keeping your hands warm? best way

[1989loweprojon]

Zippo hand warmers, one in each pocket of your jacket.

[skeetbum]

I like that Chaunc

[gobbler]

i have tried the zippos, had one succesful time getting it lit and staying lit, every other time it has failed me, what am i doing wrong with it?

i have tried a mr buddy heater but a good breeze will blow out the flame.

glove liners i wear, i been using the under armour ones, but there durability is not as good as there clothes

im leaning towards getting a good electric handwarmer and keeping it in one of those fanny pack handwarmers and maintaining the use of good glove liners

i appreciate all the replies and hope others have benefitted as well, and keep the ideas coming

[wicklundrh]

The Zippo's are finicky until you figure it out. Once you do, you get the AH HA moment.

First, the new ones come with a handy, dandy measuring cup. Take that measuring cup out, look carefully at the side of it. After looking, throw it in the trash can!

Slowly fill the hand warmer. Slowly. do this until the unit is almost holding liquid. If it is, dump it out and shake it a minute. You just want the material soaked. Next, take a paperclip, tooth pick... you get the idea, and pull at the fibers where you filled it. Put lighting wick on and shake her up some more. Light wick and keep unit verticle. I use a grill lighter and keep the flame on the wick for 20 or 30 seconds. If it is dark out, you will see it glow. For tournaments, I usually fill them and light them in my Hotel at around 4am. I leave them standing on the table with the cap on but out of the bag while I am readying my lunch, the boat, and getting dressed.

Not sure which buddy heater you have but I assume it is a "Sunflower" type design. The newer units that have the bottle that fits on the side and is "radiant" with one or two plates is much better than the old screw on ones. They run from 75 bucks to around 130. We carry one with us all the time. We fire it up between jigging runs and also when we are retying rigs.

Understand that in a tournament setting, my partner and I might have three rods tied with jigs. When we break off in the drift, the rod goes on the floor and we grab another. We might run through 4 rods before we retie them all. Last guy to break off gets the task of retieing! We don't waste time trying to get one unstuck. Time equals lost fish which equals lost weight, which equals money!

I am not sure what type of jacket you have but, many of them do not have good liners in the pockets. I've recommended to several guys to line their pockets with fleece. It is cheap at the store and can be put in by a good seemstress in a couple minutes. We deal with these elements all the time and we carry tons of stuff to be as comfortable as possible. Good gear is not cheap but it is good for a reason.

For winter and spring fishing, Ice Armour is what we utilize. Bibs and jacket. Our under layer is Under Armour extreme cold weather and a sweatshirt. I've tested this to 25 below without issues. The ice Armour suit we use is the extreme cold weather suit no longer sold. We will also wear the same under layer and Bass Pro Qualifier Gore Tex suits. All four of us (two teams) wear this gear. We use it and trust it.

Over the years, we go with what works. Combined we have over 150 years of experience dealing with cold weather fishing conditions in Michigan. If we have not tested it and trusted it, it doesn't go on board our boat.

Two other things. When fishing cold weather when decks can get slippery with fish slime, minnow bucket water, snow, rain, and ice, we ALWAYS wear an inflatable life jacket. Tournaments require it when the big motor is running and when jigging, we are moving so much it is a hassle to take off and put on. Plus, you get used to wearing it. I had a buddy go in the water last December when his boat was hit in the rear end by an idiot that bought a new boat just weeks before (because ALL new boats come with a captains license "sarcasm". He was fully loaded with winter clothing and was NOT wearing a vest. He hit the 38 degree water and it was like getting hit by a train. He was three feet from the boat, 40 years old, healthy, and in great shape. He could NOT get out of the water by himself. Hearing this first hand was all I needed to ensure we wear them in these conditions. Trolling, jigging, or other.

I walleye fished last weekend along with our sister boat (story is on the main page). Our vests came off once and that was to use the jon!

Second: Both of us carry one thing that no other tournament angler carries. For the life of us, we cannot figure out what on earth they do. We both purchased a toilet seat that snaps on to a five gallon bucket. We built special brakets that secure the bucket with a bungee cord to the front side of the passenger console on the walk through wind shield. You can fish all day in bad conditions if you are comfortable!

I've eaten warm soup, tea, and other while tournament fishing (not a coffee drinker). I've warmed up sandwiches on the heater, thawed jerkey, and drinks too. If you are comfortable and hydrated, you can fish all day!

[skiptomylu]

I have a pair of these I have had for years, now I need them since I have got older, but think I lost the mittens that can go inside these. However the best part is you can take the thumb and first finger and they have a slit your thumb or finger can go through and the tip of the finger/thumb with fold back and stick to some velcro to hold your finger and thumb free.

Skip
http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-...ductextensions

[skeetbum]

Skip, I have tried on every pair of neoprene gloves I have ever found and they are all too tight on my hands. When I drove over the road I would stop at outdoor shops in the very cold states and never found a pair that fit right. I think the concept is great and badly wanted a pair, but finally gave up. I like the muff idea but not sure if it would get in the way for the way I usually fish in cold conditions. I'm hearing a lot of ideas to try though. I also agree that most jackets have lame pocket liners.

[jackie53]

Worked. Outside for 40 years hands wet,cold.have tried about every kind of glove old new.Unloading coal railcars.When coal gets wet and frozen.your hands freeze,hurt ect.The only glove for me was,is the old brown Jersey gloves.When your gloves,hands are wet.Jersey gloves even wet will keep your hands warm.BROWN JERSEY GLOVES.WHEN fishing hands wet the Jersey gloves will keep your hands warm


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J120A using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[Ketchn]

I like to avoid temps that make my hands cold ...but when I do have to do it cold or not ...I use a leather palm cloth back fingerless pair and try not to get them wet ....I don’t fish well without my touchy feeling fingers in direct contact with my equipment cold or not ....if it’s below freezing I try to just wait till it warms up some to go ketch em ....

[Hanr3]

The best method, spend time outdoors prior to your trip. Acclimate to the temps.
Couple of tips when you do get on the water.
-Metal objects will suck the heat out of you faster than anything else. Avoid holding/touching metal objects with bare hands.
-Most of the time, in the winter, liquid water is warmer than air temps. Getting your hand wet may warm them up, however once you remove them from the water, they tend to freeze quick. You need to dry them fast. I keep a towel nearby to dry my hands/fingers after handling fish/minnows. Then my hands go into a coat pocket and then back into my fold-over glove/mittens. Seems like a lot of extra steps, however my gloves/mittens don't get wet and thus keep my hands warm.
-If the action picks up, one bare hand goes in the coat pocket, the other holds the rod, rotate as needed to stave off the freeze. Once the bite dies down, back to the mittens.
-Hot food- eat a warm lunch, drink hot coffee/cocoa.
-Layers- Layer your clothing, you can always take a layer off. Adding one isn't as easy. I find when my feet get cold, the rest of me soon follow suit. So I make sure to wear knee high wool socks and thinsulate winter hunting boots. Carhartt bibs, and Carhartt jacket as my outer layer. I also wear a thick stocking hat over my ball cap to keep my bald head, ears warm. If you don't have a beard, wear a scarf. Laugh if you want, however you lose the most body heat through your head and face.
- Why am I talking about everything but fingers, if the rest of you is warm, it's easier to keep the fingers warm. The digits (fingers and toes) are the first to get cold. The body pulls the blood back to keep the critical organs warm. As the critical organs reach optimum temps, the blood is pumped back to the extremities, thus warming the fingers. Keep your core, head/face covered and warm and you will have better blood flow to the digits.

I spend a lot of time outdoors, including winter camping.

[arkcrappie]

I wear thin wool gloves and keep hot hands in my pockets.