Typing Gloves

March 10, 2006 10:40 AM

I'm born and raised in Southern California. This is a problem when the temperature drops and my excessively warm-blooded body can't handle the cold. I have a pair of fingerless glove inserts from an Army/Navy surplus store, but they're many years old and fairly intrusive anyway. So I ask: what are the best gloves to wear while typing?

I found this previous thread about staying warm in a dorm room, with a quick reference to fingerless gloves, but nothing more specific.

posted by rcs to Grab Bag (17 answers total)

maybe something like this for typing?

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=138+0269&sk=MC51419
posted by condour75 at 10:45 AM on March 10, 2006

Sorry, I can link. Really. And for those too lazy, it's a heated keyboard.
posted by condour75 at 10:45 AM on March 10, 2006

I think the easier solution is to warm the room, since keyboards are designed for (thin) fingers. Even people with thick fingers have trouble. The heated keyboard seems like a good idea too.

Failing that, Strong Bad seems to do okay with boxing gloves.
posted by danb at 10:49 AM on March 10, 2006

I live in Maine. In a big, drafty house.

A big part of why your hands and fingers get cold is that your body is using the blood to heat the more important core parts of your body. If you keep your core nice and warm, your hands are less likely to get cold.

Put on an extra sweater, make sure your feet are warm enough, throw a blanket over your lap. The warmer your whole body is, the warmer your hands will be (no gloves required).
posted by anastasiav at 11:09 AM on March 10, 2006

What anastasiav sez.

I recall seeing an science TV show that showed scientists working in the Antarctic. They had battery-heated vests that pumped out heat and they could go outside and do work with ungloved hands, even in extremely cold weather (like minus a bajillion, it's the antarctic). Not forever, but for several minutes.

Warm your body up and your hands will be fine.
posted by GuyZero at 11:23 AM on March 10, 2006

And wear a hat! I work outside, but I need dexterity so I can't wear thick gloves. Wearing a hat helps keep my entire body warmer.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:32 AM on March 10, 2006

Though originally from the south, I'm a cold climate person by ancestry and preference.

BUT. My wife is from Florida. You'd think we lived in the arctic by the way she puttered about the house, teeth chattering, in three layers of polar fleece and a wool cap. I am often frightened she may attempt to chop up the furniture and build a fire in the bedroom. So. She has had the exact same problem adapting as you.

What she did that worked: Don't drink coffee while you type - it restricts circulation. Drink some nice hot decaffeinated coffee or tea. Get that belly warm.

And as much as this might truly suck... go out in the morning for a quick brisk walk in the cold - take the dog for a walk. Your body will adapt it's circulation mighty quick. When you get back in you house will feel nice and toasty. Over time the adaptation will stick.
posted by tkchrist at 11:42 AM on March 10, 2006

I have a pretty mild form of Reynaud's (where your extremeties turn white in the cold, basically bad circulation). It helps me a lot to spin my arms in big, undignified windmill circles to force the blood into my fingers.
posted by selfmedicating at 11:52 AM on March 10, 2006

/agree oneirodynia. As the old saw goes: "When your feet are cold, put on a hat". Applies to fingers as well.
posted by Manjusri at 12:28 PM on March 10, 2006

During this, my first winter in our new/old, drafty house, I made a pair of these to keep my hands warm for typing, other knitting, crosswords, etc. My husband asked for a pair also, and he has worn his quite a bit. If you know a knitter, request some--they're not particularly hard to make and they do keep hands quite toasty. If you get pretty yarn they also look quite snazzy.
posted by dlugoczaj at 1:36 PM on March 10, 2006

I bought a pair of inexpensive cotton gloves, and snipped the tip off of each of the fingers and thumb. You want to make sure that you don't use a knit glove, or the fingers will start unraveling.

I'm not sure what to call these types of gloves... if you go to your local hardware store, look for the basic brown cotton gloves.
posted by Jim T at 1:38 PM on March 10, 2006

You might want to check out Wristies. Very similar to what dlugoczaj just posted, but made out of warm fleece. And they work really well as a base layer for gloves in the heavy outdoor cold.
posted by Jim T at 1:40 PM on March 10, 2006

I bought a pair of inexpensive cotton gloves, and snipped the tip off of each of the fingers and thumb. You want to make sure that you don't use a knit glove, or the fingers will start unraveling.

I did this too. Except mine are fleece.

Mmmm. Fleece.

My hands stay pretty warm. The gloves are thin enough to type with (I'm a medical transcriptionist) *and* it makes me look like a nineteenth-century street urchin... and that's kinda fun.
posted by eleyna at 2:09 PM on March 10, 2006

I agree with the others who say warm up the rest of you body. But I also think that the Helly Hansen liner gloves are just what you're looking for. I use them under normal gloves/mittens so that my hands don't get exposed to the cold air when I need to do something more dexterious. They are thin and light and wont make you sweat, but they are not constricting and yet you could pick your nose with them if you were so inclined.
posted by furtive at 2:53 PM on March 10, 2006

I work as a translator at home, and during the winter months my hands are usually so cold when I type that eventually I just have to stop working to massage some sensation back into them. I can't make the room any warmer than it is because then I'd be too sleepy to work. I didn't know that such a thing as a heated keyboard existed! And I also didn't know that the gallons of coffee I'd been quaffing while I worked, partly to stay alert, mostly because I love coffee, were cutting off my circulation... I'll try cutting back and see how it works for me. I love AskMe... thanks!
posted by misozaki at 7:39 PM on March 10, 2006

For cycling in cold weather, I use a pair of 'cold killers' gloves (scroll to the bottom of this page) and they truly seem to have magical powers of warmth for something so thin. I think they're designed for motorcyclists, to be worn underneath other gloves. Anyway, they're extremely thin; I've worn them for typing, taking photographs outside on a cold day, etc. If you can get hold of them where you are, I would highly recommend them (about £15 in the UK, btw).
posted by primer_dimer at 5:27 AM on March 11, 2006