Rain Mitts

Thanks. Are they sized with the intention of going over gloves, or over bare hands?

–B.G.–

Hey I like your design. I made a pair of my own a while back though mine are not water proof.

My idea was i was very unhappy with the fleece gloves I had tried on the CDT. everytime my hand got wet it became difficult to get the gloves back on. Since i only really used them during cold mornings and during rare cold wind on the trail i thought a basic mitten that had enough dexterity to hold treeking poles or buckle my pack straps would be enough.
Anyhow, this was my first MYOG project and i sewed them by hand since my sewing machine was broken at the time.
I went with an uncoated ripstop nylon shell and a micro weight fleece liner. My thinking is they will get wet anyways so i picked a materail that stays reasonably warm when wet. They have a stretch elastic band placed behind the thumb and the gauntlet style makes it easy to tuck em in to the sleeves of my wind shirt.
Mine came out to 2.5 ounces.
I have used these to shovel snow in Pennsylvania over Christmas break and in the rain back here in California. So far so fun!

Bob,

I sized the medium mitts to fit over fleece gloves. My bare hand is about 8-1/2" around across the middle of my palm. The mitts are snug to pull on over the fleece gloves. Once they are on, there is plenty of finger room.

Lance, the design looks almost identical to some that I purchased about 30 years ago, and they have been outfitted with Ragg wool inner liners all this time.

–B.G.–

Hi Lance, kudos to you for making these. How did they turn out?

I've worn them a number of times and was happy to have them. Most recently I had them with me during a PCT section hike from Walker Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. The morning I climbed Mt Whitney was cold (mid twenties?) and windy. My fingers froze with just fleece gloves. After putting on the mitts, my fingers thawed out and stayed warm. I also used them alone one evening for mosquito protection. Well worth the 20 grams.

Two negatives:
They do wet out eventually.
The size medium fits me fine until I grasp my trekking poles. Then they are too snug around the palm of my hand. I'll be making a larger pair soon.

I made some Tyvek rain mitts to go over my dollar store gloves. Super light. I haven't tried them out yet. It will be interesting to see how long they keep the water out. They were pretty "crunchy" so I threw them in the washing maching a couple of times. They should work pretty good for stopping a cold wind.