Cold fingers!!

SORRY DOUBLE POST SOMEHOW!!!

I suffer from slight poor criculation, consequently when it is cold I get terrible cold fingers - little finger especially. My gloves (Dakine Goretex) are nice and warm up to about minus 10 degrees C. When I went to France this year, temperatures for the last couple of days dropped to -20 or even -30. I had extreme agony in my fingers - especially on chairlifts when the blood was not flowing very well.

I know you can buy special packs that you can put in your gloves to keep your fingers warm, but I dont really like wearing these.

Can anyone suggest any other way of keeping my fingers warm - I want to be able to just wear my gloves on warmer days so dont want "thicker gloves"

Iceman (sometimes literally!!)

You could try some more layers.

You can get silk inner gloves to wear under ski gloves (not sure where to get them in uk but most big shops in ski resorts should have them), and you can also get "over mits" - just big mittens with an elasticated cuff - to wear over your normal gloves.

The advantage of both these is, of course, that you can vary the number of layers to suit conditions - e.g. just pop the mittens over your gloves before you get on the lift, etc.

Also, it's worth carrying a spare pair of gloves - even a slightly wet glove will lost heat quickly, so you could have a spare dry pair to swap with part way through the day.

Finally, make sure the seal between your sleeve and the glove is good - a lot of heat can get out there (especially if snow gets in). One of our regulars (Trencher?) made the excellent suggestion of wearing a tennis wrist-band to help here.

Some "technical" jackets have an inner glove attached to the sleeve and this works very well, so if you're in the market for a new jacket that might be a feature for your check-list.

HTH

Actually pavelski is the wrist band man

What I would mention is that you are looking for gloves to cover a wide temperature range, maybe 15 degrees C. You would not expect to wear the same clothes on a +10C day as on a +25C day.

If you suffer often from cold hands, then you may have to invest in more than one pair of gloves / mittens.

I have ski mittens which I wear in temps down to -25C (+windchill), that I also wear on warm days as well. Bit sweaty, not uncomfortable.

If you are determined to stick with one pair of gloves, I think your only option is the heater packs. These do work better with mittens.

I've heard that the battery heated glove liners are a pain in the neck. Not sure if anyone still makes them.

Also, if your body starts to get cold, your extremities will start to loose circulation and get colder faster.


Trencher

I know this question was asked 6 weeks ago, but for what it's worth.........

Iceman, I suffer the exact same and what works best for me are the silk inner gloves that you barely know your wearing with a decent pair of mittens. I also tend to carry the heat packs as a backup and have used them just once over my 10 days skiing in -10 temps.

Good luck with warming your fingers!

KP

To sove the problem of cold fingers and cold feet you must understand that the "body heat" is maintained by having a "warm body core" !

That is you must have effective underwear and layers. Assuming that is not problem, then most skiers have "circulation" problem.

Warm core blood flows to fingers and toes. If you have poor circulation you must "help" the body maintain warm blood.

The silk gloves is an excellent option.

I know you do not like heat packs in gloves, but you can place them near wrists just near artery and veins. You can also place heat packs near chest and arm pits, thus warm blood will flow to fingers.

You can also "pre-heat" gloves. Since all gloves have an inner sleeve, just blow some warm air into gloves using a small hair dryer just before you go to ski. This warm air will stay in the glove at least 3 hours.

Take "warm-up breaks" and repeat this.

Never take gloves off once outside.

Tuck all "interface zones" in. ie sleeves, cuffs, neck, zippers pockets etc...

On chair tuck your gloves under arms thus sharing body heat.

Drink warm tea every 45 minutes.

Inside glove curl fingers towards palm while in chair.

My son has some great Chinese "hot liquid" which he massages on legs at end of day. Once I took some in morning to test. My fingers were "toasty" hot all day. DO NOT TOUCH FACE once you use this liquid. Very hot!!!!!

Side effect of the Chinese liquid is you smell like a Rugby player!!!!

Insert ( one in a while) your hands into the inner linners of your wife's or husbands jacket while on life. Be aware of strange looks you will get!!!

Do not blow warm "air" into the gloves !!! ( with mouth)

Just before you go to ski, go to batkroom and soak hands into warm-hot warm! Sprinkle baby powder into gloves just before you put gloves on.

Get IPOD and play some Beach Boys surfing music!

Hope this helps.

Pavelski, i thought it was better to drink cold drink when it's cold and hot drink when it's hot (desert....), because your body spend less energy to try to warm or cool the liquid at the body temperature.

Is that true or it's false common idea ?

blacks outdoor wear sell the silk inner glove about £15

I also have poor circulation. I certainly reccommend mittens over gloves. I find Hestra work well. I am sure you know this, but it is critical to get mitts/gloves with removable inners so they dry quickly overnight. Also, fit is important too!