Winter Photography gloves

Hi,

Posting here as there isn't a sub-forum for it.

What gloves do you use for winter when it comes to -20-40c weather that doesn't cost a small fortune?

Hey CDN_Merlin. I have a pair of woollen mitts that the fingers and thumb fold back and are held by a small piece of velcro. Under them I wear a pair of white gloves. Not sure what the gloves are made from (some kind of man made soft material that you can use on a touch screen. Got both mitts and gloves as a gift but I know my wife bought them at Marks. If its really nippy I slip a hand warmer into palm of the mitt. Works here in Alberta.

I haven't been out photographing in weather quite that cold yet, but I have had good luck with my Hand Out Gloves for warmth in well-below freezing temps. If I stand around waiting for the right moment, I stay quite warm with them on. You can pair with with a good wool or silk liner, something thin that gives you good dexterity.

They zip across the knuckle, letting you free all 5 fingers on demand, change a control on the camera, then zip back up. Where I find them awkward is they fold down over your palm and I tend to hit things with them.

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I'm not sure what the celsius conversion would be, but I am regularly out shooting in temps between 0 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. . I spend as little as possible on gloves, as they get dropped and lost so frequently. . But I do need gloves that insulate very well, despite low cost.

What I've found to be best on a performance for the dollar basis are heavyweight polyester fleece gloves. . Just simple ones that are only fleece throughout. . Any kind of lining or palm treatments tend to drive the price up. . When I find this type of simple fleece gloves for 7 or 8 dollars a pair, I will buy a couple pairs.

I keep a clothing accessory bag in my car at all times that is full of gloves, socks, hats, balaclavas, scarfs, etc. . There are always a few pairs of these very heavy fleece gloves floating around in that bag somewhere. . When I head out into the cold to shoot, I put one heavy pair on and put another heavy pair in my pocket, so that if I lose a glove or get one soaked I have immediate access to a spare.

My hands always stay warm enough when wearing this type of glove, down to around zero Fahrenheit.

Sometimes I need better finger control than these heavy fleece gloves will permit. . So what I do is to also have a pair of lightweight cotton jersey gloves in my coat pocket, in addition to the spare heavyweight gloves. . I get those at the dollar store for a buck a pair. . During the minute or three that I am actually shooting or working the controls on my camera, I will switch the heavy glove on my right hand out for one of the light cotton gloves. . As soon as the camera work is done and I am back to hiking or searching or waiting for another shooting opportunity, the heavy fleece glove goes back on.

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I use a layered approach. First a thin glove liner, also refered to as runners gloves, base camp wear, etc. then over those I use larger fingerless mittens that flip over the fingers. You can poke out just your shutter finger with ease. If your camera has a touch screen, get the liner gloves made for screens.

This combo is ok at -20C but that is about the limit. Anything that goes down to -40C will be expensive and bulky. (-20C = -4F, -40C = -40F)

I have a pair of these and they work great.