ski gloves

i need the lightest, warmest waterproof ski gloves. i cant stand the bulky gloves ..
i saw grenade doobie brothers--look great reviews not so great. i like the fit, flexibility so this is a reference.
appreciate all input
thanx

There is something weird and counter-intuitive about gloves, having to do with exterior area and physics. It's related to why lemmings are fat and round.

When the area rises to a certain amount, the efficiency of glove starts to decline relative to protection against extreme cold, and as I understand it, the larger area becomes a liability, and at this point, you are best off with mittens, due to smaller exterior square acreage.

Gloves are nice and mittens are less nice, but certainly the larger goal is avoiding frostbite.

What Calamity is saying is "lightest, warmest-take your pick 'cause you ain't gonna get both." Waterproof is a whole 'nother thing, too. The only glove that's really waterproof from every review and comment I've read is one in a plastic bag. I have sprayed mine and we'll see how that works out.

Mitts are warmer than gloves, because, as Calamity points out, less surface area to radiate and conduct heat and your fingers and palm are all together, so they warm each other. Mitts are like a sleeping bag for your hands. I have a pair of Sno-Claws-kind of a mitt with a separate thumb and forefinger. They are a compromise, but pretty handy.

You could try lightweight wool gloves inside a plastic garden glove-I'm not kidding, I read that somewhere. Not what I would use, but it would be light and waterproof.

PS. I really like the equivalent of "Windpro" fleece gloves and they seem to be effective for me down to nearly zero degrees F., depending on, I suppose, activity. I've got both cheap Manzella and costly North Face versions of these gloves, and there is functionally no difference that I can discern.

I think it's wise to have at leat one back-up pair of hand protection available in anything other than benign conditions.

I used to have some Thinsulate ski-gloves that seemed okay for slightly colder conditions. The various brands in this category, again, seem roughly the same, and it looks like retailers love to take big markups on handwear.

I do dislike mittens, but a couple of times, at only somewhat below zero with gloves, my hands have gone numb to alarming extent, and I wished for mittens. Maybe I've just got that weird nerve disease, or possibly incipient diabetes...Who knows. We're all gonna die.

Adding the waterproof requirement into the mix makes your choice a lot harder. When Granite Gear was making gloves they provided a waterproof insert for the glove; you added the insert inside the glove when you wanted the glove to be truly waterproof. They did this as it's just too hard to make a truly waterproof glove that will stay waterproof after much use.

A version of Tom's idea would be to get medical type gloves or the type worn for painting and layer these under your gloves. The glove will get wet, but your hand will stay warm and dry - sort of a vapor barrier for your hands.

I have a hard time finding gloves I like. For daily wear over the past two winters I've been wearing Marker spring gloves; a mostly leather glove with a thin lining. I also added a thin liner. Not waterproof, but quite warm with the liner and great dexterity. I like them a lot. The downside - I noticed some holes starting at the stitching areas and they likely won't last past this season.

Windpro gloves are nice, I have some by Marmot, but again are not waterproof.

I have ragg wool gloves with thinsulate lining that I like a great deal - quite warm and comfortable. I also have Marmot precip shells and they layer under the shells nicely. The precip shells are mostly waterproof.

thx for the replies, so then, do the grenade doobie brothers gloves suk? for that style, what would be the best glove?

They sound good to me:

"Wear the Grenade Doobie Brothers Glove to blaze through the trees or get high off booters. Flexible, breathable neoprene tops improve blunt rolls and prevent dank digits, and Bong Rip Grip helps you grasp your 420 kit on the lift. The Grenade Doobie Brothers Glove also works great for hitting the pipe or even weeding in the garden."

But my poly gloves always used to get holes in the fingertips from smoking. Wish gear designers could do something about that.