Fieldsheer Mobile Warming Alta Hybrid Heated Snow Mitten

Review by Paul Gallaher

I work two outdoor jobs in the winter here in the high mountains of Colorado. We can have extreme drops in temperatures, yet I’m still going out there sometimes, either to work or recreate. There have been times in the past that I’ve stopped skiing due to painfully cold hands, even though I was wearing warm ski gloves with chemical heat packs in them. When I was offered the chance to review the Fieldsheer Mobile Warming Alta Hybrid Heated Snow Mitten, I gratefully jumped at the chance!

Details

These mittens are from the Mobile Warming line of heated clothing from Fieldsheer. They are “hybrid” in the sense that they have a split-finger design with internal finger separation. The index finger can be moved freely for better dexterity. The gloves have a polyester inner liner and cuff, while the main outer shell of the glove is made of goat leather. The gloves do have a waterproof liner and also include a windproof membrane, yet they’re also breathable. There is a nice suede grip zone on the palm and side of the thumb.

The Fieldsheer Mobile Warming Alta Hybrid Heated Snow Mitten have an electronic pushbutton on the back of the wrist that allows you to cycle through each of the four heat settings, depending upon the wearer’s needs. The gloves have heat coils woven into the thumb and fingers to provide broad heat coverage. Additionally, there are two separate cinch systems to secure these mittens in place. First, there is a nylon strap cinch system at the wrist to keep the glove securely in place and another elastic cord cinch system at the end of the “gauntlet” to seal out snow and lock in warmth. These can both be adjusted fairly easily, even when you have both mittens on.

Each mitten comes with a Powersheer 2250mAh battery that fits into an inner pocket on the inside of the forearm, near the wrist. Fieldsheer advertises that each battery can last up to 8 hours per charge (depending upon heat settings) and take 4-5 hours to charge with the included USB-C charging cable.

To my surprise, these gloves are advertised as machine washable.

Wear Testing

The Fieldsheer Mobile Warming Alta Hybrid Heated Snow Mittens presented me with an opportunity to test their capacity to keep my hands warm in a variety of situations. I work as a Nordic ski groomer, sometimes pulling a groomer behind a snowmobile for hours at a time. Occasionally, I’m shoveling out chest-high drifts of snow that prevent me from otherwise getting through deep snow with the grooming equipment. I also work as a ski instructor or I can be found recreating outdoors during periods of cold weather here in the high Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

For testing purposes, I started my first session by setting these on the 50% power setting and noticed that they heated up pretty quickly before I went outdoors. On a 15 degree F day, they were able to keep my hands pretty warm. I did find on one occasion that my index fingers were getting a bit cold. Setting the mittens on the “high” (red) setting solved that issue and I actually had to turn them back down to the 50% setting after about 20 minutes.

We had an abnormally warm and dry winter this year, so I was not able to test these outside on a day when it was snowing heavily. That said, I’m confident that what I call the gauntlet cinch closure at the end of the mittens will definitely keep the snow out during wet/snowy days. Conversely, if it is a dry day, and you need a bit more ventilation, these can be left in the fully open position. The wrist cinch straps do a fine job at keeping the mittens securely on my hands even during periods of active shoveling or pushing off with ski poles while skiing. The suede grip zone on the mittens seemed to work very well, whether using these to drive a snowmobile or to securely push off with ski poles. As an added bonus these mittens are touch screen capable. The index finger can work on a phone screen in a pinch when you need to make a quick call or perhaps a short text message if need be; a nice surprise.

In conclusion, I’ve tried several types of heated winter gloves and mittens. On a super cold and windy day, these are now my “go-to” for keeping my hands toasty and dry.

These mittens come in seven sizes, from XS to 3XL.

Paul Gallaher

Paul grew up in Minnesota where he learned to love the outdoors, riding his bike, fishing and canoeing in the summers and skiing in the winters on Minnesota’s 300 foot-tall “mountains”.

After finishing college, he was commissioned as an officer in the USAF eventually becoming a special operations and reconnaissance instructor navigator flying and serving around the world for twenty-two years.

Living and traveling around the world has given Paul opportunities to explore outdoor passions. He is an advanced scuba diver, a pilot, a sailor and has skied in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.