How to avoid the dreaded "boondocker's fingertips?"

Bag Balm is for fixing what's already broken, and will work well for reviving traumatized skin. I recommend you spend some money on gloves+mitts so that your fingers never get that messed up.

Latex gloves are an interesting idea that I'd never thought of, and worth trying. For ultimate dexterity there are fingerless liner gloves that work amazingly well. As long as they are VERY long in the wrist they will keep your hands and even your exposed fingers warm enough.

I use thin semi-liner gloves that are a little bit like gardening gloves. Like the cotton gloves previously recommended, only they are POLY and they have grip surfaces on the plams and fingers. Poly will not soak up water like cotton.

Either way, you also need snowboarder's mitts. These are warm and HUGE like eskimo mitts, so that they're easy to slip on and off over your thin gloves. You will not be able to grip anything with them, but even a few seconds inside them and your hands will warm back up. For really miserable tasks I will expose my hands in shifts.

Udder Cream

Go to a hardware store and buy 12 pairs of decent quality cotton gloves. I usually leave six pairs laying on the hump in front of and between the driver's and passenger's seat, right where the floor heat will blow on them to dry them out.

Change them out as needed to dry ones, put the wet ones on the hump and they'll dry. Wash them in a wash load occasionally, they do shrink some, so buy them XL. Sometimes you need gloves for a really dirty job. Then use the most worn out pair and throw them away afterwards. I have some gloves that have been used about 10 years from a large stack of 20+ pairs.

When your hands are really sore and cold, when you come in soak them in a little bit of warm water with an oil in it. See any pharmacist and they'll recommend something. While at the pharmacy, ask for a small light pair of cotton gloves. Wash / soak your hands, apply a very heavy dose of something like the bag balm and then put the gloves on. This works well when doing it at night and then sleeping in the gloves so the balm is on your hands all night and it doesn't get on bed sheets. Buy several pairs of these gloves also and was them occasionally with the other gloves.

Bill

I also recommend Bag Balm.

guthriez wrote:
As someone who grew up in the foothills of Alberta, where winters are fiercely windy, dry and cold, I'd suggest trying bag balm. Originally developed for cow udders, it's been a rancher -approved remedy for their dry cracked fingers forever.

+1 on bag balm. It's a well kept secret, apparently.

Get a box of rubber latex gloves, like in a doctor's office. At least they will keep your hands dry and not wet. Plus, they are disposable. A box of 100 costs about $10 at Wall Mart in the health care section. They are great to wear under gloves, or when gloves are just too bulky.

Use Neutrogena hand cream.

As someone who grew up in the foothills of Alberta, where winters are fiercely windy, dry and cold, I'd suggest trying bag balm. Originally developed for cow udders, it's been a rancher -approved remedy for their dry cracked fingers forever.

Okeeffe's Working Hands

It's good stuff and it works. You don't need to use a lot, just a thin layer.
Try it, I think you will like it.