clothing recommendations

[no guns here]

Gents,
     I'm looking for two things... a really warm "mad bomber hat" or "aircrew" hat.  You know, the fur lined one with the fold-up ear flaps.  Typically they have rabbit fur in them... I'm looking for "the best" one out there.  I'm hoping one of you guys from the North can help me out.
     I'm also looking for some really durable and warm "chopper mittens".  Preferably waterproof as well.  Leather and wool or leather and fur would be great.  I've looked all over the markets in Germany and can't find a danged thing that looks like it would actually hold up to anything more than walking to and from the parking lot.  I just can't find a decent set of gloves that (1) fit and (2) don't make my fingers colder...  Most of the time my gloves end up in my pack with my hands in my pockets so they don't get cold.  I tried some ski mittens but they have the tight wrist band and are a pain to take on and off, though they DO keep my hands warm.

Any suggestions you can make on the hat and mitts would be greatly appreciated.


NGH

[Dand]

I don't know about factory built hats but here in Bristol Bay, for serious warmth we use fur hats sewn by ladies in the area. Beaver, seal and otter are most popular. Mine is seal and otter. We have craft fairs where they are sold. Mine has stretched a little so if its sunny I wear a ball cap with visor on it underneath. On super cold times, -20 F or lower, I will have a thin polypro balaclava underneath the fur hat, to cover cheeks and neck.

For serious cold and my hands, I have beaver mittens with heavy knit wool liner mittens. I might have thin poly pro gloves under that so I can work a gun or other stuff without my fingers freezing to it. But they aren't waterproof.  I don't know where to find waterproof leather mittens.
For everyday conditions, I use some cow hide leather "choppers" that I can put cotton, wool, or fleece gloves inside.  I prefer deerskin choppers but haven't been able to find any for years now. Deer hide seemed a little warmer and softer.

Here is an email link to the folks who made my mittens and the mittens for my 2 boys.
Todd traps many of the furs and they sew them up. Great folks and top notch products.
fritze5@nushtel.net

since you may be in Europe, importing furs might be an issue, try contacting Big Rays in Fairbanks.  I think they carry more conventional hats and mitts. I searched the website and didn't find much, you might need to email them with a specific request as I'm pretty sure they carry leather Chopper mittens and liners of various sorts.
http://bigrays.com/

or try 6th Avenue outfitters in Anchorage at:
http://www.6thavenueoutfitters.com/
their website doesn't show much but I see a rabbit fur lined hat in their catalog. Email them with your needs.

this post I made last spring on this forum shows the kind of hats we like.
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,168466.0.html

I just thought to check Amazon to see what they had for mittens. Guess its not so hard to find leather mittens with liners there.  Wonder why I can't find them in Anchorage?
Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Chopper-Mittens-with-Wool-Liner/dp/B001KWYG8O/ref=pd_sim_a_1

ADDED 12-23-09
I was corresponding with some serious Alaskan Trappers last night who were on a discussion of hats they like.  While most travel with a good fur hat - beaver, seal, otter, marten, such hats are too hot for serious work. Here are some links to designs they use or think would be best:

This one is real popular with a Yukon River delta trapper:
  http://dryangler.com/Store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=53

And here is one that might be available in Europe but no outlet found in the US. The above trapper thought it would be great for traveling in "mild" weather due to the close fitting ear flaps.  They have some good looking gloves and mittens too:
  http://www.lowealpine.com/eng/prod_app_det.php?catid=7&itemid=527&type=

A wool hat that had some recommendations:
   http://www.woolcamo.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=h-30

A couple Fairbanks clothing makers who are respected:
  I didn't know this outfit was still in business - their stuff can be real good:
   https://www.northernoutfitters.com/s-4-gloves-mittens.aspx

  Apocalypse Design makes stuff highly respected in the Fairbanks area where it gets COLD. I have friends who use their pull over parkas.
   scroll down to the explorer hat and musher mitts
   http://www.akgear.com/hats-mitts.html

 Well I really didn't set out to duplicate a Sear's Catalog but I'd think you'll find your needs met amongst this selection.  Good luck.

HTH

[Winter Hawk]

Google Dachstein mittens.  They are the best, boiled wool mittens you can find.  Spendy, though.  LL Bean and Cabela's both advertise chopper mitts.  Again, do a Google search and you will get numerous sources.  You will probably also want idiot strings on them.  My son made some cord 30 years ago now, with a thread spool with four brads in the end.  I forget now how it works, but you end up with a round cord out of yarn.  I still have that, it has been sewed to several pairs of mittens over the years.  It is real handy when you need to take the mittens off for a moment, but don't want to drop them in the snow.  I flip mine around each other behind my back and they stay out of the way, but are available when I need them again.

Merry Christmas, you all!

-WH-

[Dand]

Yep Winter, I have the strings on my beaver mitts and do the same as you. Beats peeing on 'em.

Hmm how have I missed choppers in LL Bean and Cabela's I wonder?  I study both catalogs pretty close. They sure have a lot of stuff tho.

[no guns here]

guys,
     Thanks for the input... I haven't been ignoring this, just on holiday and leave.  I always wondered what boiled wool was and now I know.  I'm not in the artic or anything.  I live in Germany right now and we hunt from stands at night.  Gets pretty cold sitting still out there.  Some of the stands are "shooting houses" so I take a heater.  Some are just ladder stands.  No matter what I do I seem to freeze.  I need more wool and an "ansitzsak".  It's basically a sleeping bag reconfigured to sit in with suspenders to hold it up.  My hands freeze no matter what gloves I wear.  Even light mittens are better than gloves.  Anyway... thanks a bunch for the information.  You (DAND) put in way more time and effort than I would have expected.


Happy New Year!
NGH

[Graybeard]

I've never found gloves or mittens that really keep my hands warm. What does work for me is a hand blanket (kinda same idea as the sleeping bag for your body really) and inside it I wear thin leather gloves with minimal insulation and if really cold I use the chemical handwarmers as well.

This keeps my hands toasty warm inside the heavily insulated hand blanket and when I pull them out to shoot the thin leather gloves are all that's needed and don't interfere with shooting.

The hand blanket has straps on it you can tie around your waist or if in a stand to the stand to hold it in place when you take your hands out. It's the warmest combination I've found yet for my hands.

[Dand]

No Guns,  one other way I've used to keep my hands warm was to use those disposable hand warmers by MyCoal or similar - they have some iron compound in them that reacts with air to make heat - a lot of it. You can get the small ones, and once going, put them inside the large chopper mitts. Or I have put them into the wristband of my light wt knitted liner gloves - usually right on where the big blood vessels go into my hand. Or put them on the back of your hand. They can last up to 5-6 hours and put out quite a bit of heat if they are fresh. They can help quite a bit.
Or, I've seen some guys use a muff type rig that hangs from a string around their neck - put the hand warmer in there, keep your hands inside with liners on until ready to shoot or whatever.

HTH   I know how it is to have hands so cold you can barely use them - no fun at all.

[theoldarcher]

On really cold 'sits' on stand, I use a fleece 'belt' I had my wife sew up for me.  It is wide enough to use the larger disposable body warmer units from any of the hand warmer manufacturers. I had her sew two pockets in the belt to hold a unit over each kidney area.  I wear silk long johns, then a polypro set of long johns, followed by the fleece belt, then wool, topped with insulated, waterproof coveralls.  I have modified an old Korean war style helmet liner (small bill, wool lined, with a fleece drop down ear cover that also cover the back of the neck.  I have a 'pocket' on the inside of the wool--takes a little cutting, sewing, etc., that holds two of the small chemical warmers next to my temples.  My hands are covered with light weight wool gloves that go into moose hide, lined mittens.  Feet go into the boot blanket covers with another body warmer in each cover.  Hope some of these ideas help.  I stay toasty while sitting on the side of a tree in the December late season here in MI.

Best of luck, Arch

[mcwoodduck]

When I read this It reminded me of when I was in Military school and we had a couple days of -50 degree weather.
Every morning a loud speaker would announce the uniform of the day.
on the first of the -50 days it announced "wear everything you own!"

I would bring extra boots, boot blankets, a wool blanket or two, and spare golves with liners.
if your feet and hands are warm you usually do well.  Dress in layers.  Watch out for signs of hypothermia.  It kills more hunters than anything else. 

[rex6666]

On really cold 'sits' on stand, I use a fleece 'belt' I had my wife sew up for me.  It is wide enough to use the larger disposable body warmer units from any of the hand warmer manufacturers. I had her sew two pockets in the belt to hold a unit over each kidney area.  I wear silk long johns, then a polypro set of long johns, followed by the fleece belt, then wool, topped with insulated, waterproof coveralls.  I have modified an old Korean war style helmet liner (small bill, wool lined, with a fleece drop down ear cover that also cover the back of the neck.  I have a 'pocket' on the inside of the wool--takes a little cutting, sewing, etc., that holds two of the small chemical warmers next to my temples.  My hands are covered with light weight wool gloves that go into moose hide, lined mittens.  Feet go into the boot blanket covers with another body warmer in each cover.  Hope some of these ideas help.  I stay toasty while sitting on the side of a tree in the December late season here in MI.

Best of luck, Arch

do you have to hire a wrecker to take you to the stand