Cold hands protection

Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough
and the distress she felt on her last outing outweighed the pleasure.
I seek your advice on possible replacements at short notice.

We found out she has my poor circulation problem, but me doing XC laps
round the forest trails with frequent changes of gloves is a lot
different from her high altitude lift served skiing.
She knows to wear looser clothing, to cover her neck and to windmill
her arms and penguin them when resting/lift queuing.

I mailed several UK glove stockists for advice on fabrics and liners
etc but no replies.
They must have been asked before on this topic.

Are mitts better for her than gloves?
Are the heated wire inners on http://www.realshopping.co.uk/
likely to be of help. Must be better than the reheatable sachets which
will only fit in the back of a gauntlet.

So what do you think and are there any papers available on protocols
and procedures for skiers with known poor circulation?

dardruba wrote:
Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough
and the distress she felt on her last outing outweighed the pleasure.
I seek your advice on possible replacements at short notice.

We found out she has my poor circulation problem, but me doing XC laps
round the forest trails with frequent changes of gloves is a lot
different from her high altitude lift served skiing.
She knows to wear looser clothing, to cover her neck and to windmill
her arms and penguin them when resting/lift queuing.

I mailed several UK glove stockists for advice on fabrics and liners
etc but no replies.
They must have been asked before on this topic.

Are mitts better for her than gloves?
Are the heated wire inners on http://www.realshopping.co.uk/
likely to be of help. Must be better than the reheatable sachets which
will only fit in the back of a gauntlet.

So what do you think and are there any papers available on protocols
and procedures for skiers with known poor circulation?


Mitts are warmer. The fingers help keep each other warm. Can't speak to
the heated wire inners as I've never tried them.
--
To reply by email remove "_nospam"

The little chemical glove heaters definitely help. I just open the
packs and put one in each mitt on the palm side. One lasts all day. I
got them for $1US/pair at home before leaving for the trip. (They were
$2.50US at the ski resort, I noticed).

Before using those, I had tried the thin liners but my hands were still
cold.

For my cold toes, I loosened my boots a little and it helped
tremendously.

Chuck wrote:
dardruba wrote:

Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough

Are mitts better for her than gloves?
Are the heated wire inners on http://www.realshopping.co.uk/
likely to be of help. Must be better than the reheatable sachets which
will only fit in the back of a gauntlet.

Mitts are warmer. The fingers help keep each other warm.

Yes, all other things equal, mittens will be warmer than gloves. A
gauntlet that covers the wrist area is also very helpful.

When it's cold I wear OR gortex/cordura shell mitts over a pair of wool,
thinsulate & leather gloves. The parka sleeves go over the gloves, and
the shells goes over the parka for a double-overlap. Works down to -34
C (the coldest I've tested) YMMV

But I've found that the best way to keep my hands warm is to keep my
core temperature up. When I add a down vest to my ensemble, my hands
immediately become quite toasty. Works every time, especially if topped
off with a little bit of skate skiing over the flats.


Can't speak to the heated wire inners as I've never tried them.

Neither have I.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

dardruba wrote:

So what do you think and are there any papers available on protocols
and procedures for skiers with known poor circulation?

Do your docs have any suggestions? My MIL has been cold all her life,
only being comfy in full sun in the middle of summer. When she was
younger she had no medical insurance. Now that she's 88 and has full
medical insurance and a stable of doctors (lots of specialists), none
has any suggestions for solutions to the problem -- I suspect because
she's old and abrasive and no fun to treat, but I could be wrong.

If your daughter can find a medical solution now, it will pay off for
the rest of her life. Good luck!

--
Cheers,
Bev
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo
If it weren't for pain, we wouldn't have any fun at all.

"dardruba" wrote in message
oups.com...
Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough
and the distress she felt on her last outing outweighed the pleasure.
I seek your advice on possible replacements at short notice.

Ahhhhhhhh! Back from a nice trip to Mt. Baker. Actually a nice cabin on the
road up. Never even made it to ski area. But I'm still alive and unaccosted
and I do know something about keeping your hands warm.

Mittens *are* better than gloves. The fingers work to keep each other warm.
That's an obvious one. Keeping the head (first) , neck (second) and torso
warm will send warm blood to the hands too and is very important. My problem
is overheating. When that happens the first thing I lose is the stuff around
the head and neck to cool everything off.

pigo

"The Real Bev" wrote in message
...
dardruba wrote:

So what do you think and are there any papers available on protocols
and procedures for skiers with known poor circulation?

Do your docs have any suggestions? My MIL has been cold all her life,
only being comfy in full sun in the middle of summer. When she was
younger she had no medical insurance. Now that she's 88 and has full
medical insurance and a stable of doctors (lots of specialists), none
has any suggestions for solutions to the problem -- I suspect because
she's old and abrasive and no fun to treat, but I could be wrong.

If your daughter can find a medical solution now, it will pay off for
the rest of her life. Good luck!


Usually when they quit smoking the circulation improves.
Ya Ya. jk
Seriously though a couple of options.
the pads work well and if that's the route you go check out the battery
activated
liquid pax. great product and they re-heat a couple hundred of times
Thin liners in mittens or gloves is another.
If simple exercises don't do the trick in basic conditions, then and only
then would I contact a nero-specialist.

dardruba wrote:

Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough
and the distress she felt on her last outing outweighed the pleasure.
I seek your advice on possible replacements at short notice.

It may not be her hands.

There's an old prospector's adage, "If your feet are cold, put on your hat."

First, start with a better hat.
Next, if she smokes, she has to quit.
After that, she needs to eat a decent breakfast.

A few finer points:

Cold feet make your hands seem cold. The most frequent cause of cold
feet is boots that are tight enough to compress the air out of your
socks. It sounds counter-intuitive, but a thinner sock will frequently
be a lot warmer than a thicker sock, because the air trapped in the
fabric can't transmit heat as quickly as the fabric itself.

Wet feet actually do make your feet colder; your hands soon follow.
Water transmits heat at least 20 times faster than air, so you'll get
cold feet much faster if your feet are wet. Face it, EVERYBODY's feet
sweat. I've found that a liberal shot of a dry powder anti-perspirant
(my secret weapon is Arrid Extra Dry) on your feet before your socks go
on works miracles at reducing or absorbing your foot sweat. And people
just think I do it because my feet stink.

I've tried some of those "magic powder" herbal mixes that are supposed
to keep your hands warm -- the only "magic" is cayenne pepper. In small
amounts, it can increase circulation a little bit, and sometimes you
just need a little. One part cayenne to four parts paprika, and use it
very sparingly. It will stain if applied too liberally. Or put it in
your soup.

As suggested, mittens are warmer than gloves. As with boots, too tight
a glove will give you cold hands. A thinner liner -- silk or one of the
thin cotton/polypropylene blends -- may do the trick under her gloves.
Certainly it will work better under a mitten. Again, dryness helps.

And you didn't mention how physical a skiier she is. If she bombs the
double-blacks and hits the lift line totally wrung out, her hands are
going to get cold as her body transitions from full-on effort to a
resting stage on the lift. If she's well out-of-breath by the time she
gets to the lift in the morning, it works the same way. And YES this
happens to me a lot, because sometimes I bring two pairs of skis to the
abase lift so I can switch out as conditions dictate. That, plus a
six-pack of cheap American beer, is enough to tire out anybody.

Jimintexus

I used them last week for the 1st time and was very impressed . They're
cheap and lasted all day . They slightly interfered with the grip on the
poles but not enough to be a problem . Not sure how well the foot ones work
, they seem like they might be a problem with boot fit or slipping etc but I
didn't try them so I don't know .
Ron

"William" wrote in message
oups.com...
The little chemical glove heaters definitely help. I just open the
packs and put one in each mitt on the palm side. One lasts all day. I
got them for $1US/pair at home before leaving for the trip. (They were
$2.50US at the ski resort, I noticed).

Before using those, I had tried the thin liners but my hands were still
cold.

For my cold toes, I loosened my boots a little and it helped
tremendously.

Yup. For me cold toes and fingers are warnings that either my head
protection isn't sufficient or I'm getting tired--and should rest a while.

I use liners and well insulated gloves. On those below 0 days (which
actually are rare here in Eastern Sierra) I use mittens. Keep the core temp
up. Sometimes it takes up to 4 layers here-but usually not. We average
between 260 and 280 days of sun and only 25 to 45 days of overcast and
storm.--But we are already past normal in the snow pack and there is more on
the way.

--
I ski, therefore I am
"Jim Strohm" wrote in message
...
dardruba wrote:

Over Xmas dinner our daughter said she was not looking forward to
her forthcoming ski trip. Her gloves and liners were not warm enough
and the distress she felt on her last outing outweighed the pleasure.
I seek your advice on possible replacements at short notice.

It may not be her hands.

There's an old prospector's adage, "If your feet are cold, put on your
hat."

First, start with a better hat.
Next, if she smokes, she has to quit.
After that, she needs to eat a decent breakfast.

A few finer points:

Cold feet make your hands seem cold. The most frequent cause of cold
feet is boots that are tight enough to compress the air out of your
socks. It sounds counter-intuitive, but a thinner sock will frequently
be a lot warmer than a thicker sock, because the air trapped in the
fabric can't transmit heat as quickly as the fabric itself.

Wet feet actually do make your feet colder; your hands soon follow.
Water transmits heat at least 20 times faster than air, so you'll get
cold feet much faster if your feet are wet. Face it, EVERYBODY's feet
sweat. I've found that a liberal shot of a dry powder anti-perspirant
(my secret weapon is Arrid Extra Dry) on your feet before your socks go
on works miracles at reducing or absorbing your foot sweat. And people
just think I do it because my feet stink.

I've tried some of those "magic powder" herbal mixes that are supposed
to keep your hands warm -- the only "magic" is cayenne pepper. In small
amounts, it can increase circulation a little bit, and sometimes you
just need a little. One part cayenne to four parts paprika, and use it
very sparingly. It will stain if applied too liberally. Or put it in
your soup.

As suggested, mittens are warmer than gloves. As with boots, too tight
a glove will give you cold hands. A thinner liner -- silk or one of the
thin cotton/polypropylene blends -- may do the trick under her gloves.
Certainly it will work better under a mitten. Again, dryness helps.

And you didn't mention how physical a skiier she is. If she bombs the
double-blacks and hits the lift line totally wrung out, her hands are
going to get cold as her body transitions from full-on effort to a
resting stage on the lift. If she's well out-of-breath by the time she
gets to the lift in the morning, it works the same way. And YES this
happens to me a lot, because sometimes I bring two pairs of skis to the
abase lift so I can switch out as conditions dictate. That, plus a
six-pack of cheap American beer, is enough to tire out anybody.

Jimintexus