Wednesday 1 February 2012

Cold hands, deep pockets

Today I needed all of Jonty’s cold weather tips and then some. The weather was irresistible – blue skies and firm (look no mud!) ground, but the wind had the edge of a knife. Trust me I was wearing every thermal layer you could imagine, topped off by a full set of water/windproofs.

But I know from past experience that the biggest problem is keeping my hands warm. Those conventional ‘windstopper’ gloves are no use for me. They seem to restrict the circulation and make my hands even colder. I prefer mitts, which as Jonty says can be easily whipped off and on. But I carry only a single-pocket practice bag in winter and don’t want the faff of holding onto two big mitts in between times. Since I find the one I wear over the golf glove (left hand) less effective, I stick to one for my right hand (which dangles over my bag) hoping my left hand will be snug in my pocket between shots. But today, with the mercury hovering on zero and That Wind, I needed help, and with Husband-of–the-Goddess (or HoG as I think of him) laid up with a Lemsip, I decided to try out his new HotRox handwarmer.

This is a pebble-shaped gadget which is charged up in advance and simply switched on at the start of the round. I used my trusty mitt on my right hand and kept the Hotrox in my left pocket, and I have to say that even wearing a driving glove and with the warmer in its cover (as recommended) it provided a good level of heat and a lot of psychological comfort. Previously HoG used a warmer that relied on lighter fuel, but that would be too fiddly (or scary?) scary for me, and if Hotrox is on the pricey side (£25 upwards) it is reusable, fuss free and doesn’t ‘go off’ by mistake as some of those chemical packets do.

Sadly the heated pocket didn’t seem to help my golf and I failed to follow up my rather pleasing 38 points on Saturday with anything worth talking about, but I would say the Hotrox was a success, and next time it’s blowing in from Siberia, I could well be raiding a certain person’s golf bag.


Weather too cool for cats
On the other hand, on a day when the highlight of the round was breaking the ice in a bunker, some might say I would have done better to stay at home.



Blog Archive