Gloves or Mittens?

Which is better?

Gloves for dexterity, Mittens for warmth :D

Of course you can get some 2 finger ski Mittens. Maybe the best of both?

Aside from the loss of dexterity, mittens will generally be warmer. Having said that, gloves or mittens have to be taken off to do anything requiring dexterity and a good pair of gloves will be warmer than a poor pair of mittens.

There are some other threads that might be intresting
http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/1783.page
http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/1363.page

On advantage of mittens, is that you are less likely to injure a single finger in a fall.

Trencher

Snowboarding = Mittens
Skiing = Gloves

Simple!

DoA

Well, better is a relative term, so answering your question isn?t really possible.

Making some assumptions could lead to some helpful answers.

1. You are an 8 yr old child who is likely to want to: make snowballs, eat chocolate bars, drink from fruit cartons, pick your nose, make snowballs etc. Your hand coverings will be on and off constantly. You are likely to put your hand coverings on with snow, ice, water, juice etc on your hands. Mittens will allow your hands to warm up most quickly as each finger can aid its neighbour in retaining warmth. Mittens can be worn when all fingers are stuck together with sugary drink. Gloves will be unmanageable, the fingers will turn inside out after the first time you remove them and by the end of your first toilet break you will have given up wearing them! You will wear Dad?s gloves until you lose one of them and them Mum?s will be Ok but not a good colour!

2. You are a serious powder hound. You travel in the back country, often navigating by GPS, map and sense of smell alone. You probably ski high and cold, in some of the world?s most extreme conditions. Taking your gloves off could prove highly dangerous, dexterity is paramount. Gloves are the only option.

3. You ski at Southampton Ski Slope and the management insist you wear gloves on a sweltering September afternoon. You choose Marigolds (Pink by preference). Mittens would be a last choice!

4. You are summer skiing on a glacier, your hands melt with mittens; you choose summer gloves or cycling / motocross gloves and enjoy the scenery!

Further to previous answers: Any good hand covering will be better than any poor hand covering!

Jan

Jan I Stenmark wrote:
2. You are a serious powder hound. You travel in the back country, often navigating by GPS, map and sense of smell alone. You probably ski high and cold, in some of the world?s most extreme conditions. Taking your gloves off could prove highly dangerous, dexterity is paramount. Gloves are the only option

It's not quite that simple, making ascents you tend to get fairly warm pretty much any time of season. It makes sense to use thinner gloves, I use Black Diamond Inner Cores personally, then put on mittens over the top. No lined glove or mitten has the dexterity to handle climbing gear really. Holding a pole and skiing downhill obviously doesn't need any huge dexterity. For ordinary skiing I just wear Hestra Army XCR's, the Hestra pro' range are pretty much the best in the world and pretty much dominate the professional marketplace as a result.

Jan I Stenmark wrote:
4. You are summer skiing on a glacier, your hands melt with mittens; you choose summer gloves or cycling / motocross gloves and enjoy the scenery!

Cycling gloves are good and I used to use them but I find they don't deal well with getting wet. Maybe another pair would of course.

Many thanks. :thumbup:

I take heart medication to thin blood and the warmest gloves with liners don't cut it or me. I have to use heavy Marmot mittens on extreme cold days. I have skied 15 below F.