The Best Ice Gloves?

[dberdinka]

I already got big bulky ice climbing gloves, so out of the 153 models of ice climbing gloves out this season what is the best thin pair out there that offers

 

dexterity

durability

water-proofness

relatively inexpensive

 

as I said warmth is a secondary consideration

 

Thanks

DB

[Bogen]

Last year I followed a recommendation from will gadd's book and went with cheap fleece gloves to climb in, and shell over mitts for the belay. Dispose of gloves as necc. (usually 8-10 climbs for me.) You get wet, but stay warm enough, and retain dexterity. Keep a couple pairs so you can change into a dry pair when you are done.

Edited October 28, 2004 by Bogen

[Dru]

put some rubber dishwashing gloves over those cheep fleece and you stay dry and have a good grip too.

[swaterfall]

I got some neoprene 'glacier gloves' this spring. They are pretty warm and they are thin and if you get them tight enough they should be pretty dexterous(sp?). I'm going to try mine this winter, although I would not try to rap with them on.

[vert]

neoprene works for dexterity, but they are a bitch to take off when wet and stay cold once you lose the heat.

bite the bullet, get some good quality schoellers. you get what you pay for-

[genepires]

Yeah D! monkey likes gloves.......

Cloudviel ice floe glove (correct me if the name is wrong)

BD drytool (yeah they wear through but it is good while they last)

Edited October 29, 2004 by genepires

[thelawgoddess]

sames as genepires - i have the cloudveil ice floe that i use most of the time and the bd dry tool for when it's really warm. (i think the cloudveil feels better overall; the dry tool is a little loose on me.) i also had a pair of bd fleece liner-type gloves that i would wear inbetween climbs. one time i forgot to switch back and climbed with them and was surprised how well they worked.

[Don_Serl]

interesting. i guess it all depends on what kind of temperatures and surface conditions (wet or dry) you encounter. maybe also physiology, cuz i don't think i "run as warm" as i did in younger days.

 

for me, light gloves just don't have enough warmth for winter climbing of any sort, especially for waterfalls, where there's almost always surface water present. i thought the MEC Mixed Master was the ticket over the past cpl seasons - Gore-Tex Direct Grip lined shells, with removable fleece liners - but they've been dropped and MEC no longer has a warm glove suitable for ice climbing. they have the "Out O' Bounds", which is a lot like the Mixed Master, but it's got a buckle at the wrsit, so is designed for skiing, not climbing. i suppose u cld cut the buckle off...

 

at the light end, i bought a pair of Cloudveil Ice Floes too, but i used them one day at Baker, and in 2 "runs" up a 10m serac my hands were sopping. Schoeller is nowhere near waterproof, not that i expected it to be, but i was surprised and disappointed by how quickly moisture penetrated. sure not the kind of handwear you'd wanna take onto a waterice route. maybe roadside dry tooling?

 

i returned the Ice Floes ("didn't meet my expectations") and bought MEC Jackals (Nikita for women). same lack of waterproofness, but less than half the price: CDN $29 vs CDN $68 for the Cloudveils. good materials, good construction, pretty good fit too - maybe CV and Black Diamond offer a bit more sophistication in the fit realm, but i wonder if that's worth twice the bucks...

 

for me, tho, bigger gloves with android leashes are the way to go - stay warm, still get to manipulate the gear OK. fact is, i still slog around in BIG insulated mitts whenever i can - warm hands are not difficult if you dress for it.

 

cheers,

[thelawgoddess]

i used the cloudveil ice floe for 19 days of water ice climbing in ouray/silverton/telluride last season and never really had a problem with them sopping. (perhaps it depends how much of the water ice you're climbing is actually ice? ) i'm not saying the gloves stayed perfectly dry but i didn't usually find the lack of waterproofness a huge issue for cragging and day climbs. i haven't had any luck finding warmer gloves that offer me the good fit and dexterity i want for this type of pursuit, though, so i definitely put up with more than i perhaps want to ...

[Dru]

The best ice climbing gloves come with velcro palms so you can stay warm after the climb.