keeping hands/toes warm

I saw the posts on this subject a while ago and did get to try some of them and they sure helped,...colder weather is comming and I might add a bit of refinement to those suggestions that might not be needed for everyone but some people have extra problems in this area.. Once vasospasm occurs it takes some people a lot of heat to get blood flowing again. In addition to the suggestion of wearing rubber surgical gloves for a while esp if you dip your hands in cold water,..and the one about buying a bunch of those cheap brown gloves and changing them often as they get wet,..(I use a combo of such depending on what type of fishing and temp.) another thing I do is go to flea markets ect and get JON-E handwarmers,..generally 1-5 bucks around here,.. often never or little used,.one or two in each pocket,..but two or three in a box,.a few small air holes punched in the box for combustion (this one, is an old wooden cigar box that I drilled a few holes at an angle to not let rain in) put in several pairs of gloves,..and the heaters,..you put on a nice toasty pair of gloves on,..even can dry out not too wet ones in a bit of time,..for feet,..I know you can buy really warm shoes but before I learned what to buy, my feet would get very cold in a boat,..I'm guessing some guys with compromised circulations might still have this happen to them sitting in a cold/wet boat for a long time,.I took those fairly cheap electric socks,..was able to find some that had a big pad under the front (the ones with the strips will work too) you might have to play with this,..but the big pad ones were made for 6 volt lantern batties and you were supposed to put this big battery on a fanny like pak,...expensive to replace and only so much power,..and you really need a LOT of heat once your feet get cold to warm them up again,..but I cut out the bat pack and I soldered a few wires onto the remaining wires connectors,..I also learned to get connectors that you had to hold them in place to keep contact with the battery (as you don't hold it there for long )if you do,..you will be doing a new river dance,..only a few moments then wait 3-5 minutes and do it again as needed as long as you want for the warmth you like,..once you get them warm again the blood vessels dilate and they will generally stay warm for quite a while,..I use a small motorcycle bat...you can recharge it over and over and has a lot more stored power than thos dry cells,..you CAN do the same with those socks with the toe strips by making dummie bat. blanks with wires attached to them,...need to hold those connections on much less due to the small wire area,..I hope this can help someone,..its no fun being cold,..maybe it might let someone fish a bit longer.

[Suzuki]

With todays boot technology I am suprised that people have cold feet issues. I have not had a problem for many years. Even ice fishing.
I'm probably just lucky to have good foot circulation. But the hands is another issue.
I have tried wool gloves and they work when wet for a while. They get pretty stinky after handling a few fish. Sometime I carry several pairs of cotton gloves but if the fish are biting they get wet fast and useless. More times than not I just suffer. I stuff them in my pockets between dunkings. It gets tough to tie knots.
I'll probably pay for this when I get old.

I tried that thing about putting on those handwarmers that you shake and attach to your wrists,..didn't work for me,..hands still got cold. didn't like the feeling of hot wrists either.Re hands,..If I can warm them up and get the blood flowing it stays OK for a while.BTW another possible solution is that they make electrically heated gloves for motorcycles/snowmobiles,..these can be plugged into your battery /electric system and I believe have a temp control,...good to heat but not sure they are flexible to can work fishing with them. Again, once you warm up your hands you might switch to more flexible gloves and coast for a while,..

[eyewitness]

The trick to keeping your hands and feet warmer is to keep your torso/mid section and head well insulated. The body tends to put more blood flow where it's needed most which is the head and most importantly the vital organs. If they are warm, then more blood flow is allowed to the outer extremities such as your hands and feet. I know it sounds backward, but it's the medical truth. It makes a world of difference to wear a good layering system on your mid section so you can regulate your body temp accordingly. Of course good boots and gloves are a must, but they will do their job much better if you follow the above....

40-50% of heat loss is at the head, the remaining is at the extremeties. It takes longer for the blood to pump from the heart to the hands & feet causing a quicker heat loss. Also, the blood vessels are closest to the surface of the skin in the areas, w/o the "insulation" of tissue the result is a quicker loss of heat. The stalled redirection of flow resulting from cold or frostbitten extremeties will result in overall body temp. degredation. Keeping the head, hands & feet warm is critical to preventing hypothermia. U.S. Calvary sells "expenditionary force" thermal gloves. They are made of lambs skin lined w/ 600 g. thinsulate. Naturally water-proof, allowing the wearer to keep dexterity (especially for trigger fingers) & resilient to snagging. Kinda pricey though.

You state that what you have written is the medical truth, well this is why I never go to medical doctors. My feet get cold while my torso and everything else are very warm and comfy. So yes this is backwords and I would guess that I'am not the only person who will say this... Not everybody have the same problem when it comes to getting cold. My feet have always gotten cold and like the other person has stated-his feet never get cold. So everybody are made different, it is time for the doctors to figure this out...

[WAeyes]

Where can these Calvary gloves be purchased and how much are they? I really suffer from the cold hands syndrome. I always do arm circles to get the blood pumping along with the open and shake hand warmers...and still get cold hands. Maybe this ice fishing isn't worth the effort anymore...;)

[Starfish]

I mostly favor surgeons gloves with a really cheap pair of oversize mittens that I can fling to the floor when I get a fish on. But what I REALLY discovered last year that's worth sharing is a product called Therma Care that I believe is marketed for therapeutic use. They have several sizes and shapes of air-activated thermal pads-- just like the disposable handwarmers-- but with a wraparound self-sticking or velcro attachment. The best is one for lower back use, and wraps right around your kidneys. It covers my whole lower back and stays hot for about ten hours. Every time I spend a winter day steelheading I swear it's the best $5 I've ever spent. (Of course it's $5 each trip.) My whole body-- including hands-- stays much warmer, and I don't get any back cramping or soreness.

Starfish,Try this Pick up some of the disposable handwarmers.Then pick a TIGHT t-shirt and have your wife sew pockets for the handwarmers over the spots you want. on the lower back.If you stock up with the handwarmers at the end of the season you can get them cheap.If she puts in alot of pockets you can adjust the heat by adding more heaters.Valerie made one and will fish all winter with it. Paul

[Johnnie Candle]

Guys and gals,

Look in your pain relief isle for ThermaCare heat wraps. These come in a variety of sizes. One goes around your waist on an elastic band with velcro. IT will keep that lower back and mid-section warm. The other is smaller and has adhesive strips so it can be placed anywhere you need the warmth.

From working with this company, i have learned the many benifits of heat and blood circulation. Heat on the lower back will keep your feet warmer. It increases circulation to the lower extremities. These also keep you nice and limber through out the day so you are not so uncomfortable from hunching over, trying to stay warm.