for the Brain Trust

[the tractor vet]

For 66 years i have fought the problem of cold / frozen fingers and hand and feet . Having the body temp of a SNAKE makes it even worse . The best boots i have are my boots i wear hunting and are good for me at temps above 25 degrees for around four and if lucky five hours . Now hands Nothing and i mean nothing will keep them comorfable for more then and hour or so . Youngest daughter's new guy friend who i sorta like and took him Deer hunting with the group this year bought me a new pair of gloves thinking that they would do the job , sorry to say NOPE they are like wearing air conditioning . while deer hunting on the last day of our gun season since he is a young buck we let hi do the driving , since he is not up on how our deer act around here he was moving to fast and darn near stepped on a nice buck and spooked it out and he was not ready , well i am getting old and i was not watching in his direction and here come this would be nice buck if it would have had both antlers , well here we go by if it is BROWN it is down . Being late in the day with vary cold hands and at long range it took me three shots to drop him . I am the one of the group that is really good at the long range shots and it took me three not one but three i am still upset over that . My fingers were vary cold and stiff and i had on the best i had for gloves . Feet were good fingers NOPE . Does anybody make a glove today in 2018 with all the modern tech that is flexable , not to bulky , and WARM anywhere in this country . Now with the temps hovering in the 0 range on the nightly walk with my dog after fifteen min. i could use my fingers to stur my Crown Royal and make it ice cold by the time we get back in . Cold fingers make for poor trigger control and makes for a really mad wife placing fingers in warm location .

 

[paul]

Was minus 21 F last night, supposed to warm up today to above zero maybe even teens for a day, but is minus 19 right now.

It's just cold. All over.

Paul

 

[sms]

Do you have Raynaud's disease?????? My brother does.
Raynauds disease

 

[Jim PA]

Hi Tractor Vet. I suffer from the same condition as you. If I am out to long in the cold my fingers really hurt. They have ever since I was a kid. I found a pair or beaver mitts from this guy in Alaska. http://timberadobeavermitts.com/beaver_mens.html. They are pricy but well worth it and will last a lifetime. They are big enough to wear a thin wool glove inside and you can harness the mitts to just throw off when you need your fingers to shoot. These mitts are the best quality that you will ever see. I know the guy that makes them and he makes them custom order. If you order tell him that Jim from Pennsylvania sent you. He will treat you well.

 

[tomturkey]

I too have finger and toes problems with the cold. I've used polypropylene socks covered by the best wool sock money could buy but if I'm not moving, a lot, my toes are going to get cold. The use of toe warmers has helped tremendously increase my time in the cold. Wearing MUCKS or BOGGS has helped also. Fingers are worse. Even with the use of hand warmers in my gloves my fingers are like yours Rick ice cold little clubs. Hunting is particularly bad cause your hand is wrapped around the cold gun and not flexing much. My wife won't let me near her when I come in from the cold, she knows I'm gonna try to warm my hands on her warm parts. lol. I think just maybe mine maybe the result of hands and feet getting very cold when sledding as a kid. No frostbite or damaged skin as I remember just very very cold. In my case, a pair of brown jersey covered by a leather work glove works as well as the best wells Lamont sold. So, guess we're in the same cold boat. gobble

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Wear MITTENS any time you don't need your fingers. 10X warmer than any glove. Your fingers are huddling together for warmth, and it works. Your hands stay warm without all the bulk of huge insulated gloves.

I have a pair of Kinco Axeman leather mittens I wear for running the snowblower. Way warmer than the overstuffed insulated gloves I was using before.

 

[Bret4207]

The only boots that work for me in real cold are surplus Mickey Mouse boots, and I have to change my socks every few hours t that. Gloves of any kind are worthless. I use mittens, or mitts if you prefer, either the traditional leather chopper with the wool liner or the leather with faux wool lining. Only thing that works for me. Wool is still the best bet IMO.

 

[Steamboat]

Sounds like a problem with blood circulation. Do you smoke?

 

[Lazy WP]

I have never been able to keep either my hands or feet warm. I did find a pair of mittens that I can wear, when it gets real cold, (below -15) and still keep my fingers warm. For my feet, I found Calbellas medium weight wool socks plus a pair of light weight cotton socks plus Muck boots extreme chore boot, and I am good for 50 to minus 20 as long as I move some. Below minus 20 I just get cold. I have also gone to wearing synthetic longjohns, and leather shotgun chaps down to -15, then I dig out the Carhart Bibs.
I do have a pair of Ice Armour gloves, that are about as good as the mittens for short periods, but they aren't very durable.

 

[RayP(MI)]

Same complaint here. Wool socks help. I wear them over cotton ones. We raise wool here. If you can get socks made from good Shetland wool, the itchy factor is minimized. I wear felt snowmobile boot liners inside my boots as well. Wool knit hats help as well.

Now my problem: I take medication for high blood pressure. Apparently the cold extremities is a common complaint. My pharmacist (daughter) is about the only health care professional who will discuss this with me. Others apparently aren't trained on this problem. As long as your blood pressure is lower than low, they're happier than a chicken in a corn crib.

 

[Determined]

Have not found a glove yet that will keep my hands warm for very long.

What I do is keep a second pair inside my coveralls, just tuck them in the space below the armpit above the waist.
They usually stay put there.

As soon as your fingers start to feel cold switch the warm ones onto your hands and let the other pair warm up.

 

[Determined]

(quoted from post at 08:51:17 01/02/18) Same complaint here. Wool socks help. I wear them over cotton ones

I was always told to do the opposite.

Wool next to your skin because it can keep you warm even when it is wet and a cotton sock over top of it to wick away the moisture from sweating.

Also make sure the cotton sock is bigger than what you normally wear, if it is too tight it will hinder circulation and your feet will get colder faster.

 

[Fredwi]

There is vitiams that help with blood circulation maybe try one of them and see. FredWi

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I have the same problem. I have a pair of Sorel Chieftan boots I wear with two pairs of socks when it's real bad. Trouble with them is the bulk, difficult to drive with them on. Best thing I've found for hands are the mylar/polypropylene glove liners. Inside a glove they're good but worthless if you pull the glove off. The cold goes right through.

 

[teddy52food]

Get rid of the gloves & go with a good pair of snowmobile MITTENS. Ones with beaver fur or such. Make sure they are big enough too. They can't fit tight. Are you wearing enough body clothing? As the body gets cold the fingers & toes are the 1st to suffer. I used to hunt in a red snowmobile suit here in Mn. Long underwear, insulated shirt, vest & sweater underneath. Dress like it is 20 30 below. You can always open the outer clothing if you get too warm. Just don't sweat.

 

[pete 23]

When pheasant hunting, you have about 1 to 3 seconds to get that shot off if bird flushes in decent range. No time to be having a hand in your pocket or removing a mitten. Need a heated stock on the gun.

 

[bcdave]

In my other life I was a lineman. There was no problem with cold feet with the boots that are available but we often used hand warmers inside the one finger mitts. The fingers would be toasty but could still work. Lineman can't wear thick bulky gloves.
Dave

 

[Duner Wi]

Take a look at shooters mitts and add hand warmers.
I have the same trouble as you with cold feet , hands.
Feet are the worse.

 

[retired farmer]

Don't know if they still make them but I used to use what they called Hotfingers from Wells Lamont back when I did a lot of skiing. Kept my hands warm most all day.

 

[Michael Soldan]

Tractor vet, you are describing a blood circulation issue, there is likely nothing wrong with any of the gloves. My experience is similair to yours. I wear cloth gloves and I use a walk behind snowblower. With my hands grasping the control levers circulation to my finger tips stops, by the time I have finished my fingers are burning cold. I get in and take off my gloves and after several minutes my fingers warm up and I'm good to go. Tight gloves make it worse, leather gloves seem to tighten when you grasp something and mitts don't work well on the controls. I used to wear the skimpiest cloth gloves inside my snowmobile mitts and I could last all afternoon grasping the controls of the machine, they were loose fitting in both cases. This winter I have had cold fingers more often and circulation to the fingers is the culprit.

 

[David G]

I froze my hands bad when younger, now they are always cold, agree on the mittens.

 

[Ron Muhlenkamp]

When I was a kid, I was told " If your toes are cold, put on a hat". I didn't believe it then, but I do now. Your body can only produce a certain amount of heat. Your brain priorititizes the parts of your body to keep warm. It's priorities are the brain itself, then the heart and the internal organs. Last are fingers, toes, ears and nose. Not to say that circulation, etc. aren't also factors

 

[Gary Mitchell]

When I worked the dock in the winter I used the thin brown jersey gloves inside the old yellow or green fuzzy chore gloves. A guy I worked with some swore by mittens. When it was SUPER cold I used glove liners or meat cutter's cotton gloves inside them. Until it stayed below zero all day the old 2 buckle overshoes were enuf but when it really got ugly I went to the old insulated "Moon Boots." gm

 

[dr sportster]

I don't remember my hands being that cold in the military. That was a wool glove with a leather glove on top . Two pairs on the hands at once. I never shot the rifle with gloves.

 

[Straw Boss]

Sounds like you need to take your wife deer hunting.......

 

[cuby]

I have developed Neuropathy in my feet in the last two years so I now wear -50 degree moon boots when outside but still have to be careful as my feet are always numb anyway.

 

[jeffcat]

Have to take blood thinner. A true pain in the rump. In cold or hot weather your feet sweat. This is what skiers and other cold weather folk do. Before you go out take a can of Arrid XX extra dry antipersperant and hose your feet down top and bottom. You want to put on enough so you can almost skate across the carpet. Your feet cannot sweat. They will not get cold and clammy. Just not super cold. I have been doing it for years. Give it a try cause it really works.

 

[PJH]

"thin brown jersey gloves inside the old yellow or green fuzzy chore gloves"

That's what I use too Gary.

 

[ChasK]

As the last thing you do, before putting on your gloves, put some of this on a little heavier than you would a lotion.

When doing chores between buildings, I sometimes keep my gloves off. Been below zero since Friday.

Available at most farm stores...

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 09:53:32 01/02/18) I don't remember my hands being that cold in the military. That was a wool glove with a leather glove on top . Two pairs on the hands at once. I never shot the rifle with gloves.

Yeah, but you were 18 at the time. Bet you're not 18 anymore.

 

[used red MN]

Get some of these chemical reaction hand warmers, see link. I use the jersey gloves inside of my other gloves which are usually some form of insulated leather gloves. I put the warmer pad on the back of my hand outside of the jersey glove. That is not an ideal setup for shooting, but I?m talking about work wise. Some of those gloves with the swing off mitten tips might be good for shooting. I?d be surprised if the didn?t make those with little sewn in pockets to hold these type of warmers. Just keeping one of these in your coat pocket to warm your hand that way is better than nothing. As long as these things are contained from direct wind they usually last at least 3-6 hours.
Hand warmers

 

[Pete in Holland MI]

Dehydration is a problem in the winter. You don't know it is happening (no sweaty clothes). As you dehydrate, your capillaries shrink up to accomidate the smaller amount of fluid in your body, reducing blood flow, thus heat distribution. Drink lots of water before going outside, and drink often while out.

Notice the steam from your breath each time you breath, that's where your fluids are going.

Pete

 

[ss55]

It sounds dumb, but there is some real truth behind the old cliche "If your feet are cold, put on a hat". A face mask can help conserve body heat too.

 

[GVSII]

From the feet up:LL Bean boots with a liner,jeans with carhartt lined bibs, flannel shirt, carhartt lined jacket w/ vest,fleece lined hat w/ear flaps,carhartt insulated gloves or lined leather mitts w/an insert,depending on what I'm doing.Fingers may get cold with the gloves but thats it.If feet or hands are wrapped too tight circulation is cut down and there is no thin air gap around them and they're going to get KOLD. A balaclava is a big help too when you are exposed to wind.
When deer hunting keep your rifle loosely on a sling and your hands in your pockets with either chemical or the old joni hand warmers.You may be able to get a quick shot off.At your age don't feel too bad at not knocking down Bambi with one shot.Sometimes around me it sounds like there's fire fight going on with all these auto-loaders in use.
By the way what are you using for a rifle? Just curious.

 

[SDE]

I have used the thin latex gloves that the medical people wear, under my gloves.

 

[rrc300 u]

I use wool liners with leather gloves over the top. Also have a hand warmer made by Zippo it runs on lighter fluid and works pretty well they have a small 6 hour one and a larger 12 hour one. It works pretty well. I have uswd it at work a bunch of times the thing is awesome.

 

[TomH in PA]

Whatever you wear, warm them up before putting them on. It saps a lot of heat to warm up a pair of gloves; warm ones get the blood flowing as soon as you put them on.

 

[Bernie/MA]

I"m 82. For the last 5-6 years I"ve had to wear mittens when it get down into the 30s. My hands/fingers are too messed up from arthritis to get gloves on. But... I just found knitted fingerless gloves I can get on. My fingers are so short they barely stick out and there is a mitten attached you can flip over your fingers. I haven"t been able to work in my shop for 3 weeks. I"m going to try them tomorrow.

 

[RBoots]

Try wearing latex gloves inside your winter gloves, it helps sometimes.

 

[the tractor vet]

While in the military that is one thing i did not have a problem with . Being COLD Nam was not cold , sometimes in the highlands it got cool . I have fought cold feet and hands since i can remember . My normal body temp is over two degree lower then a NORMAL person , Normal is something i have never been .

 

[GordoSD]

Mitten on hand that points the gun. Wool or fleece glove with the rubber dimples on the trigger hand That hand in slash pocket with those disposable hand warmers, Probably shot 500 birds that way,

 

[rdandersom]

I got stranded on a back road during a blizzard 5 years ago. I didn't think I got that cold but apparently froze my fingers and ears. My fingers haven't been right since. This winter has been especially hard on my fingers