OR Swoop Mitts. Opinions?

[Monmouth]

I turn to the hide, of course, for gear review and opinions. I currently have a set of the OR Mitts with removable liners and love them

However, I wanted a mitt that had a trigger finger and the OR even has the flip over mitt covers. The mitt in question:

Does anyone have any experience with this OR mitt? Do you have any other suggestions besides the OR? I use the cheapo GI wool glove liners and really like them as a stand alone glove when I'm at the range on not so frigid days, but like mitts since my hands get cold very quickly.

Stay warm.

 

[djblingbling1]

Those bottom gloves look amazing...do you have a link...im not finding any on OR's site.

 

[B3dlam]

I have a pair of these at home:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/54...-cotton-and-leather-medium-olive-drab-and-tan

The ORs look much nicer but at $8 the surplus mits arent half bad.

 

[45.308]

That is some serious coin for those mitts to keep your meat grabbers warm! They are an updated or military branded AltiMitt which is an outstanding mitt but still very costly. I had good success with the Alti but I preferred the Black Diamond mitt, half cost and near as warm. With synthetic filled mitts, the insulation is very slick and the fibers tend to slide on each other with ease. This can cause difficulty gripping items wearing the mitts as the insulation slides around in the mitt while trying to grip and hold on to something. A removable pile/wool mitt inside just a shell is what I prefer and in my experience worked the best for me.

At what temps do you shoot or would use mitts like these? You comment that your hands get cold very quickly, just how so?

A trigger finger, "lobster mitts" sounds good but to use on a trigger but there is a good amount of material to feel through on the trigger. Since your index finger is solo in the mitt, it can get chilled more easily so I suggest when in use, you pull your trigger finger inside the main body so the individual fingers can support each other for more warm. In my experience the separate finger on a mitt is useless.

Velcro in the arctic can be poor at best if the fingers get a little liquid in them to freeze. I have that t shirt many times. Its great invention but not so great in the arctic. Snaps too but metal snaps can take a quick blast from a Bic lighter, stove, etc to unfreeze and work. I have had plastic buckles crack too.

Since you comment you get cold hands quickly, I suggest you take a baby aspirin or garlic pills daily to help with blood circulation. Stay and get well hydrated. Eat small high calorie snacks during the day. Do 25-50 jumping jacks as you leave for the day in the cold to boost circulation, not in the warm house but in the cold. Exercise regularly to boost your metabolism and circulation.

There way too many gloves out there to go over but my favorite pair are CloudVeil, softshell outer with goat skin palm and fingers insulated with 100wgt fleece and foam backing that added insulation but also guarded against contact with cold. Almost all glove companies make something close to these original softshell type gloves from CloudVeil, check out the Vert glove from OR. For mitts check out Black Diamond Mercury and Absolute mitts and their pilot gloves.

good luck, hope this helps

 

[Monmouth]

Those bottom gloves look amazing...do you have a link...im not finding any on OR's site.

http://www.us-elitegear.com/apparel/gloves-mitts/outdoor-research-multicam-swoop-mitt-shells.html

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Monmouth]

That is some serious coin for those mitts to keep your meat grabbers warm! They are an updated or military branded AltiMitt which is an outstanding mitt but still very costly. I had good success with the Alti but I preferred the Black Diamond mitt, half cost and near as warm. With synthetic filled mitts, the insulation is very slick and the fibers tend to slide on each other with ease. This can cause difficulty gripping items wearing the mitts as the insulation slides around in the mitt while trying to grip and hold on to something. A removable pile/wool mitt inside just a shell is what I prefer and in my experience worked the best for me.

At what temps do you shoot or would use mitts like these? You comment that your hands get cold very quickly, just how so?

A trigger finger, "lobster mitts" sounds good but to use on a trigger but there is a good amount of material to feel through on the trigger. Since your index finger is solo in the mitt, it can get chilled more easily so I suggest when in use, you pull your trigger finger inside the main body so the individual fingers can support each other for more warm. In my experience the separate finger on a mitt is useless.

Velcro in the arctic can be poor at best if the fingers get a little liquid in them to freeze. I have that t shirt many times. Its great invention but not so great in the arctic. Snaps too but metal snaps can take a quick blast from a Bic lighter, stove, etc to unfreeze and work. I have had plastic buckles crack too.

Since you comment you get cold hands quickly, I suggest you take a baby aspirin or garlic pills daily to help with blood circulation. Stay and get well hydrated. Eat small high calorie snacks during the day. Do 25-50 jumping jacks as you leave for the day in the cold to boost circulation, not in the warm house but in the cold. Exercise regularly to boost your metabolism and circulation.

There way too many gloves out there to go over but my favorite pair are CloudVeil, softshell outer with goat skin palm and fingers insulated with 100wgt fleece and foam backing that added insulation but also guarded against contact with cold. Almost all glove companies make something close to these original softshell type gloves from CloudVeil, check out the Vert glove from OR. For mitts check out Black Diamond Mercury and Absolute mitts and their pilot gloves.

good luck, hope this helps

Thank you for the reply,

Mostly in NJ and some of the time throughout the Northern Tri-State area. The weather, even on its worst days, doesn’t come anywhere near Arctic type conditions.

I’m in very good physical shape, but my problem is I have a tendency to not eat when I’m busy or focused on a task. I can go hours sitting/laying in the cold/wind and that’s when my hands start to get cold. When I was younger spending a lot of time on beaches/ponds, would just deal with the cold and the winter gear I could afford. Now that circumstances are different, want good quality winter gear to avoid the freeze and winds.

The more I think about it, logic would dictate a folding to expose trigger finger would make more sense on my right/shooting hand whereas the left hand would be best with the Swoop mitt. I too like the idea of a wool liner inside a water/wind resistant shell. Can you think of any of these shells with a folding trigger finger?

The picture of you climbing throughout that landscape makes me think of one word, “freedom”.

 

[Monmouth]

When I wear the brown OR's and want to shoot, I simply remove the entire mitt and just leave my cheapo GI wool glove on to grasp the pistol grip and squeeze the trigger. If possible, I wanted a "system" that allows me to not remove something to be able to perform a task (such as taking the mitt off and hooking on my jacket so I don't lose it, haha).

 

[45.308]

I understand the not eating while busy, its one of those things you have to learn. Its something that most do not do at home or during their normal routine. With my clients, I would have a shake down every hour or so and remind them to snack and drink. Hydrating should start days or all week and then supported during the day in the back country. Its really one of the whys users get tired and chilled, then they try to eat a big meal zapping their blood even more. Easy to snack foods. Once chilled its very hard to get the heat back in the core. If it happens, do some jumping jacks to get the heart pumping good.

Kit and systems are personal, so you will have to figure out what you want, why and then what works, does not work and then continue the process until you find it. Cold is something different to deal with. Big bulky mitts trying to do a task is either excepted as the way it is or modify what and how you do it to include kit. No need to take a mitt off with idiot, junior, elementary, cords on the mitts. Just remove the mitt and let if hang, no need to stick it a pocket or whatever, that is what the cord is for. It is hard to do tasks that requite dexterity while wearing mitts so, idiot cords are used.