Winter is coming. Actually, for some of us, it has well and truly arrived already, depending on where you live in the world. Even Valencia experienced a light flurry or two at the weekend which is very unusual. With the snow comes photographic opportunities to capture those beautiful winter landscapes. There’s no such thing as bad weather, the saying goes, just inappropriate clothing. Luckily Austrian brand The Heat Company is here to save the day and keep our hands warm and toasty with their gloves and mittens made specifically for outdoor photographers.
The gloves comprise 3 separate layers that can be used separately and combined depending on the weather conditions. Initially designed for special forces operatives, the gloves were discovered by adventure and outdoor photographers. Seeing this, the brand decided to up their design specifically to solve the problems that photographers face when taking photos in freezing conditions.
First layer: Liner:
The bottom layer is a liner layer of gloves with touch-sensitive material on the fingertips. This allows you to control all your touch screen devices without having to remove the gloves. This layer can obviously be worn by itself or under the following layers. The thumb can also be folded back for ease of use when necessary.
2nd layer: Shell:
The shell layer is a mitten that is worn over the liner glove. It has a zip so that the mitten part over the fingers can be pulled back, leaving the more dexterous liner glove layer without having to take off the mitten part. The clever part is that it fastens back using a magnet so that you don’t have to fiddle about with poppers or buttons.
3rd layer: Hood:
Finally for extra cold conditions, like facing a zombie ice-army for example, you can add the hood layer. This consists of a thin and extremely light mitten cover which protects against wind and damp. It can be rolled up easily and tucked inside a camera bag for use when necessary. There’s really not a lot worse than cold wet hands.
Some other cool features are the pocket on the back of the gloves. You can use it to keep spare memory cards or even insert a heat warming pad to keep your hands extra warm. Additionally, the palm of the gloves has silicone grips so that you can change lenses whilst wearing the gloves and you can keep a firm grip so that you don’t risk dropping anything.
I really could have used a pair of these gloves when I was taking photos up a mountain all night in the Pyrenees recently. It was very annoying having to constantly remove my gloves whenever I wanted to change settings or lenses. Will you be adding these to your Christmas list this year? The gloves and outer layers are available to buy directly from the Heat company and prices start at $28 for the liners.
