Thanks much, Ellie --- exactly what I was looking for. We actually met briefly on the PCT in '08, and I appreciated getting from you the straight "been there, this year" feedback on the Glacier Peak area. Congrats on finishing the CDT!
Gadget
Thanks much, Ellie --- exactly what I was looking for. We actually met briefly on the PCT in '08, and I appreciated getting from you the straight "been there, this year" feedback on the Glacier Peak area. Congrats on finishing the CDT!
Gadget
I emailed ULA as well a couple of weeks back looking for some of their mitts. Hopefully more inquiries will encourage them to make them again.
I ordered two pair from sportsmans guide. I got the lined nylon version with a leather palm and trigger finger. I'm gonna weigh them and report when I get them. I plan to strip out the lining, spray with DWR, and then weigh again. could be a pretty good price/durability combo. The other swiss army mittens were water proof and cotton lined. they could be good too but I thought I'd like the more breathable ones.
should have them by next week sometime....
I have a set of MLD mittens and they are excellent but a little costly.
i can attest to the OR mitts. good quality, keep the water out, warm but not clammy. maybe too much for use on a thru-hike...i only use them in winter.
http://www.altrec.com/mammut/cover-g...:referralID=NA
I use these with possumdown liners when it's freakin' freezin' out.
I've been thinking about this some as we've gotten into cold weather running and hiking season. I think extra long sleeves on your wind shell and rain shell sometimes do the trick. Similarly extra long sleeves on your sweater sometimes reduce the need for mitts. Similarly with pants/shorts vs gaitors. I think if you optimized it, it might be better to have right length sleeves to begin with, plus some sort of mitt/gaitor, but if you don't want to cut your sleeves down it doesn't hurt to check to see if they are long enough to eliminate the need for overmitts. Gaiters are a bit trickier because they need to integrate better with your footwear. Same idea though.
I find running, and even hiking and skiing, its nice to keep the weight off my hands. I still like wool mitts though, single knit but a real good wool for wet snow. I haven't tried overmitts. I've been thinking about making a pair, but I'm sticking with the long sleeve trick for now. My winter windbreaker is oversized, so the sleeves happen to be long enough. Still, its important that the sweater and windshell sleeves roll up or blouse up well, so you don't want to overdo the long sleeves either.
Blousing up fleece pant legs is a good option also. Keeping them up and bloused just right requires some interesting technology options. I might thread through some yarn, or maybe so with buttons, or maybe some sort of blousing elastic.
jak that idea works fine unless you are using trekking poles.
" It's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid." ~Clint Eastwood, High Plains Drifter
That's a good point. As when skiing the sleeve trick might not work so well, but better than nothing in a pinch. For really cold miserable rain I wonder if something like paddling pogeys might work for trekking poles. You would have to make them, as paddling pogies have two ends and you would only need one. They would have to be able to slip off easily, but I think they could allow for a warmer dryer hike in the most nastiest of conditions. Most conditions aren't quite that bad though.
Paddling Pogies:
http://shop.nextadventure.net/pogies.html