[TowerTalk] Gloves for cold-weather climbing

[Healy, Rus]

I live near Rochester, New York (actually 25 miles south, but 1100 feet
higher than Rochester, which makes it typically 6 or 8 degrees colder).
It gets cold here.

For winter climbing, which I do only when absolutely necessary, I use
polypropylene glove liners under neoprene diving gloves. I think my
diving gloves came from Campmor in New Jersey (they have a mail-order
catalog). Over those, I wear my normal tower-climbing leather gloves to
protect the neoprene from nicks and cuts from sharp surfaces on the
tower. The neoprene gloves are great, but get the thinnest ones you can
find to preserve as much flexibility and tactile feedback as possible. I
also recommend getting ones with precurved fingers.

My recommendation for cold-weather work is to wear *the right layers*. I
start with polypropylene long underwear and sock liners, a layer of thin
cotton, a wetsuit (the shorty variety--sleeveless and covers the legs
only down to the knees--which I bought to use in triathlons), a heavier
layer of cotton or wool, then a coat and finally my farmer-style Wall's
"Zero Zone" coveralls. Works great, except that my leg movements are a
bit restricted (not much more than the cold alone would cause, though).
On my head, I wear a polypropylene balaclava (from Performance Bike
Shop), then a neoprene ear band and a poly propylene knit cap. Inside my
boots I sometimes use those chemical boot/glove heater packets that the
mountaineering stores sell, but only when it's *really* cold (single
digits or colder) or windy. It's not the temperature that makes this
area colder--it's the wind!

Polypropylene and neoprene are my two favorite synthetic materials for
cold-weather stuff. The downside, of course, is that it takes me longer
to dress for a tower project than it does to do the real work!

>--73, Rus, NJ2L

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