Mitts and gloves???

Well, lots o' talk about winter gear now and I'm looking to be getting some new stuff but could use a little guidence so, here's my question.

What combination of mitts and/or gloves do people use/recommend for daylong winter hikes in the Whites? I'm looking for something that will keep my hands warm and dry all day, will allow me to rummage through my pack or adjust bindings, and won't break the bank.

Can anyone make some good recomendations that will fit this bill?

What I find works for me is a pair of fleece gloves that I wear while hiking and will take them off and off through out the day. My hands also tend to sweat a lot so sometimes I'll throw in an extra pair of these. I also carry a pair of mountainering mittens that have a removable fleece liner with a gortex outer shell. I'll wear these during breaks or if it's real cold. I also like to carry the heat warmers and will break open a pack and put them in my mittens so that they are always warm and toasty. Keeping my hands warm during the colder months is a constant battle for me!

-MEB

so many options - for day hikes in winter - I rarely need mitts - these come in handier on overnights or really feckin cold days (-10, etc...)

nice OR (outdoor resarch) liner glove and then some wind/water proff fleece usually does the trick - or you can get the "mountaineering gloves" all brands make then and they are nice. they will be 50 busk or so.

shell and fleece for the hands work great 90% of the time.

Couple of pair of liners, a pair of mitten shells, couple of differant thickness mittens, some light weight fleece gloves like MEB suggested - better to buy them bigger than needed as cold hands can be difficult to get into gloces that normally fit well.

I use Fox River gloves most of the time while hiking and bring Black Diamond Mercury Mitts as a backup. The Mercury Mitts have removable liners, so I can use the shells over the gloves also.

When it's not too cold, I use Glittens (mitten/glove combo) this way when my hands actually warm up, I fold back the top and expose my fingers to regulate. When it gets colder, that's a different story...still working on that.

Most of the time I use a fleece mitten and overmitt combo. I've used the OR set up for several years. Last year though I bought the MEC combo and found the overmitts/shells to be a bit better. They don't seem to leak at the seams, or get those little cracks as fast as the OR ones do. I'm using my mitts skiing though, so I'm always holding on to ski poles when I'm out. This probably adds to the wear and tear. I've used seam sealer in the past to help extend the life of the OR mitts. On really cold days I wear a pair of Datchstein mitts under the shells and use hand warmers.

Gloves will give you more dexterity, but my fingers freeze in them.

vapor barrier gloves or mittens under your mitts can make a huge difference on cold days, because of the heat you sweat out stays in. in addition you dont soak your mittens. or put a pair of dishwashing gloves on underneath. stephensons warmlite has vapor barrier gloves with 'fuzzy stuff' on the inside if you dont like the clammy feeling of dishwashing gloves.

I use wind-blocking fleece gloves most of the time. They can get wet, so I carry one or two spare pairs. (I also carry, but don't usually need, mittens and mitten shells.) Almost gives the same dexterity as bare handing.

Doug

Winter mitts

Check the OR Alti Mitts, they seem to be the best.

You want to be able to tie boots, open packs, water, etc with at least liners on & if possible your middle layer too.

Most people layer their hands just like the rest of the clothing/gear.

For a average winter day (10-20 degrees maybe) I start in glove liners & wind-bloc fleece gloves. I also carry at least one spare pair of liners. If it's raining I have a pair of winter gloves, G-tex & insulated, they also are the colder weather pair also.

Not cost efficient unless you get them on sale or work for a retailer (like I did ) I have a pair of lobster mitt expedition gloves ($99 retail 5 or 6 years ago) these are Wind-blov fleece gloves inside of a lobster mitt overmitt. (Thumb & index finger individual, other three fingers together like a mitten)

I also use the expedition mitts more as a check of which way I'm going. If I have to dig into the pack to pull these things out because the other gloves are not cutting it in the conditions, I probably should be really be thinking about heading down.

If its not too cold, I go with light fleece or wool mittens or gloves to start.
If its cold, or gets colder during the trip, I use either heavy fleece or Dachstein liners underneath a shell.

My hands tend to get cold rather easily. I've tried just about every possilbe comination and type of liner glove, fleece glove, windblock glove and insulated mitt, overmitt, etc. I've tried vapor barrier gloves. I've even gone so far as to wear different glove/mitten set ups on each hand all day so I can compare different systems. It wasn't until last year that I found a combination I really liked.

Hands down, the liner glove that works best for me is the Mountain Hardwear Tempest SL glove. I don't know if it was intended as a liner glove, but I REALLY like it for this purpose. I bought the glove just large enough so that a really thin poly glove will fit underneath without constricting circulation. I'll wear the thin poly glove underneath the Tempest SL on really cold winter days. If my hands start to get cold, I'll wear insulated mitts over the liner gloves. The Tempest SL does a great job of keeping moisture out, breathes well so the hands don't get too sweaty, provides good wind resistance, and offers great dexterity. I don't have to take the gloves off to ties shoes, put on crampons, etc. The glove worked so well that I didn't have to change my liner gloves once all last winter, although I did take them off between hikes while at home.

I use Black Diamond Mercury Mitts as my insulated overmitt. I like these a lot too. First, the mitt has a removable liner that is Primaloft on the backside of the palm and fleece on the inside of the palm. The fleece on the inside of the palm is a nice touch because Primaloft will compress under preasure, lose its loft, and hence its ability to insulate is reduced. I use poles in the winter, so this is important. Unlike some removable mitts, these mitts really stay in place. I've found that with some mitts, everytime I pull my hand out, the removable liner mitt comes out with it. There are warmer mitts (like Marmot Expedition and OR Alti Mitts), but these have a more delicate face fabric and don't stand up to scrub brush so well. I personally owned the Marmot Mitts, and although they were exceptionally warm, the ripped too easy. I believe they may have been redesigned though. The Mercury Mitts have a tough face fabric that stands up well to scrub brush. The leather palm is not the norm these days, but I believe it insulates better than the plastic palm and offers comparable water repellency when treated with a DWR product (preferably a rub in type ointment/oil). The price on the Black Diamond Mercury Mitts is another reason to like these mitts.

John

Warm and dry: mid-weight fleece gloves
Warm and wet: polypro liners inside gtx mitt shells
Cold and either: same liners and shells, but with double wool mittens between.

I always carry those hand heater packets, but I haven't yet used them, so I guess my system works for me.

A combination of PolyPro gloves, Fox River Double Thick Ragwool Mitts and OR Overmitts has served me well for quite a few years. I mix and match to get it right, depending on the temps. I also carry backups of a fleece mitt and Gore-Tex overmitt liner. I don't want to take a chance to go barehanded when it gets cold.