heated gloves

[johnnash]

A few years ago, I bought a pair of Heat-X battery-operated ski gloves. I've had a number of issues with them over the years, and now one of the rechargeable batteries has died and is outrageously expensive to replace, so I won't be doing that. Even though these were never quite satisfactory, I would try another brand of heated glove if I could get a good recommendation from a user. Has anyone had a good experience?

 

[billski]

I know you didn't ask, but..
I buy a box of hand warmers at costco for $18 each year. I put one of them on the back of my hands inside the glove. Works perfect, pretty cheap!

 

[berkshireskier]

yea, I'm a huge believer in those hand warmers you can buy for about a buck for two and just put them in your gloves.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Speaking of Costco, the Head gloves they sell at this time of year are one of the greatest deals in ski accessories. They are waterproof/breathable, have Outlast for temperature regulation and also have a zipper slot on the back to insert a heat pack if needed. All of this for $16.99. Last year when I needed new gloves I bought 3 pair.

For warmth I'm also a big believer in glove liners, especially important when you need to take your hand out of your glove to retrieve something from a pocket, etc. Glove liners plus the Head gloves will take me comfortably down to zero F or so. Colder that I use mittens plus glove liners. I have not needed to use heat packs in gloves, though I rarely have to ski in the temps that some of the easterners and Canadians do. I have needed to use the adhesive heat packs on the toes of my boot liners a few times though.

 

[tcope]

The problem I've always found with heat packs is 1) they don't work and 2) some need air to work and when inside of a glove, they don't work very well. Though I'd LOVE to find a good brand that works.

 

[berkshireskier]

The problem I've always found with heat packs is 1) they don't work and 2) some need air to work and when inside of a glove, they don't work very well. Though I'd LOVE to find a good brand that works.

My experience is that they work very well, even inside a glove. The ones I use (and the brands vary - whatever I can buy at the cheapest price) stay very warm - and almost too hot at times - and last all day long. It's amazing to me that even when I take them out of my gloves at the end of the day, they are still very warm - and sometimes stay warm for 11 or 12 hours in total. I just put them right in the palm of my hand inside the glove - it feels a little awkward at first but becomes unnoticeable after awhile. I have gloves that have the zippered pocket on the top of the glove, but I find that putting the heat packs in there does not get enough warmth to my hands inside the glove. My experience with the toe heat pads is that they do not work as well, for some reason. The heat does not just last as long, maybe because they're much thinner?

 

[johnnash]

Interesting to hear the somewhat different experiences with glove warmers. My own experience is that they are plenty warm to begin with, but they poop out by the late afternoon unless I open a new pair at lunch. I haven't ever paid much attention to the brand, figuring that with this kind of commoditized lo-tech stuff, brand doesn't matter, but maybe there are differences. My biggest problem with glove warmers, though, is that I like to be able to take my hand out of my glove (adjust the I-pod, answer a cell), and the warmers tend to fall out. Not a huge problem, but a nuisance. And like Tony, I use glove liners, which help keep the hands from freezing when the gloves have to come off. Still, would be nice to find heated gloves that work well ...

 

[Marc_C]

The problem I've always found with heat packs is 1) they don't work and 2) some need air to work and when inside of a glove, they don't work very well. Though I'd LOVE to find a good brand that works.

My experience is that they work very well, even inside a glove. The ones I use (and the brands vary - whatever I can buy at the cheapest price) stay very warm - and almost too hot at times - and last all day long. It's amazing to me that even when I take them out of my gloves at the end of the day, they are still very warm - and sometimes stay warm for 11 or 12 hours in total.

I'll second that - I find they work, and work very well. However, we are talking about tcope here; not the first time that something that works for everyone else somehow doesn't for him. 8)

 

[berkshireskier]

Interesting to hear the somewhat different experiences with glove warmers. My own experience is that they are plenty warm to begin with, but they poop out by the late afternoon unless I open a new pair at lunch. I haven't ever paid much attention to the brand, figuring that with this kind of commoditized lo-tech stuff, brand doesn't matter, but maybe there are differences. My biggest problem with glove warmers, though, is that I like to be able to take my hand out of my glove (adjust the I-pod, answer a cell), and the warmers tend to fall out. Not a huge problem, but a nuisance. And like Tony, I use glove liners, which help keep the hands from freezing when the gloves have to come off. Still, would be nice to find heated gloves that work well ...

Yea, losing the glove warmer when removing your hand from the glove is an occupational hazard. I've dropped a few off chairlifts when taking off my glove (are they biodegradable??) I always carry an extra pair or two in my jacket pocket, in case I do lose one or one of the warmers turns out to be a "dud" and not last all day. My experience is that the brand does not really matter. I've tried several brands - whatever is the cheapest - and they all seem to work about the same.

 

[Tony Crocker]

The Head gloves from Costco have a zipper pouch for the heat pack on the back of the glove. This seems to me a superior design because:
1) back of the hand is colder than the palm, needs the heat more
2) the heat pack is in its own compartment and won't fall out if you take your hand out of the glove.

 

[wolfer]

I have been using the Head gloves from Costco for the last three seasons. They have kept my hands warm even at -30° C. Like Tony I bought several pairs because you can notice that they are not nearly as warm towards the end of the second season, something I can live with having paid less than $20.00.

 

[karenmcgraw]

I had used Grabber Battery Powered Heat Gloves this heated ski gloves uses a four double a batteries, you can adjust the warmth settings of the gloves to high or low.

 

[wyfwyf112]

Recently, I used a heated glove from www.heatedshoe.com. It is very good experience for me of the temperature. That is really comfortable for me especially to my cold hand. I've used many brands of heated gloves and they don't have any warm feeling to me. But this new heated glove let me feel the "hot" in my hand in the winter.That was a great experience for me.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I should weigh in again after having to deal with a -22F morning of cat skiing on Jan. 18. A few points:
1) Keeping the core warm makes it less likely that blood will flee from the extremities. Thus 4 layers under my ski suit.
2) No exposed skin to drain heat. Thus a face mask all day.
3) In general I have more issues with toes than fingers. The neoprene Boot Glove seemed to be effective, as it was for Adam some years ago. Particularly recommended if it's powder, where your boots are under the snow a lot of the time.
4) With all of the above I managed to keep fingers under control with mittens plus glove liners. Glove liners are very important when you have to take your hand out of a glove/mitten to get into a pocket.

 

[flyover]

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time recreating in temperatures well-below zero (not this winter!), I agree with almost all of Tony's points (I have no experience with boot gloves).

These days, just about everybody understands that layering is an extremely useful strategy for dressing for cold weather. Many, however, neglect to apply this principle to their head and hands. On really cold days, I add a balaclava and neck gator under the helmet or hat. For gloves, I use of pair of tough, waterproof-breathable overmitts, over thick fleece mittens (currently, Black Diamond Mercury Mitts), over glove liners. If temps change, layers can be removed or added as necessary. Using this system, my hands are more-or-less never cold.

I'm not particularly prone to cold hands, but if I were, there are several steps up in overmitt-mitten burliness available on the market.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I'm sure flyover is vastly more qualified to advise people on this topic than I am.

I think the boot glove is an application of his layering principle. For proper bootfitting it's not possible to add extra layers inside. So the boot glove adds a layer outside plus provides a insulation barrier when boots are in/under the snow.

 

[BryAn]

A few years ago, I bought a pair of Heat-X battery-operated ski gloves. I've had a number of issues with them over the years, and now one of the rechargeable batteries has died and is outrageously expensive to replace, so I won't be doing that. Even though these were never quite satisfactory, I would try another brand of heated glove if I could get a good recommendation from a user. Has anyone had a good experience?

Yeah, I think that has been an issue with battery operated ski gloves. I've got mine here http://www.oxfordgloves.co.uk hoping this might help.

 

[johnnash]

Thanks, Bryan. I looked at the Oxford Gloves website and the price is certainly right for their heated gloves, but they give absolutely no information about them other than that you get 4 hours per charge. And they're currently out of stock. How long have you had yours? Do you use them skiing, and have they performed well?

 

[Nokanduis]

I have Reynaud's [circulation issues] and the best antidote for me has been a pair of RBH Designs vapor-barrier mittens and their vapor-barrier socks. They are made in W. Hartford CT and the craftsmanship was A-1. So nice to have warm hands again, will try the Boot Gloves again that Tony C. mentioned - already have a pair, they help, sometimes a tad inconvenient when one needs to unbuck.le. Vapor-barrier liners also have worked well for my sleeping bag in 0F snowcamps.

Stephenson's warmlite.com in NH makes v-b glove liners and v-b shirts that work great, RBHdesigns.com also make many v-b clothing items.

Now if someone can just make a pair of V-b booties for under my wetsuit so I don't have to walk on frozen feet over sharp rocks in 58F water.