From about 40 degrees down to about 30 degrees, give or take, I wear the wool liners by themselves. When it gets colder than 30 (or so) I wear the liners inside the mittens.

I like the extra dexterity I get from having the index finger out there by itself. And I like that the mittens’ cuff goes up over the forearm — that’s one less place the wind can get in.

Do the chicks dig ‘em? Well, let’s put it this way … they’re not exactly stylish. But you can’t have everything.

You can get the mittens here for $25 plus shipping, or check your local Army surplus outlet (I got mine at a place near Winchester, Ky., that’s now closed.)

I used the long string for a while before I got tired of it and took it off. The string ties to the end of each mitten and goes up one sleeve, across the shoulders, and down the other sleeve — just like the string on little kids’ mittens. I have been wearing the mittens for a couple of winters now, and they are holding up well.

(Ironically, the mittens are no good for shooting — the index finger is too bulky to fit in the trigger guard on my SKS rifle.)

1. Warm.
2. Durable.
3. Inexpensive. Especially if you lose gloves as often as I do.
4. Reasonably good-looking. Or at least not ridiculous.

Ragg wool gloves meet all of these criteria, except possibly No. 2, plus they are easy to find. My wife buys mine at Meijer’s, for less than 10 bucks.

I’ve owned thick and thin versions of the gloves. The ones I have now are the thin ones. But the thicker ones worked down to about 10 degrees (I haven’t commuted in colder weather than that. For now, when it gets colder than 30 degrees or so, I switch over to some Army surplus trigger-finger mittens.)

My ragg-wool gloves have grippy black dots on them.

I have worn holes in ragg wool gloves, but the odds are much better that I will lose them before I wear them out.

The gloves are very warm, but they breathe well, and they feel nice on the hands.

Generally I don’t wear cycling gloves; they strike me as unnecessary complication. That being the case, and since I don’t ride just to be riding, for long distances, I don’t need gloves if it’s not cold, and I don’t need “cycling-type” gloves with lots of padding in them.

Cabela’s has a nice selection of heavier gloves; they’re also pricier. I like the looks of the ones that convert from mittens to fingerless gloves.

You can find some more ragg-wool gloves here, or check at Meijer’s or Wal-Mart. Look for them in the fishing/hunting department.