HESTRA GLOVES -hands still cold

A snowHead

I purchased the 3 fingered Hestra Army gloves a few seasons back, all good.

However. skied 4 weeks this season and hands cold in each resort. I'm going to purchase some quality inners

Suggestions and websites please ! Cost isnt an issue for quality

A snowHead

Tea bags.

They work.

(I mean those little oxidising packs - work best inside mittens.)

Got me through last January with no circulation in my left arm after an arterial occlusion.

snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hestra do a range of inners, have a look at their website.
However, if the rest of you's not warm enough your hands may still get cold as part of your body's physiological reaction to extremely low temperatures; peripheral shut down kicks in, a type of mild Reynaud's phenomenon.
I've got similar Hestras but I've had similar problems on long slow chairlifts when it's been extremely cold. I know I tend not to layer up enough cause I hate overheating when I'm skiing hard.
So... The answer to your cold hands may lie in a thick hat or similar you can put on before you start to cool down. Works for me...

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

The Hestra liner gloves (not the removable liners) are very poor. I won't be buying another pair.

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Despite their reputation I have been very unimpressed with Hestra gloves - I've never yet found a pair that properly fit me and those I bought the kids (at some considerable expense and because of their reputation) didn't do a good job of keeping their hands warm at all and wore out very quickly. We all now use other brands and get on just fine.

After all it is free

When I tried on some Hestra gloves once I found them far too stiff and unyielding for my poor arthriticky hands. On the other hand, the Gordini Goretex mitts I bought in T K Maxx for about £20 are terrific.

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Well mine are toasty.

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Put on a gilet. It doesn't bulk up your sleeves and make your jacket tight, but it can make a surprising difference to your extremities. Even if you don't feel cold round your body, it could be the reason for your cold hands.

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Rooster hot hands sailing gloves are excellent. I have used them on their own and as a liner in mitts, bit bulky if your gloves are tight fitting though.

Lizzard, I'm not convinced by that bit of science. The proportion of o2 is the same but there is less air at altitude. I would be surprised it that was a significant factor in the chemical reaction. The volume of air inside the glove might be a limiting factor. I used to be good at chemistry, but that was a long time ago. I do know not to be impressed by names though!

snowHead

You know it makes sense.

1969jma, i ski the same gloves and have never had problems - suggest you try the Haglofs lightweight gloves, slightly thicker than inner gloves which IME tend to last about a week, too thin to be of any use. Also agree re the body warmer comment above, keeping the core warm is key, plus a big carb fest breakfast, porridge or meusli with plenty of sugary fruit and honey. Got to stoke up the boiler otherwise it steals heat from the extremities, ie fingers.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

The other option is to put a pair of goretex mountaineering gauntlets over your usual gloves. They are not that clumsy and make a hell of a difference.

A snowHead

Try adding a pair of thin silk inners

A snowHead

sport pursuit where selling the zanier heat gtx gloves recently. I suffer from cold hands like you and bought a pair of the zanier last year. Definitely kept my hands warm.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

mine are toasty and nice and soft... maybe it's poor circulation that makes cold hands and not Hestra gloves?

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shoogly, I don't have poor circulation, I do have great mid layers and my core is plenty warm and yet I still found the Hestra gloves (the ones with Hestra's own fibrefill insulation) were not warm enough. I'm talking about the army leather GTX model. However, their alpine gloves with Primaloft insulation are much warmer.

I don't think the problem is with Hestra gloves per se, it's certain models with the fibrefill insulation.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Get some of those gloves you see every pisteur or liftie wearing, yellow with a furry liner - picked a pair up for 11 euro in a garage and they are not warm but hot!

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Lizzard,

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livetoski, that could be because water is a catalyst to the exothermic reaction of the iron filings and the oxygen. There needs to be water vapour for the reaction to happen efficiently. The atmosphere in your glove is easily damper than the outside air on a snowy mountain esp. on a very cold day when the water vapour in the air is locked into ice crystals. For that matter it could help to explain Lizzard's, finding as it is easily much colder at that altitude. In VT in April I've seen it the wrong side of freezing and also when we have been skiing 'inside clouds' then there is lots of water vapour about and I imagine the reaction happens much more efficiently. In fact if you were to hold the 'Tea bag' inside your hands, cupped around your mouth and breathe out on them they could well work quicker due to the water vapour in your breath.

After all it is free

1969jma, one issue you might want to look at before switching is any restriction in circulation at the wrists. I think one reason for the range of reactions to certain glove types may have nothing to do with them at all but rather layers of elastication/padding that accumulate at the wrist and sometimes cuts down on circulation. This obviously will vary from person to person depending on their size/dimensions and what they are wearing and will obviously become more accute as altitude increases. Before you do anything else, try skiing the Hestras 'open' (i.e. not cinching them closed) with no elastication on your wrists or arms and as little material covering the wrist as you feel you can get away with and see what it feels like after an hour or so. I know one person where this adjustment proved a revelation after I suggested it. Remember, the wrist is an area of the body where blood vessels are very close to the surface and in cold environments it does not take much to restrict blood flow at that point.

Also whilst I agree with the dietry advice above you need to leave about a two hour gap between stuffing your gob and skiing otherwise the reverse will prove true.

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The teabag thing is interesting

We use them here at very simialr altitudes each week for the kids whenever the temp is below about -13 ish

The other week it was cold, proab around minus 18/20. My sons stopped working completely but yet worked again at lunchtime stuck in his gloves still

His hands got very cold and were painful and so i wondered whther it was a minimum tmeperature thing. He had liner gloves on and so the tea bags were between his liners and his mitts. My daugter's hands stayed much warmer and her tea bag worked throughout.

Maybe it was justa duff tea bag

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What are these tea bag things, anyone able to post a link?

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Markymark29, http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-hot-pad-disposable-hand-warmers-p184340

geepee, Cheers, guess where i'm going tomorrow lunch time...........and what do you do with them, just put them at the back of the glove, or in the palm of your hand?

You know it makes sense.

Markymark29, Just put them where ever it is most comfy - some gloves even have a pocket on their back that you can slip them into. If you are standing around for any length of time don't forget they can also go in your pockets too.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I've always had poor circulation in my hands. Gloves are ok whilst skiing but on chair lifts freezing at -24. Although the gloves have been fine until this season, the rest of body is toastie.

I've also used the t bags which are ok

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?tag=amz07b-21&ie=UTF8&keywords=handwarmer&index=aps&hvadid=8294641569&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7952188261208014852&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_8lrv2ex1eo_b

Silk Inners or Merino Inners seem to be an answer, undecided which.

A snowHead

1969jma,

Poor circulation will likely lead to cold fingers irrespective of what you have over them unless it's several layers which allow warm air to circulate, though this will likely result in very bulky gloves/ mittens. My circulation isnt great but I've had no problems with hestra heli ski gauntlets without the need for extra liners - including a rather nippy time in Norway at -30 and below around the backcountry. I swear by them and brought a second pair for vain reasons - my first pair are still going strong 6+ years later after much abuse skiing, touring, and on expeditions. Plenty of tlc in the form of balm and not over zealous drying on radiators has kept them just as good as the day I brought them. As others have pointed out keeping your wrists and arms warm is equally important if you want toasty hands - heat loss there just makes it worse for your hands. Another solution could be to try wrist warmers - in tandem with merino liners, low bulk and provides another layer under the jacket cuff in addition to the gauntlet of the hestra gloves. If you don't have gauntlet gloves I'd recommend trying this, it seems to work for quite a few blokes I've worked and toured with.

A snowHead

Mrs M here (prone to feeling the cold). We've just come back from a week in Tignes and temps down to -25 and then some. I have Hestra Ski Cross gloves, and wore a (cheap) pair of silk liners under them on colder days. On warmer days (-10 ish) I didn't need the liners, and only on one day when we went over to Le Fornet and it was F cold did I stick a pair of mitts over the gloves. So I'd suggest trying some liners and see how you go. And another base layer.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Markymark29, my wife moved them around various parts of her body whilst skiing last weekend!!

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what Monium says... I use Merino liners after lunch when they get cold and sweaty and it really helps.. I have kinda gone off Hestra gloves and am liking my Mountain Equipment ones better for cold weather

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

1969jma,

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I've managed to destroy my Hestra merino liners after 1 and a half weeks. I've Reverted back to a cheap silk pair I also brought which have done the trick and seem much more durable.

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+1 for thin inner liners, climbing section of the stores best place to get em. I've found Hestra gloves vastly overrated (mainly on here rolling eyes

). Warmest gloves I have had were Burton AK Yeti "snowboard" gloves - too warm actually for all but the coldest days

After all it is free

I've just ordered a pair of Marmot 3-in-1 Cirque gloves for my wife from Sportpursuit for a bargainlicous price of £37.50

Hopefully will do the trick for her cold hands!

3-in-1 Mitten System
GORE-TEX® Waterproof/Breathable Mitt Insert with Active Shell Technology - GORE-TEX® Waterproof/Breathable Mitt Insert
Thermal R Insulation
DriClime® Bi-Component Wicking Lining - For Breathability and Excellent Moisture Transfer
Removable High Loft Fleece Glove
Falcon Grip - Articulated for Dexterity and Ease of Grip
Gauntlet Quickdraw - Easy to Use One-Handed Drawcords
Internal Heater Pocket
Nose wipe - Soft fabric to wipe your runny nose
Safety Leash - Keeps Glove Attached to Wrist When Removed from Hand

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These look pretty damn good... ME stuff tends to be top quality.

http://www.peglers.co.uk/products/ME-Pinnacle-Mitts.html

Help!!

HESTRA GLOVES -hands still cold

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