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Warmest ski mittens?

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well then why not ski in boxing gloves? :tongue: I could probably fit both hands inside one mitten. It hurts dexterity. It's hard to hold my poles, and almost impossible to fit inside a pole strap.

I'm sure I can fit both hands in my Astis. So warm and snuggly! I gave up on dexterity with mittens a few years ago. I have the perfect light liners, so I just pull the mittens off .. well, anyway. To each their own!
 

SkiGAP

Angel Diva
This thread is invaluable for me. I am also a mitten wearer due to my hands being very sensitive to cold. My current Marmot mittens are starting to show real wear so I am in the market, though I'll try to get through this season before getting new ones, but who knows. So please keep the comments coming!
 

SquidWeaselYay

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The significant other got me a pair of Leki mittens for christmas that are GREAT. Have taken them out in frigid low teens here in PA, and my hands were warm! I have issues with Raynaud's Syndrome (a bizarre circulation issue where your capillaries spasm in the cold), and I haven't had a finger go numb in them yet!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
So I went and checked out of curiosity and I definitely cannot get both hands in one Astis mitt. And I know I couldn't go a size smaller because I literally could not get a hand inside at all. Sure, there's enough room that I can fit nice wool liners inside, but I think that just gives me that flexibility for them to be as warm as I need them to be. I CAN jam both hands into one shell of my BD Mercury Mitts, (not including stock liners) not that I ever felt that those were too big or unwieldy. I do have a pair of BD Expedition Mitts, which are actually too big to wear while using poles (and the folks at BD warned me that would be the case) , but that's more to do with the amount of insulation rather than the width. They are so thick and fluffy that I can't really control poles. But the Astis mitts seem quite practical for skiing IMHO.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was between sizes on the Astis, so I went large, and they're pretty roomy on me. But I don't expect any degree of dexterity from my mittens, so I don't mind.
 

pinto

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
By dexterity, I don't mean I'm texting or anything with them. But holding my poles, buckling a boot, other such largish-fine-motor operations, just became an annoying PITA for me. I don't have particular small hands, I can wear a 7 or 8 in Hestra. I actually prefer gloves, but unless it's warm, they have to be way too bulky to keep my hands warm enough.

So far, my favorite for normal cold (not super cold) days are the Hestra Fall Line mittens. As Goldilocks would say, they are just right.
 

artistinsuburbia

Angel Diva
I have the Black Diamond Mercury Mittens. And Raynaud's. they are very warm and in combo with hand warmers, I've really had no complaints. But thanks to these Divas and another thread, I quit the caffeine and haven't had an Raynaud's episode since AND I am warmer overall. So cold hands are a thing of the past for me now.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
But thanks to these Divas and another thread, I quit the caffeine and haven't had an Raynaud's episode since AND I am warmer overall. So cold hands are a thing of the past for me now.

That's awesome!

I haven't had much caffeine (just decaf) for over a decade. Still cold hands =/
 

Christy

Angel Diva
I also do BD Mercury and handwarmers. They are impossible using pole straps but since I starting using Leki poles, it's just fine. I agree they are big; I looked for Hestra Helis and I don't think I could find my size when I wanted to buy them. Or maybe I was between sizes and couldn't decide.

Interesting about the caffeine. I have Raynaud's too. I only drink one cup of coffee a day--that's it for caffeine--but it brings me a lot of joy so I won't be giving it up. By far my worst attacks are from temp changes and since I wear the mittens and have heatpacks for skiing, that is fine. Grocery shopping is the worst. Warm house>cold car>car gets warm>grocery store is cold again=truly painful fingers. I try to remember to wear gloves and do the produce and meat last.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I think you guys aren't trying hard enough for pole straps. I can get mine over my Astis mittens, and they're HUGE, and my straps are on the short side.

I didn't think it was possible the first couple of times, but I kept at it, and now I can do it while on the move ...
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@bounceswoosh are the Astis mittens okay to wear in wet conditions?

I've never worn them in rain, but they are waterproof. I have never had issues with melting snow getting into them.

https://www.astis.com/pages/make

Working directly with a tannery in the USA we developed a suede leather, injected with silicon during the tanning process for further waterproofing, that is extremely durable yet retains great dexterity.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I've never worn them in rain, but they are waterproof. I have never had issues with melting snow getting into them.

https://www.astis.com/pages/make

Thanks, that's interesting. I've seen people with them, but wasn't sure if they were practical in that manner. Haven't seen them to actually try on, but I'm always on the lookout for warm hands while skiing. I'm currently part of the BD Mercury mitt with hand warmers club, and I love them, but I did have a day recently where my thumbs getting ice cold in them still were a limiting factor on my staying out longer on a really cold/windy day.. Everything else about me was fine, except the thumbs.. so frustrating.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks, that's interesting. I've seen people with them, but wasn't sure if they were practical in that manner. Haven't seen them to actually try on, but I'm always on the lookout for warm hands while skiing. I'm currently part of the BD Mercury mitt with hand warmers club, and I love them, but I did have a day recently where my thumbs getting ice cold in them still were a limiting factor on my staying out longer on a really cold/windy day.. Everything else about me was fine, except the thumbs.. so frustrating.

Astis mittens are surprisingly practical. They're also very expensive, and not everyone wants to draw attention to themselves this way or wants that look. I *always* get shout outs for the mittens, every day I ski. And of course there's the matter of real fur.

They are definitely warmer than my Hestra heli mitts. My hands get unusually cold, from what I can tell, so I stuff a chemical warmer into any mitten below about 40*. I would rather be too warm and throw it out if I don't need it. But I can still tell the Astis are warmer. Partly it may be because my mitts are on the large side for me, so there's more air warming up in there. The tradeoff is that they are unusable except to hold poles (in the size I chose). I feel that way about my heli mitts, too, though. I am just in the habit of always pulling my mittens off. I found the perfect liner, Burton, which works with touch screens and wicks like crazy, so I still have something protecting my skin as I fiddle with buckles or whatever.
 

Mary Tee

Angel Diva
I found the perfect liner, Burton, which works with touch screens and wicks like crazy, so I still have something protecting my skin as I fiddle with buckles or whatever.

Which Burton liner are you using?
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Which Burton liner are you using?

These guys:

https://www.burton.com/us/en/burton-touchscreen-liner/W17-103191.html

I actually have a stash of them for backup. They last surprisingly long given how thin they are, but they do eventually fray (I tend to do things like grab the sides of my skis while wearing them). Previous seasons had fun color options, but whatever - they work!

Ah - here are last season's colors at discount:

https://www.burton.com/us/en/burton-touchscreen-liner/W16-103191.html
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I wore mine in a really wet storm recently and they were totally fine. The fur looked a little soggy when it was wet, but it looked normal again once they dried out. And the insides stayed warm and dry when I was wearing them.
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Astis. End of story.

(Okay, they do make battery powered heated gloves, and I haven't tried those.)

I own Gerbing heated gloves. I still wear liners and to keep hands feeling toasty vs just not cold, it takes two batteries a day. Mine have rechargeable seven volt batteries. I always carry two and change around three hours. I only wear these when the day isn't due to get above the teens. Other days I have a pair of Swany mittens and another pair of Scott mittens. Each has built in liner gloves and a zip slot on the back of the hand for a chemical heat pack like Hot Hands.
 

Abbi

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am a huge fan of the Hestra Heli mitts. I have worn them for years---the warmest mitts I own. I even have a pair of the Heli gloves for spring skiing.

They also make a heated glove. The gold standard, at least cost-wise!
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I was skiing with a woman Saturday who just got too cold and was done for the day. She had battery-heated gloves, but she said that once the battery died, the materials just weren't as warm as "regular" gloves. I don't know what brand. I would hope other brands make batter-heated gloves that are just as warm as very warm regular gloves when there's no battery power.
 

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