Re: [Paddlewise] Cold Hands

I find that gloves of an variety end up being cold while paddling in 
the  winter!  I like my NRS gloves down to about 32 degrees.  
Personally I have moved entirely to neoprene pogies.  At first I did 
not like them for the same reason you mention.  I was also 
concerned about my ability to roll and do other exciting stuff while 
using them.  So this season I forced myself to use them more, 
rolled a bit, etc. and found they are really ideal.  In addition to 
keeping you much warmer I really like having direct contact with 
the paddle.  After getting used to using them I felt I actually had 
better control with pogies and the resulting direct hand contact then 
with thick gloves.  The other real benefit is being able to quickly 
pull your hand out and have it be useful to you.  With those thick 
gloves you are limited in what your hands can do.  Adjusting stuff, 
putting a tight spray skirt on, taking a picture, or eating an energy 
bar all become a challenge.  Then you realize how "not fun" 
removing the wet thick gloves and then getting them back on again 
is.  So against your request my recommendation would be to give 
pogies another chance.  They need to be neoprene, the nylon type 
strike me as near useless.  Another thought on pogies, if you are 
concerned about not being able to roll or something like that keep 
in mind you can quickly pull your hands out and grab the paddle 
directly.  The time your hands are exposed to the water isn't going 
to hurt that bad.  Against better judgment I roll in the winter using 
pogies and get water inside of them and it only takes maybe 30 
seconds to get my heat back.  I carry my NRS gloves as a backup 
plan to the pogies or to put on in the event I need to perform a 
rescue or leave my boat.

If pogies are not going to work buy a thick NRS neoprene mitten.  
Do NOT use liners.  The key to pogies and mittens is sharing the 
heat of your entire hand.  A glove style liner inside a mitten is really 
just going to insulate the heat from your hand and make the mitten 
less effective.  Incidentally I tried adding a liner to the inside of my 
NRS neoprene gloves.  It did not make much difference in warmth 
but made getting in and out of the wet gloves a bigger problem.

Aaron
Minneapolis

On 11 Feb 2003 at 13:17, Mike O'Byrne wrote:

> Ahoy! I'm having serious problems paddling this winter with frozen fingers.
> I've tried NRS's "warmest" gloves and a couple other brands but have had no
> luck. I tried a friend's pogies but felt awkward with my hands "attached" to
> the paddle. Aside from pogies, does anyone have suggestions to alleviate
> wet, frozen fingers? A Goretex, completely waterproof mitten shell that I
> could use with various liners perhaps? Thanks!    Mike

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