The Heat Company Liners and Shell
Has your photography taken to you some extreme environments? Have you tried taking photos for hours on end in sub-zero temperatures or during a blizzard? If you have, then you know that keeping your fingers and hands warm and mobile can be a huge challenge!
The dilemma you face is whether or not to take your gloves off. Removing your gloves ensures you have perfect dexterity and control of your camera/tripod / ball head, but you can only last a few minutes without gloves before your fingers go numb and joints begin to get stiff!
I have tried so many different brands of gloves over the years (The North Face, Rab, Mountain Equipment, Valleret), but none of them really impressed me, they would either fall apart after a few trips or just make it too difficult to handle my camera and change settings quickly.
The impacts of prolonged exposure to proper winter weather cannot be underestimated, spending the night out shooting the Northern Lights in places like Iceland and the Lofoten islands is highly dependent on how warm and comfortable you are. If your clothing is not up to scratch, your creativity and endurance will take a significant hit, but most importantly, you want to be able to enjoy the show!
Choosing a glove system requires more thought than just the color or brand. There are many factors to consider, such as wind-proofing, water-resistance, warmth, grip, dexterity when changing camera settings, and touchscreen functionality when using a smartphone.
I will start off by saying that I have not found a glove that is perfect and does everything without fault, but The Heat Company gloves definitely come closest from all the ones I have tried.
I came across The Heat Company through a friend when scouting the Lofoten Islands earlier this year. Visiting their website, it is evident that these guys have done their homework and have put a lot of time and effort into making a product that meets the photographer’s needs. The Heat Company’s simple and ingenious layering system offers the closest solution to ‘Perfection’ for the out photographer in every possible condition.
The Heat Company’s layer system
1st LAYER: Liners
This is the first layer of the Heat Layer System. This thin layer provides some warmth, but most importantly allows you to perform most functions unencumbered. The thin material minimizes the loss of dexterity for fine motor skills like changing camera settings or adjusting the ball head when composing an image. There are loads of different options for liners, some made of synthetic materials, others from Merino Wool, and each has its own specific intended use.
The liner layer produces 10 - 20 % of the total warmth.
2nd LAYER: Shell (Mittens)
The second layer above the Liners is the extra-warm Mittens.
The mittens can easily be folded down and your fingers can still be used, albeit with a little less dexterity. The mitten layer is made of Primaloft and is what provides the most warmth. The Mittens are breathable, windproof, and water-repellent.
3rd LAYER: POLAR HOOD
This is the outermost layer of the Heat Layer System. This is the most windproof and water-repellent of all 3 layers, it is made of Nylon and is used for the coldest environments. These mittens do not allow you to use your fingers, ideally used once you have set everything up and are shooting a timelapse or just waiting around for the Northern Lights to make an appearance.
Below is a breakdown of the different gloves that I have tested over the past 8 months:
Merino Liner Pro
The Heat Company's Merino Liner Pro is made from POLARTEC® POWER WOOL™ and is the second most expensive liner in the lineup. Like all other Liners from The Heat Company, they have a pocket on the back of the palm for HEAT hand warmers. They also include Touch screen friendly ‘Conductive textile’ on the thumb, index, and middle fingers.
The Merino Liner Pro also has a silicone print on the palm and fingers for great grip, even in cold weather.
They weigh just 80 grams and are the warmest liner that I have tested from The Heat Company, they are also highly breathable, meaning they dry very quickly and help keep your skin dry.
Wind Pro Liner
The Heat Company's Wind Pro Liner is made from POLARTEC® WIND PRO® material and is slightly heavier than the Merino Liner Pro. It still has the ‘Conductive textile’ on the thumb, index, and middle fingers to handle touchscreens and the Extra pocket on the back of the palm for HEAT hand warmers.
Durable Liner Pro
Back of the hand made of wind- and water-repellent Polartec® Wind Pro®. The palm is made out of soft sheepskin with 3M Thinsulate insulation ensuring optimal non-slip properties. The back of the hand is made from Polartec ® Wind Pro fabric ®, it is rated to keep out 4x more wind than conventional fleece and is highly water resistant.
The Durable Liner Pro is the heaviest of the liners, it is also the warmest and I have often used it as a standalone glove when temperatures aren’t too low.
Note: All the Heat Company’s liners are machine washable.
Shell - Textile Shell
This is where the real warmth begins! The shell is worn as a second layer over the liners.
The textile shell is made to last, it is super tough, well insulated, and both windproof and water repellant. You can attach the Shell to your equipment or connect it to the Liner or Polar Hood using the small carabiner that is included. The Shell is a mitten and The Heat Company has designed this to be both functional for photographers and very warm. Both the thumb and mitten covering the fingers can be folded back to allow you to use your fingers without removing the mittens. The flaps are then held in place with magnets and elastic wrist straps so that you can just let the mittens dangle instead of putting them in your bag or jacket pocket.
The Shell layer is breathable and includes Primaloft insulation. The palm is lined with Goatskin, which is both soft and robust. The shell also has a drawcord to give added protection against water and snow.
Like the liners, the Shell has an extra pocket for Heat Handwarmers.
Note: The Heat Company also produces a full leather shell, which is even warmer than the textile shell which I received and tested. The full leather shell is perfect for anyone that suffers from cold hands easily!
Hood - Polar Hood
The Polar Hood is designed to be worn as a 3rd layer, on top of the shell. You can attach the POLAR HOOD to your equipment or connect it to the SHELL and the LINER using the small carabiner. Strong wind and water-repellent fabric made from 100 % nylon with membrane coating make the POLAR HOOD robust and almost indestructible.
Velvety soft fabric on the thumb allows you to wipe off glasses and displays without leaving scratches. The Polar Hood is not insulated, the additional heat output is generated by the air trapped between it and the shell.
At only about 200 g, the POLAR HOOD is a thin lightweight - rolled up it easily fits into your equipment.
The Polar Hood was developed for the harshest of weather conditions. Combining them with the liner and the shell makes The Heat Company’s layer system a complete solution to protect you from the most extreme winter weather conditions.
Apart from the Layer System, The Heat Company also has other solutions, such as the Heat 2 and Heat 3 systems.
The Heat 3 System is an amalgamation of the First and Second layers of the HEAT LAYER SYSTEM in one. It is a liner (inner glove) and mitten (Shell) which are sewn together and combined.
The Heat 2 System is a combination of fingerless gloves with a mitten cap made of Fleece or Softshell fabric.
I personally prefer the flexibility afforded by the layer system, meaning I can match layers according to my needs based on the weather conditions and tasks I plan to complete.
Functionality
In my opinion, the Heat Company’s layering system is the perfect solution to a problem that plagues all landscape- and astrophotographers who shoot in winter and especially in the Arctic.
Choosing the right liners is the most important step, as there are plenty of options depending on your needs/wants. The Shell and Polar Hood are a much simpler decision.
Each glove has a plastic loop that can be used to clip the gloves together using the carabiner provided. They are also labeled Left and Right, what a great idea!
The gloves I have used most are the Wind Pro Liner and the Merino Pro Liner. I have worn them on 30+ nights of cold shooting (Long nights shooting the Milkyway in Tenerife and the Dolomites, and long nights chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland).
All the materials held up after heavy use and I did not notice any performance degradation.
Score: 9/10
Inserting The Heat Company hand warmers into the special pocket in the liners
Comfort
Comfort is never a major factor to me when wearing gloves, simply because my priorities are warmth and the ability to change camera settings / use a touch screen without needing to remove my gloves. Whichever pair of The Heat Company gloves I chose to wear, they were always comfortable.
Score: 10/10
Fit and Sizing
For each model of gloves, there is an individual sizing chart that can be used to find the correct size and fitment for you prior to ordering the gloves. For the most part, the gloves fit very well, however, I have noticed that both the thumb and index finger on the liners are slightly longer than they need to be, meaning there is a little extra material, giving a lack of feeling and at times makes using a touch screen challenging. Of course, it’s entirely possible that this is due to my index finger and thumb being slightly shorter than average, but hey, these gloves are not individually made for each person, so it’s understandable that one might find such small issues.
The Shell (Middle Layer) gloves are slightly tight around my wrist, but this is most likely because my wrists are larger than normal (I often have trouble finding a wristwatch with straps long enough to fit my wrists).
Score: 8/10
Warmth
I have found that the Wind Pro Liner and the Merino Pro Liner are warm enough to wear on their own for temperatures down to about 10°C (50°F).
The Durable Liner Pro which is made from both Polartec® Wind Pro® and soft sheep skin is warmer, and I have found that these are comfortable alone down to about 5°C (41°F).
If temperatures are below 5°C (41°F), or if I am spending hours out in the wind shooting the Aurora, then I will use the Merino Pro Liner and the shell for extra warmth.
As mentioned above, each of the gloves can have a HEAT hand warmer added to them to help generate additional heat and keep your hands nice and toasty. I found it best to use the hand warmers on the innermost layer (The Liner) as this is closest to the skin and is most effective.
Score: 9/10
Operating the Camera
Without a doubt, the most important factor to consider when investing in a glove system for Photography is how easily they allow you to use your camera. The liners are thin and soft enough to allow you to operate your camera without any issues. The thicker liners (Like the Durable Liner Pro) require some practice to be able to manipulate the finer camera controls such as the directional pad, menu buttons, thumb dials, or switches on the lens.
I have never really felt the need to remove these gloves to operate the camera, this is absolutely critical when buying gloves for photography.
Inevitably there are times when I press the wrong button with my thumb, but I think this is more likely due to the layout of the camera and the short distance between the buttons, rather than the gloves. Practice makes a huge difference and there is some muscle memory required when using your camera whilst wearing gloves as you need to be more accurate with your attempts to press buttons.
Score: 9/10
Operating the Drone
I had no issues flying my DJI Mini 3 Pro drone whilst wearing any of the liners that I have tried. The joysticks are easy to operate and the buttons are large enough to not require a high level of precision, as required with my camera.
10/10
Operating the Smartphone
This is where the less-than-perfect fit of the gloves makes things a bit challenging. The baggy/loose fit on my index finger and thumb means that I oftentimes need to press the screen of my iPhone multiple times for it to register. The size of the ‘Conductive Texile’ patch (Pretty large) also often leads to pressing multiple buttons at the same time, especially when trying to do something which requires a high level of precision such as writing a text message or posting on Social Media.
This being said, compared to gloves I have used from Rab, Mountain Equipment, and The North Face, I found The Heat Company gloves to be much more accurate and sensitive when using a smartphone, so hats off to them for managing to pull that off!
Ultimately, it's impossible for any glove to give you the same level of precision and accuracy as your bare hands do when using a Smart Phone.
Score: 7/10
Note: Although my comments above might seem harsh, I still find that these gloves are the best I have ever used with a touch screen. Smart Phones were never designed to be used with gloves, they were designed to work perfectly with bare skin, so keeping this in mind, the fact that you can actually use a smartphone whilst wearing gloves is pretty impressive!
Build Quality
Build quality is an area I was very interested in testing. Previous gloves that I have used from ‘Big brands’ have always been a disappointment, some of them would barely last a 2-week trip before they began falling apart and opening up at the seams.
I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality of The Heat Company’s gloves. The liners, which are the most used and due to their nature and the use of thinner materials, most likely to show signs of wear have held up great, even though I have used them on 10+ trips this year.
The Shell and Polar hood are much tougher, as expected, they have seen less use than the liners and are made using much tougher materials. After 10+ trips this year, they still look like new!
Score: 9/10
Touch screen friendly ‘Conductive textile’ on thumb, index and middle fingers
TOP TIP - Order plenty of hand warmers with your order of gloves, they are super cheap but make long cold nights outdoors much more bearable!
Verdict
Although they are not perfect, The Heat Company’s gloves are (by far) the best gloves I have ever used. They are clearly aimed at making your life as an outdoor photographer much more comfortable and really do make the difference between needing to stay in the car or bed and staying out to get the shot.
They are functional and warm and the ones I have used have certainly lasted much longer than other brands of gloves that I have used.
The Heat Company® gloves have, without doubt, exceeded the field test, and have earned a place in my backpack!
Use code SSP23 at checkout to get a 10% discount from the Heat Company’s Online Store.