Cold weather products to prevent cold hands (great gift ideas for sportsmen)
So have you experienced cold hands on a bitter winter’s day? While you might tend to blame it on the temperatures, it might be the products you are using. Here is a list of some of the items I recommend for keeping your hands warm and comfortable. Many will make great holiday gifts.
Research suggests that mittens will keep your cold hands warmer than gloves. Gloves have more surface area exposed to the elements (each finger of a glove adds extra space exposure) and potentially allowing more heat out of the material. If dexterity is required, no question that gloves will compromise warmth for increased function.
One of the least expensive and most effective ways to keep your hands warm are with the individual hand warmers. There are many manufactures of these including Grabber, HotsnapZ, and Coghlans. These disposable individually held packets are excellent for up to about four hours of use based on my experience. They often need to be manipulated by hand to get the chemicals to react. I always have these handy in my boat, car and ice fishing tackle box. Cost is about 1-3 dollars per packet. They are messy if they accidentally break open.
An expensive option is battery powered gloves. VentureHeat.com manufactures a full line of clothing, all of which have battery powered heat sources. Last year I purchased the Adventure Series gloves for about $175. These gloves are by far the warmest gloves I have ever found. The user can choose up to three levels of heat, and you can get about 3-6 hours of heat time on a single charge depending on which setting selected. The batteries can be plugged into any standard outlet and fully recharged for the next use. The batteries are not cumbersome, unlike some of the “D“ cell battery gloves (less expensive knockoffs) I have tried in the past.
Frabill and Clam/Ice Armor have gloves and mittens specific for Ice fishing. Both of the manufacturers feature garments which are windproof, water proof and feature plenty of high quality insulation. These two product lines are the best I have found for a straight glove/mitten with no heat source. About $50.
A new product I am anxiously awaiting to use is the Zippo Chrome hand warmer. This item uses lighter fluid, and emits radiant heat from the heating device. Think of it like a cigarette lighter without fire. These can be placed in your pocket as a heat source to warm your hands. Especially effective for those activities where it is difficult to keep gloves on due to dexterity limitations. This allows for a gloveless hand with an immediate heating source as you need it. Cost is about $20 not including the lighter fluid.
