hot cup of tea - if that dosen't warm you up then the climb back to the top will.

Cheers for the glove recomendation, gonna try some out, i was thinking of getting some deck hand gloves but didnt fancy forking out for an expensive set of gloves that turn out to be no good.

as for chocolate you should try some kendal mint cake. Sir Edmund Hillary & Sherpa Tenzing Norgay ate Kendal Mint Cake on top of Everest

not sure about the hand warmers - was night trecking many moons ago and this lad had them in his pockets - half way through the hike his jacket caught fire.
 
I use some ice climbing gloves that I was given a few years ago. They are a neoprene and work very well. Kind of like heavy duty dive gloves or something. They are a tight fit to the skin so the dextery is still there. If I did them out in the next few weeks I will find out who makes them.
 
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Get rid of ALL of your cotton clothes and switch over to synthetics. Cotton Cools, Kotton Kills you know.



[/ QUOTE ]

That's what several survival sites list too - good to keep in mind.

For me, cotton is "the ticket", as I get overheated often, even in the cold.

When it's raining and, say, 38 degrees here, there is steam coming off my clothing - literally.

I put a bit of wool on when the temps get below 28 degrees.

In winter, I've enjoyed wool shooting gloves that have the finger tips exposed, and regular thin wool glove too.
 
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...and my personal favorite, eat chocolate.

[/ QUOTE ]

The darker the better!

Stay hydrated and well-fed. keep fueling your furnace throughout the day. The best way I've found to warm up is to rake, it keeps your whole body moving(thereby keeps warm blood moving), especially your hands.

The search for perfect gloves is like the quest for the grail. Maintaining dexterity and staying warm below 15 degrees is hard for me.
 
For what it's worth, I've had good results with putting on a pair of latex rubber "Doctor" gloves underneath winter-Atlas gloves. After a while, there can be a lot of sweat, but the hands do stay warm and you still have your dexterity. Not too expensive either.
 
I agree about the holy grail. I reckon the technology is out there to create a really good all round climbing glove and judging from this forum there would be plenty of demand. I'm also a skinny climber and I've tried all sorts to get over the problem of cold hands (including the power of thought!). Gloves that fit too close can cause the hands to be colder but with loose fitting gloves you loose dexterity. I bought some Gill Extreme sailing gloves and found them to be the worst of the lot, especially when wet. I tore out the unnecessary innards of the glove and now have a really good pair of hard wearing gloves which might be good for dry cold weather. At the end of the day its down to core body temperature and circulation. Has anyone had that tingling feeling when the hands are coming back to life. I might try the doctors gloves but would the lack of breathability have any long term side affects on the skin?
 
I have used some windproof ski gloves in the past when the temp is to cold for atlas gloves. The pair I found wasnt to bulky so I could still push the buttons down to open my carabiner on my lanyard. Try to buy anything windproof that works best for me.
 
I use the Atlas thermal gloves, i think they're a good trade off of comfort and dexterity and price. When they don't cut it, i'll also add a thin polypro glove liner under them.

I've also heard that putting heat packs on the inside of your wrist can help by warming the blood coming from and going to the hand, without having the bulk of the heat pack inside the glove. Anyone tried that?

edit, Someone else mentioned windproofing. I climb in a rain jacket all winter to minimize heat loss to wind.
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Woken up this last week with a frozen car most mornings and talk at work turned to the joys of January climbing, (you'v just got to love those blizzards
santa.gif
) and how its the hands that suffer the most.
What gloves can anyone recomend for climbing in real cold weather - anything out there that can stop the last remants of any heat being sapped from your hands whilst still being able to grip on your rope and open Krabs??

[/ QUOTE ]

Dixon is on the right track - what he describes is DIY vapour barrier technology, similar to putting plastic bags on your feet.

For years, this technology has been awkward to use with slippery linings.

However, the concept has now been perfected and patented in 'state-of-the-art' apparel by RBHDesigns.

They are based in Hartford, so Dee and I dropped by on our way to TCI. Their customer service is very personable, genuine and friendly. They picked us up from the airport, fed us measured us up, hand made and delivered us our QUALITY custom clothing before departing TCI - AMAZING! We made some good friends for sure.

This stuff is the answer to low bulk warmth. Check out the testimonials:

http://www.rbhdesigns.com/
 
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