Cold Hands and Feet

Some of the medical training I got in the army told me that once a person gets a cold weather injury they’re more susceptible to get them again in the future. When I combine that information with my experiences over the last few winters I’ve sort of concluded that I must’ve a severe experience in my history. Typically my hands and feet are cold a lot sooner than the majority of people I’m ever around.

We all know that in the grand scheme of winter today wasn’t really even cold, yet after being outside all day my hands and fingers are miserable, tingling, and half-numb. Throughout the day I damn near lost feeling in my feet.

I can’t change much because I need to be outside for my job, plus ice fishing is fun, so my question is, for any of you who are in the same situation, what do you do to deal with the situation? I had Gortex-lined boots on today and within 2 hours my feet were miserable. Any suggestions or advice from personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I have the same problem. A very good pair of pak boots and good cap goes along way for starters. For work pack boots might not be practical then a ggod pair of insulated work boots with gortex to keep feet dry.

I chalk it up to poor circulation. When on ice I go drill holes to ward off cold feet and hands to get the circulation going.
At work i try to find something a bit more physical. Its weired I can be 5 below things be fine but then a day like today for some reason it gets to me at times.

Oops! Forgot explain the picture
These fleece lined studded Overshoes work great if your not to mobile at work also great on the ice. If I am assembling aluminum fence pannels I wear these then take them off if I have to move around more.
I have a pair of non isulated Danners with gortex I wear with these.

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Get some good insulated danners and high quality socks, they make a big difference! Multiple pairs of gloves matched for the conditions, keep one pair warm and switch through out the day.

Poor blood circulation is the main culprit for what you describe. Caused for a variety of reasons.

Along with what’s been mentioned, the recently introduced electric heater gear is giving people the warmth they need to get back outside longer.

I haven’t had a need to look at these, yet… But have seen them on Cabela shelves.

Higher quality wool socks, gloves & hats are hard to beat.

Good luck.. Hope you figure out how to be warm.

Same situation here. Mild frost-bite in my fingers while at Ft Benning, Ga. Hands seem to get cold faster now. Usually keep extra gloves on hand and switch them up. Plus side is I can pick things up that should be way too hot to touch.

as crazy as this sounds,it works,dad used to put crushed cayene pepper in his boots,not a lot mind you.
the sweat from your feet would soak through the socks and slowly activate the pepper.
now that I have nerve injury in my neck and back,I suffer with poor circulation problems and I have to see a chiropracter weekly,that helps a lot but my feet still get cold easily,so now I do what dad did and it helps a lot,it actually helps circulation because your feet want to be cool and the blood tries to carry away the additional heat.

I can imagine the remarks this will bring!!! but dont knock it until you try it.

I’ve been dealing with this for awhile now,between past injury’s and now my Meds make it worse…..
For my feet I went out and bought a real good pair of quality boots-I bought Baffin’s but there are a few other brands that work well too..For my hands 1 thing I found that helps besides gloves,I got some wrist sweatbands like tennis players use and then put a disposable hand warmer over my wrist…if it’s real cold I’ll add one to the top also…Works great…gloves work better too.

i work construction all winter long. For my feet what have found what works for me is i have three pair of sorel boots were one pair on day the second pair the next third pair the day after that. keep on boot dry constantly. For my hands i but two set of gloves one is rag wool with no fingers and the second is a jersey glove put the jersey glove inside the rag wool glove can work all day this way when you get holes in the jersey glove just replace. I have about 10 pairs of these in the truck because when the get wet you need to replace them.

I’ve found that going heavier on gloves has the opposite affect, it makes my hands sweat and then they really freeze. So I just have a set on comfy fleece jersey like gloves that I wear and keep my hands out as long as I can take it, then I put them in my pocket and they stay there unless needed till I get back to warm them out. On my feet I up size one size for my cold weather boots, so size 14 (wide) for me. I’m currently wearing rocky blizzard or some such thing 1400 grams of thinsulate. The I wear a heavy weight sock amd tie them only as tight as I need so they don’t fall off. The extra air space helps keep them warmer. If it gets any colder I throw boot blankets on once at the stand too. That method works well for me, but this only works for sitting still. For me if I’m working outside as long as I’m moving I stay warm. I did like rob said when I worked as a carpenter, had two sets of boots I rotated and I don’t think my boot dryer ever got unplugged in the winter.

I messed up my extremities years ago and get cold fast. I haven’t found a solution to really keep me warm as long as others I’m with, but I have found things that help. Limit the caffeine. Forget the warmest boots and gloves and get some type of heat. I own the warmest boots and gloves and my hands and feet freeze. I finally bought heated socks and use disposable hand warmers on my wrist and I can finally stand being out all day. This is kind of obvious, but the more active I am the warmer I stay. When I go out and sit in the portable all day with the heat, my feet still freeze. Every winter we take a trip to Canada and open ice it 8 hours each day and I seldom get cold. If I get cold I go drill some holes or run around and I’m good to go.

My hands will “freeze” in a 50 degree rain with a little wind. Poor circulation.

This is such a depressing thread.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

This is such a depressing thread.

When you get to our age it’s not depressing…..it’s reality.

My son is going through chemo and has neuropathy in his hands from treatments. He also works outside and deerhunts. This weekend he tried these glove liners and was totally satisfied with them. They are a little spendy but work great. He sat in his tree stand from 6:30 til 4:30 and the gloves lasted all but the last hour.

You might want to give them a try.

http://powerinmotion.ca

I have Raynaurds syndrome from chemotherapy and it sucks. My fingers turn white below 35 degrees and burn like frost bite. I still manage to ice fish and do other outdoor activities. Lose fitting cloth boots and gloves or mittens help. Keeping you hands and feet dry is a must. I wear the Kast Steelhesd gloves under choppers when ice fishing. The choppers are easy to get off to bait hooks and remove fish. I fish in my 1 man most of the time. Good luck