Best Winter Photography Glove For Extreme Cold

GOOD NEWS my photography friends, your prayers regarding cold hands have been answered. Paul Burwell recently reviewed a cold weather photography glove in the Spring/Summer 2014 Outdoor Photography Canada Magazine that he really liked so I snapped up a pair right away to test.  Without a doubt this glove is the best cold weather photography glove I have ever used.  It’s called the Heat 3 Smart Glove by The Heat Company and they’ve thought of everything, and I do mean everything, down to the smallest detail.  This glove oozes quality from the moment you put it on.

The story behind the making of this glove is worthy of its own paragraph so you understand the demands that were placed on the designers of this glove by the intended audience.   The Heat 3 Smart glove was a custom build at the request of the special combat forces in Germany and Austria (SEK, Cobra) for a one piece glove which met their requirements for warmth, waterproof, windproof, grip and tactility.  Project Heat3SpecialForce was a spare no expense, produce the best possible glove mission and the result was a glove that met all of the special forces requirements.Good for them I say, but even better for us photographers as our requirements are exactly the same, except we aren’t firing a sniper rifle.

Here’s a run down on the features of the Heat 3 Smart Glove For Photography:

• Available in Five (5) colours – Black, Green, Beige, Brown, Grey
• It’s a mitten and a glove all in one design, with the fingers and thumb being exposed only when you need the extra dexterity for shooting
• Zipper pouch on top of the glove for placement of heat packs when required. (Room for a key, spare memory card, etc)
• Palm side has full goat leather for added grip, warmth and durability
• Easy access zipper across the palm opens up to expose the fingers for working the camera controls.  Keeps snow out and warmth in when zipped up.
• The entire length of the palm side of the glove from the zipper in the palm to the top of the wrist cuff is cut through inside making it very easy to stuff heat packs into the glove all the way up to the wrist.  On extremely cold days I wouldn’t hesitate to stuff two hand heat packs into the wrist area, two hand heat packs into the top side of the glove above the fingers.  And if I was still cold I’d add two foot warmers, which are thinner and have an adhesive backing, on to the palm and fingers side of the glove.  Excessive yes but it shows how accommodating this glove is to heat packs if they are needed.
• Silver  fabric on thumb and index fingers allows the use of an iPhone or tablet while in the field  (I’m thinking CamRanger :))
• Primaloft insulation technology for optimal warmth.  (Warmer wet or dry than any other synthetic insulation)
• Draw-string across the wrist to keep snow out and warmth in
• Extra long cuffs with its own elastic draw-string to clamp down around your forearm to keep the snow out
• Elastic joiners between first three fingers make it easy to remove glove without pulling the lining out of the mitten
• Outer shell made from an Elastic Microfiber with water resistant and breathable qualities much like Gore-tex.
• Elastic wrist cuff that attaches the mitten to your wrist so you can take the mitten off but still have it attached
• Magnetic clip to keep the top of mitten pulled back when your fingers are exposed
• Velcro on the thumb to keep the thumb flap of the mitten held back while your thumb is out of the glove
• Additional leather thumb flap with Velcro to cover the thumb opening when not in use, keeps snow and wind out

 

This crazy long list of features is why this glove is already the #1 winter glove in Europe and fortunately it is now available in North America at B&H Photo.

Note: There have been many complaints within the photography community regarding various brands of heat packs, they simply do not retain heat on cold days.  I will be testing The Heat Company hand warmers and foot warmers once the cold weather hits again and I will post another blog on their performance after my tests are complete so stay tuned.

Heat3 Smart Glove Retail Price: $227.00 USD (Small price to pay for warm, dry hands during extreme cold photo shoots)

My only regret is that it took me 15 years to find these bad boys.

Heat3 Features