Maybe you guys can help
In the past I have frozen my fingers and now even the slightest bit of chill(-10) My fingers are absolutly freezing
I don't stand hunt that often so those hand warmers don't do alot of good
My hands get so cold i fear i wouldn't even be able to shoot

Years ago I bought a pair of electric battery powered gloves...

They work great on really cold days...

Try a hand muff that straps around your waist with a disposable handwarmer for each hand inside it. problem solved, regardless of temperature,

I think most people treat their hands defrently than the rest of their body. Dressing in layers is the norm for your body why not your hands. I like using a pair of thin wool or synthetic finger gloves first and a pair of large well made mittens that go all the way to my elbow over top. You take the mittens off when you need dexterity than quikly replace the mitten.Plus I allways carry a couple of exstra pairs of gloves in my pocket in case the thin woolys get wet.

Cap.
Thanks for the insight on that. I never quite thought of dressing my hands from that angle.

I totally agree with Cold on this one. Buy one of those muffs, hand warmers, and layer your gloves. I worked on the drilling rigs in my younger years and we always layered our gloves (handling steel in -50 celcius can be very dangerous and painful). Always go for a wool our fleece outer. Now if someone could teach me how to keep my feet warm........

quote:

Originally posted by A. Fleming:
I totally agree with Cold on this one. Now if someone could teach me how to keep my feet warm........

while on stand or while walking?

quote:

Originally posted by j/4:
Maybe you guys can help
In the past I have frozen my fingers and now even the slightest bit of chill(-10) My fingers are absolutly freezing
I don't stand hunt that often so those hand warmers don't do alot of good
My hands get so cold i fear i wouldn't even be able to shoot

I don't know what part of the world you're in, or if you have access to a doctor with cold weather experience (and I'm not a physician), but there is a condition where the blood vessels in the hands work the wrong way - when they get cold, they constrict and reduce blood flow, instead of increasing it.

IIRC one of the indicators is that your fingers turn blue and tend to swell quickly when they get cold. I had a friend with that condition, and it made his life miserable as he was a lifelong outdoorsman. Maybe one of the M.D.s that visit here could shed some light on it.

Im from northern B.C
I\ll look into what you Descibe (it kinda sounds like it might apply to me as my finger will swell but have never turned blue.

I've had that condition as long as I can remember. My fingers turn waxy white and go numb when exposed to cold. As was previously stated, the vessels constrict cutting off blood flow. I don't know of any fix other than keeping them warm and don't smoke. A lot of times if I'm outside and this occurs, I go indoors and run warm water over my fingers while I massage them until the color and feeling return. My feet do the same. I've been using the disposable heaters with pretty good success. If I do any more winter hunting in the mountains, I think I'l buy a pair of those electric boots/socks the skiers use.

Arctic Shield makes "System Gloves" - they are a set comprising of thin inner gloves and mittems that can be folded back.
The Arctic Shield products I have used have been very, very warm in the coldest of climates.

I think there is something similar to space blanket material sewn into the fabric.

google the website.

there is a thin glove they are white and have what looks like a metallic weave in them they make very good liners for regular gloves I wear
them snowmobiling even when wet they keep my
hands warm

I went out and bought some arctic shield gloves. I got the camp gloves because they were a little lighter than the "system gloves" I thought it would work better with my bow. I put an arctic shield on my left hand holding the bow and my trusty old fleece on the right hand. Temp was -10C with a good brisk wind. Guess which hand got cold? Yup-the arctic shield one. My hand started a cold sweat almost as soon as I put the glove on, it got clammy and yucky and coldern hell!! I exchanged them today for the glove and mitt system and I'll see how that works. Too bad though because the camp gloves were real nice and thin.

the chef

I too suffer from this affliction, believe it is called Reynaulds Syndrome, have had some pills from a doctor that I used to take which increases the blood circulation, think it opened up the arteries, stopped hands getting cold but also used to give me blinding headaches so stopped taking them. Haven't really found a good glove, but do know that a cure for cold hands is getting them inside a shot deer and performing a gralloch!!

Gloves just do not keep my hands warm when it is really cold.

You cannot do much with gloves on anyway.
So.
I wear fingerless wool gloves. if it gets cold I wear mittens.

If it is the kind of weather where your bare skin will stick to stuff I wear thin liners over the fingerless gloves.

One of those "Hand garages" that hang around your neck seem like a good idea.

Also in years past when duck/goose hunting I have used a Hand warmer that used Coleman fuel.

Actually I used 2 of them, one for each hand.

PS if you put one of those hand warmers in your sleeping bag be sure it does not come out of its little bag.

Now days my wife and I use the non flamable hand and toe heaters. They work pretty good.

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on

I watched the Grey Cup last wekend and was interested to learn that some of the receivers wear surgical gloves under their exterior gloves.
It appears that the surgical gloves trap haet and moisture and the cover gloves hold it in without loss of circulation.

I suppose that you could also burn off some unused Viagra that you have kicking around as that should increase your circulation as well. Just remember to take at least 1 hr before you anticipate pulling the trigger. If you know what I mean.

The arctic shield stuff is junk. Get a cheap pair of $5.00 wool gloves at walmart, I usually buy them three pairs at a time. then get a big pair of skidoo mitts overtop.

quote:

how to keep my feet warm

What kind of socks do you wear? What kind of boot? Wool over nylon with Dr Scholls foot warmer insoles works well in leather boots.
Thinsulate is your friend in very cold weather, but dry socks are more important.
The absolute best boots are CF issue mukluks. No socks required in the coldest weather.

Ditto on layers.

I usually wear a thin, weather resistant, syntetic glove when hunting in semi-cold weather, which is thin enough to shoot with. I prefer this to fingerless gloves, as covering the fingertips does make a differance in the cold IMO.

When it's a little bit colder, I switch over to a wool glove with a leather palm that has a mitten part which can be pulled over to cover the fingers (or not) depending on how cold it is. The mitten part is held down on the back of my hand by a little square of velcro when I don't need it. This glove/mitten has a thinsulate lining which helps keep the wind from blowing right thru. These actually have the finger tips cut off, but since I can flip down the mitten part, it doesn't matter.

Then, when it gets even colder, I start with a thin synthetic, silk or wool glove, then a heavy fleece or wool mitten over that, covered by a Gore-tex shell mitten, with a rubber grip lining on the palm to make it easier to hold things. The shell mitten goes almost up to my elbow ontop of my jacket. This combo keeps me dry, and warm not matter what.

quote:

n the past I have frozen my fingers and now even the slightest bit of chill(-10) My fingers are absolutly freezing

If by frozen, you mean you had serious frostbite, I doubt there is much else to do than use layers. If the tissue was damaged, the lack in blood flow is permenant. I know this as I am missing part of my left ear due to frostbite, and have the same problem as you when it gets cold. It's a real pain in the ass...

Ps. Don't forget to wear something on your head! Most body heat escapes from up there, and a warm head helps keep both your fingers and feet warm too!

I just use goat skin gloves. My hands get cold but not cold enough not to pull that trigger. Sometimes I have to put my hands into my pockets
to warm them up. Then put those cold gloves back on.

Where can one buy the Canadian Forces mukluks?

I had an opportunity to buy several tri-walls of them recently....was more than I needed though!!!! Every army surplus store has them for sale at exorbitant prices.

the chef

Hi chef

Do you have any in American size 10 that you'd like to part with at a reasonable price?

As someone else remarked, gloves are useless and "layering" them only makes them more useless.

The reason they're useless is that they isolate each finger individually and eliminate the transfer of heat between fingers. That's why a LIGHT pair of gloves is always much better than a heavy pair. Light gloves keep the evaporation effect from chilling the fingers while allowing transfer of body heat. I wear thin leather gloves when hunting and I ALWAYS carry a hand muff with several heat packs in them. When it gets REALLY cold, I wear gloves under mittens with a muff.

Next thing is your kidneys. The kidneys sit right under the skin on the small of your back. Right where a winter draft gets under you jacket. Every drop of blood in your body passes through the kidneys before going out into the body. When the kidneys are cooled, the blood is refrigerated and the extremities will ALWAYS get cold first as the body shuts them down to keep the core warm. Next time you go out, get one of those back pain relief heat packs sold at drug counters. Open it up and place them over your kidneys (wear a T-shirt to keep from irritating your skin). These will heat your kidneys and keep your blood warm, actually elevating your body temperature a few degrees to keep circulation going. You'll be amazed at how your toes and fingers stay warm longer just by doing this.

Like that idea George, but does it really work before I buy a pack???