Dachstein Excessive Heat Wool Mittens Evaluation

Dachstein Excessive Heat Wool Mittens are very heat boiled wool mittens in style with mountaineers. Made with very dense boiled wool (extra on this under), they’re windproof and nearly waterproof. When the mercury drops close to zero or under, these are the mittens you wish to be carrying. They’re additionally excellent for individuals who get very chilly fingers in winter or that suffer from Raynaud’s Illness.  They’re not itchy in any respect. They are often worn alone or with an outer shell mitt in excessive winter climate.

Boiled Wool Clothes

Boiled wool mitts are made by repeatedly boiling heavy wool mittens in scorching water till they shrink to the specified dimension. The boiling course of preserves the pure oils occurring within the wool and leads to a really tightly woven mitt that’s windproof and nearly waterproof. Boiled wool clothes has been round for the reason that Center Ages and is prized for its heat and worth. It’s shocking that there’s no more of it out there, if solely from cottage producers who may tailor it for area of interest winter climbing and mountaineering use.

I’ve used the Dachstein Wool Mittens on lengthy winter day hikes in chilly, zero-degree climate within the White Mountains. They’re very thick and heat, with lengthy wrist gauntlets that stretch over the wrist and half-way up your arm. When it comes to dexterity, the mitts are good to be used with trekking poles however are in any other case too massive and hulking for a lot else. It may be handy to put on them with a skinny glove liner, so you may take away your fingers to regulate zippers, drink from a water bottle or eat snacks, with out exposing your fingers, nonetheless briefly, to the chilly.

One of many issues that’s all the time impressed me concerning the Dachstein Mittens is their water resistance. After I go winter climbing and snowshoeing the mitts invariably get coated with snow, however the inside by no means feels moist, even after I’ve worn all of them day. I assume that’s simply the density of the boiled wool weave at work. It’s uncommon for me to get a full day’s use out of a fleece or wool glove earlier than they get soaked by exterior moisture, so having the ability to put on a single pair of those the Dachstein Mittens all day is a novelty.

Sizing and Care

Dachstein bases their sizing on the size of your hand from the wrist to the highest of your center finger. Should you intend to put on the mittens with an internal liner, you’ll most likely wish to dimension up. I put on a dimension 8 and my mittens weigh 7.8 oz for the pair.

The mittens retain their form properly by way of a number of washings so long as you wash them in chilly water and blot dry in a towel relatively than ringing them out or placing them in a drier. When washing use a really mild detergent like Woolite and rinse properly.