Best Way to Keep Hands Warm in Cold Weather

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Rob Johnston

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Best Way to Keep Hands Warm in Cold Weather

The extremities of your body are generally the areas worst affected by the cold. Your hands are usually one of the first things to feel the cold. When your hands get cold, doing anything becomes a challenge.

Not only does the cold make it harder to move your hands, but it can also pose some serious health threats.

Frostbite is just one of the results that may occur due to prolonged exposure to cold. Let’s talk about some of the best ways to keep your hands warm in cold weather.

Correct Fitting Gloves

One of the best things you can do to keep your hands warm in cold weather is to wear gloves that fit correctly.

If your gloves fit too loosely, there will be space for air between your skin and the glove material. The more room there is, the more heat will be sucked out of your hands to warm up that empty space.

If your gloves fit too tight, they may actually cut off the circulation to your hands. If your hands aren’t getting enough blood and oxygen, not only will they become cold, but it can be quite painful as well.

Therefore, you need gloves that are quite snug, but not so tight that they cut off blood flow.

You could even go with a pair of electrically heated gloves powered by a small battery. These are ideal for day hikes or generally sitting around while outdoors in cold weather.

Glove Liners

If your gloves alone aren’t enough to keep your hands warm, you want to consider using glove liners. Glove liners are made of materials that can retain lots of heat.

While the material can retain a lot of heat, it is also made thin enough to fit inside of most pairs of gloves.

These glove liners generally come in very thin gloves, almost like a pair of gloves inside the main pair.

As you may know, layering up is one of the best ways to stay warm. Two thinner layers are always better than one thick layer. Moreover, if your hands get too hot, you can always remove one of the layers.

Wear Mittens as an Alternative to Gloves

Gloves are great because they keep your fingers separate and allow for maximum mobility and maneuverability.

This one reason many people prefer gloves over mittens. Mittens, of course, keep all of your fingers in the same pocket.

Mittens are admittedly not significant in terms of functionality. Having all of your fingers in the same pocket makes it substantially harder to do anything at all. However, mittens do excel in one department, and that is heat retention.

When all of your fingers are contained in the same pocket, they work together to heat up that space.

Instead of four fingers heating up four individual pockets, all four fingers heat up the same pocket. This allows for much better heat retention.

Avoid Cotton

One thing that you need to avoid in the extreme cold is cotton. While cotton is generally seen as being ideal for heat retention, it does have a significant downfall. Cotton absorbs moisture really easily.

One of the worst things you can do for your hands in the cold is to get them or your gloves wet. Wet gloves will suck the heat out of your hands faster than anything else.

Hand Warmers

Something else you can consider doing to keep your hands warm is to use hand warmers. There are two main types to keep in mind.

USB Rechargeable Hand Warmer

These are hand warmers that feature a rechargeable battery pack.

They use the energy stored in the battery and convert the energy to heat to keep your hands warm.

The amount of power stored in the hand warmer is measured in mAh which means milliamp Hours.

I suggest looking for a pack with at least 5000 mAh which will last up to 6 hours.

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Chemical Hand Warmer

Chemical hand warmers also work well to keep hands warm. These feature small pouches filled with chemicals. When the chemicals are mixed, they produce a reaction that creates heat.

More or less, they are little packets that you bend and break, like a glow stick, to activate the chemicals, and then put them in your gloves.

These are nice when you are on the go, as they are quick, easy to use, and don’t need batteries. However, they are single-use and disposable, which is not ideal.

Keep Out of the Wind

The wind is another thing that will suck the warmth out of your hands quickly. One reason for this is because many gloves and mittens aren’t windproof.

Even when the outside temperature is in the negative double-digits, a decent pair of gloves will keep you warm. However, as soon as it gets windy, those same gloves at that same temperature won’t fare too well.

Stay Hydrated

If you are not doing so already, keeping your hands warm and staying hydrated will go a long way. When you are adequately hydrated, your body can regulate its temperature much better than when you are dehydrated.

Suppose you don’t have enough liquid in your system. In that case, your body can’t regulate its temperature well, and you will get colder much faster. Therefore carry a hot drink in a flask is a good idea or a cold drink in an insulated drinks bottle.

Stay Active

Of course, being active and being on the go will also keep you warm. When you exercise or just move around, your body uses energy, and this generates heat. If you are feeling the cold, pick up the pace and go faster.

The trick here is that you want to avoid working up a sweat. As mentioned above, moisture is your worst enemy in the cold.

If you are active to the point where you get really sweaty, you will end up even colder than before.