Your favorite cold weather shooting glove?

[Iraq Ninja]

Tis the season to talk about cold weather shooting gloves.

If you have a favorite, tell us the brand and WHY you like them for shooting.

It may be that the best gloves are not marketed for the "tactical" community... hmm me thinks maybe yes...

[Ak44]

Outdoor Research gloves are my favorite winter glove. They were issued to me when I was stationed in Norfolk for our field ops in Quantico. They were softshells and used them as liners under my issued leather gloves. I'm pretty sure they aren't marketed towards the tactical community but more like outdoor enthusiasts and skiers. Plus you can get them at REI

[militarymoron]

OR Gear vigil or sentry (short version of the vigil). they use massif FR softshell material with a soft fleece interior. comfy, warm and water resistant. good feel and dexterity. only small gripe is the seam across the palm, which is right on the backstrap when you're holding a pistol or AR.
other cold weather gloves were too bulky (goretex etc) and didn't have good grip. fleece liners keep the hands pretty warm but are way too slippery for shooting.
the vigil/sentry are a good mix of features. not perfect, but the closest so far to what i'd want in a cold weather shooting glove.

[mike_f]

I've tried many different types of cold weather gloves, but the ones I like as the best compromise between dexterity, warmth, durability, and water resistance are these:



http://www.camelbak.com/government-m...ldweather.aspx

I haven't bought any since SW Motorsports was absorbed by Camelback, so I don't know if they've changed w/ the change in companies but the photo looks the same. They also had GSA pricing the last time I bought them which makes the cost MUCH more reasonable.

[JHC]

Here in GA I get by fine with the nomex flight gloves. Never considered them til seeing guys mention them on Lightfighter. They are not expensive and work as well as the much more expensive gloves I've tried.

[awm14hp]

I have used the kangaroo skin Cabalas black shooting glove that is insulated and its worked really well for me just stay with the non goretex model as it seems to give you a better feel on things

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...set=ISO-8859-1

I have hunted deer and when I was in ARMY I used wool control dot gloves with good results both half finger and full finger and even when they get wet they have kept my fingers warm

[VMI-MO]

Originally Posted by JHC

Here in GA I get by fine with the nomex flight gloves. Never considered them til seeing guys mention them on Lightfighter. They are not expensive and work as well as the much more expensive gloves I've tried.

I have worn nomex flight gloves in the middle of a Maine winter. They do not do so well. They are good down to about 25 degrees if you can keep them dry. If you are going to be operating in above freezing temps, your typical mechanics gloves will work just fine. If you are getting into a wet/cold environment then you need to take new precautions.

TNF Denali Gloves are good and will keep you warm. But I have found they can be prone to melting.
http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorge.../TNF0534M.html

I have found these OR gloves to work pretty good, melting is still an issue however.
http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorge.../ODR0296M.html

PJ

[misanthropist]

Not very elite or tactical, but for the winter shooting I do (mostly M14s at intermediate distances, slow fire) I like to wear polypropylene liners under those rag wool mittens with flip-back ends.

I know it's not very suited to what a lot of people here would be doing but for the slow, calm shooting I do, which is mostly from prone or kneeling, it is not a bad approach. I can flip the mitten part back right before I take the shot.

I am not often out below -15 or so. Below that I think would probably require more glove, as would wind.

[THellURider]

Different and maybe hard to get a hold of in the US, but these are the best gloves I've ever owned.

The Archer gloves by Chevalier, a Swedish firm.

Some others I've found that I haven't used but I believe are just as good as the Archers, are the ones made by Norrona, a Norwegian firm.

[Selftest]

Underarmor makes some very thin fleece gloves that are good when it's kind of cold. If I need warmer, while still maintaining the ability to shoot, I put Mechanix gloves on over the Underarmor gloves.

[akviper]

After 30+ Alaskan years I can offer the following caution. Stretchy fleece or wool liner type gloves can catch and bind triggers under stress situations. I've seen it happen numerous times so they are best avoided.

Unfortunately, there are no miracle fabrics or insulations regardless of advertising. Thickness is warmth. The thicker the glove the warmer it is. The thicker the glove, the less trigger feel and more chance of binding. In below 0, I use the nomex liner under German army mittens on idiot cords. I shake the mitten off when ready to shoot. It slows you down but if you can't feel your fingers because you didn't protect them it's even slower and harder to handle a trigger properly. For moderate cold, +20 to +40 I use a wind resistant Manzella fleece glove that has a thin synthetic layer on the finger surface that provides a little trigger feel and doesn't catch or bind. For moderate cold weather the good old nomex glove works just fine.

[gruntinhusaybah]

another vote for the cabellas roo gloves
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...368&hasJS=true
I always used the thinsulate version and they worked pretty damn well for the winter in western anbar for me. Very good dexterity, I had one pair for an entire deployment and then used them again through my next workup

[M4Fundi]

I think it really depends on what your version of winter is.

How cold and how wet?

Ice climbing gloves are the best, most durable gloves for most winter "active" pursuits. They are designed to be bomb-proof and high dexterity with good feel and grippy. They make them for cool to blizzard weight designs. The hands down best all around ice climbing glove is the Black Diamond Punisher. It is a "midweight" glove and the thickest glove I could imagine getting in a trigger guard. They fit great and have fantastic impact padding on them that you would simply have to read about to appreciate.

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com...loves/punisher

I have lighter weight Marmot Ice gloves that I do shoot with often and then Marmot Alpine Gloves for ice that would be too burly to shoot with.

This is one I looked at today that is a little lighter weight than the BD Punisher and has promise.

http://www.mammut.ch/en/productDetai...ial+Glove.html

Then again these are all for below freezing. Cold Rain would need something completely water proof tho these are very water resistant.

My Hatch Operator gloves suck ass in the cold. The leather conducts the cold to fingertips.

[RAM Engineer]

Outdoor Research "Rucker" Gloves. They're not made anymore. They were part of the RFI glove system that was being issued several years ago.

Fire resistant Polartec Powerstretch fleece
leather palm and fingers (like a flight glove)
not too thick, not too thin
form fitting
gauntlet style, but not as long as a flight glove
fire resistant
actual Polartec fabric, not some Massif wannabe
color: black only (my only issue with them)

I bought 2 or 3 pairs before they were discontinued.

[mjpsyr]

Living in upstate NY I've had to deal with bad winters for a long time. I keep my regular shooting/duty gloves but wear a pair of nitrile exam gloves underneath (the same exam gloves doctors, nurses, emt's wear). The exam gloves retain your body heat, are thin enough that you don't lose any dexterity like you would with thicker winter gloves and since you wear them under your duty gloves they are protected so they don't get ripped. At first this sounded a little crazy to me, but then I tried it and wouldn't go back to thicker winter gloves again.

[M4Fundi]

Vapor Barriers for keeping warm work as long as you can keep the vapor/moisture inside the barrier, but I'd think your hands would eventually get trench hand doing that every day? Do your hands not get prune-like wearing the nitrile gloves?

[misanthropist]

We used to do that, working construction outside in the winter.

Nitrile under orange insulated textured rubber, just the thing for extreme winter work.


I never had any problems with "trench hand" but then I would strip off the gloves after 5-6 hours for lunch, then go another 5-6 hours, but then my hands would generally be warm and dry for the next 10-12 hours as I went home, had dinner, slept etc.

How it would work in a combat environment, I am not sure.

[mjpsyr]

Originally Posted by M4Fundi

Vapor Barriers for keeping warm work as long as you can keep the vapor/moisture inside the barrier, but I'd think your hands would eventually get trench hand doing that every day? Do your hands not get prune-like wearing the nitrile gloves?

I haven't had that problem. I've worn them for both short periods of time (doing warrants) and longer periods of time (6-8 hrs or more on call outs). Generally if its cold enough to have to wear them, my hands don't sweat that much.

[johnson]

I just looked at the Cabela's Kangaroo gloves and they're on sale for $20! I tried them on a few weeks ago but decided not to get them because of the price tag. Today I went to the range and my hands were freezing (27 degrees with mild wind) so i'm definately picking up a pair tomorrow.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...questid=195068

[awm14hp]

Originally Posted by johnson

I just looked at the Cabela's Kangaroo gloves and they're on sale for $20! I tried them on a few weeks ago but decided not to get them because of the price tag. Today I went to the range and my hands were freezing (27 degrees with mild wind) so i'm definately picking up a pair tomorrow.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...questid=195068

Thanks just ordered two more pair for that price