NOTE:
Always take gloves, even in the summer – ALWAYS take gloves!
Now of course this page isn’t as simple as just take gloves! There are many times I’ve never put gloves on, but I’ve always had some with me just in case. It’s easy to cool off, but not so easy to warm up when in the hills.
So always take gloves with you.
Out for a walk and it doesn’t really matter what season it is. When the wind picks up and you are at the top of a munro, then you can and probably will get cold hands. Even in winter when you’ve got gloves on you can get cold hands! Of course that will depend on what gloves you have. I prefer to keep my fingers as free as possible to make taking photos as simple as possible. So getting colds hands/fingers comes as a cost at times for my hobby.
There is one thing that I’ve learned though that keeps them warm – but you have to do it constantly and remember to do it. You MUST constantly flex and clamp your fingers into a fist.
Found this out as I normally walk with a single pole, and as such that hand was always gripping it more, then less with each step. That small action kept the blood pumping and of course stopped that hand getting cold.
Maybe it was the handle of the pole helping, but I started to clench and release my other hand while walking (just little movements) at the same time. And yes that then stopped it getting cold. Once your hands/fingers do get cold – it’s really hard to get them back to being warm unless you either come out of the wind or add an extra layer on – which isn’t always possible.
Top 3 Tips
TIP 1 – With each stride – flex those fingers.
TIP 2 – Get a set of walking poles, if not for balance and taking pressure of the knees, then for use in colder weather as you automatically flex as you hold the poles while walking.
TIP 3 – If you do suffer from cold hands then think about layering gloves. Thin pair, then normal finger gloves, then you can get some large mitten style gloves for over that.
