Electric heated gloves....

[zepla]

I went skiing last week and we had one very cold day. My girl (alright me to  ) got very cold hands eventhough we do not have some cheapass gloves. One day we're wondering through the little village and found a store that sold electric (Li-ion battery powered)  heated gloves. Seems like a perfect idea! Did not bought them though because they where more than 200 euros and for that money I like to do some research first.

Anyhow, anyone have experience with electric heated gloves? Found a company called at: http://www.gerbing.com that looks promising.

[Benner]

I have some and they work really well, but due to the huge battery mine need (D cell!) they just add so much weight that I use them without.

[Gareth]

I have real problems with cold hands (poor circulation in my fingers) and I have to say the best gloves I've ever found are a pair of Dachstein Mitts.  Very reasonably priced and a nod to old school solutions that I appreciate.



Add a set of gore-tex covers and I haven't had a problem since.  Not great for your manual dexterity though.

[zepla]

They look great indeed 

I have some Gore-Tex gloves from a company called Eider. They are good and warm for "normal" situations. But we had almost -20 degrees C and after some hours they just did not cut it.

[Gareth]

I've had the Dachstein and Gore-Tex over mitts down to about -17C and didn't have an issue.  For me that's spectacular.  I do suspect that it's largely down to the fact they are mitts and not gloves.  Gloves keep each of my fingers isolated and with little blood going through them there isn't any way they'll get warm.

I actually like the idea of heated gloves, but I do wonder about how long the batteries would last and leave me with just a slight heavier pair of normal gloves.

[Mr. Whippy]

I have Gerbings for motorcycling.  Gloves and jacket liner.  They have an excellent reputation.  If you can find them in a shop, that's the way to go.  I bought them directly from Gerbing and it took them about 6 weeks (had to supply their retailers first...)

Very pleased with the performance of mine.

You might try a mitten before plumping for electric gear however.  Mittens are MUCH warmer than gloves.

[NutSAK]

Man, I have to have a pair of those Dachsteins (after all one wouldn't do me any good!  ), but there's no distributor for them here in the US.  It looks like I'll have to source them overseas.

[Gareth]

Terry if you want me to act as a middle man just give me a shout.  They go for about £20 a pair.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have been looking at heated gloves lately, and in fact I picked up a brochure from a company that produces battery operated clothing.  You can see it here:

http://ventureheat.com/

I don't know if they are any good or not, just tossing out options! 

Def

[jzmtl]

Over $200 euros? How many heat packs could you buy for that much? I'd buy two zippo hand warmers and stick one in each glove's heat pack pouch.

[Magnus]

honestly, if you are determined to get heated gloves, I would go with a pair of these, and either build an external battery pack, or buy an external usb battery pack

Personally I would think a pair of nice thick leather or wool gloves would be more efficient, and water proof.

[Sparky415]

Do any of you use the Zippo hand warmers and are they any good?

[zepla]

honestly, if you are determined to get heated gloves, I would go with a pair of these, and either build an external battery pack, or buy an external usb battery pack

Personally I would think a pair of nice thick leather or wool gloves would be more efficient, and water proof.

I like the gloves to be all-in-one, as in that the batteries are in the gloves. If it works for 4-5 hours it would me fine with me. I had some serious leather gloves in the past. They are very expensive as well and don't live forever either.

The combo of gore-tex and electrical heating seems (fun) perfect to me (on paper at least  )

Thanks Mr. W. for that info  It looks like that Gerbing is on the top of my list at the moment. But the search goes on...

[Magnus]

all in one sounds like a good idea, but you will be adding a lot of weight to your hands...

[zepla]

Yeah I know....

According to the website of Gerbing they are about 1.5 lbs each. That comes down to 680 gr. if my calculations are right. That is not very light...I go check it out with a pound of sugar or something else I can find around the house  to get a bit of a feel to it. If it heavy, I just assume those gloves are is going to be good arm work out as well. That will keep me warm also 

[NutSAK]

Terry if you want me to act as a middle man just give me a shout.  They go for about £20 a pair.

Thanks Gareth!  I might take you up on that...