Mittens, anyone?

Given the same construction, mittens are warmer than gloves, but not all activities need the same level of warmth, and not all activities are suited to mittens. Sometimes I wear mittens, sometimes I wear gloves. I’ve been fine at -30F with gloves while moving, but at those temps I generally prefer mittens.

So, like most things, it depends…

I carry both on trips.  Hands inside good fleece gloves can tie up boot laces, use zippers, set up a tent etc.  Mittens while excellent can’t do any of these things.

Mittens in the winter for sure! Actually, both mittens and gloves. But hands-down mittens are warmer for a given weight and bulk!

I take mitten shells on every winter camping trip so I can put my removable pile liners inside them if the temps get too cold for gloves. Plus I take a pair of thin polyester liner gloves to fortify my pile liners if need be.

I do have two excellent mitten liners:

1.Dachstein boiled wool that I used inside nylon shells at -40 F. and they were nice and warm!

2.EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) double layer heavy fleece mittens that may be as warm as the Dachsteins – or not. Haven’t tested them below -20 F.

“But I see ad after ad for cold weather gloves, for backpacking, downhill skiing, x-c skiing, etc, and rarely see ads for mittens.”

The marketing is likely a reflection of where companies believe the most $$ is to be found. It doesn’t mean that mittens are going anywhere, but I suspect the glove sales are a LOT bigger than the mitten sales.

I too love my boiled wool Dachstein mittens, alone or in really cold weather under a shell.

I’ve been using a pair for decades (since the 1970s), only had to repair a small worn spot due to my X-C ski poles, on one side only near my thumb (not sure why the hole developed on just one side, something asymmetric in how I hold them or push the poles?).

For warmer weather I too use light gloves, I was thinking more about colder weather.

I think Matt may have hit the nail on the head…mittens are relatively simple to make and the markup is probably less.  And there’s not much “fashion” when it comes to mittens, certainly compared to gloves, where there are all kinds of cosmetic and functional features to play with and distinguish your product.

It’s mittens or nothing for me.

I too love my boiled wool Dachstein mittens, alone or in really cold weather under a shell.

I’ve been using a pair for decades (since the 1970s)

Same here. Still have the pair I got in 1976. Under a shell (and neck cord), with a light glove liner, I’ve never found a better cold-weather setup.

Mittens are warmer when I can keep them on.  But in camp, there’s way too much going on that requires intermittent removal of one or more mittens, so they end up begin colder.  I need a buddy to do all the camp chores, including feeding me; then my mittens will be perfect.

Would love some boiled wool mittens if I could find them at a price I could afford. I have been using the Fox River double wool mittens for a couple of years, often with a very thin liner when it gets really cold or when I’ll be wanting to carry out fine motor tasks. I do tend to switch to gloves for setting up tent but have found I need to go back to mitts, usually with a simple leather chopper shell for gathering and processing firewood. I have found that my fingers get very cold gripping an axe or saw, to the point of intense pain if I try to wear gloves. This is at around -20 and below, the common temperatures we are working with here in Manitoba.

Ah.  I have yet to see a mitten that you can operate a cell phone with, but I haven’t looked, either.  Maybe that is part of the reason gloves get the advertising.

A local (Oz) mfr of thermal clothing has a range of quite good intermediate weight fleece gloves, including one model with silver threads woven in at the finger tips – for touch screens.
Mittens with similar – not seen so far.

Cheers

Venom steel nitrile gloves. Great for tasks requiring hand/finger coverage but also where it helps if your hands and fingers can remain nearly as tactile as when glove-less. These are Wayyy stronger and more durable than the drugstore varieties. A little pricey but you can pull weeds all day without getting a tear. They’re tough. The effects of transpiration and evaporation are in play with your hands as well. I find they add @ 10 degrees to my tolerance. YMMV.  Another option for a layered system that’s guaranteed to keep your hands from getting wet. (from the outside anyway) or wetting out/diminishing your insulation from transpiration, a not uncommon problem. In the Stephenson manual your hands start to feel a little sweaty in these you remove a layer.

Another mitten-wearing dinosaur here.  Thin liner gloves inside so you can operate a camera and do camp chores.  Idiot cords on the mitts so they don’t get blown across a frozen lake when you take them off. Not that this has ever happened to me.  ;-)

No touch-screen capability needed ‘cuz we dinosaurs mostly use paper maps.

No touch-screen capability needed ‘cuz we dinosaurs mostly use paper maps.

Yeah, I was surprised and slightly terrified to see a “touch screen” mentioned in relation to cold weather wilderness travel. Though in fairness the comment could have been more about photography than anything else… hopefully it’s NOT about navigation.

I think mittens are very common for folks who spend a lot of time out in the cold. My standard winter gear is liner gloves, wool mittens, (waterproof/breathable) over mittens. At times I’ve been temped to switch to puffy mittens (to handle temperatures well below freezing). There are lots of options designed for this type of activity.

Gloves work out OK if you are comfortable putting your hands in your pockets, or are not out for very long. They also are fine for winter athletes. If you are racing down a hill (or gliding your way up) you are fine with gloves. When you stop, you go inside.Marketing is often driven by the winter athletes. But the vast majority of people are in that first group (the folks that aren’t out very long). Walk outside to your car, scrape off the window, take off your gloves and warm up your hands. Shovel the walk and go inside and drink hot cocoa. If you are waiting for a bus, you stick your hands in your pockets. What you don’t see as often is someone sitting at a frozen lake, just hanging out, enjoying the scenery. When you do, those folks usually have mittens on.