For years I've carried waterproof shell mitts on most trips out in the hills and found them really useful on cold, wet days. They could never be "guaranteed to keep me dry", but they've always delayed the onset of saturation for a decent time, and kept my hands warm when used with fleece or wool gloves.
At first I used Gore outers from a pair of modular mitts which I found in a bargain bin. The outers were a bit bulky (but not too bad) and the pile inners were so warm I only used them a couple of times and then left them at home. When I lost those, I got a pair of Terra Nova Tough Bags, which were really light and compact, but had a pretty poor fit and were not at all tough. The "tough" palms disintegrated after light use, not involving any climbing, and they stopped being even water resistant very soon after that.
I didn't want to spend north of £50 on another pair of Tough Bags, and the few more durable shells I could find cost even more. However, I've now found a much cheaper solution in the form of British Army waterproof mitts sold on eBay. They cost about £10, and I spent about £8 getting a local clothing repair shop to lop a few inches off their absurdly long cuffs and re-fit the elastic cords. They're really well put together, don't weigh much and I'm pretty sure they are made from Gore, even though there's no label to say so. They are in DPM green, but that doesn't bother me. They work very well and I'd recommend them to anybody looking for reasonably light but tough waterproof mitts. BTW I'm just a happy user and have nowt to do with any eBay vendor.
