Keeping hands dry in winter

Jim,
Your gloves were soaked from the outside or from the inside?

Just hiking along in the snow/rain, or shoveling snow caves?

If the former, get better gloves. They are out there, or durable shells.

If the latter, consider vapor barrier products on the inside and WP on the outside.

But if your 'wet on the inside' gloves are dry on the outside, turn them inside out, give them a hard puff, and put them on. There won't be enough moisture on the outside to hurt any thing, but they Will feel cold.

Especially a problem when walking with sticks. Found many of the OR over mitts with gaiters to be bullet proof. Usually use over a down or synthetic fill mitten depending (Patagonia usually has a nice down mitt for layering). Or a heavy weight synthetic pile fleece glove covered by one of these shell mitts if it's warmer. You can add a little Ice breaker wool liner under the down glove if you are going to need your fingers occasionally. OR makes some bulletproof mitts with serious gaiters — shells and insulated. Also some seam taped goretex mitts with removable liners of various materials — can take them apart and put them in the bottom of your sleeping bag.

For around camp always have a lightweight pair of latex kitchen gloves in a size too big that will fit liner gloves for dealing with cold water — filtering, washing up, etc.

So, would carry goretex shell mitt with good gaiter+ poofy insulating mitt + pile glove+icebreaker liner+the latex dish glove large enough to fit over the pile glove. Need to be careful due to previous (relatively minor) cold injuries and probably an underlying condition that causes the hands to get cold easily. (Guess, I'll have to cut weight somewhere else. Ha. What I always say.)

BTW, gloves have a lot more seams than mittens.

Mark you beat me to the link to Andy's article. It certainly made a difference to me.

I also use Hartley's trick with the latex gloves over liners. I've extended these to snow work as well. Australian snow tends to be quite wet, and I find these are great for pitching the 'Mid or digging a kitchen. I use slightly tougher gloves for gardening, but that's mostly because I'm a bloke, and these are black not yellow, lilac or pink.

Rod

I have not used them, but the RAB Latok glove seems like a neat idea. Full eVENT membrane, but siliconized palm and fleece lined material. Spec at 5oz.

There are plenty of cream antiperspirants that can be used on the hands/feet. You might try Kiehl's I use this for under arms and its fragrance free and has a nice texture. On another recent thread someone mentioned a fragrance free 5 day anti-perspirant from Germany. I am intrigued by this. I googled it and it looks like a winner. There are more potent anti-perspirants available in the US by prescription. Also botox is increasingly being used for this problem.

Just discovered this thread.

Cheapskate that I am, I carry a wad of the bags that my daily newspaper comes in. I wear them over my socks, and in wet conditions, rubber banded over my wrists and gloves. They are a bit fragile, but they stretch pretty well and can easily be replaced if they break through with only minor weight penalty.

Another alternative if you don't get a daily newspaper: veggie bags from your local grocery. They're a bit more fragile, but their light weight makes it possible to carry a bunch of them.

I know. Nutty. But frugal and effective.

Stargazer

The stuffsacks the O2 rainwear rainsyit comes with make excellent wp/b mitts. Very lightweight, dual purpose, and inexpensive.

I would never use a combination shell. I would always use two separate garments.

You just have more control with separate garments. Combining them in MOST situations will cause you to sweat.
While hiking I may wear a shell on some occasions but only wear insulation during breaks or at camp.

Anti-perspirant on hands and feet for days on end?

You are trying to seriously interfere with the natural functioning of your own body. I have to say this sounds fundamentally silly to me, possibly even harmful.

I don't mind wearing WP/B gloves when digging in the snow – that's reasonable, but otherwise …

Cheers

The idea of antiperspirant is to interfere with nature full stop. In fact using it under your arm pits is more harmfull than using it on your hands due to the cell types and proximity of the lymph vessels and nodes. The active ingredient (aluminium) in most antiperspirants may have an effect on the functioning of the lymph vessels and nodes (although most antiperspirant producers will deny this).

"Aluminum-based compounds are the active ingredients in antiperspirants. They block the sweat glands to keep sweat from getting to the skin's surface. Some research has suggested that these aluminum compounds may be absorbed by the skin and cause changes in estrogen receptors of breast cells. Because estrogen can promote the growth of both cancer and non-cancer breast cells, some scientists have suggested that using the aluminum-based compounds in antiperspirants may be a risk factor for the development of breast cancer.

Studies have looked at aluminum content of breast tissue, and aluminum absorption through the skin, but no clear link to breast cancer has been made. Researchers continue to look at this possible breast cancer risk factor and more studies are needed."

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MED/content/MED_6_1x_Antiperspirants.asp

The diagram of the lymphatic system gives an idea of where the lymph nodes and vessels run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illu_lymphatic_system.jpg

I think the hands and feet are a reasonably safe place to use antiperspirant. I know the military in many alpine units recommend this technique also.

P.