Review: Sherpa Gear insulated mountaineering mittens
Pair weight - 130 g, cost - $15, insulation - padding polyester
Spacious and relatively light mittens with synthetic insulation. Can be used as a top layer of hand insulation during hikes and simple climbs.
Advantages: cheap, spacious
Disadvantages: the lightest and most comfortable fittings are tightened, the insulation comes off when washed.
Nepal is beautiful not only for its mountains, but also for its large selection of all kinds of equipment for tourism and mountaineering. Of course, most of the equipment displayed in the dusty shops of Kathmandu are shameless fakes - Nepalese North Face and fierce Goretex from China. But if you know what you are looking for, then among the dubious rubbish in Nepal you can find equipment with an absolutely remarkable price/quality ratio. It seems to me that Sherpa Gear mittens fall into this category.
It is unlikely that you will wear such mittens in the city - they are too bulky for that. On a tough ski trip, you might want to protect the thin fabric of your mitten with a more durable, waterproof glove. But on simple climbs, such mittens helped me a lot. In particular, I wore them to Island Peak, Kalapathar and numerous five-thousandth Nepalese passes. I take them to Morocco for the winter climbing Toubkal.
When you start long before dawn, the outside temperature is -10 at best. Your hands get terribly cold at altitude, and fleece gloves alone are absolutely not enough. Your fingers literally freeze before your eyes, even though your back can be quite hot. I know this and therefore redistribute the insulation in advance - just before going out, I take off my down jacket and put these mittens over my gloves. Of course, it is difficult to perform any manipulations in such a sandwich. But my hands are warm and that justifies everything. Including the fact that I wear these insulated mittens in my backpack throughout the entire trek for literally several hours of climbing. After all, as soon as it gets warmer, I immediately take off the second layer of mittens and continue to walk and work in thin gloves.
Now a little about the design of the mittens. The outer fabric is thin and breathable (waterproof). On the palm the fabric is a little thicker. The lining is not fleece, but smooth (satin). Hidden between the outer fabric and the lining is one layer of unnamed insulation. For simplicity, we will consider it a padding polyester. The insulation is not stitched and may clump into a lump when spun in the washing machine. The mitten has two ties - a strap on the outside of the wrist and an elastic band along the edge of the gaiter. Adjusting the tightening with one hand is not very convenient; sometimes you have to assist yourself with your teeth. In my silicone tops this adjustment is much easier. I sewed the elastic loops myself (to prevent the mittens from getting lost).
What alternatives are there to these mittens? Of course, these are all kinds of ski gloves and mittens. They are usually a little more durable and therefore weigh more.
Kirill Yasko, January 27, 2019