Looking for a mitt that fits this design

designed for high altitude helicopter crews. just don't look at the price.

http://military.outdoorresearch.com/gov/multicam-swoop-mitt-shells-non-fr-old-7082.html

you can find in the $200 range online, which i guess is a bargin.

I think I have backpacks that weigh less than the swoop mitts.

Less leather!

It'd be sweet if some cottage company picked up on the (perceived by me) lack of UL winter mitten options. ZPacks fleece mitts are a step in the right direction, for early/late winter…

Yes it seems so many manufacturers are simply repeating the same three or four patterns adding useless little features like touchscreen compatibility and charging more each year. And don't get me started on the membrane WPB marketing hype. For sweaty, cold hands nothing is better than a truly breathable pile fleece. And at 3-5oz the two mitts I first described are a perfect weight (especially since they can almost be called storm shells).

SHELL-> Outdoor Products GTX seam sealed Cordura shell

LINER-> EMS (discontinued) double layer fleece mittens

The double layer fleece is amazingly warm. I wear thin polyester glove liners with them for rare times when I must remove a mitten.

This combo will easily take you to -40 F. I know because I used a lesser combo of a nylon/leather shell and Dachstein boiled ragg wool liners in these conditions and was fine.

NOTE: If you cannot find double layer fleece liners then get a large single-layer fleece liner and wear a pair of fleece gloves inside them. OR get a slightly smaller fleece mitten, insert it in the larger liner and sew them together at the cuff hem.

Naturally this require that your shells be large enough to accommodate these liners.

Yea, but Eric that layering system is not at all what I required in my original post.

"I want what's called a 'convertible' mitt where the finger section folds back without removing the mitt."

The term for that is "snow trap." :)

Mitch,

Cabela's has the biggest selection of this type mitten I've seen.

here

http://www.opticsplanet.com/outdoor-designs-konagrip-convertible.html

may not be as warm or light as Buffalo Mitts, but possibly tougher amd useful for a lot of situations.

So the problem with the existing convertible mitts is they don't expect you to be wearing light/mid-weight gloves as liners… or liners at all. They have an internal 'glove' design. So the OR Konagrips can't be used for the same reason as I explained with the BD Windweight mitts. I almost see this design as a flaw… a mitt can and should be layered over regular climbing gloves. c'est la vie.

Using some Google-Fu I've found the keyword "split palm mitt" and "fingerless mitt" to give some encouraging results. Sadly none of the results were ideal but the Black Rock Fingerless Mitts (http://www.blackrockgear.com/foldbackmitts.html) showed an improved 'convertible' design simply creating a slit in the palm. These use 900FP down so they won't fit my wet-n-wild style, they may be more useful to the BackpackingLight community.

I've just purchased a new pair of Buffalo Mitts and will likely make my own modifications.