Gloves for cold hands?

JoW

Member
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for caving gloves for hands that get cold very easily?

I usually wear neoprene gloves, which do a good job of keeping my hands warm but still able to climb and rig etc. However, my usual decathlon ones are out of stock and they're not terribly durable (I usually get about 6 months out of them). So I'm keen to hear about any other options...

I've tried marigolds and the thin gardening/work type gloves but neither are successful at keeping my hands warm enough. I wear plenty of layers so the rest of me stays as warm as possible, but my fingers still get cold and sore if I don't have good gloves.

So, if anyone else suffers from this problem, I'd love to hear what solutions you've found 🧤
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Try a better quality builders type glove like Maxiflex. They do a winter version which is quite good. Pop into Huys Gray at Bentham for a look.
 

AR

Well-known member
Try Skytec Argon gloves, which cost around £5-6 a pair - I wear them a lot over winter for feeding and mucking out ponies as well as for caving.
 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
I use two pairs of thin work gloves with the fingers cut off the outer pair.

I only started wearing gloves after a few decades and so the warmth they provide seems amazing ;-)
 

caving_fox

Active member
SealSkinz gloves! (if somebody else is paying!) They're toasty, flexible but neither durable nor cheap. But even with holes do keep your hands warm. (there's a few styles the knitted ones are better).

Also consider your wrists. Blood flow is quite exposed at the wrist and keeping that warm and covered makes a lot of difference to hand warmth - long furry arms and or longer gloves really help.
 

JoW

Member
Thanks Badlad and AR, do they fare OK when wet? I started looking at those sorts of things but wasn't sure, might have to go on a tour of the local diy shops!
 

JoW

Member
SealSkinz gloves! (if somebody else is paying!) They're toasty, flexible but neither durable nor cheap. But even with holes do keep your hands warm. (there's a few styles the knitted ones are better).

Also consider your wrists. Blood flow is quite exposed at the wrist and keeping that warm and covered makes a lot of difference to hand warmth - long furry arms and or longer gloves really help.
Thanks, I actually used to wear a pair of sealskinz mountain biking gloves for gorge scrambling at work and they lasted about 5 winters, I was surprised at their durability. I might consider these for my summer alpine caving between pitches.

I've also thought about wrists, I considered sewing an extra layer of fleece into the wrists of my undersuit, so maybe it's time I got around to trying it
 

AR

Well-known member
the Argon gloves are fleece lined with a waterproof outer, I find them still OK underground when the lining's got wet. I also usually wear neoprene cuffs, which I think Beaver used to and may still make? Or, you could just make your own - they're slightly tapered tubes so easy enough to stitch or glue up out of scrap wetsuit?
 

Ian P

Administrator
Staff member
My OH suffered with cold hands.

Only having very small hands she struggles to find “work” gloves that fit well.

She has had a lot of success with these from Inglesport. They come in small sizes and They fit really well and assume the good fit helps keep her hands warm like a good fitting wetsuit??

 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
Starless river also sell the wrist warmers and I would say they are a decent bit of kit.

 

pwhole

Well-known member
Neoprene cuffs are a must, both for protection and warmth - they really do make a difference. As for gloves, I've tried all sorts, including the skytec argon, but once they had a hole and let water in in, that fleece lining got awful heavy. Now I always wear Contour Avenger gloves by Tornado - they're very thin, but very tough, and as they're a tight fit keep the warmth in and are perfect for detailed work like bolting or rigging. They also do small sizes down to 6, so even tiny hands can wear them:

https://tornadogloves.com/gloves/contour-avenger
 

zzzzzzed

Member
Cold hands can be a sign that you're not wearing enough on your torso so blood starts to withdraw from the extremities.
 

JoW

Member
Thanks for all the replies so far. Neoprene cuffs I have. I'll pop into inglesport as well as the local diy shops and look at some of those options.

I generally wear as many layers as possible, but in cold caves it's still not enough (I have been known to wear thermals, fleece gilet, powerstretch undersuit, thin synthetic jacket, oversuit and balaclava, which is sometimes still not enough). So until someone works out how to transfer the excess heat from my light to my clothes there's not much else I can do on that front 😂
 

iwebb

New member
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for caving gloves for hands that get cold very easily?

I usually wear neoprene gloves, which do a good job of keeping my hands warm but still able to climb and rig etc. However, my usual decathlon ones are out of stock and they're not terribly durable (I usually get about 6 months out of them). So I'm keen to hear about any other options...

I've tried marigolds and the thin gardening/work type gloves but neither are successful at keeping my hands warm enough. I wear plenty of layers so the rest of me stays as warm as possible, but my fingers still get cold and sore if I don't have good gloves.

So, if anyone else suffers from this problem, I'd love to hear what solutions you've found 🧤
battery powered heated gloves or heat packs like skiers use may help?
 

JoW

Member
battery powered heated gloves or heat packs like skiers use may help?
I thought about this, but a. good ones are expensive, b. especially if you want them to be OK in the presence of water, and c. probably wouldn't be durable enough for caving. But maybe one day this will be an option.
 

JoW

Member
Blimey! how do you move! Why don't you wear a wetsuit and/or perhaps a pvc oversuit for wet caves?
I do... but this is what I wear in the colder dry caves and is the limit of what I can wear and still move, hence why I can't wear more.
 
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