UKC

A couple of weekends ago I was bashing up a Munro; that Saturday where it started to thaw and it was quite drizzly. Anyway, although I never expect to stay completely dry when there is water falling on me, I was pretty disappointed with my ME Guide gloves. A steady drizzle, and the occasional dip into the snow was enough to saturate them, as in small puddles in the finger tips. I've since found a few comments along the same lines around the internet regarding these gloves. Before now I'd only used them on cold, dry snowy days and had been pretty pleased with them.

I am loath to chuck what were my go-to gloves onto the back up pile, so I'm considering trying Nikwax Glove Proof on them. Is this stuff any good? Is it just a DWR coating (not sure that would do much), or is it closer to Nikwaxing a pair of leather boots? Basically, is it likely to make a substantial difference to the moisture level in my gloves over a few hours?

I've also been considering a pair of insulated leather gloves (Chamonix binman gloves, whatever), as they can be found quite cheap. Coated in Glove Proof, how waterproof would these be? Enough for a day in sleet and wet snow, or better suited to the cold and dry of Chamonix?

Cheers

In reply to Taurig:

Lots of pairs of cheaper gloves imo.

Ninja ice hpt's can be proofed on the backs, after that they're pretty good as you can have like four pairs for 20 quid.

In reply to Taurig:
Is water getting in via the Softshell fabric? I've Nixwaxed and dubbined the Binmans gloves, makes them very supple.
Have a peep at Danes 'cold thistle' blog, seems the trick is to heat treat the gloves between coatings to get the proofing right into the leather, rather than a surface coating that'll wear off.

Yeah, I think unless I become a CEO of some company, that'll be the last time I spend that sort of money on gloves. In addition to the leather gloves, I've been looking at Timberland and Helly Hansen work gloves as mentioned by various UKCers. The Skytec Argons look OK, but as I'm at the bottom end of winter stuff I don't think I need the dexterity and would rather get something a bit warmer.

Like I say, I'm under no illusions that any glove can keep your hands completely dry, and as I kept moving my hands didn't get dangerously cold. I was just pretty disappointed that a £40 glove with a waterproof insert would let so much water in. Perhaps some got in through the cuff, but my gut feeling was that that was a minimal part of the problem. I thought I'd maybe give them a better chance with the Nikwax?

In reply to Taurig:

Recent thread on OM suggested these work gloves for dextrous handling:

http://www.arco.co.uk/products/14G4800

I've seen something similar in Clas Ohlson.

and these 'pisteur gloves':

http://shop.snowshepherd.co.uk/Venitex-Leather-Gloves-size-8

In reply to Taurig:
It may well be that the waterproof liner is faulty. Fill the gloves with water and see if the outer starts to wet out. If it does, the liner is knackered. Depending on age you may want to return em under guarantee or relegate them to the back up pile.
My outdoor design Goretex gloves where awesomely waterproof for the first few years then the membrane failed (probably as the taping came loose at the fingertips) and I got soaked in them.

In reply to angry pirate:

That's a good idea, I'll probably be using the gloves this weekend (no option but to), but I'll try it out when I'm done with them. I'd be even more annoyed if the liner had gone already. I bought them about this time last year, they had under a dozen uses and have been in a drawer since about May. They don't even get used for the full day, as my OR windstopper gloves do for a lot of the time.

Capatain paranoia, yeah the Skytec Argons were mentioned above, but as I'm not going to be fiddling with pro on steep ice I don't think they'd be the best option, although I could be wrong. The Chamonix binman gloves you linked to are also worth investigating, and the second part of my OP was wondering how waterproof leather gloves with no liner are when treated with Nikwax?

In reply to Taurig:
Those Skytec Argons? Are they only good in cold dry conditions? No mention of 'waterproofness'.

In reply to Flinticus:

The front of the glove and the fingers and palm are as waterproof as a pair of marigolds; they're coated with plastic.

The backs have a dwr and a very tight weave, and can be nikwax'd but will let stuff through.

But they're £5, so why not just carry four pairs?

In reply to Flinticus:


The ones I saw in Clas Ohlson looked to have foamy, closed cell nitrile rubber coating over fingers and palm, with a stretchy pile body to the glove. So, front waterproof, but the back of the glove not waterproof. This might not be a great combination in wet conditions, with water entering the glove and then not being able to escape...

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Nitrile-Foam-Work-Gloves/Pr408265000

They do have some interesting-looking gloves:

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Short-Finger-Gloves/Pr313508002

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Tegera-Basic-Work-Gloves/Pr408279000

In reply to captain paranoia:

Would be good to know if these have any sort of waterproof lining.

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Tegera-Home-Work-Gloves/Pr408267000

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Tegera-235-Work-Gloves/Pr408442000

Quite similar to some freezer gloves I had a look at, but they said they were waterproof. Could just be absorbent material on the back of those ones linked above.

In reply to Taurig:

No, I don't think either is waterproof; the backs of the hands are fabric, and I don't recall there beign a membrane.

The goatskin is supple, but quite thin, not like the "Cham binmen's gloves".

In reply to Taurig: My Me Guides have wet through in drizzly rain before and get damp after a while in the snow but they tend to keep warm regardless, even if it isn't a nice feeling on your hands.

I'm going to Nikwax the leather on the palm and the finger tips as this seems to be where the water is wetting through rather than beading up. Also just got a cheap pair of leather Thinsulate work gloves from Jewson that are going to get the same treatment.

Take a look here ; http://iceclimbingjapan.com/propaganda/

In reply to Nath93:

Good to know (well, sort of) that I'm not the only one to have this problem. You're right, my hands didn't get cold, but for a glove advertised as a waterproof mountaineering glove to soak through in drizzle isn't on, IMO.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the leather work gloves, if they are better or worse than the Guides in wet conditions. It seems to work for leather boots without a lining, but I just wonder if the amount of lines of stitching on a glove could be its undoing?

In reply to Taurig: Yeah, if something is advertised as waterproof its expected to be. I find it strange that the have stitching on the leather at the tips of the finger, seems like a silly place to cut and
stitch ?

My hands sweat pretty bad doing anything though so this could be a cause of dampness inside too, but they have been wet through from the tips of my fingers before.

I'll report back on how the work gloves go, cheap and cheerful but they look like they should be pretty good !

In reply to Nath93:

If you can find a way to make box fingers without using stitching we'd all be laughing.

In reply to Sharp:

Some of the Arcteryx gloves trump that.



£200 isn't very funny, though

In reply to Sharp: Its just below the finger tip, maybe half an inch on the palm side. Anyone who owns the Guide gloves will know what I mean, i'd have thought they would have taken the leather up to the very tip of the finger and finished it off a bit neater in there ? I've got gloves that don't have a huge overlap of leather and stitching, cheaper than the guides too !