How do you choose heated paragliding gloves that allow you to feel the controls?

Take-off at 2,000 m, one December morning. The wing is laid out, the lines are untangled.

You wait for the right cycle, hands on the controls. The wind picks up. Your fingers are already starting to sting.

Your big winter gloves stayed in the bag. With them on, you couldn't feel anything in the brakes. So you take off with a thin glove, telling yourself that up there, you can't feel your fingers anyway.

What if that weren't inevitable? This guide explains why your fingers freeze when paragliding, how to choose a glove that heats without getting thicker, and how to set the heat before you leave the ground.

When paragliding, your fingers do little work and take all the wind

Why do the fingers give up first when paragliding? Three conditions add up: altitude, relative wind and hands that barely move.

The body, for its part, protects its core first. The extremities come second.

Altitude, and sometimes the opposite

In the mountains, the temperature generally drops with altitude. Météo-France, the French national weather service, points out, however, that this isn't always the case.

In anticyclonic weather, cold air builds up at the bottom of valleys while the summits stay milder. A sunny take-off can then be less cold than the valley.

So the cold at a winter take-off can't be guessed from the car park. You discover it at the top, once the wing is out of the bag.

The relative wind never stops

Under the wing, a continuous airflow streams over your hands. Météo-France explains it: the wind carries away the thin warm film the skin was maintaining.

The benchmarks from INRS, the French occupational safety institute, put a figure on it: at -5 °C, a 45 km/h wind feels like a cold close to -15 °C. When paragliding, that wind is your own movement.

Raised arms that do little work

Under the wing, your arms stay high and your hands only make small movements. So they produce little heat. In the cold, the body also constricts the small blood vessels in the skin to keep warm blood in its core: the extremities receive less of it.

The cold then reaches the fingers before the arms. It's the same logic as on the slopes, and the winter sports selection brings together heated gear designed for these high-mountain mornings.

"You can't feel your fingers anyway": a habit, not an inevitability

Many paraglider pilots repeat it every winter. This misconception comes from a forced choice: thin protection that lets your fingers freeze, or thick protection that blurs your feel.

The brakes constantly tell you what the wing is doing. Numb fingers feel them poorly. INRS observes it at work: dexterity drops from 15 °C, movements become less precise, then slower.

A classic winter glove piles on insulation, and every layer takes your hand further from the brake. A heated glove turns that logic around. It produces its own heat, so it stays thin and comfortable.

Also read: Vasoconstriction explained: why does blood leave your hands when it's cold?

Thin, heated, windproof: the three criteria for choosing

Which heated gloves should you choose for paragliding? Look first for thinness, then for heating placed on the top of the hand, and finally for materials that block the wind.

Thickness before warmth

G-HEAT product pages rate each model's thermal insulation out of 5. For paragliding, aim for 1 or 2 out of 5: the heating makes up for what thinness doesn't hold in.

Heated zones on the top of the hand

Facing the relative wind, the back of the hand and the top of the fingers get cold first. That's where most G-HEAT heated gloves place their double heating zone.

Touchscreen and instruments: a test on the ground

With a touchscreen-compatible index finger and thumb, you can easily scroll through a GPS screen without uncovering your hands. Do a test on the ground, with gloves and instruments switched on together, before your first flights.

An outer that blocks the relative wind

Under the wing, the wind never eases: the outer of the glove has to block it. A windproof, water-repellent membrane also protects against the damp of a misty morning. Inside, a soft lining keeps the warmth close to the skin.

Three models for three ways of flying in winter

Which one should you take? It all depends on your flights. Here are the advantages of each model by type of flying.

Elite: for long flights in the high mountains

For more than an hour above the ridges, the relative wind doesn't let go of your hands. The Elite heated gloves counter it with a windproof, water-repellent membrane. Thin and flexible, they keep your movements on the brake precise.

Light: for hiking up before you fly

On the way up, every gram counts. The Light heated gloves weigh about 82 g without batteries, according to their product page. Their stretch knit slips into a pocket, or under another pair when the cold gets harsher.

Thin gloves: a palm that grips

When unpacking the wing, you handle damp lines. The thin heated gloves have a silicone grip in the palm that works even when wet. A Velcro tab closes the wrist.

"To fly in winter, I think first in terms of thickness, not warmth. You start with a glove thin enough to feel the controls, then add the heating without making it thicker. On our thin models, the battery sits at the wrist: the hand stays free."
Product engineer, G-HEAT

Back at take-off: set the heat before you leave the ground

Back to that take-off at 2,000 m, hands on the controls. The right glove setting is done beforehand, while you prepare the wing.

Switch the heat on to high as soon as you reach take-off. Keep it there while you get ready, in contact with the snow and the cold lines.

For a long session, switch the gloves back to medium before you launch: the battery will last longer. Have you ever felt your hands give up just when you needed all your feel?

Watch out on the hike up too: you sweat in the glove. And heat loss is about 25 times greater in water than in air, and INRS recommends staying dry. Hike up in light gloves.

Before getting back to flying, the French Free Flight Federation advises checking all your equipment. Test your batteries on the ground too, and top up if needed from the batteries and chargers.

Find out more: Dry cold or damp cold: which hurts more, and how should you gear up?

Battery life: three hours of paragliding are prepared the day before

How long do heated gloves last? With the battery supplied, count on 5 to 6 hours on low and 3 to 4 hours on medium. On high, count on 1.5 to 2.5 hours.

Each glove takes 7.4 V, 2,200 mAh lithium glove batteries. They weigh about 72 g each and recharge in 4 to 5 hours. When weight matters more than duration, the 1,100 mAh glove batteries weigh 46 g, for shorter battery life.

A key point: a cold battery delivers less energy, and gets some of it back once warmed up. So keep it as close to your body as possible. For a three-hour session:

1. Fully charge each battery before heading up, not in the take-off car park.
2. Slip a spare pair into an inside pocket if the session may last longer than your battery life.

For the battery to last until landing, looking after it starts at home, then the cold does the rest. In this video of G-HEAT's new winter collection, the wind on the ridge shows how quickly fingers lose their dexterity.

Pogies, liners, mittens: what can be combined

Do you have to choose between heated gloves and pogies? Not necessarily: these accessories can be combined. A thin heated glove can be worn on its own, under paragliding gloves or inside pogies.

The heated liner under your usual gloves

Attached to your usual paragliding gloves? Slip heated liner gloves underneath, fitted like a second skin in a breathable fabric. They add active warmth without much thickness, and can also be worn on their own in cool weather.

Inside pogies

Pogies wrap around the brake handle and offer good protection against the wind. But a bare hand stays cold inside them at take-off. With a thin heated glove inside, the warmth arrives in the first few minutes.

Mittens and three-finger models keep the fingers together, and therefore warm, but separate them less well on the brake.

The right size, neither too tight nor too loose

A glove that's too tight restricts circulation in the fingers. A glove that's too loose creates folds in the palm, right where the brake sits.

The models come in sizes XS to 3XL. Measure your hand, then close it around an imaginary brake: nothing should pull.

A must-read: Why is cotton a bad choice in extreme cold?

Under the flying jacket, the torso keeps your hands warm

As long as the torso is cooling down, the body keeps its warm blood in the core and deprives the extremities of it.

Under the jacket, the heated Sport Midlayer keeps the warmth against your body thanks to its close fit. Its three heating zones are placed in the back and in the pockets.

While you wait, the heated Outdoor fleece heats the back and the pockets where your hands take refuge. Other cuts await you among the heated jackets.

Why choose G-HEAT for your winter paragliding flights?

1. The feel of the brake, even in December. Thermal insulation of 1 or 2 out of 5 is enough, since the warmth comes from the circuit placed facing the relative wind.
2. Three ways to wear warmth. On its own, as a liner under your usual pair, or inside pogies: the heating adapts to your flying gear.
3. A weight designed for hiking up. A light glove, an optional 46 g battery, and everything fits in a pocket.
4. A setting done on the ground. The heating starts with a single press, before you even put the gloves on.
5. A product team that thinks about cold in layers. G-HEAT, a French brand, heats your hands, torso and back under your jacket.

Conclusion: back at take-off at 2,000 m without dreading the cold

The next take-off at 2,000 m is waiting for you. This time, the gloves have been heating since you prepared the wing, and your hands on the controls feel every movement of the canopy. The flight can go on.

And winter becomes a paragliding season like any other.

Whatever the weather. G-HEAT.

FAQ: heated gloves for paragliding

Do heated gloves interfere with a variometer or GPS?

The Elite's product page lists CE and EMC standards, which govern the electromagnetic compatibility of electrical devices. Before your first flights, switch on the gloves and instruments side by side on the ground, on high. That way you check that everything works together.

Can heated gloves handle a misty or damp morning?

In these damp conditions, a wet glove quickly loses its warmth, because water carries heat away much faster than air. Choose a windproof, water-repellent outer, like the Elite's, and keep the battery pocket zipped. A dry spare pair in your bag is still a good idea.

What should you do on a multi-day bivouac?

The batteries recharge in 4 to 5 hours, from a power source. Over several days, bring a second pair of batteries and save the heat for the coldest moments: take-off, high-altitude stretches, waiting. On low, the battery lasts at least twice as long as on high.

Can these gloves be used for other winter sports too?

Yes. The Elite's product page recommends it for cross-country skiing, biathlon and snowshoeing, where you need to keep your movements precise. The Light, listed under winter sports on its product page, also slips under another pair on the slopes. The same heated glove goes with you from take-off to your outings on the snow.

Sources and references

[1] "Travailler dans une ambiance thermique froide", INRS (in French)
[2] "Travail au froid. Prévenir les risques", INRS (in French)
[3] "Qu'est-ce que la température ressentie ?", Météo-France (in French)
[4] "Relief : des températures minimales plus froides dans les vallées qu'en altitude", Météo-France (in French)
[5] "Reprise des vols en douceur après l'hiver", Fédération française de vol libre (in French)