A secret Vice
Until now. I go through a lot of gloves. Here is a portion of the collection.
Rubber types:
These are great for when my hands will get wet. Like in the spring. The orange ones on the right I have had for years. They make all the difference when the weather demands rain gear. Nothing like having cold wet hands to put the damper on a rock hounding trip. In the winter time at the Coast we even wear lightweight liner gloves inside them. I keep a pair of these in with the chain box for emergency chain ups - which invariably happen when the snow is near melting.
The blue and yellow ones are insulated and have "gription" built into them. They were introduced to me as a more economical alternative to the absurdly expensive high tech ones.
High tech ones:
These are incredibly comfortable. Incredibly expensive. And they never last more than a week or so before the fingers wear out. The rest of the glove is fine - it's just the fingers.
I have tried a lot of different makes and they all fail miserably quickly. I call these my "yuppie" gloves. I think they are more about making a statement than actually being cost effective. I am going to do an experiment one of these days by dipping the fingers in some plasti-coat to see if that will make them stand up any better. One of the pairs even has a built in L.E.D. just above the pointer finger. Actually pretty useful around here at night. At the bottom right of the high tech pile is my general, tried and true, Not high tech, inexpensive working gloves. They are leather and cloth, fairly inexpensive, and last for quite a while. I always keep a dozen or so of these secreted around the place. For handling firewood and general yard chores summer or winter if it's not to cold. I find the insulated ones too bulky. I have large hands and the off shore ones just don't fit.
Winter Gloves:
These are my mainstays for the winter. The Mitts on the top left are insulated, but as the weather gets colder I augment them with wool mitts and light nylon liners. The ultimate cold weather pair. I can sit on the skidsteer at twenty below for a couple of hours, my hands on metal controls, and my fingers have never gotten cold. The leather ones below have a trigger finger and I augment their insulation the same way as the mitts. I use a trigger finger wool mitt liner. These are my most used gloves. They cost about as much as the high tech ones but last about fifty times longer.
Others:
These are the gloves that I use for light yard work and snow shoeing. The top left wool ones with leather palms and fold back mitt tops are my favorite for dry snow conditions. The blue mitts beside them I have had for years and are generally to warm above -20 or so.
Things I have learned:
I am still looking. I want to get an over mitten like Nanook of the North wears. The kind than goes almost past my elbow. So far it looks like a trip to Yellow Knife is in order.. Oh-I do know that the 1920's film was all faked...Progress had enveloped the far North.
Rubber types:
These are great for when my hands will get wet. Like in the spring. The orange ones on the right I have had for years. They make all the difference when the weather demands rain gear. Nothing like having cold wet hands to put the damper on a rock hounding trip. In the winter time at the Coast we even wear lightweight liner gloves inside them. I keep a pair of these in with the chain box for emergency chain ups - which invariably happen when the snow is near melting.
The blue and yellow ones are insulated and have "gription" built into them. They were introduced to me as a more economical alternative to the absurdly expensive high tech ones.
High tech ones:
These are incredibly comfortable. Incredibly expensive. And they never last more than a week or so before the fingers wear out. The rest of the glove is fine - it's just the fingers.
I have tried a lot of different makes and they all fail miserably quickly. I call these my "yuppie" gloves. I think they are more about making a statement than actually being cost effective. I am going to do an experiment one of these days by dipping the fingers in some plasti-coat to see if that will make them stand up any better. One of the pairs even has a built in L.E.D. just above the pointer finger. Actually pretty useful around here at night. At the bottom right of the high tech pile is my general, tried and true, Not high tech, inexpensive working gloves. They are leather and cloth, fairly inexpensive, and last for quite a while. I always keep a dozen or so of these secreted around the place. For handling firewood and general yard chores summer or winter if it's not to cold. I find the insulated ones too bulky. I have large hands and the off shore ones just don't fit.
Winter Gloves:
These are my mainstays for the winter. The Mitts on the top left are insulated, but as the weather gets colder I augment them with wool mitts and light nylon liners. The ultimate cold weather pair. I can sit on the skidsteer at twenty below for a couple of hours, my hands on metal controls, and my fingers have never gotten cold. The leather ones below have a trigger finger and I augment their insulation the same way as the mitts. I use a trigger finger wool mitt liner. These are my most used gloves. They cost about as much as the high tech ones but last about fifty times longer.Others:
These are the gloves that I use for light yard work and snow shoeing. The top left wool ones with leather palms and fold back mitt tops are my favorite for dry snow conditions. The blue mitts beside them I have had for years and are generally to warm above -20 or so.Things I have learned:
- For keeping fingers warm nothing works as good as a mitten. The kind where the fingers get to cuddle up to each other to keep toasty. Gloves - no matter the type or amount of thinsulate etc. just don't cut it.
- Check out the local saw shops for good sturdy hand wear. They carry the types the worker guys use
- No single pair of gloves does everything I need. Some come close.
- For some reason, after a while, left handed gloves will predominate..
I am still looking. I want to get an over mitten like Nanook of the North wears. The kind than goes almost past my elbow. So far it looks like a trip to Yellow Knife is in order.. Oh-I do know that the 1920's film was all faked...Progress had enveloped the far North.
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