Glove/mitten system

Just keeping it general, you really don't have to spend much money to have a decent glove kit.

The most expensive aspect of my glove kit are the MLD eVent over mitts (@ 45.). Everything else is pretty cheap.

Like Kate mentioned earlier, cheap polypro gloves are great liners, and i would also say decent mid layers depending. 100 to 200 wt fleeces soaked in DWR solution are great mid layers and they don't have to be expensive or big name. (having some grippy stuff on the palm and fingers help a lot)

And depending on the kind of temps you experience, as Doug and others have mentioned here, latex, nitrile, etc gloves would be a cheap (though replaceable) VBL, which would really help for those really cold temps (not speaking on personal experience there though, but the recommendations of others here, but do plan to test it).

In cold weather, I'm building a fire, and that means gathering and processing firewood. Leather is great because of its durability and resistance to heat and fire.

Gloves (around camp at 10-40F)
fleece or wool liners
military surplus leather shells

Mittens (around camp at < 10F)
(using gloves while hiking)
fleece or wool glove liners
Dachstein wool mittens
military surplus cotton canvas/leather palm shells

"…looking to have a more coherent system for cool/cold weather activities. "

What "activities"?

Gripping poles while hiking?
Gathering wood, as mentioned above?
General camp chores?
Building snow caves?

Someone on this forum is doing "it", so specifics would help.

It depends.

In the winter, some people travel on boots. Some are on snowshoes. Some are on cross country skis. Many of each category use poles for balance. Some poles, especially for skiers, have wrist loop straps. Wrist loops can be adjusted, with difficulty, to accommodate bare wrists, thin gloves, or bulky mitts. You don't want to have to change back and forth much.

So, during hours on the trail, I normally wear thin wool gloves or thin polypro gloves, and my pole straps are adjusted for that degree of bulk. When I arrive in camp, I might have to build a snow shelter or something, so I can don the bulky mitts, but I won't be using any poles then.

–B.G.–

1st Base: Ibex Merino Baselayer Glove. Nice and light for running/hiking, fits under everything including 2nd Base, and they weigh nothing.

2nd Base: L. L. Bean Polartec Glove. Surprisingly good quality, slightly tougher panels on each fingertip and the palm extend wear by like, a full extra season. All my other Polartec/fleece gloves have been replaced by these. They're also really warm, almost too warm for hiking even at freezing (until they get wet). I highly recommend these. (never thought I'd say that about L.L. Bean)

3rd Base: Stoic Luft Synthetic Mitt. Nominated for "Most Likely To Be Replaced This Season" by a group of it's peers.

4th Base: MLD eVent Mittens. Folds up to the size of a golf ball, and effectively cuts wind/moisture to zero. These + Ibex are a winning combination.

If someone said "go do Everest" I'd probably come back with 6/8 fingers and at least one thumb, so I'm pleased.

What do you mean by "cold." Florida cold? Minnisota cold? Give us a better idea of the temperature range you're operating in.

I have a whole Rubbermaid tub of gloves, so I suppose it means I haven't figured out a great system.

However, since I continue to backpack in the winter, as well as snowshoe, ice climb, ski, I have a lot of need for gloves.

I've come to a few conclusions with my winter experience:

– Power Stretch gloves are awesome. I use the Mountain Hardwear ones but equivalents and similar weight/style gloves are available from nearly every company.

– gloves you can't put on with cold, wet fingers are worse than useless

– shell gloves like mittens are an awesome way to boost simple gloves' utility

– heavy fleece gloves are awesome 90% of the time when it is simply cold and dry out — North Face Denali are cheap, warm, and liner less, so easy to use with cold, wet fingers

– a super warm mitten makes life better when you let your hands get freezing cold

– don't let your gloves freeze!

– carry a spare pair, at least

For overmitts, the MEC Cloudraker mitt shells are really nice (seam taped!) and only $19 on sale:

http://www.mec.ca/product/5020-728/mec-cloudraker-mitts-unisex/

They fit really big because they're intended for big puffy warmth inside, so I suggest at least a size down. I normally buy medium and the smalls are plenty big on me with Defeet wool gloves inside. After removing a few toggles mine are 2.2oz for the pair.

My outdoors activities related to these gloves would include hiking and snowshoeing including overnights. No climbing or mountain ascents. Mostly hikes to secluded ponds by way of undulating terrain through forests.

Adirondacks cold (my avatar is the Marcy Dam in Lake Placid) but I would not be going outdoors when temperatures were below zero. So my temperature range would be 0-40 degree range.

Hi Dan,

So are they water resistant or water proof? They give two different descriptions :/

The "water resistant" term is strange. I attribute it to an ignorant staffer because if you look under the features it says they're "Made of waterproof-breathable 3-layer nylon that's fully seam taped"

So I don't see how it's anything but "waterproof". Of course like any "waterproof" garment it can fail over time. My experience thus far is fully positive but limited to a few wet day hikes.

Some more info here:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=71140

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=80191

This, and similar questions, seems to be asked often.

So I wrote something on it. :)
http://www.pmags.com/glove-in-hand-layering-for-cold-weather

Just my take out of my own experience. Others may have different preferences.

I went to both EMS and LL Bean. EMS did not have an unlined goretex shell, at least at the store. Bean had an awesome goretex shell which I really liked. You can adjust the wrist which is one feature I really do like that I wish the MEC mitt had.

I'm not crazy about the $79 price tag as I could get an OR Revell goretex shell for $65 and OR has a proven track record.

wiiawiwb wiiawiwb, that system is about what I used for many years. But I love my new changes. Like others, I've gone back to leather. Plain leather work gloves–large enough I can fit a thin liner in–have a remarkable temp. range they work well within. Besides usefulness for rough work, they feel great; they grip, absorb twisting, fear velcro not, and seem to reduce winter drying and cracking of hands. The other gloves I'm now never without are nitrile "exam" gloves (nitrile tougher than latex.) Definitely keep the skin moist. Great to wear under a wet glove when all is saturated: never feel wetter than they ever do. Wear in overmitts for snowcave & kitchen digging. And for making/breaking camp, grabbing a hot pot, they're like a junior version of the leathers, but totally waterproof. An extra layer of insensitive skin. Little warmth, but some. Not remotely so cold to wash your hands in snow right before eating a slice of salami with these on.

What makes most sense as the insulating layer the:

OR PL 400 fleece

http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/mens/gloves/mens-pl-400-mitts.html

or

Ortovox Arctic Mitts

http://store.mountaineer.com/product_p/arcticmitts.htm

My sense is the boiled wool mitts would be better in extreme cold whereas the ML 400 fleece is lighter.

After doing some research here and elsewhere, I decided on the 2014 OR Revel Shell Mitts. Though I haven't had a chance to test them on a hike yet, I did want to report on the weight in case it might help someone else make a decision.

In a men's size medium, the OR Revel shell mitts weigh 3.4 oz on my scales. After detaching the mitt retention cords, my final weight is 3.2 oz. A half-ounce more than my retired OR Talus shell mitts which were 2.7 oz.

They weigh a bit more than some cottage gear options but at least I don't have to wreck them with another one of my bad seam-sealing jobs.

I'm thinking of getting this for a PCT hike:

http://www.lokiusa.com/product_detail.php?id=C115

It would be my base layer as well as gloves. Since the gloves are built in I shouldn't lose them, plus I think it would be warmer than having two separate items. At 9oz it is competitive with a gloves/baselayer combo. I might just DWR the gloves part.