Idea for low bulk, extreme cold temp glove system

Giving it some more thought, even though there is no valve, the CO2 will not stay in there permanently as is (maybe with a special coating–a Teflon coating might help quite a bit?).

Put a little more Kapok to compensate just in case. Even if it’s just stilled air, it will be a very warm system for the bulk/volume.

Argon would be better.

Edit to add:  Argon is more accessible and cheaper than I first thought. Apparently it’s used commonly for wine preservation.

Argon it is.

Nm, lots of different argon products–have to look through some before seeing what’s best deal.

I don’t think it’s practical but I like the way that you think outside the box

Thanks for the latter part Edward.

CO2 would definitely not be practical, because it wouldn’t work–it permeates out too easily and quickly (though that is slowed proportionally by the lowering of temps).

But argon would definitely work–low enough permeability that butyl rubber can handle, relatively inexpensive, and because it’s slightly denser than the primary components of air, it’s easy to apply and contain while you’re spraying it in the gloves.

Previously I was under the assumption that argon gas was hard to come by and expensive. But probably thanks primarily to the wine industry, it’s easy and relatively inexpensive to buy little pressurized bottles for it.

Without something fancy, there is no way to get the gloves to be filled only or even almost completely only argon gas, but with easy, convenient means, you can get predominant argon over air no problem.

The thermal conductivity of argon gas is significantly lower than that of air (.016 vs .024).  That combined with two layers of the unusually low thermal conductivity for a solid–butyl rubber (.09), and some pretty good air insulating Kapok fiber, all sealed up between two waterproof layers and combined with a thin glove liner–you got a pretty warm glove system at low bulk.

If done well, it’s actually the opposite of impractical–quite practical.  The main problem with insulation at unusually low temperatures is moisture and you need a lot of conventional insulation to slow down the energy transference process.  Usually this is done with two air permeable layers with a lot of air trapping insulation inside, whether down, thinsulate, etc.

Because these are sensitive to moisture issues and build up, some folks wear VBL gloves–usually cheaper, common types like nitrile and laxtex (both of which don’t compare to the thermal conductivity of butyl rubber–not even neoprene does–these are all in the range of .19 to .24 or so, if I remember correctly).

Using two thicker layers of the latter, with argon gas, and kapok fiber allows you get more insulation at less bulk, and fairly worry free (unless you get a rip or tear in the butyl, but again, even a thin fabric outer mitten or glove would help prevent that easily).

With the added benefit that butyl rubber is quite “grippy”.  Oft times at very cold temps, it can be harder to use your finer manual dexterity–particularly with big ole puffy mittens and the like. Usually you have to wear a liner glove underneath, quickly take off the puffy mitten, and try to quickly do what you need to do, and then shove your freezing hands back into your mitten and wait for it to all warm up again.

With this system, unless you’re dealing with something sharp or highly abrasive, you wouldn’t have to do that.

What does make it impractical is that eventually the argon will permeate out like a rubber balloon filled with air (without a special coating on the butyl rubber), so the ideal system would have a highly efficient valve so that every once in awhile, you could refill it.

Otherwise, keeping it in the freezer when you’re not using it will prolong the argon gas containment, because permeability with most rubbers goes down with temp. If it’s primarily subjected to cold temps most of the time, the argon should stay in there for a fairly long time.  The only primary heat it should be subjected to, is the heat of your hands (which I would guess ranges from 80* F to 85 or so?).

Years ago I had a pair of Japanese Freezer gloves that worked on the VB principle. I can’t remember where they went to but I do remember they were very clunky to work in, I do remember however that they were Nitrile rubber and Thinsulate insulated