Cold Hands

[war_material]

Hello gents and ladies,

 

         Just wanted to share an experience. First off, once my hands get cold I am pretty much going to have a crap match. Even if I bring hand warmers. I have tried to overcome this barrier but I just can’t shoot at speed with acceptable accuracy and to top it off, I end up making ooor decisions because it messes with my mental game. I am a b class shooter in production looking to make it up to A. Anybody else find cold hands to be a problem?

[benos]

I was very sensitive to cold hands. I always carried an ample supply of hand warmers and gloves. But even with all that, I never felt I could handle my pistol quite as deftly as I could when the whether was warm.

[arkadi]

Yes. The whole mechanics of proper and precise body movement depends on sensory feedback. Colds wrists - weird signals, even though the muscles are still warm inside the forearms. There is no way around it.

[B585]

Also, your fingers do change in size depending on the temp (my wedding band falls off my finger if I don’t have gloves on and it is below freezing) which affects your grip.   One of the best shooters in my area uses an insulated tube that his hands go in and it is on a belt (not sure what it is called) and it seems to work well.  He takes it off right before he shoots.

Edited May 18, 2018 by B585

[war_material]

1 minute ago, B585 said:

Also, your fingers do change in size depending on the temp (my wedding band falls off my finger if I don’t have gloves on and it is below freezing) which affects your grip.   One of the best shooters in my area and uses an insulated tube that his hands go in and it is on a belt (not sure what it is called) and it seems to work well.  He takes it off right before he shoots.

 

That sounds like a good idea.  Gosh it is such a mental hurdle for me in that once I am cold I feel like I am all sorts of messed up.  One of my buddies suggested I train with cold hands more.  I have done so many times but I guess like others have said, there is really no way around it.

[Jake Di Vita]

If your hands are getting cold throughout the course of the match I think it's safe to say you need to layer for the weather more appropriately. Keeping your core warm is critical to keeping your extremities warm. Try and keep your hands moving as much as possible on top of hand warmers if necessary. I've shot matches in single digit weather quite a few times in Michigan and if I kept my body warm enough I often didn't need gloves or hand warmers. I find the stress of dryfire works particularly well at warming my hands up if they get cold at a match. I try to make a habit of getting 10-15 minutes of dryfire in at the safe area before the match to prep my hands for the first stage.

[war_material]

58 minutes ago, Jake Di Vita said:

If your hands are getting cold throughout the course of the match I think it's safe to say you need to layer for the weather more appropriately. Keeping your core warm is critical to keeping your extremities warm. Try and keep your hands moving as much as possible on top of hand warmers if necessary. I've shot matches in single digit weather quite a few times in Michigan and if I kept my body warm enough I often didn't need gloves or hand warmers. I find the stress of dryfire works particularly well at warming my hands up if they get cold at a match. I try to make a habit of getting 10-15 minutes of dryfire in at the safe area before the match to prep my hands for the first stage.

That sounds I will try that for sure.  Luckily there is no more cold weather ahead for a few months (Hopefully).

[Hi-Power Jack]

I keep my hands in my pockets, with gloves, until time to shoot -

 

Then, do the best I can     

[Beef15]

2 hours ago, Jake Di Vita said:

If your hands are getting cold throughout the course of the match I think it's safe to say you need to layer for the weather more appropriately. Keeping your core warm is critical to keeping your extremities warm. 

When I lived in AK and worked outside this is all that truly worked. Right on the verge of uncomfortably hot, drop layers before strenuous activity to limit sweating.

 

Other things that helped a lot, well rested, hydrated, well fed, for each one absent the amount of time you can endure decreases substaintially.

[B585]

If you are interested Google UA Undeniable HandWarmer.

[bjones6686]

3 hours ago, B585 said:

Also, your fingers do change in size depending on the temp (my wedding band falls off my finger if I don’t have gloves on and it is below freezing) which affects your grip.   One of the best shooters in my area uses an insulated tube that his hands go in and it is on a belt (not sure what it is called) and it seems to work well.  He takes it off right before he shoots.

Probably a similar tube to like what football players wear in the winter months to keep their hands warm in between plays. My wedding band does the exact same thing as yours in the winter time. My fingers shrink and allow my ring to fall off very easily. In cold months where we have outdoor matches I try not to paste targets for at least a few shooters ahead of me. Last thing I want to do is try to grip my gun with numb fingers.

[L3324temp]

Keeping your hands warm during reset is key and those tubes don’t help much in that regard. I stick hand warmers inside a pair of good gloves. I also make sure I bring my tape gun and a stylus for the tablet so my hands do not have to come out of the gloves unless I’m shooting. Walking and staying active during resets helps a great deal over standing still or sitting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rowdyb]

Not as cold as some places but we shoot in 25 degree weather here during dec and jan. Layers. I wear an almost comical amount of clothing in layers. I also put a body size hand warmer over my grip, just balanced there to keep the gun warmer. Tights, thick socks, boots, thick underwear, thicker pants. Base layer top. t shirt. another shirt. Large coat. scarf. beanie or trapper hat. thin gloves and woolen over mittens. hand warmers in pants pockets. hand warmers in jacket pockets. hand warmer over gun's grip.

 

I will strip the coat and gloves off to shoot. I need access to all my mags and I do not like shooting in gloves and it's only a minute.

 

Calories equal heat as well. So I stay hydrated better by staying away from anythign with caffeine in it. I also snack as much as possible and I fill my thermos with steaming hot chicken broth or hot chocolate and drink a cup when I am in the hole.

 

I went to a match where I "thought" I'd be warm. It was 49/50 degrees and I was in shorts and tshirt in the shade. It was comical how frozen solid and stiff I was the first stage. I was able to borrow a coat from someone and was super thankful for it!

 

Cold is scientifically proven to reduce your capacity mentally and physically.

Edited May 19, 2018 by rowdyb

[war_material]

Thanks gentlemen, all great tips I am going to use for sure when the months get cold again.  Especially layering to keep warm and bringing hand warmers.

[Glock26Toter]

I used to do the hand warmer thing and when I was on deck, I would close and open my hands constantly... like until they were almost tired.  Finally, I got sick of all that s#!t and moved to Florida.  Problem solved!

[war_material]

On 6/6/2018 at 10:55 PM, Glock26Toter said:

I used to do the hand warmer thing and when I was on deck, I would close and open my hands constantly... like until they were almost tired.  Finally, I got sick of all that s#!t and moved to Florida.  Problem solved!

haha I wish I could move to Florida!

[techj]

I use the tube (holds shot shells on the outside) that has a place for a hand warmer - I use the zippo (lighter fluid) powered warmers as I find they are hotter and stay hot for an entire day if I load it up.

[IHAVEGAS]

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/klim-caribou-mittens?kclid=7cdd722a-af8e-4538-8442-443c732fe42a&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpcOr1qPR2wIV1bXACh3UxA6QEAQYAyABEgKLS_D_BwE

 

Put some hand warmers in these and you can put heat back into cold hands really quick. I don't take them off until I hear make ready.

 

Disclaimer, mine are old as the hills so they are not exactly the same as what is shown in the add but they look similar. 

[quliming]

Well, if your hands are cold, then your fingers can't move freely. That's just nature. Get some hot hands packs from Amazon and put them in your pockets.

[csailer]

I shoot in the cold pnw.  Get a bunch of warm underlayers and coats.  I just strip them off when I'm on deck.  

 

Long johns and under armor are the key

 

 

[NumberTwo]

I always bring super warm gloves when it gets cold...it keeps my hands fresh.  But damn that gun is cold as all hell when u got warm gloves and freezing grip lol

[Sarge]

1 hour ago, NumberTwo said:

I always bring super warm gloves when it gets cold...it keeps my hands fresh.  But damn that gun is cold as all hell when u got warm gloves and freezing grip lol

Hand warmer in the Magwell cures that.

[MPF]

My hands seem to be extra sensitive to cold, and I absolutely hate having to use fine motor skills when they get too cold.

 

Other than the aforementioned layering to keep your core warm, I notice a huge difference when I make sure to keep my calories up. It takes a lot of energy for your body to maintain temperature and if it's a little low on energy your extremities will suffer first.

[Gloxrunna]

At practice today my hands were really cold and it really had an effect on how I draw and pull shots off. It was great because it gave me opportunity to practice those conditions.

[Jim Watson]

I don't know The Answer, but even here in the Sunny South, I got my lightweight longies and quilted vest out yesterday. 

Hand warmers are on the shopping list.