By: Blonde One
Mittens are an essential item of outdoor clothing on a very cold day on the hill
On the very coldest of days during a British winter, mittens are the thing that keep my fingers warmer than any pair of gloves that I own. They’re an item of outdoor gear that doesn’t come out very often but are well worth having. The annual trip to Scotland would be rather more uncomfortable without them and the recent visit from the Beast from the East in England has partly been fought off by warm mittens. Any body heat from fingers will be trapped inside the mitten and thus keep those pinkies warm.
Mittens are best worn with a pair of very thin gloves underneath. That way, when you have to take them off to do zips, eat fig rolls, or fiddle with camera/phone buttons your hands aren’t left completely uncovered. Mine have carabiner clips attached to them so that they clip on easily to my bag when I take them off. Little Miss Blonde and I have had previous experience of the difficulties of losing one glove. When the weather is particularly cold I use a disposable hand warmer to keep inside the mitten.
I always carry a spare pair of gloves when I’m out with youngsters and have been known to let them wear my mittens to get them warm initially before handing out the spares.
Just one complaint about mittens … why don’t they have that string to attach them together that feeds through your sleeve, across your back and through the other sleeve?!
I love my mittens for warmth but doing anything fiddly in them is nigh on impossible. To solve this problem many mittens marketed for “winter mountaineering” have straps which you fasten around your wrists to stop the wind stealing them when you take them off.
That’s a very good idea. Maybe I need to upgrade my pair!!
I also favour favour mittens and attach an elastic wrist loop to them as Stephen says.
There is surely nothing to stop you attaching said string!