# Winter gloves



## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks for asking. I want to know the answer, too!


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## Dan the electricman (Jan 2, 2011)

Carhartt insulated. They get filthy quickly, but keep my hands from freezing.

https://www.amazon.com/Carhartt-Insulated-Leather-Brown-Large/dp/B01DEDXEHA/ref=sr_1_8?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1542247019&sr=1-8&nodeID=7141123011&psd=1&keywords=insulated+leather+work+gloves


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Depends on the task at hand.

Threaded pipe work, it's just plain old pig skin gloves.

General electrical work, Ironclad winter eight gloves.

Really cold conduit work, neoprene fishing gloves.


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

Smid said:


> What are you guys wearing for gloves when working outside? I’ve been lucky enough to not work outside the last couple winters but I haven’t been so lucky this year. I would typically wear snowboard glove liners as I could actually thread nuts and so intricate tasks but they just do not last.


Agree with Mech, depends on the task.

For needing to do stuff with your fingers, mechanics gloves help a bit but wont keep you warm for long. They last a long time thou.

I stay way from leather when it's wet work, or wet outside. They just get drenched. Waterproof synthetic is better.
I worked outside, but on the road. I always kept a couple of pairs in the truck on the heat registers, so I could change out for warm ones. Pulling U/G cable on the street, you want rubber palms.

More details on what you're doing will get you specific answers.


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## stiffneck (Nov 8, 2015)

When you find something that works, go back a buy a bunch more. Today's manufacturing/retail never have the same thing twice. Always got to change it to something different, something else, or cheaper(no good). There's a Carhartt store and Home Depot near the Airport. Get what ever they have, use it a few times and throw away.


Try this, fairly good for cold wet and sloppy in pavement cans. It's an import, but the web page makes it _feel_ like it's USA made; https://www.neoworkgearprousa.com


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## Takideezy (Mar 19, 2017)

Keeping your hands dry is important and having a couple of pairs of gloves to rotate during the day helps. Hand warmers laid flat against the back of your hand in the glove can be a game changer on really cold days.


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## Smid (Jul 9, 2014)

emtnut said:


> Agree with Mech, depends on the task.
> 
> For needing to do stuff with your fingers, mechanics gloves help a bit but wont keep you warm for long. They last a long time thou.
> 
> ...


Mostly running conduit/installing lighting. These next two weeks will be rigid for a dust collector and has a lot of controls and connections for various sensors. I will add I hate wearing gloves in general and never do unless it’s site specific. I got those baby hands so finding something in a small\medium is a little tougher lol


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

I have never found any gloves that really kept my hands and fingers warm. Even the military wool inserts won't keep my fingers from freezing. I've tried Carharts, Cabellas, El Cheapo's to $100 ski gloves. Nothing works for me.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

LARMGUY said:


> I have never found any gloves that really kept my hands and fingers warm. Even the military wool inserts won't keep my fingers from freezing. I've tried Carharts, Cabellas, El Cheapo's to $100 ski gloves. Nothing works for me.


....that’s your age showing 😆


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## Mulder (Sep 11, 2010)

LARMGUY said:


> I have never found any gloves that really kept my hands and fingers warm. Even the military wool inserts won't keep my fingers from freezing. I've tried Carharts, Cabellas, El Cheapo's to $100 ski gloves. Nothing works for me.


I don't know what you would do if you worked up here. Or Canada.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Mulder said:


> I don't know what you would do if you worked up here. Or Canada.


Cheap glove liners inside Garbage Mitts (Cabela’s).


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

LARMGUY said:


> I have never found any gloves that really kept my hands and fingers warm. Even the military wool inserts won't keep my fingers from freezing. I've tried Carharts, Cabellas, El Cheapo's to $100 ski gloves. Nothing works for me.


I had that same problem for years. I think what I was doing wrong was wearing gloves that were too small. If gloves are tight they will restrict the circulation and do more harm than good. I have to try on a lot of gloves to find something that fits. 

You have to alter the way you work in gloves, or at least I do. Mostly have to carry needlenose pliers if you're wearing gloves. One of the many ways everything winds up taking longer when it's cold. 

I stick to either plain pigskin gloves for protection or plain wool gloves when possible. These are not that warm, but in case of an accident, synthetics are dangerous. 

Carhartt has some very warm insulated gloves, but they run small or too snug - I have to wear XXL in most styles, not a lot of dexterity but again you find a way to get it done in gloves. 

If gloves are not warm enough, I will tuck one of those handwarmer packets on the back of my hand with gloves, this works pretty well.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

splatz said:


> I had that same problem for years. I think what I was doing wrong was wearing gloves that were too small. If gloves are tight they will restrict the circulation and do more harm than good. I have to try on a lot of gloves to find something that fits.
> 
> You have to alter the way you work in gloves, or at least I do. Mostly have to carry needlenose pliers if you're wearing gloves. One of the many ways everything winds up taking longer when it's cold.
> 
> ...


I sometimes think that the thin, synthetic gloves like Mechanix are colder than bare hands. If it isn't too cold, I wear thin, merino Icebreaker gloves inside cheap gardening gloves. If it’s really cold, I wear mitts. You can throw them off, work bare handed and then put them back on again. It’s surprising how you can work wearing mitts once you get used to them.

When it’s cold, you layer up, wear a hat and munch on granola bars or GORP. Cold fingers and toes are a sign that your body is cold.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I sit in my truck and warm my hands up. Then every once in awhile I will jump out and put a locknut on then hop back in my truck and warm them up.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

sbrn33 said:


> I sit in my truck and warm my hands up. Then every once in awhile I will jump out and put a locknut on then hop back in my truck and warm them up.


You should buy an 18V heat gun.

Oh yeah, Black and Decker don’t make a cordless heat gun.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

99cents said:


> I sometimes think that the thin, synthetic gloves like Mechanix are colder than bare hands. If it isn't too cold, I wear thin, merino Icebreaker gloves inside cheap gardening gloves. If it’s really cold, I wear mitts. You can throw them off, work bare handed and then put them back on again. *It’s surprising how you can work wearing mitts once you get used to them.*
> 
> When it’s cold, you layer up, wear a hat and munch on granola bars or GORP. Cold fingers and toes are a sign that your body is cold.


That's the truth! 

Learning to work in heavy gloves is a large part of doing underwater work.


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## mitch65 (Mar 26, 2015)

Ninja Ice gloves work pretty well if you don't need fine dexterity. When dexterity is required I used to wear nomex flight gloves and throw on a pair of insulated leather gloves every once in a while when the fingers get cold.


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

Wear a light knit pair like you'd use the rest of the year. I prefer cut resistant for skinning large diameter cables, etc. Wear heavy mittens over those. Drop the mittens to work small stuff, wear as needed, keep them on the rest of the time. Works better than the half gloves/mittens that flip down. This is how almost everybody worked on crews when I lived in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Only trouble is when you live there you can buy almost any glove or mitten on the market. If you live say in coastal North Carolina like I do now, winter glove selection is terrible. Up there the words they use are tukes (a traditional lapplander style hat but they use the word for any winter hat) and choppers (big overmitts).

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


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## stuiec (Sep 25, 2010)

When its actually cold enough for gloves, for me, I find I just have to get through the stage where its feels painful as hell, and then the circulation really starts pumping and hands are warm for the rest of the day. Learned that about myself one winter flat-roofing. Same went for winter riding, -30 out, and the first few blocks my feet and hands were freezing, give it a few blocks more and everything's toasty and warm.


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

Mulder said:


> I don't know what you would do if you worked up here. Or Canada.


My hands are cold in the summertime.


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## JohnJ65 (May 8, 2008)

Neoprene keeps you warm, and dry right up to the point that your hands start sweating inside but even then they are still warm. 

This is the brand I use but probably not the same model. 
https://www.amazon.com/STORMR-Neoprene-Gloves-Kevlar-Finger/dp/B00GSMBIUU


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

JohnJ65 said:


> Neoprene keeps you warm, and dry right up to the point that your hands start sweating inside but even then they are still warm.
> 
> This is the brand I use but probably not the same model.
> https://www.amazon.com/STORMR-Neoprene-Gloves-Kevlar-Finger/dp/B00GSMBIUU


I always used the cheapest ones I could get for doing dive related work, they are all great at keeping you warm.


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## Rora (Jan 31, 2017)

Problem with winter gloves is that if they're thick enough to keep you warm, they're often too thick to retain your dexterity and you end up having to take them off as soon as you have to do something precise.

Absolute best solution I've found so far is shell mitts from The Heat Company. You wear some thinner gloves then put the mitts over them, when you need to you unzip the palm and poke your fingers out. Also has a pocket for hand warmers on the back.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Rora said:


> Problem with winter gloves is that if they're thick enough to keep you warm, they're often too thick to retain your dexterity and you end up having to take them off as soon as you have to do something precise.
> 
> Absolute best solution I've found so far is shell mitts from The Heat Company. You wear some thinner gloves then put the mitts over them, when you need to you unzip the palm and poke your fingers out. Also has a pocket for hand warmers on the back.


Pretty cool!


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

There is no single answer. It's been snowing all day and I wore different types of glove depending on what I was doing. leather, insulated leather, snowmobile, ski gloves and thin ones for doing fine work. If you live in the cold you adapt to the task at hand.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

drsparky said:


> There is no single answer. It's been snowing all day and I wore different types of glove depending on what I was doing. leather, insulated leather, snowmobile, ski gloves and thin ones for doing fine work. *If you live in the cold you adapt to the task at hand.*



:thumbsup:

When you work in cold or wet weather you need to adapt to the conditions or fail miserably.


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## Rora (Jan 31, 2017)

MechanicalDVR said:


> Pretty cool!


Apparently they were originally developed for the Austrian special forces (in the Alps) and started selling them to the public. They're also like $200+ so probably not a great choice for high wear stuff.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Rora said:


> Apparently they were originally developed for the Austrian special forces (in the Alps) and started selling them to the public. They're also like $200+ so probably not a great choice for high wear stuff.


Very cool but yeah very pricey!


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

stuiec said:


> When its actually cold enough for gloves, for me, I find I just have to get through the stage where its feels painful as hell, and then the circulation really starts pumping and hands are warm for the rest of the day. Learned that about myself one winter flat-roofing. Same went for winter riding, -30 out, and the first few blocks my feet and hands were freezing, give it a few blocks more and everything's toasty and warm.


That's what I do. Glove up when I have to man handle conduit, strut or whatever, and then shuck the gloves when I have to do work involving dexterity. My hands get cold, hurt, then are magically not cold anymore.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Some days you wake up cold and stay cold. It’s just a chitty day. Other days you’re Superman and impervious to cold. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s mental.


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## bostonPedro (Nov 14, 2017)

As stated it really depends on the task. 
When I worked outside doing rigid for 2 winters I would wear rubber or neoprene( not exactly sure) gloves with thin wool gloves underneath. This way when I had to have nimble fingers I would take off the rubber gloves and not be bare handed.
Something like these 
https://gonefco.com/products/safety...-wrist-interlock-lining-single-dip-large.html

I had some orange ones that were much better than these but don't remember the brand but they were a softer type of rubber and not as stiff as the black ones.....I gave them away to an apprentice last year. They were way to big for her but they kept her hands dry and with other gloves underneath they kept you warm


Best friend for cold fingers on frigid days is an old fashioned HALOGEN work light. Really warms the hands up.


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

stuiec said:


> When its actually cold enough for gloves, for me, I find I just have to get through the stage where its feels painful as hell, and then the circulation really starts pumping and hands are warm for the rest of the day. Learned that about myself one winter flat-roofing. Same went for winter riding, -30 out, and the first few blocks my feet and hands were freezing, give it a few blocks more and everything's toasty and warm.


Cold never bothered me at all until about 45 or 50 yrs old.
Now if it's below -10C, 3 or 4 of my fingers turn numb within 5 mins of working outside, and yep... hurt like hell. I find if I just warm them up, then I'm good for the rest of the day.
Maybe that jump starts the circulation ?

I think I got a bit of frost bite on my hands over the years, and that may be what started it.


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## stuiec (Sep 25, 2010)

I think its core warmth. When I was on the railroad, we had giant parkas and spent most of our time in the truck. getting up in the bucket and taking off the gloves and my hands would be steaming. Riding bike in the winter, I'd wear less around my core, and it would take a bit it to warm up, after which my hands and feet would stop hurting and get (and stay) warm.


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

A decent but not too bulky (or heated) vest helps the core a great deal, without adding encumbering bulk to the arms. 

A friend has reynaud’s disease, which means his hands and feet are always cold, even in summer.


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## Smid (Jul 9, 2014)

JohnJ65 said:


> Neoprene keeps you warm, and dry right up to the point that your hands start sweating inside but even then they are still warm.
> 
> This is the brand I use but probably not the same model.
> https://www.amazon.com/STORMR-Neoprene-Gloves-Kevlar-Finger/dp/B00GSMBIUU


I’ll give these a try, thanks!


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## DCooke111 (Jul 24, 2016)

Tillman True Fit Thermal lined. They are warm but still allow pretty good dexterity


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

If your hands get cold while working in winter just press the top yellow switch for warm or hot, bottom yellow switch if your thumbs get cold.


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