Winter Gloves
Shopping for a pair of warm and nice gloves for winter? After a preview of what to wear for winter as far as clothing is concerned, here are some general guidelines for choosing a suitable pair of winter gloves.
Leather gloves: These are cool! They look great and match well with almost any clothing. Having said that, keep in mind that those with 100% cashmere lining are not very warm gloves. Unless there’s extra lining (i.e. fur, wool etc.) to go with the genuine leather for extra warmth, it’s not recommended to wear them below -10 °C.
Ski gloves: These are warm gloves and perfect for outdoor activities, e.g. skiing, building snowman etc. The water resistant nature and 100% polyester lining of these gloves keep hands warm at all times! The Velcro straps around the wrists help to lock in the position of gloves, as well as to avoid the exposure to snow and cold wind.
Is there any disadvantage? Sweaty palms can lead to freezing cold hands under low temperatures. This has happened to me before, during ski trips. Any solutions? Choose gloves made with breathable materials whenever possible; otherwise, avoid wearing them for long hours without allowing palms to be in contact with fresh air.
Mittens: Polar fleece mittens that made of 100% polyester are rather common. Acrylic and wool are some other materials widely used in mittens. Mittens are generally nice and warm. Disadvantage? There’s very limited finger joint mobility when wearing mittens. To snap pictures in the cold weather, I’ll have to take them off and use bare hands instead. It won’t take long for hands to turn blue and purple. Ouch! It hurts! The freezing cold hands will then need to be “thawed” under room temperature. :P Picture taking in the winter can be rather challenging!
Gloves: These are the common type of gloves, typically made of polyester, acrylic, and/or wool.
Mitts-gloves hybrid: This is what I’d name them, since I’m not sure if there’s a specific name for them ;) These are my favourite! I got a pair of them last winter and have been wearing them almost every single day during winter ever since. The outer shell and lining of these gloves consist of 100% polyester. What’s so cool about them? The part on finger tips can be popped open! This enables great flexibility for finger joint movements for various activities, e.g. shooting pictures, controlling light switches, locking/unlocking with keys etc. What an awesome invention!
Have you made up your mind what to get yet? The best thing to do, is of course to keep several different pair of gloves. Wear a suitable pair, depending on weather and according to special needs.
Tags: Canada, Experience, Life, Winter
March 20th, 2009 at 5:38 am
You have all these gloves? So many! The leather gloves look elegant. I hardly wear gloves, sometimes I do get cold hands when working late on the computer. Maybe I should get a pair of light gloves this year.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Ai Shiang,
Quite a wide selection of gloves, isn’t it? Hehe… I can survive without scarves, and sometimes hats too in the winter, but never gloves! My hands get cold easily even just from sitting in front of my desk. Even though gloves would help, but they make it hard to type on keyboard… If there is something light you can find, that’d be great! I can’t even take pictures with gloves on, in most cases :P