Frozen fingers phenomenon

[InRBigness]

Well now you know how most women feel about their feet and hands and them being always cold. I know cause they creep up on me in bed all the time. What you are probably experiencing is what is known as the Hunters Reaction. When the body is cold it pulls the blood back to the core as a survival strategy. Once it realizes that you are not in danger it sends back the blood to the extremities and you can keep them warm from them on. That is probably why it only happens at the beginning of the rides. Just my 2cents with information provided by several years of watching doctors on tv.

 

[TD Max]

Td, didn't you buy the cat shield with mirrors? Try them, while riding in maine, several mornings were -23f your hands and body stay much warmer than using the stock shield. It may not look as cool but I'd rather be hot than cool.

Yes I did. I'll probably put it on at some point, but for now I'm feeling it out as to what I can take with the stock unit.

 

[cannondale27]

Poor Boosted Nytro guy I have been riding with has same issue. Its the glove and warmers. The Vipers have the warmers covered. They kick butt. Even with crappy stock Nytro warmers Boosted Nytro keeps his hand warm using FXR gloves with a hand warmer packet placed on the top of his hand. Try it. Will work great for you till your hands become accustomed to the temps. Also on 20 deg days just use the thin UnderArmour gloves. The stretchy ones that are only about 1/16 in thick. I rode all day and night Sat with them. Allows the heat from grips to actually get to your hands and they give great feel and grip.

 

[AXR]

I have also heard of people using rubber gloves under their gloves to trap heat, but always figured it would also create super wet hands..

 

[TestMaster]

Looks like I'm starting this about 10 or more yrs sooner than most of you guys. The grips get plenty hot.

TD, I am 64 and up until last year I could go out in 10-15 degree weather and if I was using my hands go for and hour or more with no problem. Last year I started having problems with my left hand getting cold but my right hand was still good to go. Just a nuisancce but noticeable. In March I had an issue with C7-T1 in my cervical spine and my left arm lost a large amount of use and my left hand and fingers lost almost all strength. After surgery in May most function is back but left hand is still not back to normal, however, my left ring and baby finger are always cold now and I find when its cold out that I am using the high setting more than ever to heat those fingers. Once warm I'm good to go on low heat usually for an hour or more without using the high setting. Please note that I am using the high windshield, we usually do a lot of long distance rides sometimes 50+ miles between stops and the tall shield reduces fatigue on longer rides.

My point is if you have a history of nerve issues you can have problems with cold irregardless of age. I have great blood flow to my hands and arms probably due to the heavy lifting I did when younger but flow does not help if you have nerve issues.

 

[Sharkboyz Plungerz]

TD, I am 64 and up until last year I could go out in 10-15 degree weather and if I was using my hands go for and hour or more with no problem. Last year I started having problems with my left hand getting cold but my right hand was still good to go. Just a nuisancce but noticeable. In March I had an issue with C7-T1 in my cervical spine and my left arm lost a large amount of use and my left hand and fingers lost almost all strength. After surgery in May most function is back but left hand is still not back to normal, however, my left ring and baby finger are always cold now and I find when its cold out that I am using the high setting more than ever to heat those fingers. Once warm I'm good to go on low heat usually for an hour or more without using the high setting. Please note that I am using the high windshield, we usually do a lot of long distance rides sometimes 50+ miles between stops and the tall shield reduces fatigue on longer rides.

My point is if you have a history of nerve issues you can have problems with cold irregardless of age. I have great blood flow to my hands and arms probably due to the heavy lifting I did when younger but flow does not help if you have nerve issues.

I am 51 with no health issues.
I had a 2007 APEX and never had cold hands! Always toasty warm. Now I start out And my hands are cold until I stop for my 1st cold beer (lol). Does anyone know when hand warmers kick on? Is it when sled is 1st started, or when sled starts moving? I also have heated seat, and that takes awhile to get going. Never thought seat warmer would be so fantastic. Bought it as an option, well worth the money!

 

[TD Max]

The warmers start when the engine is started. Output may vary based on RPM/stator voltage. Just try running the engine and holding the grips bare handed once. The seat has a lot of area and mass to warm so slower would be typical.

Now Doo on the other hand shuts down the grips below 2,000 RPM on some models

 

[TD Max]

Maybe my hands are retaliating for me freezing them this fall. Early ice I was jacking up the old section of our dock and had to reach in to turn set screws. That was pretty cold...

 

[TestMaster]

Maybe my hands are retaliating for me freezing them this fall. Early ice I was jacking up the old section of our dock and had to reach in to turn set screws. That was pretty cold...

I first noticed the issue with my left hand in 2013 when bailing 40 gallons of water from a friends boat cover with a large cup so I could winterize it. I thought the same thing as you until my left arm quit working during a easy ride with my brother! I now know that all of my cervical vertibrate are a mess so I've adjusted my lifestyle, I put a full set of Axis Pro shocks under the Viper LTX SE and am purchasing a Wolverine R-Spec from my favorite dealer. And I also quit lifting 500+ pound weights working with the 30 something year olds! I hope your not doing that kind of lifting cause if you are I would strongly recommend stopping now if you are in your 50's.

 

[Harvest1121]

I just got a Viper going to ride another because my warmer feel warm at best, I do have hand guards but they did not seem to help. They only seemed to get hot once,

 

[Yamadog]

It was -15 f Sunday night on my new bone stock XTX SE I put a spare set of cheap gauntlets on ot that I had in the trailer and rode with mechanics gloves. Hand warmers were so hot I had to turn them to low and then off . and it has the shorty windshield.

 

[Nytros rule]

I have a cold sled and I realize that. The short windshield does not doo much. I added Hand guards to deflect a bit, but know how much they really do. So I started the season with my old Cat leather gauntlet gloves. They are a bit thin being 15+ yrs old they packed down quite a bit. I bought a pr of FXR leather Gauntlet gloves.

First ride out we hit the rail grade and I'm thinking man these gloves suck. My fingers got cold very quickly and remained cold until we stopped at a bar for lunch. Thankfully temps were not exceptionally cold and the run was only 10 or so miles. After that I never had an issue. Over the course of a few more outings it seems to have repeated a couple of times. Always the first leg of the run. I always start with my grips on high and then turn to low when they get too warm.

So at Tom's on Sunday I unloaded the sled and warmed it up. Temps were single digits below zero much of the day. I geared up and took a rip. My fingers got cold almost instantly again. Froze to a point that they hurt very bad. After this one time throughout the day I made more and longer runs. Never really had an issue. The sled was generally started from inside the warm shop, but I wouldn't think it made a whole ton of difference? The Cat grips of old were solid mass inside the bars. Slow to warm and slow to cool. The late models are now all apparently a wrap under the grip so the response is much quicker.

I figured it may be the grips and saw how some had foamed theirs inside the bars so I did mine. It did not make a difference in the first run freeze, but did seem to help overall.

So is it sled, gloves, or my hands? About all I can think is that there is something about the gloves that needs time/heat/sweat to get them ready. I know one night I walked the dogs with the same gloves in sub zero temps. Full riding gear. My fingers got very cold in the 1/2 hr that it took.


Of all the runs I made on Sunday I have to say it wasn't really bad. I could feel the cold wind on my chest a little, but I did not get cold. A slight bit of cold air always finds it's way into my helmet but again I did not get cold.

I have the same issue, I attribute it to two things. First cheap gloves, I use for unloading and my hands getting cold before I even start out.
Second 50 years of pulling wrenches and using impacts, vibration etc.
I rode SRV's for 16 years, no hot grips, no wind shield, and not the gloves I have now and didn't have cold hands.
Sounds like your comin up on the second F word, Fifty, hate to tell ya but it don't get better from there.

 

[STAIN]

I just purchased a set of Ski-Doo 3 finger gloves, the ones where your index finger is separate from the rest. Very warm glove.

 

[maxdlx]

Well I'm 45 and have noticed this the last 2 or 3 years. It doesn't only happen when riding but every day when I load or unload the first 10 minutes my hands freeze then the go to sweating. Noticed this year it goes farther up my forearms than years past. Thought I was just weird.