When I went up to Ely to go dog sledding I was pretty comfortable with most of my gear, but I wasn’t real sure about my gloves. I had decent liners, but the outer mitten wasn’t made for really cold weather. I was lucky that the forecast was relatively mild, but I was also aware I would be outside all day and cold hands can be a problem. I stopped into the Wintergreen Designs store in Ely and took a look at the Plunge Mittens, “the ultimate trail mitt”.

These mittens are, far and away, the most industrious piece of cold weather gear I have ever owned. I have no doubt that you could wander around all day in severe cold weather and have nice and toasty hands in these things. If you suffer from cold hands and wish to make that situation disappear forever, these will do the trick. Of course, it may seem a little odd to walk around the mall with mittens that have double-insulating fleece liners and snow guards that go all the way to your elbows. The straps that hang around your neck would also look a little out of place, but they keep the mittens attached when you need to get your fingers out.

With all that said, I’ve never had cold weather gear that I could put cold hands, after taking a few shots with the liners on, and get my hands nice and warm again when it was -27 °F.

They were a splurge. I’m counting them as my souvenir. And boy, do I have really warm hands. I’ve got my hands covered for a future arctic trip. As an added bonus, they are hand-made in Ely, MN.