Green Gear: Badger Balm and Mechanix work gloves

Photos courtesy of respective brands

The dry winter can wreak havoc on hands, particularly when those hands are exposed to weather, manipulating tools and machinery and in and out of damp, abrasive growing media. It’s a surefire recipe for cracked, rough, irritated skin. There are plenty of lotions on the market, but Badger Balm For Hardworking Hands is a simple, certified organic tin of comfort. Created by a New England carpenter known as “Badger Bill,” his eponymous balm features organic extra virgin olive oil, organic beeswax, organic castor oil, organic aloe vera and organic wintergreen oil. With no medicinal smell and no lingering oily residue, our own use has found Badger Balm to be an exceptional salve for the dry-winter-hand woes. We can only suggest you do what it says on the tin and “rub it in.”

As winter winds down, it will remain necessary to keep hands warm while also keeping them safe as production heats up. Storied workwear brand Mechanix has a new glove option to keep the cold at bay without losing grip or nimbleness to a bulky workwear option. The new Tactical ColdWork Original features water resistance, 60-gram 3M Thinsulate Eco Insulation and a reinforced thumb saddle. It also features touchscreen-capable synthetic leather so that workers can still navigate tech while keeping warm. User reviews call out the durability even in exposure to ice, snow and water, with one user reporting, “The gloves allow for remarkable dexterity while providing some protection from the cold.”