On 2004-12-07, lal_truckee penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Anyway, the salesguy made several claims that I'd like to have
confirmed/denied/discussed:

1) He claimed that leather gloves are warmer than other materials due
to being less porous than fabrics, which are woven.

Wrong

Wrong as in, leather isn't the warmest, or wrong as in, his explanation
doesn't make sense? If the former, what *is* the warmest?

2) He claimed that, from year to year, either Marmot or Swany will
have the warmest glove on the market.

Wrong

Who does, or is the brand immaterial, in which case, how do you decide?

3) He claimed that, in extremely high-quality handwear, a mitten
won't be any warmer than a glove (this is the one I really wonder
about)

Wrong

4) He claimed that this particular glove had been tested and found to
be the warmest (objectively, via temperature) of all the gloves
tested

Immaterial

Why is the internal temp of the glove immaterial to the question of keeping my
hand warm?

5) He claimed that the fleece liner will wick away my sweat and keep
my hands from being wet.

Possible

Okay, then, what *will* keep my hands from being wet? Every glove I've ever
had has been soggy after an hour or two, and it's *not* because my hands are
too warm!

Or is it possible to have a glove where wetness doesn't result in cold? Are
the two not necessarily related?

6) He said that his gf, who also has poor circulation and constant
hands of ice, wears these and is happy with them. (I'm not asking
you guys to confirm this, but do you think this is a) true or b) a
tactic to get me to buy a rather pricey pair of gloves?)

A guy with such a track record of bull**** is unlikely to even HAVE a
girl friend, IMO.

Oh, I dunno, a lot of girls fall for BS ... there's also the question of
intentional BS vs. just being wrong. Or, to play devil's advocate, just
disagreeing with someone else =P

The main reason I question his glove recommendations is because he didn't seem
to be the type to have circulation issues.

Finally, I'm wondering if buying gloves is the answer at all, or if I
need to keep my body warmer somehow so that it doesn't say
"sayonara!" to my extremities. Thing is, if I dress any warmer than
I do, I'll be sweating when I ski or am standing in line, and even
with wicking fabrics throughout, that causes enough wetness to make
me cold again. Especially as sports bras don't do a great job of
wicking, anyway.

Cold extremities make you cold, warm extremities make you warm. Keep
your hands and head warm and the rest follows. Make sure you have a
good, warm, windproof knit hat - go for those three adjectives before
considering "style."

I have a helmet, so a hat isn't an option. The helmet is pretty warm, though.

My body and head are not typically cold -- it's just my fingers and toes.

--
monique