If you will be traveling through cold weather, you can take the chill off with some of these new products. Items have been tested by the author and may be available in stores.
HEAT AT HAND: X-Hale X-Treme Comfort gloves come equipped with an air chamber on the back that looks like a hole in the glove but actually is a self-heating system.
When you blow rapidly several times into the hole while gently wiggling your fingers, the air warms up the hand, much as blowing into your bare hand would. But the gloves trap the air, keeping fingertips warm longer.
The gloves come in mittens or five-finger styles and in a variety of fabrics, from microfiber to leather, and are lined with fleece. A magnetic-closure flap over the hole keeps the area covered for extra insulation.
X-Hale X-Treme Comfort gloves are $45. For information, call toll-free 1-877-725-4386; www.180s.com
TOASTY TOP: Polartec Windpro fabric is about as warm and wind resistant as fleece gets. The newest generation of the fabric is thinner than the original but just as efficient at keeping the chill out, so well-insulated clothing made with it can be sleeker looking.
Mountain Hardwear has fashioned the new lightweight Windpro into a stylish zip pullover shirt that works well as a mid-layer garment in colder weather and as outerwear on cool days in more temperate climes. Available in several bright or muted color combinations in men's and women's sizes.
Micro-Ozone Zip T is $85 from Mountain Hardwear; toll-free 1-800-953-8375; www.mountainhardwear.com
SAVING FACE: Sure, face masks keep out the cold and ward off wind. But they're usually designed for breathing through the nose and if you open your mouth, your goggles or glasses get fogged up. Not the Psolar.EX heat exchange face mask.
Built into the mouth area is a breathing capsule with 120 wafer-thin plastic coated "fins" (like those on a radiator) that heat up when you exhale and return the heat to the next inhaled breath. Made of soft, flexible thermal fleece, the mask is available as a face and neck mask or as a full-head balaclava.
In both models, the eye area remains exposed to accommodate goggles or glasses. You may look like Darth Vader, but the results are worth it.
Psolar.EX face mask is $35; Psolar.BX Balaclava, $40, from Psolar; toll-free 1-888-776-5279; www.psolar.com
TOASTY TOT: Keeping baby warm in the stroller on cold-weather walks is easier thanks to the new Cozy Rosie stroller blanket. The soft Polar fleece coverup attaches with Velcro fasteners to any size stroller, including jogging and double strollers, so it won't fall off or become entangled in the stroller wheels.
This new blanket comes in fun leopard or zoo patterns, or in solid red or blue, is machine washable and is thin enough to be left on the stroller when folded up.
Fleece Stroller Blanket is $56 in print patterns, $50 in solid colors, from Cozy Rosie; toll-free 1-877-744-6367; www.cozyrosie.com
HOT SPOT: Bucky's plush buckwheat-seed-filled neck and body wraps provide ergonomic support as well as heat when briefly microwaved. The company's newest microwavable body soother is a hot water bottle-shaped pillow in a classy cotton-polyester sateen flower-pattern fabric.
Microwave the "hot water bottle" for a few minutes (heating up the buckwheat seed filling) to get cold toes or hands toasty or relax sore muscles. The pillow is great for apres ski or after a hike in the snow. In summer, freeze the pillow for a few hours for spot cooling off.
Cotton/Poly Sateen Hot Water Bottle is $29.95 from Bucky; toll-free 1-800-692-8259; www.bucky.com - Judi Dash is a freelance writer living in Beachwood, Ohio.
