Heated gloves

jibberish

Hi All

Can anyone recommend some heated gloves? I've already got 2 pairs on (while I'm cycling - not while I'm typing) and my fingers are too cold. I've suffered through the last 3 winters - but I'm getting too old and really want to try out heated gloves. Ideally - I'd like battery powered ones - or something that I can recharge from my desk at work.

Thanks loads to anyone who can help

Jib

Trevrev

Not sure if you have a Maplins in your part of the world, but i saw some in there over the weekend. Battery powered, each glove taking 3 x AA if i remember rightly.
£14.99.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=264171

Wooliferkins

Have you tried silk liners? I swear by mine inside the serious winter gloves. There seem to be a load of ridiculously cheap battery powered gloves out there.

grahamcp

If you do try any out, it would be interesting to hear how you find them. I haven't, but my perception is that they generate way too little heat to make a difference. Would be really pleased to be told otherwise though.

Have you considered pad or gel-type handwarmers? I had some that lasted for 6-7 hours and were very good in my gloves (almost too warm). Google self heating hand warmers to get an idea of what's available. Some are one-use and others are re-chargable.

My other thought was around wind-chill - it's that fact that you're travelling at maybe 15mph - 20mph, more on descents, that makes it so diificult to keep hands warm. I read somewhere that in an ambient temperature of 5degC and wind speed of 22mph, it will feel more like -7degC - so you can imagine what that would be like when it is around freezing to start with.

So - when choosing gloves, make sure they have very good windstopping and heat-retention capabilities. The lobster style also seem to get good reviews, though I have not tried them myself.

My other bright idea was to fashion some kind of wind deflector for the handlebars - but not sure how practical that would be or if anyone makes one already.

HTH and if you find the secret, let me know - I have sussed out how to keep the rest of my body warm, just struggle with the fingers!

jibberish

Hi TrevRev
Yeah - I've seen a few like these by searchign on google - but I don't know if any of them are any good.

Hi Wooliferkins
I've currently got some Helly Hansen glove liners...they're not silky - they're polypropylene. Are silk any better?

Hi Grahamcp
I tried the gel thins that you heat up in hot water and then click the button to activate later. They were too big to fit inside my gloves properly and there's no easy way to recharge them at work (though I did get round this by buying 2 sets....though then you have to remember to boil a saucepan every time you get home). You are right - the wind chill does make a difference - but I thought my 2 pairs of gloves would have done quite a lot of the job in eliminating that??

Thanks to all 3 of you for your responses. I'd really like to try and find a battery powered solution to this. Thing is - what I've found so far - is either a D cell battery in a £10 pair of gloves or some extremely expensive solution. I'd quite happily pay around £50, btu just wanna know it's going to do the job.

If anyone has any more recommendations - please feel free. I'll happily post results once I've got and tried some.

Engage UK

Hi Guys

not heated gloves, but my mate has a road 600cc bike with heated grips!!

takes only around 2 mins to heat, would be cool on push bikes but the weight and lack of DC power may be a problem..

Al

downfader

My solution was to get windproof gloves and use a thin liner glove underneath. A lot of people use the merino wool liners, but they're expensive. You can get cheaper cotton and wool ones (I get mine for free as they come with my job)

The gel heaters are great though, some "recharge" in a microwave oven.

Northwind

I'd suggest you try the new fox antifreezes, they're extremely good... And not as restrictive as a typical heavy winter glove. I've got pretty bad circulation but they still keep me functional, if not always completely comfortable.

My magic bullet for cold hands is these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Spada-Force-2-WP- ... 96feea2c3f

Motorbike gloves obviously, and they give you, well, just enough feel to find the bars. But they keep me warm-ish at 60mph in sub-zero temperatures so no UK riding gets through them. They're also immensely protective- a lot of warm cycling gloves are made purely for warmth, not abrastion protection, but you're never more likely to fall than when it's freezing.

Snowboard gloves are another option, I just use the motorbike ones as I already own them.

lost_in_thought

My mother uses these along with a heated jacket and heated shoes for winter flying in one of these:



Should be enough to keep your hands warm on a bike...

EDIT: and don't need to be plugged into a car/motorbike battery!

Wooliferkins

jibberish wrote:

Hi Wooliferkins
I've currently got some Helly Hansen glove liners...they're not silky - they're polypropylene. Are silk any better?

I found silk quite a revelation. I first used Patra base layers about 15 years ago and liked the fact that they were light, non itchy and warm. I got a pair of their liner gloves as a present which were good but suffered with nail damage. At that time I was in the RAF and aircrew get more robust silk liners that I have used for years. Civvy now so the supply has dried up but I find them brilliant inside the winter gloves. By the time it gets cold enough to warrant the artic mitts over the top the roads are usually too dangerous to ride.
I'm really tempted by the silk wool base layers Patra are advertising.

shouldbeinbed

I tried silk liners for the first time today under a decent pair of sealskinz and was nearly yowling with the cold numb fingers when I got to work. It tool me 10 minutes of gentle warm water before I could get my laces and shirt done up.

Back to my trusty £2 pair of wooly gloves under the skinz on the way home and lovely and toasty all the way.

Northwind

Stay away from Coldkillers, all their stuff is crap. Sealskinz do a nice, very thin merino glove liner which is pretty well priced too, around a tenner IIRC. Trouble with liners is if your glove isn't big enough, they're counterproductive.

simple_salmon

I used a pair of Aldi skiing mittens (female) last year and they were great on a bike with twist grip gears.

Now I'm using a CX bike to commute they're not really usable - too hard to brake and change gear.

Cafewanda

Thnking about skiing mittens after another fingertip freeze this morning Got to get a pair for the homeward journey

I finally took a good look at my Sealskinz gloves. They are breathable, waterproof. No wonder my fingertips freeze, even with an extra layer or two :oops:

CiB

Are you using cycling gloves, or wooly gloves / some other porous material maybe? I only ask because so far this winter I've coped with the Aldi (or was it Lidl) cycling gloves that cost all of £4 a pair a few months ago. My bigger problem is that my hands sweat and make it hard to slide them out of the glove without dragging the lining with the fingers. Cold isn't the issue though.