On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 13:07:42 -0600, "Monique Y. Mudama"
wrote:

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

I wonder if this guy wears a leather coat on the slopes as well.


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?

Leather absorbs water and gets wet. Its a bad material for gloves,
especially if you have sweaty hands. It might be usefull for racers
who need the padding, or for people who use their gloves to do more
than hang on to poles with.


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

Yep. A glove has far more surface area to help cool your hand than a
mitt. No matter how warm you make a glove, an equivalent mitt will
be far warmer.


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?

Mittens are warmer. I've always skied with them on cold days because
I have cold hands, and have never found any glove that was as warm as
a good pair of mittens. You compromise the use of your digits while
in the gloves, but while skiing, you don't need them. When you do
need them, extract warm fingers from mitt, and they are workable, not
frozen stiff.


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!

One thing that I do on extremely cold days is to wear polypropolyne
liners on my hands. Extremely thin gloves that wick all the water
from your fingers. They are also very nice when you remove your hand
from you mittens - keeps some of the heat in.

Sort of like layering for the hands.


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.

I agree. This guy was feeding nothing but a line of BS to sell you
these gloves.


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.

I have the same problem, but my hands don't sweat unless I am hot, so
I don't have that problem with soaked gloves. Perhaps you have
hyperhidrosis? Maybe try using some anti-perspirant on your hands
before a ski day and see if that does not cut down a bit on the
sweating/resulting cold.

A lot of people with cold hands say they have Raynaud's disease. A
physician who claimed to have it and who I waterskied with a bit last
summer (and in the cold, cold spring weather) told me that they have a
drug that works to relieve the blood restriction caused by this
disorder. Oddly, this physician (a shapely female of around 30 years)
had a thing for losing layers while skiing. She loves to ski naked.
Go figure.

On cold days I use some gloves from granite gear, reasonable, and warm
as hell. I've never had cold hands with these gloves.
http://www.granitegear.com/products/...ts/index.shtml
Other posters have their fav's.

Also avoid caffeine if you can. I can't.

nate