 Poster: A snowHead
|
So...
Mrs UANN was very excited when her new inner gloves arrived.
Background: She suffers from Raynaud's disease to the point that in summer she has to wash salad in warm water. To ski she requires glove and boot heaters. Before anyone suggests that she man up, etc., she skied 40-60 days a year (alpine) for 32 years before this manifested itself. Which it did, all of a sudden.
For the last 6 seasons she's used a motorbike system from Klan which has worked very well but were somewhat industrial and involved a large central battery and lighting grade cables to distribute to the gloves. Probably not noticeable under leathers, but not so ideal under modern ski kit. It was also a rather expensive solution with a life of around 3 seasons. So when the current rig was noticed not working when skiing at the beginning of December we ordered a set of the Blazewear X1 inners, direct - www.blazewear.com - mentioned elsewhere here.
A quick jaunt to Verbier yesterday for field trials:
So far a great success. It wasn't very cold, only down to -4C min. so they were run on "low" and "medium". They heat rapidly and very noticeably. On "low" a battery set should last 6 hours, I think on "high" 3 hours - the batteries are small enough that the spare set we ordered are in a pocket. If it was a really full day, 3 hours per set wouldn't really be enough, so it is conceivable that we may have to order a 3rd set. We'll see.
And she's very "liberated" to not have cables running everywhere through her jacket.
Hestra mittens size 7 and the inners are "small/medium". Fit well although possibly hands smaller than a 7 might find them a little large.
Very pleased.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@under a new name, Pleased to hear that, must be a relief for her to enjoy skiing again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
@blahblahblah, Thanks - although she's been enjoying skiing happily, she's just enjoying it a little more now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@under a new name, I realise that but having freezing hands makes it a whole less fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
@blahblahblah, indeed, but the Klan heaters worked fine keeping her hands warm for the last 6 years, They were just cumbersome - cables everywhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
@under a new name, Thanks for that review. On a couple of occasions when I was skiing earlier this month my fingers suddenly got really cold, to the point of being very painful. Although it did start to ease again when I was skiing more vigorously, I'd never had that kind of pain in my fingers before, so had started to look at ideas for heated gloves/liners. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Iski, if you haven't ruled out core temperature dropping, mittens and silk inners, they're cheaper "primary" (if you like) fixes.
Otherwise these seem pretty good so far.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@under a new name, I did have glove liners, but will experiment with everything else while (hopefully) skiing over New Year before committing to the expense of the heated liners!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
@under a new name, I'm feeling under pressure now! I hope they work as well for Mrs. U ANN as for Mrs Doc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Tom Doc, forecast to be -11 in Champoluc Tuesday so we'll find out 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Is there a 'fingers crossed' smiley anywhere?
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
I tested out my blazeweaer heated liners last week and was pleased with them - although the battery life was not as long as the product suggests - so on very cold days I think carrying a spare pair of batteries would be a good idea.
I often get cold hands skiing despite wearing mittens with silk or silver glove liners and one of those tea bag warmers. Skiing down a chilly run in VT with my hands warmer than the rest of me was rather a surreal experience - usually my fingers would have been numb by then.
I did have a problem with some stitching coming undone on one seam of one glove. However, called blazewear about this once I got home and a replacement glove arrived in 2 days - so good customer service.
For me these are worth the cost - will have recouped my outlay within a couple of weeks skiing by needing less hot chocolate stops to thaw my hands out.
I bought the smaller size gloves and these are slightly big for me ( but there are the smallest size they offer). Would also be useful if one of the gloves had a touch screen finger & thumb so i could use the iphone without taking them off
Now i am thinking my thermic boot heaters could do an upgrade - they are about 5 years old and although still work, i don't think the batteries hold the charge as well as they used to. Any snowheads have a recommendation on boot heating from recent experience ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So the BW liners worked very well, battery life as advertised but defo 2 sets required for full day if bitterly cold (e.g. Monday, -15 and windy).
Possibly 3 sets if a very full day ...
But they're pretty compact so no worries, especially as the last situation probably involves backpack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
Hi - as a comparison I have the Blazenware Gillet, or bodywarmer as some prefer to call it. I have had it for several years now, probably their first model.
I do find it great for exceptionally cold days or very long cold lifts. Although it is a little bulky. I believe they now do a more 'fitted' version for ladies.
I also would need 2 batteries if I were to have it switched on all day. The only downside, other than it being a little bulky is that you have to undo your jacket to get to the switch. Although I purchased a remote that fits into my salopette pocket, eliminating the need to undo jacket.
Re gloves - whilst in Florida (of all places) last year - I purchased a pair of mittens - I also suffer with Raynauds, although very mild - they are the warmest pair of gloves ever - although they do look like I am wearing boxing gloves - but I am really past caring about looks!
I hope you find your gloves a success and they enable you to enjoy your skiing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
@under a new name, Glad to hear it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
So the wedding day came and went in a flash but wow how amazing that was.
Then off to Terminal 2 at LHR which if you've not seen really does make The UK somewhere people will say wow when they fly into. Air Canada were good but you can't check a boot bag without paying for skis which is rather annoying as you can with the low costs in Europe. Onto Whistler which hasn't got great snow at the moment and is almost in spring skiing conditions. Onto the gloves.......
AMAZING she couldn't be happier with them them, while the village is warm it's still cold up on the hill. The wife (that's still weird to say) has never skied before without cold hands. We had no need for a break in the afternoon just to warm her hands up. It was snowing all day (yay) and so still a bit nippy and they worked great all day. What with the jetlag from London it wasn't a huge day, 10-1530 but 5 and a half hours, with 2 short stops when they were turned off, so a good charge held throughout the day anyway. Normally I do most kit admin post skiing, however these went straight on to charge.
After she got them at Christmas I showed her all the posts so like the advice she had them on green. The one point of note was like others she had to up size her outter gloves, we got some gortex Northface mittens, which are a big big in the finger department, and so it does take a little while longer to get the hands in the ski pole loops. But she doesn't have cold fingers so which is worth its weight in sparkles wedding rings. Highly recommend Blazewear to anyone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
My wife has these Blazewear inner gloves as her hands become painfully cold even in mild UK winter conditions. Combined with Hestra mitts these have been great.
Money well spent as far as I'm concerned as it means the difference between us staying out on the slopes and retiring early on colder days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
