Here in the East, we have had a day of snow with more falling. Many businesses have been closed as well as all of the schools. While I was looking for gloves to wear for the shoveling, I remembered a science project Theo did when he was ten.It was one he thought up on his own and it was just right for a boy his age. His question was, "Which gloves will stay dry for the longest time while playing in the snow?" He conducted his experiment by gathering up all of the gloves in the house and making snowballs with them until his hands got wet. He used gloves made from seven different materials. The worst pair got wet after 16 snowballs and the best pair got wet after 90+ snowballs. (He stopped counting after 90.) See if you can guess which pair performed the best and which pair performed the worst.
He had gloves made from:
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Deerskin
Deerskin with knit lining
Polar fleece with no lining
Polar fleece with polyester lining
Acrylic gray knit
Acrylic brown knit
Acrylic knit with leather grip
He thought the leather gloves would perform the best, but they turned out to get wet the fastest. The acrylic knit gloves did the best even though they were thinner than the polar fleece. The polar fleece were about half-way in-between the leather and acrylic knit gloves.
Now while this experiment and its results were interesting, that was not the best part according to Theo. The best part was the snowball fight he had at the end with his brother. I do encourage you to try this at home.
Are you trying to tell us that you threw a snowball at your husband? :) How are you feeling?
ReplyDeleteNo, I missed my snowball chance yesterday morning. Later the temperatures dropped and the snow turned light and fluffy--not good for making snowballs. However, as things warm up in the next couple of days he should expect the unexpected. :)
DeleteI'm feeling much better. Thanks for asking.
Sounds like a lot of fun. We've had no measurable snow here this year. Lots of fog, though. Interesting that the acrylic stayed drier than leather.
ReplyDeleteYou usually get more snow than this, don't you?
DeleteHmm, interesting! We don't have leather gloves--we have acrylic knit and Thinsulate. My daughter has some fleece mittens. What I find frustrating is that it's next to impossible to find mittens for boys once they are older than 7 or 8--it's all gloves. I don't think they are as warm on their hands and, because the fingers on them are so small, it's next to impossible to get them dried out if they get wet (they are too small to turn inside out like you would with adult gloves).
ReplyDeleteWe are getting a heavy snowfall right now. It's pretty ... if you don't have to drive in it!
I don't know if you want to spend this much for boy's gloves, but the outdoor companies (REI, LL Bean) often have mittens or gloves with linings that are very warm. We got Wally some lined gloves from LL Bean when he was about 11 because of the winter camping he was doing with scouts. They worked quite well. And believe it or not, he still has them and they are his favorite.(What I'm saying here, is that he didn't lose them!) Also, there are some pretty easy patterns for making mittens out of polar fleece fabric.
DeleteThe snow stopped here last night but the temperature has not risen out of the teens. So, there's plenty of ice around. But yes, it is pretty.
I think we are to the point where we need to check into that (REI, etc.). My son is 10 and is in scouts and, yes, winter camping is in his (but not mine) future. Best not to depend on me for anything that involves sewing, so it looks like I'll be spending the money. :) But where we live, winter gear is a must.
ReplyDeleteWe were supposed to get 1-3 inches today--we've had at least 10 so far ... so much for weather predictions.