Arthur said: So my question is what do you cold weather paddlers use to protect your hands in conditions I mentioned above? Obviously I needed more protection. Arthur - I paddle all winter unless the [new, revised] wind chill is -10F or colder. The river I go to for my regular paddles is too polluted to freeze most of the winter. I cannot, after 36 years of kayaking and trying everything to keep my hands warm, paddle unless the skin of my hands is touching the paddle shaft. I use pogies. I use neoprene ones now, but was happy with nylon ones in the past. What works at rrrreally cold temps [usually about 20F or colder] is that the pogies get a nice layer of ice on them [so does my paddle jacket and balaclava (or baklava if the thread recently running is to be honored)]. Anyway, the ice is a very effective insulator. My hands are painfully cold when the temp is about 25 because the water flowing over the pogies on the strokes keeps them warm enough that they won't freeze up. But with ice my hands are toasty. And heavy! At the in-between temps when ice does not form, I wear a warmer hat than I otherwise would and my general body temperature is warm enough that the pain in my hands isn't so annoying. But pain and paddling are a fair trade-off when pain can't be avoided. And since it hardly ever snows in Chicago anymore, paddling is my favorite winter sport. This is probably no help to you. Maybe invest in some chemical handwarmers and put them inside the pogies. Good luck! Jim Tibensky _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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