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 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 01:17 PM 2/11/2003 -0500, 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 Mike, I don't have any suggestions, sorry, but I hope someone else can comment. I have been considering NRS' "warmest" gloves for myself and I'd like to ask you to comment further on your experience with them. Thanks, Bill Leonhardt *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Have you tried NRS's warmest "gloves" - or mitts? I have their neoprene mittens - certainly could wear a liner of some sort under them I suppose. All of your fingers in one space certainly should be warmer - and you aren't connected to the paddle per se - like pogies. As you know, a lot of people seem to be big fans of pogies. There is still enough dexterity that I can do BASIC tasks with them on. Some of the cold weather folks - like John Browning should have some ideas in this area... Keith *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Aaron White worte: > 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. > Agree with giving pogies a second chance, but beg to differ about nylon pogies being useless. I have three variants on pogies - all nylon or nylon-shelled, and for me none are useless - but offer different conveniences. As previous posters have commented, there is great variability in a person's hands' ability to withstand cold conditions. I'm blessed with very good circulation, and typically do not have problems with cold hand most of the time - which may be one of the reasons that nylon pogies work for me. Most of the important things for maximizing hand warmth have been commented upon: warm clothing to maintain core temperature, minimally restrictive wrist gaskets to not impede circulation to the hands, hand covering that sheds water to protect from evaporative cooling, food in the tummy for fuel, and adequate hydration to help transport the heat effectively. The one thing that hasn't been commented on is the idea that paddling in the winter often must be of a different tempo to 'keep the fire burning'. Summertime paddling can be more casual, but the winter paddler must paddle with more of a purpose to be burning fuel to generate warmth. As the hands and feet are the first to feel cold, the level of activity and the corresponding level of clothing worn should work together to help the paddler find that point of equilibrium where s/he is warm, but not overheated (with due consideration also given to the weather/water conditions, the likelihood of capsizing, etc., etc.). To be sure, the ramifications are different for the sport paddler out for a two hour paddle than for the winter touring paddler, but the bottom line is that both need to keep moving! Play Hard, Erik Sprenne *************************************************************************** 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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