I recently bought a few these neck gaiter, neck and head warmer scarf things.
I’m really liking them. These are thinner but a lot more versatile than whatever it is I used to wear around my neck. The thinner material doesn’t seem to be a problem though in the way that I use them which is almost always in conjunction with a hat be it stocking or ball cap.
Pictured above I’m wearing a grey one around my neck. Around my head is a balaclava which I usually only wear on the coldest of days. The stocking cap I’m wearing was a recent ground score. I assume it has something to do with ball sports. Maybe the logo of the All Stars. When riding I pulled the neck gaiter up and around my face and ears, over the balaclava and hat to add another layer of warmth.
I’ve always ridden in gloves of various types in cold weather. On the coldest of days my warmest of gloves don’t cut it though. Nova likes her mittens and insisted I try them and bought me a pair. I wore then this morning when I rode. It was around 10 degrees and my hands stayed toasty. Maybe too toasty as they were sweating by the time I returned home with the temp around 18 degrees. The downside to the mittens of course is they make shifting (not that important) and braking (somewhat important) more difficult. When I really found them awkward though was when trying to adjust my head and face gear i.e. pulling neck gaiter up or down.
I am a big fan of mittens, and use them exclusively. I have wind bloc fleece mittens that fold back on to the back of your hand to allow fingers free (mainly for my photos and to cool off hot hands). The thumb also has a hole to allow your thumb to come out free as well, which allows more dexterity. Our temps here in the PNW are not (yet) nearly as cold as you have. A friend in Europe googled and found some that might work better for such cold temps. She found ‘Roecki’ brand and they look fantastic! I had to search around the site to find the actual pair that she found.
Your cold head gear resembles some that I use for those cold rides ;’-)
Yes the mittens that fold back would probably suit me better. I may check in to those and the brand you mentioned. Thanks for the comment and tips.
Fascinating reading, it was around 40C here when you wrote that and has only in the last few days started to dip below 30C, I get sweaty just looking at all that cold weather gear! Rarely need it here in Melbourne; annual temp. range is around 5C-40C
I think I’ll take this cold over that heat lol. We are lucky that it rarely stays really cold for any length of time here.