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Why most touchscreen gloves will fail you during the cold winter - but these won't

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I have a love/hate relationship with outdoor gloves. I have secondary Raynaud's syndrome affecting the blood flow into my extremities (thanks a bunch, Lyme disease), so if my hands and feet are exposed to cold temperatures, it increases my risk of injury. This means warm socks and gloves have become an essential component of my everyday gear.

Also: I switched to a solid-state portable battery for a week - now lithium-ion feels outdated

Socks are easy, but gloves -- less so. Finding waterproof gloves that have touchscreen capability and that fit me well has been quite an odyssey. I'm not sure if it's just me and my non-standard hands (big hands with short fingers: my middle fingers are a ring size US 18 -- as big as they get), but I find that most of the time, if I can get my hands into a glove, the fingers always seem to be about an inch or so too long.

Needing to use touchscreens when outdoors is a fact of life. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Not only does this look weird, but it makes operating touchscreens fiddly at best.

Imagine my joy when I found outdoor gloves that ticked all the boxes — waterproof, warm, touchscreen compatible, and which fitted well. These Cross Point Gear Sports gloves have become a standard part of my kit.

The Sports gloves have a triple-layer construction. On the outside is a wind- and wear-resistant knitted nylon/spandex/lycra layer, and on the inside is a soft, moisture-wicking acrylic/polyester layer. Lastly, a waterproof and breathable Artex membrane is sandwiched between, keeping your hands dry no matter what.

These gloves are very waterproof. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

This creates a thin yet warm glove that's ideal for milder winters. I've worn these down to about 23°F in hail and winds hitting 50 miles per hour, and my hands were warm enough. Not bad for gloves that are so thin and lightweight.

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