Dry Gloves?? What and were?

Hey guys, never owned a pair of dry gloves but with the current temperatures and the inability to resist the call of the yak, I'm definitely going to be needing a pair of gloves to keep my fingers dry and help with staying warm. Are there any dry gloves out there geared towards us fishing folk? Or at least more suitable?


-Rodney-

Some folks were latex/nitrile gloves under their neoprene gloves.

Latex/nitrile gloves 2 layers thick under neoprene gloves works well enough for me. The problem is when you puncture the gloves with a hook and water seeps in, hence using cheap latex-nitrile gloves and carrying extras. Overtop I use the glacier glove with the "flip-mitt".

+1 on nitrile glacier glove combo. Mine aren't the flip mitten, just a regular glove with finger and thumb slits. By far the cheapest solution, and it works relatively well considering the price vs other options.

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Dry gloves can keep your hands warm and dry in cold weather and cold water.  The two kinds of dry gloves which I’ve used are (a) dry gloves which have a latex wrist gasket which keeps out water, and which sits on top of the wrist gasket on your dry suit, and (b) dry gloves which attach to your dry suit with a ring system.  Here’s what to look for in dry gloves:

1.   Cheapness and/or repairability.  When fishing in dry gloves, unless you’re careful while handling hooks, you can easily end up with leaky dry gloves, which are not as dry and not as warm as watertight dry gloves.  So for fishing, the ideal dry gloves are cheap and/or repairable.  Unfortunately, most dry gloves and all ring systems are pretty expensive.  I try to find dry gloves which can be repaired with aquaseal or some other flexible sealant.  To locate punctures, I have mounted a tire valve on a PVC pipe cap.  I stretch a dry glove over the pipe cap, clamp it down with a hose clamp if necessary, inflate the glove with air, stick the glove in a bucket of water, and look for bubbles.



2.   Dexterity and/or removeability.  When fishing, you often need to do delicate things like tie hooks onto fishing line, or snap lures onto fishing line.  Unfortunately, dry gloves tend to be bulky and clumsy.  So try to find dry gloves which can be removed easily when you need to do something delicate.

3.   Big enough for insulation and ease of use.  Dry gloves keep your hands dry, but if you wear them without liners, they feel clammy inside, and they won’t keep your hands very warm.  You wear polypro or wool liners inside dry gloves to keep your hands warm.  In cool weather, thin glove liners may be all you need, but as the weather gets colder, you’ll need thicker liners.  So one reason you need big dry gloves is so you can fit thick liners underneath them without constricting your fingers.  Another reason big dry gloves are good is that you won’t be constantly stretching the rubber of the gloves as you hold onto your rod and paddle.  On the other hand, as your dry gloves get bigger, they may reduce your dexterity.  If you are a guy with big hands, you will probably find it hard to locate dry gloves which are big enough.

4.   Durability.  If you fish out of a paddle kayak rather than a pedal kayak, the paddle will abrade your gloves, particularly at the base of your thumb.  On the other hand, gloves which are particularly durable may have little dexterity.  You’ll need to reach some balance between durability and dexterity.  If your gloves get worn, you can extend their life by reinforcing the worn areas with aquaseal, although eventually the aquaseal may peel off and need to be replaced.

5.   Long life.  After a year or so of hard use, latex dry gloves will begin to crack from stretching and UV exposure.  Eventually leaks will develop in the cracks.  Gloves made of other materials may last longer.

The primary place you’ll find dry gloves is at businesses which sell diving dry suits, although you may also find them at kayaking supply stores.

For about twenty years, I used OS Systems “Polar Paws” dry gloves while whitewater kayaking, sometimes in very cold conditions.  See http://ossystems.com/accessories/dry-glove-system/ .  They were moderately heavy latex gloves with a latex wrist gasket, which cost about $40 a pair.  I liked them very much.  Unfortunately, OS Systems has stopped manufacturing them.  As a result, while nursing on my remaining pairs of OS Systems dry gloves, I have started using some “Viking Good Grip Gloves with Wrist Seal,” which are about $45 a pair.  See http://www.scubacenter.com/scubacenter_onlinestore/drysuit_accessories/viking_dry_gloves.htm .  I don’t like them as much, because they have a layer of foamy textured rubber on top of the latex of the gloves.  This increases the grip and durability of the gloves, but reduces their dexterity.  Other brands of latex dry gloves with wrist gaskets are considerably more expensive than the Viking dry gloves.  When you put this kind of glove on, you need to get the glove’s wrist gasket lying flat on top of your dry suit’s wrist gasket, which takes a bit of practice.  This kind of dry glove is a little harder to take on and off than dry gloves on a ring system.  Here’s some OS Systems dry gloves in use in cold weather:



I use a dry suit while snorkeling and spearfishing for pike in Montana.  I don’t use my latex dry gloves while spearfishing, because they are expensive, and pike have sharp teeth and prickly gills which quickly rip up dry gloves.  Instead, I bought a dry glove ring system, and use inexpensive hardware store rubberized gloves in it.  Ring systems are manufactured by a number of companies, including SI Tech, Viking, OS Systems, Antares, RoLock, Bare, and Northern Diver.  Most ring systems have one half which attaches to the wrist gasket of your dry suit, and the other half which attaches to the wrist of the glove.  The two halves snap together to form a dry seal, and allow you to remove the dry gloves quickly.  A few kinds of ring systems have a ring which attaches to your dry suit, and the gloves are clamped to the ring with rubber “O” rings.  This kind of dry glove system is probably not easy to remove.  Ring systems are expensive, but because they allow you to use cheap hardware store gloves, in the long run you’ll save money.  Another advantage of ring systems is that it’s easy to take the gloves on and off when you need to do something delicate.  Here’s a picture of my SI Tech ring system in use with hardware store rubber coated gloves.



When wearing dry gloves in a paddle kayak, I use knit glove liners, because they don’t have any seams.  The seams in sewn glove liners can grind into your skin, particularly in the area at the base of your thumb.  The knit liners I use the most are white knit acrylic work gloves which are available at Home Depot and similar stores.  Acrylic dries out almost as quickly as polypro, and these liners are cheap and fairly thick.  I have some thicker knit liners, and some quite thick fuzzy liners available at Seattle Marine and other commercial fishing equipment suppliers.  See, for example, http://www.seattlemarine.net/products/atlas_gloves/freezer_gloves.htm .

Another option is wetsuit gloves which attempt to minimize the amount of water which sloshes in and out of the gloves, such as NRS’s “Maverick” gloves.  http://www.nrs.com/product/2454/nrs-maverick-gloves-with-hydrocuff.  These aren’t as warm as real dry gloves, but they should be better at resisting abuse from hooks, because they always get water in them, so it doesn’t matter if they have a few small leaks.

I've recently experimented with the Neo Workgear Pro neoprene at 2mm. Worked good out in freezing temps, good dexterity, hands in the water releasing fish this week and I was warm for several hours (the entire time out). For western Washington they are certainly warm enough. Durability is something I cannot comment on just yet, but we're talking neoprene with a thin lining rubber palm and fingers, therefore not hard to guess. For the 11 dollars I spent it was worth it. I got them at Sportco.

I own the NRS Reactor Rescue gloves. They are horrible for fishing. Bad grip on the paddle, no dexterity but otherwise quite warm.

Dry gloves can keep your hands warm and dry in cold weather and cold water.  The two kinds of dry gloves which I’ve used are (a) dry gloves which have a latex wrist gasket which keeps out water, and which sits on top of the wrist gasket on your dry suit, and (b) dry gloves which attach to your dry suit with a ring system.  Here’s what to look for in dry gloves:

1.Cheapness and/or repairability.  When fishing in dry gloves, unless you’re careful while handling hooks, you can easily end up with leaky dry gloves, which are not as dry and not as warm as watertight dry gloves.  So for fishing, the ideal dry gloves are cheap and/or repairable.  Unfortunately, most dry gloves and all ring systems are pretty expensive.  I try to find dry gloves which can be repaired with aquaseal or some other flexible sealant.  To locate punctures, I have mounted a tire valve on a PVC pipe cap.  I stretch a dry glove over the pipe cap, clamp it down with a hose clamp if necessary, inflate the glove with air, stick the glove in a bucket of water, and look for bubbles.



2.Dexterity and/or removeability.  When fishing, you often need to do delicate things like tie hooks onto fishing line, or snap lures onto fishing line.  Unfortunately, dry gloves tend to be bulky and clumsy.  So try to find dry gloves which can be removed easily when you need to do something delicate.

3.Big enough for insulation and ease of use.  Dry gloves keep your hands dry, but if you wear them without liners, they feel clammy inside, and they won’t keep your hands very warm.  You wear polypro or wool liners inside dry gloves to keep your hands warm.  In cool weather, thin glove liners may be all you need, but as the weather gets colder, you’ll need thicker liners.  So one reason you need big dry gloves is so you can fit thick liners underneath them without constricting your fingers.  Another reason big dry gloves are good is that you won’t be constantly stretching the rubber of the gloves as you hold onto your rod and paddle.  On the other hand, as your dry gloves get bigger, they may reduce your dexterity.  If you are a guy with big hands, you will probably find it hard to locate dry gloves which are big enough.

4.Durability.  If you fish out of a paddle kayak rather than a pedal kayak, the paddle will abrade your gloves, particularly at the base of your thumb.  On the other hand, gloves which are particularly durable may have little dexterity.  You’ll need to reach some balance between durability and dexterity.  If your gloves get worn, you can extend their life by reinforcing the worn areas with aquaseal, although eventually the aquaseal may peel off and need to be replaced.

5.Long life.  After a year or so of hard use, latex dry gloves will begin to crack from stretching and UV exposure.  Eventually leaks will develop in the cracks.  Gloves made of other materials may last longer.

The primary place you’ll find dry gloves is at businesses which sell diving dry suits, although you may also find them at kayaking supply stores.

For about twenty years, I used OS Systems “Polar Paws” dry gloves while whitewater kayaking, sometimes in very cold conditions.  See http://ossystems.com/accessories/dry-glove-system/ .  They were moderately heavy latex gloves with a latex wrist gasket, which cost about $40 a pair.  I liked them very much.  Unfortunately, OS Systems has stopped manufacturing them.  As a result, while nursing on my remaining pairs of OS Systems dry gloves, I have started using some “Viking Good Grip Gloves with Wrist Seal,” which are about $45 a pair.  See http://www.scubacenter.com/scubacenter_onlinestore/drysuit_accessories/viking_dry_gloves.htm .  I don’t like them as much, because they have a layer of foamy textured rubber on top of the latex of the gloves.  This increases the grip and durability of the gloves, but reduces their dexterity.  Other brands of latex dry gloves with wrist gaskets are considerably more expensive than the Viking dry gloves.  When you put this kind of glove on, you need to get the glove’s wrist gasket lying flat on top of your dry suit’s wrist gasket, which takes a bit of practice.  This kind of dry glove is a little harder to take on and off than dry gloves on a ring system.  Here’s some OS Systems dry gloves in use in cold weather:



I use a dry suit while snorkeling and spearfishing for pike in Montana.  I don’t use my latex dry gloves while spearfishing, because they are expensive, and pike have sharp teeth and prickly gills which quickly rip up dry gloves.  Instead, I bought a dry glove ring system, and use inexpensive hardware store rubberized gloves in it.  Ring systems are manufactured by a number of companies, including SI Tech, Viking, OS Systems, Antares, RoLock, Bare, and Northern Diver.  Most ring systems have one half which attaches to the wrist gasket of your dry suit, and the other half which attaches to the wrist of the glove.  The two halves snap together to form a dry seal, and allow you to remove the dry gloves quickly.  A few kinds of ring systems have a ring which attaches to your dry suit, and the gloves are clamped to the ring with rubber “O” rings.  This kind of dry glove system is probably not easy to remove.  Ring systems are expensive, but because they allow you to use cheap hardware store gloves, in the long run you’ll save money.  Another advantage of ring systems is that it’s easy to take the gloves on and off when you need to do something delicate.  Here’s a picture of my SI Tech ring system in use with hardware store rubber coated gloves.



When wearing dry gloves in a paddle kayak, I use knit glove liners, because they don’t have any seams.  The seams in sewn glove liners can grind into your skin, particularly in the area at the base of your thumb.  The knit liners I use the most are white knit acrylic work gloves which are available at Home Depot and similar stores.  Acrylic dries out almost as quickly as polypro, and these liners are cheap and fairly thick.  I have some thicker knit liners, and some quite thick fuzzy liners available at Seattle Marine and other commercial fishing equipment suppliers.  See, for example, http://www.seattlemarine.net/products/atlas_gloves/freezer_gloves.htm .

Another option is wetsuit gloves which attempt to minimize the amount of water which sloshes in and out of the gloves, such as NRS’s “Maverick” gloves.  http://www.nrs.com/product/2454/nrs-maverick-gloves-with-hydrocuff.  These aren’t as warm as real dry gloves, but they should be better at resisting abuse from hooks, because they always get water in them, so it doesn’t matter if they have a few small leaks.

great response Pete, I will explore some of these options. I will post my choice and reasons why when I finally decide.


-Rodney-

Look for the STORMR Typhoon 3mm over at J&H tackle. Think they will fit the bill for you.

I haven't found a good solution. It really depends on the kind of fishing you're doing. One thing I have been doing recently is using those cheap hand warmers. One in each glove. When the fingers start to go you can pull your fingers out of the glove fingers and grip the warmer to bring them back. For a bit.

I haven't found a good solution. It really depends on the kind of fishing you're doing. One thing I have been doing recently is using those cheap hand warmers. One in each glove. When the fingers start to go you can pull your fingers out of the glove fingers and grip the warmer to bring them back. For a bit.

lol, I personally hate gloves especially with fingers in them but I like to have feeling in my fingers so I need to come up with something.


-Rodney-

Look for the STORMR Typhoon 3mm over at J&H tackle. Think they will fit the bill for you.

The Stormr Typhoon neoprene wet-suit gloves have shiny material on their palms.  The description of the gloves on J&H's website says "The palms are coated in a durable hi-grip material for ultimate grip."  How is the grip of the Typhoon gloves?  I once bought a pair of neoprene paddling gloves with similar looking material on the palms.  Unfortunately, the material was slippery when wet.  I had to grip my paddle really hard to keep it from twisting in my hands.  After using the gloves for about a week, I developed numb areas on the backs of my hands and wrists from gripping the paddle shaft so hard.  I threw away the gloves, and the numbness went away after a couple of weeks.

Look for the STORMR Typhoon 3mm over at J&H tackle. Think they will fit the bill for you.

The Stormr Typhoon neoprene wet-suit gloves have shiny material on their palms.  The description of the gloves on J&H's website says "The palms are coated in a durable hi-grip material for ultimate grip."  How is the grip of the Typhoon gloves?  I once bought a pair of neoprene paddling gloves with similar looking material on the palms.  Unfortunately, the material was slippery when wet.  I had to grip my paddle really hard to keep it from twisting in my hands.  After using the gloves for about a week, I developed numb areas on the backs of my hands and wrists from gripping the paddle shaft so hard.  I threw away the gloves, and the numbness went away after a couple of weeks.

thats crazy pete, I was looking at the StormR cast but its hard to make a decision without trying them on.


-Rodney-

regarding the Typhoon gloves, the surface material on the pair I used for a week would get tacky when wet. great for gripping an impact wrench or air driver during run downs in a cold high humidity shop. no they were not used for the makers intended purpose.

my biggest gripe was that our suppliers were putzes and wouldn't stock anything but mediums.