BDry

[mzvarner]

Just how dry is it? Is it comparable to gortex, MH Conduit, eVent?

[DanielHarro]

I used one pair the punisher gloves which have the BDry for three days straight in AK last spring through wallowing conditions and my hands stayed dry, I was pretty amazed. I have a pair of MH gloves with the Outdry and have been very impressed as well. I also have a pair of older OR Extravert gloves with Gortex and have had good luck. So as far as keeping hands dry I have not noticed a huge difference, but I think the outdry works the best from my tests, I have not been disjointedness with the punisher though.

[ColinB]

The only times I've had punishers (BDry) get wet on me have been when climbing dripping wet ice (afterwards everything is wet...) and when I sweat them out from overheating/too warm weather.

[mzvarner]

Cool, but correct me if im wrong since i have never been to AK and dont have a plethora of experience here either. The snow in AK is not nearly as wet as what we tend to get here in the Cascades. Any one have any issues "here"?

[EastCoastBastard]

I've got some BD Dry gloves that are absolute shit. Any opportunity they get to soak up water, they do. I treat them more like soft-shell gloves.

 

 

[keenwesh]

+1 for ECB!

[DanielHarro]

yeah snow in AK is more dry, but I was in waist deep to head deep unconsolidated snow and had to excavate and tunnel up peak 11,300. During the day time I never took my gloves off an I think that helped. As far as the membrane goes I would be curious what the actual differences are.

[t_rutl]

i've used the punishers here, hyalite and cody...stayed warm and dry other than sweat

[BigSky]

I'm quite sure Bdry is a pu coated PTFE a la gore, etc. The PU thickness of proprietary membranes is generally what determines "breathability".

[OlympicMtnBoy]

So for those of you who have used these gloves and been "warm and dry", how do they compare to other gloves? Or are you usually "warm and dry"?

 

I have never had a glove that kept me dry, maybe my hands just sweat a lot and I climb in wet snow (of course I use thinner gloves when working hard). Would these be any different?

[DanielHarro]

when on approaches I use a wind-block fleece glove or a liner power-stretch type glove. I know what you are saying about hand sweat, I found that if I take less layers off of my core my hands stay cooler, or if I add say a puffy vest under my shell my hands stay warmer. Cold training your hand helps as well.

[davidk]

It's important to remember that the BDdry membrane (and most glove waterproofing systems) are liners, and therefore the performance of the membrane will be greatly affected by the outer layer of the glove. Common construction is fleece+insulation lining inside PTFE membrane glove inside the outer leather/softshell/nylon.

 

It's just like with a rain jacket: the breathability of the membrane will be cut in half (minimum) if the outer shell fabric wets out. This is why it is important to maintain a DWR on the outer fabric.

 

If your glove shells get soaking wet, then a breathable membrane inside won't be able to move much moisture, and your gloves will get wet on the inside from sweat.

 

My old BD Patrol gloves would get soaked from sweat after a day of skiing: BDdry liner inside mostly leather shells. But my BD Punishers stay a lot drier: BDdry inside breathable softshell outers. But with both, I could probably stick my hand in a bucket of cold water and not feel it rushing in.

[BigSky]

It's just like with a rain jacket: the breathability of the membrane will be cut in half (minimum) if the outer shell fabric wets out. This is why it is important to maintain a DWR on the outer fabric.

 

If your glove shells get soaking wet, then a breathable membrane inside won't be able to move much moisture, and your gloves will get wet on the inside from sweat.

+1

It's all about the moisture gradient (and temp gradient to some extent). PU coated PTFE membranes in particular need a dry outer because the "breathability" is on a chemical level (think capillary action) only.

[EastCoastBastard]

The glove I have, the Stratos (just checked to make sure they are actually BDry- they are) is made of a 3-ply gore-tex like material, but the seams are not taped, and there are quite a few seams, in addition, there is none of this material behind the leather palm, so water, despite numerous layers of snoseal and nikwax, will eventually soak completly through - probably through the seams that run through the palm as well. It sounds like some of these other BDry gloves actually have a complete liner and are not just chunks of supposedly waterproof fabric sewn together. I've never bothered to check whether water will soak straight through if I held a drop of water just on a small, non-seam strewn area.

On the upside, they climb well and have a very durable palm - I use them pretty much solely for cold cold days, or for rapping so I don't trash my "good" soft-shell gloves, but as far as waterproof goes, they're complete rubbish.

Edited November 6, 2010 by EastCoastBastard