I think it's for when the temperature isn't THAT bad

or when you're going for that 70s rocker/homeless chic

I worked in a lab that was *cold* but I couldn't wear gloves because I was typing a lot of data as I went. Fingerless gloves were better than nothing.

They're handy for any outside work that needs some kind of delicate touch, or inside if it's cold. Don't forget you can wear them underneath full gloves like Roy Mayall the postman:

We posties are used to the weather. We know how to dress for it. I had on at least four layers, and a woolly hat and two pairs of gloves: a fingerless pair, with an ordinary pair over the top. You need the fingerless gloves to pick through the bundle. Every so often the cold would bite and my fingers would stop working. Then I would have to stop to warm my hands under my arm.

I couldn't have made it through my years at the outdoor maritime museum without fingerless gloves. THey're invaluable. So often you need to tie or untie knots, climb something (and you want to be sure you have a solid grip, not be slipping around through a layer of fabric), or handle small bits which you would easily drop without the feedback of your sensitive fingertips. I use them less since those days but find them very useful to have in my inventory. Also, if you're outdoorsy and like winter camping or XC skiing, they're really helpful when you need to adjust your backpack or bindings, open up your thermos top, start a fire, etc, while still wanting to keep your hands and wrists warm. Getting cold and snow on your wrists has got to be one of the most uncomfortable sensations that all of winter can provide.

A lot of their attraction for hipsters lies in the fact that you need your fingertips for using touchscreens and and clickwheels and for texting and stuff like that.

Most market traders working outdoors wear fingerless gloves because it makes it easier to handle coins but keeps the hands warm. I wear them sometimes and I've not found that my fingertips get particularly cold.

A lot of their attraction for hipsters lies in the fact that you need your fingertips for using touchscreens and and clickwheels and for texting and stuff like that.

I would think this makes them more useful than ever for the rest of us, too, though I haven't owned a pair since I moved someplace with a proper winter when I was a kid.

Or is it only in northern New England that one routinely finds oneself in a freezing cold foyer trying to buy a train ticket from a recalcitrant touchscreen, or wrestling with the grocery checkout interface while arctic winds blast in from the opening-closing-opening-closing automated doors nearby?

They're very useful when playing a stringed instrument in a vast English cathedral with Victorian heating in the dead of winter. Trust me.

I wear them when i go out birding. Binoculars are much easier to work with finger pads instead of slippery yarn or even leather.

I need a pair for precisely the reason Miko mentions- can't use the iPod wearing full gloves.

I wear them because I think they're cute (the #1 reason, not gonna lie) and because they keep me warm. I LOVE layers and how they look peeking out of long sleeved sweaters and jackets. I can still type and use touchpads. I wear them in the house and at work if I feel a little chilly and they always take the edge off.

(not a rocker, not a hipster, not homeless, and definitely not chic :)

Yeah, I have a pair b/c it's cold on the train platform in the mornings, but with gloves I can't manipulate my phone/MP3 player. :)

are we talking full fingers gone or just the tips of the fingers? Going full fingers off for manipulating a device seems to be needlessly masochistic.. but again I guess it depends on the weather

I have a rant I posted on someone's wall back in 2006 but facebook won't let me dig it up and only lists up to 2007.. damn. but yeah, basically juggling gloves + coffee + mp3 player + winter in the morning is a pain

What is baffling to me is that all of these portable devices use such fidgety little controls. Didn't portable electronics in the 1970s have much larger, more robust controls? There is no reason they can't build an MP3 player that you can operate one-handed, in gloves, without looking at it. I know some people prefer the very tiny size of modern devices but surely I can't be the only one who wants a proper volume knob and so on.

Enn, modern gadgets Seventies style:

≡ Click to see image ≡

I'm a big fan of the fingerless glove/mitten hybrid. You can flip the top of the mitten back and they become fingerless gloves. It's a pain in the butt to take my gloves off to wipe a nose or zip a coat or fasten a car seat, but I can't makes snowballs and such with fingerless gloves.

In fact, if you've got a parent of a young child on your Christmas list, buy them some mitten/glove thingies. They're the kind of thing you don't realize you need until you have 'em.

Yeah, I only buy the fingerless glove/mitten hybrid. It is genius.

They're a must for winter photography!

Yeah, the fingerless glove/mitten combo is also great for walking dogs in cold weather. Makes poo pick-up/bag tying off a whole lot easier.

I use these kind sometimes.

Useful for handling cash when delivering to customers at their doors. When done, just put your hands in your pockets (or warm food delivery bag) and your fingers will warm right up again. (Food delivery bags also make great wind shields.)

what jrossi and amro said. I just got a warm, wooly pair of hybrid mittens / fingerless gloves with the flip-top. They're invaluable for easy-access iPhone & camera use in the dead of winter, and they're especially warm on the bike(s).

iPhone.