Heated gloves

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robgoggins

New member
My son and I were riding in northern MN earlier this week, for about 4 days. During most of those days the actual temperature when we took off in the morning was anywhere from -5 to -10F. Throw in wind chill and it was -10 to -20 or -25F. Overall, no big deal. (Although we did have to jump my son's 800 sled on the coldest morning.) For the first hour or two of riding, my right thumb freezes like a popsicle. Typically I would place my right thumb on the throttle. I ride a 2017 Ski-Doo 900 Grand Touring, so it has a "windshield" (cowling?), heated grips and supposedly a heated throttle. I also place after-market "wind blocker" wraps that are velcro'd around the grips to help block most residual wind that gets around the windshield. Within 20 minutes my hands get fairly warm from the heated grips, but my right thumb is still freezing. So then I flipped the throttle around and used my index finger to move the throttle; then I had to tuck my right thumb into palm of my glove and place it next to a hand warmer inside the glove. Eventually the right thumb warmed up. After a few hours of riding I often removed the thick (and expensive!) Kim snowmobiling gloves and just rode with relatively thin liner gloves on. I never have an issue with any other part of my body getting/staying warm.

3-4 days after riding I'm starting to get most of the feeling back in my right thumb. Understandably, I would like to avoid this situation next time around. My son said I should look into heated gloves. I found these on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Rec...&s=gateway&sr=8-3-spons&tag=googhydr-20&psc=1

Does anyone have any input on the value of heated gloves if you've struggled with cold fingers? Thanks.
 
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robgoggins

New member
blkhwkbob said:
What about the Skidoo hand covers with the clear plastic top? My friend swears by them.
Click to expand...

I have them, and use them. That's what I was referring to when I mentioned the "wind blocker" wraps that are velcro'd around the grips to help block residual wind that gets around the cowling. They help, but for some reason my right thumb still gets incredibly cold. I'm starting to wonder if maybe the throttle lever isn't truly getting warm, even though the dash tells me there is heat getting to that piece. When I take the sled in for servicing this spring I need to have them look at that.
 
2

2TrakR

Member
I have the Gears Canada heated jacket liner and heated gloves - the 12v power-from-machine ones. Reminds me I have to follow up another post.
Your hands will not be cold with the ones I have. Downside is the leather is stiff and the sizing made my hands ache after a couple days as they didn't flex as well as I'm used to. May be better after more use. Will say my hands were never color or if they were, it was only a click or two and that was solved. I usually wear pretty light gloves and maybe 1-2 clicks on the bar heaters ('15 GT). When it's down in the single digits, the bigger gloves come out.

I have used the battery powered stuff and find the battery just won't last long. The gloves you linked to may be OK, especially if you only need them for the first hour or two of riding. If you need heated gear for all day riding, the plug-in variety is sooo much better.
 
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ragex2

Member
Check your thumb warmer before buying more gear.....the thumb wamer on my 2016 skidoo will burn your thumb off
 
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1fujifilm

Well-known member
ragex2 said:
Check your thumb warmer before buying more gear.....the thumb wamer on my 2016 skidoo will burn your thumb off
Click to expand...

Yup, constantly adjusting my grips and thumb heat controls on my Doo between 1 and 3.
I think the key is to have wind protection like gauntlets. I use gauntlets and wind proof Mechanix gloves.

Bear
 
G

GTL

Member
Yep, check the thumb warmer first. I used the gauntlets once this winter but it kept bumping the switch for the thumb warmer and moved it to "high" all time. I actually burned my thumb and got a blister by the end of the day. Mine is a '16 Endro and I rarely set the warmer up more than about two or three bars.
 
J

JWBERT

New member
I find the Klim gloves ,non electric, to be too well insulated so that they don't allow heat from the handlebar heaters to penetrate to your hands.
 
heckler56

heckler56

Active member
I use First Gear electric glove "liners". They are a shear glove that the electric wire rolls up and down the side & tips of each finger & thumb. Unlike heated gloves, when your normal gloves wear out replace them and use these in the next pair.
You can buy these at Dennis Kirk. I bought an extra battery connector for my back up sled.
You will not regret using these......
 
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