Decka - Fingerless Gloves
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I get the reason for fingerless gloves but always found it ironic that the extremities, most prone to coldness and with the least circulation, wind up exposed. I wish there were a better solution to tactile feedback and warmth, maybe something like latex or nitrile but more robust for fingertips. Until then the best compromise may be a fingerless glove with an attached mitten-like cover that can be peeled back when you need manual dexterity and/or touch.
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It all depends on the climate and activity. Skiing in CO with fingerless gloves would be a total disaster. Fly fishing in mid-winter, getting hands wet repeatedly, needing to tie small knots, fingerless gloves or no gloves were the only answer for me when fishing on the south platte and in the CO canyons. Those were fleece lined 5mm neoprene fingerless gloves with a velcro fold over mitt. They worked great.
Fast forward to now, I live in a more mild climate, rarely does it drop below freezing, and I've found that most wool fingerless gloves to offer ~75%+ of the warmth as a fingered glove for around town/to from work/etc, but with obviously way more dexterity and no clammy hands. I've not had a chance to use any fingerless glove in a colder climate for an extended time, but I suspect you might find them better than they appear on paper.
The only time I find myself wanting for full fingered gloves in normal day to day life is when scraping off ice/frost from the car on cold mornings. Working outside or in the garage, I use normal leather or mechanix style gloves since those offer more protection, dont mind getting covered in grease or oil, and are far more durable.
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On really cold days I wear a fingerless glove inside of a mitten. I find that the mitten is better at managing warmth, sucks with dexterity, and the use of the fingerless glove allows me to complete those quick tasks when the mittens come off.
For me surviving winter has become a hybrid of science and art. The key is multiple layers and lots of little tricks like the gloves/mittens.
It was also a lot easier to manage when I was 30 than now.
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And what works for one person may not work for someone else. I had a friend in CO that no matter what he tried, including many weird hacks that worked for other people, like wearing ultra thin silk glove liners under mittens, or even crazy ideas, like applying spray-on anti-perspirant to his hands in an attempt to minimize sweating, he always had freezing cold hands.
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I have a pair of super cheap hunters mittens made of some horrible polyester blend, The have velcro patches so you can fold back the top of the mitten and fasten it. Perfect with fingerless gloves under. Super warm and you can use your phlanges when needed, albeit for a short time.
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@neph93 yeah that’s basically what I was saying. They make those for hunting with fingerless gloves inside a mitt you can fold and Velcro back. Pretty good compromise.
