I am perhaps far too interested in gloves, I may seek treatment..... I own a lot of gloves and have owned a vast number of pairs over the last 40 years or so. Those of us who spend a lot of time in the mountains have lots of gloves. Photographers have lots of gloves. I'm not sure whether photographers who spend time in the mountains have those numbers added together or multiplied. I've owned gloves for walking, camping, scrambling, winter climbing, wet conditions, cold conditions, wet and cold conditions. I have windproof gloves and I have gloves that were advertised as waterproof, thick gloves, thin gloves. Andy Kirkpatrick wrote an excellent piece on gloves here. The vast majority is hard to argue with, especially his assertion that there is no such thing as a waterproof glove. I've tried all in one gloves, system gloves, layers and adjustable gloves. I've written about mitts that allow the end part to be removed, fingerless mitts and the ubiquitous Buffalo mitts. However after many years I have finally found a system that works for me. There is no implied suggestion that it will work for you but in case it helps, here goes.This my solution, just two pairs (with the caveat that somewhere in my bag there is ALWAYS a spare pair of some description). For 95% of the time I've been using the Macwet Climatec long cuff glove as my day to day glove. These are amazingly warm for their thickness, remarkably windproof and manage to grip better when they are slightly wet. They shrug off cold, wind and wet far in excess of their bulk. These allow the most delicate of camera operations to take place, buttons, dials, filters and lens changes. They might just be the only glove that do not impede removing a Lee Polariser from the holder. Just prior to my most recent visit to Scotland I decided to try an alternative to the Buffalo mitts that I had been using. They are warm, long lasting and cheap but have absolutely no grip whatsoever. The replacements, after much deliberation were the Extreme Mitts from Montane. These are a lightweight pile and Primaloft mitt with a grippy palm. They slip easily over the Macwet gloves and allow some of less dexterous tasks such as changing lenses, moving filters and operating remote control cables. to be accomplished. As can be seen from the photo, I always add wrist loops to mitts as do most ex winter climbers and anyone who has the same propensity to drop important items into fast flowing water...I've spent much of the last three weeks in snow, ice, winds and temperatures between 0 and -10 degrees. Whenever my hands felt cold the mitts would restore warmth in no time, they could be easily popped off again for specific tasks.These mitts will certainly shed a shower, they are not advertised as waterproof but we need to remember what it is we seek from a glove and that is usually to keep our hands warm rather than dry.
IMG_0563