Are mittens warmer than gloves? The quick answer would be: Yes, generally mittens are warmer than gloves. However, this obviously differs from brand to brand and product to product. High quality gloves might end up being warmer than cheap mittens.
Why are mittens warmer than gloves?
All right, so we already know that mittens tend to be warmer than gloves, but why is that exactly? When you wear mittens, your fingers are able to create more heat because they are not separated from each other with fabric, as they are with gloves.
With mittens, only your thumb is separated from your other fingers. Sure enough, when people complain about cold hands when wearing mittens, they will probably complain about cold thumbs. This is because the thumb is the only isolated finger, so the thumb does not benefit from the combined heat of the other fingers.
What are the downsides of mittens?
Hmm, if mittens tend to be warmer, then why are gloves still more popular than mittens? You probably already know the answer to this question, mittens are not great when it comes to dexterity.
Especially when you are used to wearing gloves, you might feel handicapped when you first try on mittens. That said, you can still hold a hiking pole or ski poles.
It might take a while to get used to mittens, but in the end, the benefit of the additional warmth might be greater than the loss in dexterity. However, it’s not that one is necessarily better than the other. It comes down to personal preference and it depends on the situation.
At what temperature should I consider switching to mittens?
Now this is a hard question to answer. It depends on the brand/type of gloves you are currently using. Additionally, it depends on whether or not your hands get cold quickly.
I have known hikers who are comfortable in up to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (= -40 degrees Celsius) with gloves. While others are already complaining when it is slightly below freezing.
Your best bet is to do research about the gloves before you would buy them. Figure out what other people are saying about the product. More specifically, try to find out at what temperature people start to complain about cold hands. If you want warmer gloves, you could search for higher quality gloves or change to mittens.
What are the best gloves/mittens?
I have recently done a fair amount of research on this topic and I ended up with 3 very good pair of gloves/mittens that I can recommend for you guys.
My first recommendation is a budget friendly pair of gloves made by WindRider: WindRider Rugged Waterproof Winter Gloves.
For more extreme situations, I would recommend these Mittens by Outdoor Research: Outdoor Research Men’s Alti Mitts.
I don’t want to go into too much detail because I wrote a completely different article about the best hiking gloves, feel free to check it out. Note that it’s about hiking gloves in the first place, but these gloves would do fine in almost any situation.
Conclusion
There isn’t much to conclude, you wanted to know whether or not mittens are warmer than gloves and the answer is yes. However, this is only true when we compare similar quality products. A high quality glove might be warmer than a low quality mitten for example.
The main reason that mittens are generally warmer than gloves is because your fingers will generate more heat when they are not separated from each other.