Gloves Archives - Kilimanjaro Uncovered

Tag: Gloves

5 Kilimanjaro accessories that you will wish someone had told you about

1. Thermos – YES!!!

I strongly believe that a Thermos should be on everyone’s kit list. From hot water warming your body when it’s really cold to a steaming hot towel in the morning, I promise you will love it. It’s absolutely worth the extra weight. Read more about all its fantastic uses on Kilimanjaro here.

2. Solar charger – MAYBE

In our age of gadget addiction, solar panels have become unbelievably popular on Kilimanjaro. They are definitely worth the money if you plan to use your phone a lot, as I did to write my book! My panels worked like a charm and I absolutely loved them. However, they are a total overkill under normal circumstances. If just to take photos on your phone, you might want to invest the money into a decent camera instead. For most people, solar panels will end up in their cellars and never be used again. What a waste just for one trip!

3. Self-heating hand and toe warmers – NO!

Freezing overnight in my tent and during summit night was my biggest fear about Kilimanjaro. Of course I made sure to bring a stack of self-heating badges, i.e. air activated warmers that supposedly heat up as soon as you have opened the packaging and stay warm for several hours thereafter. I brought special hand warmers to put inside my gloves, toe warmers to stick to my socks, and even big warmers for my back. Conclusion: All of them were totally unreliable and – as a result – completely useless. The few instances they worked, they were far too hot. And when I most needed them, i.e. during summit night when I could no longer feel my fingers and toes, they didn’t work at all! I highly recommend you to invest in proper gear instead, like warm gloves and mitts, and a good pair of warming insoles.

4. Mid-layer fleece gloves – YES!

Most gear lists recommend liner gloves as an optional item. Scared as I was about freezing, of course I made sure to bring glove liners in addition to the warmest mittens on the market. However, that was not enough. I often wished I had another pair of warm fleece gloves, as an experienced hiker in our group was smart enough to bring along. The benefit of thicker fleece gloves is to keep you warmer than thin liner gloves whilst providing more dexterity than clumsy mittens. I would have loved to have some during cold nights in my tent as well as while hiking in cloudy weather when my liner gloves were not thick enough to keep me warm. Most of all, I really wished I had brought some during summit night as a third pair of mid-layer gloves to keep my fingers warmer. Yes, three pairs of gloves/mittens on top of each other – that’s my strong recommendation for summit night (unless you enjoy a miraculous blood circulation)!

5. FUD – NO!

This is for women only. Surely you must have wondered how you will be able to pee in privacy. Blogs warn that at higher altitudes there might be nowhere to hide behind. Marketeers have jumped on this opportunity and come up with FUDs, short for Female Urination Devices. They promise the impossible: pee while standing, just like men. Theoretically, sounds great. Practically, I haven’t seen a single woman using them, nor was there any need to do so. Other than close to the summit, we always found rocks to hide behind; and even summit day won’t cause you any problems because you won’t drink much during summit night in any case. More about that here. So, ladies, no need to worry. You will be fine!

Do you have any other insights worth sharing? Or do you have any unanswered questions in order to prepare your own climb? Please leave your comments below.

Gloves or mittens

August 18, 2016 / Alexandra Tanbai / 0 Comments

I was so scared of freezing during summit night that I spent the better half of a day doing nothing but researching the warmest possible gloves on the entire planet. To cut a long story short, Hestra Army Leather Mitt it had to be.

Gloves versus mittens

Theoretically, I dislike mittens and their associated loss of dexterity – impossible to grip anything! Practically, I suffer from poor blood circulation in my fingers when it gets really cold. I was looking out for some miraculous wonder gloves that might be as warm as the warmest mittens, but no one wanted to confirm my hopes. So it was my time for an epiphany moment: GLOVES WILL NEVER BE AS WARM AS MITTENS. Reluctantly but nevertheless, my fear eventually made me overcome my mitt aversion: MITTENS IT HAS TO BE!

Material

There seems to be no doubt that leather is the warmest outer material. Furthermore, make sure your gloves/mittens are windproof, waterproof and breathable. The wind during summit night is biting cold, all outer layers really need to be windproof or you will freeze, brrrr.

Other features

I also really like that the Hestra Army Leather Mitt come with a snow lock and pull strap with Velcro closure to keep them tight around my wrists so no heat would escape. Their handcuffs also are a very important feature because every now and then you’ll need to take off your mitts for more dexterity, and you will have more important things in your mind than worrying about losing them. What a nightmare if they were to go flying down the slope in the freezing dark!

Size matters

To make sure your gloves or mittens keep you as warm as possible, you want them to be a nice close fit. Hestra conveniently provides a printable size chart that I could just put my fingers on to identify my size from the convenience of my living room.

Layers matter

Even though the Hestra Army Leather Mitt are supposedly the warmest possible mittens available in the market, I would still want to have liner gloves underneath during summit night. They will keep you warmer, even if only just during the moments when you need to take off your mitts for dexterity.

Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be too much difference between liner gloves in terms of functionality, just select a good price option. And no need to pay extra for touchscreen compatible index fingers – the material will get scratched from holding onto rocks and turn this feature useless in no time.

In hindsight, I would also bring a third pair of mid-layer fleece gloves for maximum warmth. They will also be useful for other days or nights on the mountain when it gets really cold, but not cold enough for your mitts.

Self-heating badges for fingers?

Forget those self-heating badges. I brought a selection of heaps of those for fingers, toes and my back. They are completely unreliable. Either they don’t work at all, or they turn burning hot. I suggest you don’t want to rely on them but invest into some good lasting gear instead.

Did you find this helpful? Please share with others, or leave your comments below. Thank you!

Gear for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

August 17, 2016 / Alexandra Tanbai / 0 Comments

I spent an enormous amount of time organizing my gear. A complete gear list and packing checklist is available for you here. However, the list is only the first step, and it needs to be filled with specific product choices. Of course I only wanted the best of the best, and that’s why every option had to be researched to the last detail.

Here are some of the products that I used and would highly recommend. This is not an exhaustive list of your options, of course, but my own shortlist based on my own exhaustive research and conclusions, for my own use.

Note that my objective was to optimize for quality, not for price. Unfortunately, with outdoors gear, you are really paying for quality (more than just the brand), and quality has its price!

Hiking boots

I used Lowa Khumbu II GTX Trekking Boots and they were perfect for me. However, selecting the best hiking boots is a very individual affair and depends on the shape of your feet. Read more about what to watch out for when buying your own boots.

Hiking poles

I used LEKI Micro Vario Carbon Trekking Poles and they were the absolute hit on my trip. I loved them, and also everyone else thought they were really cool. Read more what makes them so great and what to watch out for.

Gloves / mittens

I was so scared of freezing during summit night that I spent the better half of a day doing nothing but researching the warmest possible gloves on the entire planet. My conclusion: Hestra Army Leather Mitt. This was time well spent! Read more here how to keep your fingers warm.