Keeping fingers warm when cutting

[Good Feller]

What kind of gloves do all you loggers wear when cutting in the winter?  I was wearing thick leather gloves with cotton inserts the other day (32 degrees) and it didn't work too well.  My finger tips get so cold it's painful.  The coldness from the saw's handles really soaks through my gloves.  Also, I was wondering if there is a way to devise heated grips on a saw?  thanks

[Maineloggerkid]

Alot of newer saws come with heated handles as an option.  As for me, I wear the most insulated gloves I can and still have good dexterity with my hands. There is nothing I hate more than not being able to fully bend my fingers!

I hear ya on the cold, though. It has been down to about 15 degrees the last few mornings, and Thursday I think I started get frostbite on my left hand while cutting. It went away though, so its ok.

[Good Feller]

My next saw WILL have the heated grip option. 

[bkellyvtme]

Hey Maineloggerkid, I see you are not far from stinkin' Lincoln :D. How are things going at that mill? Still going?
Goofeller, heated grips are worth thier weight in gold when you need it. I never buy a saw w/o it. I found finding some small fleece gloves, and then larger leather did o.k for me.

[mike_van]

Anything thats too tight is worse, like the liners inside the leather, they need to fit really lose.  When it's bitter cold, they best thing is mittens instead of gloves. It gets harder to do certain things, but not impossible. I never had the 3 finger ones, they'd probably help some over regular ones.  A lifetime of working out all winter, the only thing that bothers me about the cold is my hands.

[Kodiakmac]

I don't have much in the way of advice for you, but your question brought back some memories.  Back in the 50s and early 60sy my twin sister and I used to go to the bush in winter-time with my Dad and his brother.  They used horses back then...Clydes. 

I remember when our hands got cold my Dad would walk us over to the team .  We'd stick our mittens up in the horses' arm-pits (leg-pits?) until our fingers warmed up. 

Like I said, this post wasn't much help...I suppose you want a solution that's a bit smaller and more maintenance-free than a Clyde, eh, Good Feller?

[Good Feller]

I'm just cold-blooded.  I've got the heat on 71 degrees in my house and my hands are like ice.  I'm willing to spend the extra dollar to stay comfortable this winter in the woods. 

[Maineloggerkid]

The Lincoln mill is still going strong, for now. I have a cousin that is a foreman there. They are shutting Millinocket soon, but hopefully Lincoln will not follow suit.

[bkellyvtme]

I hope not too. That would hit the area pretty hard.

[Maineloggerkid]

Extremely hard. THe whole area works off the mill. THe welding shop my dad works for gets alot of business from them, so even people that don't work in the forest products industry would be hit with a big blow.

[bkellyvtme]

I know the whole fiber industry has been taking a thrashing. I heard some have switched over to producing energy from chips and other biomass.

[SwampDonkey]

If sawing without heated handles, some of the family wore leather mittens with wool mitten liners and take along an extra part of liners. Me, as long as I'm moving I'm warm with Thinsulate gloves. But I can understand not being warm in 70 degree weather, my grandfather in his older age was always cold, even in summer with the heater on and never wanted a window rolled down. I used to ask what was cooking for breakfast. At home he wanted the heat near 90 degrees enough the melt any normal human being. :D

[Reddog]

The search feature can be your friend.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,23903.0.html

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=search2

[thecfarm]

That's what the "G" is for on my 372XPG. The G is for generator I think.Use to only add about $40 dollars and a few ozs to the saw.I could not find anything to really keep my hands warm,except for the exhaust on the tractor.I could cut just fine,but as soon as I grabbed on to the chockers and the links would fill with snow and than I would grab on to the chains,that would be it.I was to cheap to buy good gloves.Cheaper to spend $40 once and wear cheap gloves.

[Good Feller]

Reddog, if everyone searched what would be the point of this forum?  I'm here to interact.... not "google" around in the search bar.  If nobody posted anything it would be pretty boring around here.  The same topic brought up today can have different information than one created a few years ago.   Nobody has to respond or even read my posts if they don't want to.

[SwampDonkey]

Reddog was just bringing your attention to a previous discussion(s) made on the forum and a feature of this forum that sometimes gets missed by members or overlooked. He wasn't trying to kill the thread. Go easy on your fellow member.  ;)

[Dale Hatfield]

Heated handle bar  is best option. But here are a few tips.
Buy a set of loose fitting wist bands. Buy some packs of hand warmers.
Place hand warmer once activated  place one inside of wrist band.
Or place hand warmer on back of hand inside of glove.
I have found  that some of the sore back heat pads from wally world placed on you back will help fight the bone chilling cold back when working slow paced in the cold.
I use this method in ice carving comps where I have to keep hand inside of PVC gloves  that  get hard as a brick and half froze.
When we carved south of Chicago   last year if it hadn't had the hand warmers i would have locked smooth up. I  bought a case  on the way in and had em stuffed everywhere on the last day. It was so cold that blocks of ice were shattering from the change in temps when we pulled the boxes off them, even though they had been stored outside all night.

[beenthere]

For me, keeping the hands as dry as possible helps the most. I like the loose fitting wool gloves, or just the brown cotton gloves....until the glove gets soaked with melted snow (being warm and then handling the snowy chains, etc. as thecfarm mentioned).

I like the hand warmer pads too, but most times when sweaty and then the back of my neck gets cold and clammy, ... I drop one of those pads under my shirt collar in the back. Feels real good.

My hands may be cold when I start chain-sawing, but with any amount of work, they soon warm up and I start shedding clothes and changing to lighter, but dry, gloves.

No plans to go the heated handle route, but then I don't do chainsawing often enough to justify the expense, like many of you.

Parts of this thread remind me of what my Dad used to say to me (and my brothers) when growing up....."Knock that chip off your shoulder Son, or I'll knock it off for you". Usually I would take the hint and slink outta sight for awhile until we both cooled off... ;D ;D ;D
If not, I knew that he'd make an attempt to "knock it off" and I'd be shaking my head a bit. 

[Mooseherder]

Parts of this thread remind me of what my Dad used to say to me (and my brothers) when growing up....."Knock that chip off your shoulder Son, or I'll knock it off for you". Usually I would take the hint and slink outta sight for awhile until we both cooled off... ;D ;D ;D
If not, I knew that he'd make an attempt to "knock it off" and I'd be shaking my head a bit. 

Then you'd forget about how cold your hands were. :D

[Jeff]

I'm getting real close to playing the part of the Forum Dad.

[tyb525]

Wearing latex gloves under regular insulated gloves works for me. Plus it keeps the wet out, unless you start to sweat.

[okie]

I for one am really glad this topic came up. I have a condition called raynauds disease and as a result, if the temperature drops much under 50 the blood drains from my hands and they get paper white. In the 30's if unprotected it is really painfull. I am more suseptible to frost bite on account of this. My solution thus far has been fleece gloves with leather on over them and hot hands inside on the back and a fire going nearby to warm them if need be. I remember when i was a kid my dad got a pair of heated socks for christmas one year and they worked. I really wish someone made these in gloves. 

[John Mc]

If a new saw with a heated handle is not in your budget...

A couple of things learned from winter camping on keeping hands (and feet) warm.

Cotton is worthless. Once it gets damp or wet it has very little insulating value. It also holds any moisture right against your skin, sucking more heat from you. GEt something tha insulates even when wet (wool, polypro, etc.) as a liner in your gloves.

If your hands (or feet) are cold, put on a hat. A tremendous amount of heat is lost through your head. When your body's core temperature starts to fall, your system reacts by restricting blood flow to your extremities, trying to conserve heat and protect vital organs and your brain. Restricting blood flow to the brain has rather dire consequences, so your body doesn't do that... you'll just keep radiating heat out of your head. A good windproof fleece hat is one of my favorites. Still breathes to let out moisture, but insulates and cuts down on wind chill. You'd be surprised just how much difference this can make. there are special liners made for rock climbers and mountaineers to wear under their helmets that would probably work well under a chainsaw safety hat.

Keep your arms and especially wrists warm. One of the things that makes your fingers cold is chilling the blood on the way to them. A weak link in many people's cold weather gear is at the wrists... there is generally a gap between the coat and the glove, or at least a less insulated point. Your wrists are not well insulated naturally, and the arteries flow very close to the surface. Gloves with gauntlets (a part that extends up past your wrists)help, especially the ones with a drawstring to close the end of the gauntlet. The drawstring helps to seal off the opening to the air, and keeps all the wood chips from falling into your glove while sawing. Gauntlets should extend well up past the wrist. Picking a glove and coat that work well togethr in the wrist area can make a significant difference.

Avoid clothing that is too restrictive in the arms, wrists or hands. Often, as people try to layer up, the layers will cause a squeeze in places, partially restricting blood flow. This often happens in the wrist area. It can also happen in or near your armpits or the inside of your upper biceps (putting pressure in this area is something a paramedic will do to stop or slow bleeding further down your arm... the pressure squeezes the artery that supplies blood to your arm and hand. Even a partial restriction will cause problems... just like trying to cram too many pairs fo socks into your boot will make your foot colder, not warmer. Gripping too tightly or otherwise tensing up arm or hand muscles can have a similar effect.

Sorry for the long post. Thought some of this might help someone.

John Mc

[thecfarm]

Comfort to me is worth alot.Even if the price was $100 for heated handles I would spend it.I would gp through more good gloves trying to keep my hands warm and the bother of it too than the price of the handles of the life of a saw.Bother is worth something too to me.I've had my XPG for 5 yeras now,I think,seems like I did not even pay $40 for the heated handles. Getting cheaper by the year now Cold hands are no fun.

[thedeeredude]

I have underarmour brand glove liners.  Real thin warm and lots of dexterity and if its really windy, light leather gloves over top of them keeps out the wind.  They were pricey ~24$ I think, but worth it in my view.  I found a link to them
gloves link