Gloves for cold shooting?

[Steve Luhr]

What are the best gloves for shooting in the winter? I'm thinking the open finger gloves, but are there some thin, windbloc, full coverage gloves I should try? Maybe y'all take gloves off for shooting. (GL-2 user, if that matters)

Tnx.

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Hi, I'm from a little town about 300 miles north from Montreal, in Canada, and during the winter, temperature often drop under -30 °C ...

I usually use a pair of mini extensive fabric gloves (I don't know if you see which one I mean, those gloves are often bright green or yellow... really nice :-/ ) under a pair of open finger gloves.

Thoses mini gloves are thin enough to use the buttons on the camcorder and this way it is a little bit warmer.

[Harry Settle]

I'm from northern Minnesota, it gets cold enough to kill your batteries before you have time to get cold hands. You could try a body glove for your camera.

[Rick Bravo]

Steve,

Try some NOMEX flight gloves. They fit nicely and afford thermal protection while still letting you perform those tasks that require the pesky, fine motor skills we all take for granted.

I've used them in both extreme heat and not so extreme cold environments with great results.

RB

[Adrian Douglas]

I used to use thin polypropolene gloves. You can get these from ski/snowboard or outdoors stores. I used to wear them under my snowboard gloves instead of the inners and just take off the outer shell when I wanted to shoot.

[Will Downing]

I agree with Rick, the Nomex flight gloves work well, plus mine extend up my wrist well under my jacket. And you can cover them with another glove for added warmth.
Another option is to look for a "shooters" glove with a "Gore-Tex" liner. Cabellas or Bass Pro catalogues are great places to search.

There's nothing worse than having cold hands...

[Rick Bravo]

Hey Will,

Just got back from another day at the "BIG EVENT". 14 hours in a helicopter...again!!!

I am beat to S**T.

Talk to you soon, RB

[Steve Luhr]

Thanks for all the great thoughts. Since this is the cheapest part of the equation, I can experiment. But I like the "dual" idea of having something substantial over a thin operable glove like Nomex. I'll be off shooting gravity sledding next month.

Steve

[Joe Sacher]

I usually am fine with just glove liners (very thin knit gloves) until it gets down near zero (F). As long as you are well insluated everywhere else, I get enough blood flow to keep the finger warm. They are thin enough that I don't have a problem running anything on the camera.

[Ken Tanaka]

This style of glove/mitten has worked very well for me when shooting in the cold. It's basically a fingerless glove with a mitten flip-top. I have several pairs, some with a nylon/Goretex shell.

[Dan Holly]

I use the same type of gloves as the link posted by Ken up here in Alaska.

Right now it's 9 degrees F outside with a -1 degree wind chill.

I also have a pair of snowmachine gloves that I cut the fingers off that serve the same purpose in a goretex flavor.

[Don Berube]

This is what I use more often than anything in the basic Winter cold while I am actually using the camera:
http://www.ems.com/products/product_...=1069302265056

These are good to have as well for when it is not so cold or for use with an additional outer waterproof shell, nice and thin, quick drying Poly-Pro but not quite as warm as the gloves mentioned above
http://www.ems.com/products/product_...=1069302323987

When I am in between setups and not actually shooting with the camera, I like to keep my fingers dry and warm by wearing a pair of decent waterproof snowboarding gloves such as these http://www.ems.com/products/product_...=1069303660400 over the thinner Poly-Pro gloves mentioned above. Nice, comfortable warm feeling and wind-proof/ water-proof. Great for setting up in between shots in the extreme outdoor cold.

The key to staying warm in the cold weather is to stay *dry*. Always avoid wearing any cotton, use only synthetic materials such as Poly-pro, fleece and Gore-Tex to stay dry and warm all day long.

In the extreme cold, I prefer to dress in 3 layers with a thin Poly-pro (or silk) layer against my skin, then a nice wind-proof quality fleece shell with a final protection layer of a Gore-Tex shell as the exterior layer. I used to teach skiing and snowboarding as well as shoot video on skiis for rsn.com and I found that this layering technique was the best for staying warm *all day long*.

Don't forget that your toes are just as important and vulnerable as your fingers in the extreme cold - so make sure you keep your feet dry and warm too by using a using a silk layer against your feet, then a good pair of fleece socks. Use good quality waterproof boots as well. If you will be trekking about in the wicked extreme outdoor Winter cold, then consider wearing an additional vapor-barrier shell around your feet before you put your boots on - this way your feet will remain in their own comfortable, dry and warm 'environment' all day long inside your waterproof boots. If you will be outside all day long repeatedly, consider spraying your feet first with some Gold Bond foot powder spray before you put the foot gear on.

Lastly, don't forget to keep your ears warm - they will go cold rather quickly too.

Think "dry" to keep warm in the extreme winter cold.

- don

[Harry Settle]

And what do you all use to keep your camera warm?

[Ken Tanaka]

I've never had to protect my XL1s from extreme cold. But I have had to give my GL2 a coat. I use a Porta Brace Polar Mitten. Excellent product, thoughtfully designed.

[Steve Luhr]

Gotta like those EMS gloves, especially the grippy thin set. I think a pair of those under a thicker pair, maybe the convertable (removable mitten finger) type would be awsome. Yes, stay dry. Thanks, all.