My poor old weight lifting gloves have been good to me, but I really need to upgrade. Would like something light in color, to be cool, 1/2finger leng, and fairly easy to get off and on. I’ve done some looking, but thought I’d check and see what others might be using.
Thanks in advance,
Leigh
Nothing is lighter or cooler than
bare hands. I wear gloves for warmth in the winter, but once it’s warm enough that my hands don’t freeze into icicles, I’m done with gloves. If you’re getting blisters from paddling, I’d suggest you aren’t gripping correctly, or paddling enough to get callouses.
Go bare handed. It’s much nicer.
YoS
Nothing is worse than blisters
Well, OK, I guess technically that isn’t true. But for long distance, I prefer gloves to bare hand.
I’ve used the NRS riggers/boating gloves that are 3/4 finger with a synthetic leather palm. Very comfortable, pretty cool. Not the easiest to get on and off when they are wet, but if you go up a size larger than you normally get, that would probably help. They pack small, so I can keep a pair in a small pocket of my PFD for when I need them.
-rs
NRS or Chota
Half finger gloves, leather palm, I’ve never gotten more than 2 seasons out of a pair but for what they do for my hands that’s OK.
I disagree that blisters only happen with gripping too tight, just enough time paddling will risk one for me loose or not. Maybe the diff between women’s smaller hands and guys’ larger ones. Also, the higher end carbon paddles are pretty slippery - I appreciate the improvement in grip when I do need it that I get with the gloves. I often bring gloves to pool sessions for the same reason.
I use yak grips on my paddles
That way I don’t need to wear gloves in the summer.
Thanks, I should have mentioned that
I wear the gloves as much for blisters as for sun protection. I’m one of those fair-skinned folks,that has to have the annual mole & freckle check, to keep skin cancer at bay. I cover as much as possible, including my hands.
Don’t the half finger gloves irritate
where the glove finger ends? I never got used to half finger cycling gloves. Of course, my cycling gloves were cheap and bought locally, so probably not the best for comfort.
I’ve never tried half finger paddling gloves. I’d probably just use my full finger Glacier Glove Kenai, even though they’d be hot. They’re very comfortable. http://www.gloveman.net/item172569.ctlg
I haven’t been wearing gloves since the water warmed up.
Boaters Gloves by NRS
I’ve been paddling for 11 years and always wear gloves.
I’ve used Boaters Gloves by NRS (summer)for most of these years and get a lot of wear from them. They usually last 4+ years, unless I lose one or both.
My hands tend to get cold fast due to frostbite when a kid, so I wear them all year and am comfortable doing so. Plus I don’t like callouses.
NRS Mitts in the winter, Hydroskin Gloves for early spring, and a warmer glove for fall.
i went
to friggin wal mart and bought those half finger bicycle gloves cheap… not so much for blisters but to help with corpul tunnel in my left hand … it stops the tingling of my fingers and last about 2 seasons they were under 10 bucks and do the job are not uncomfortable aand i wont get pissed at myself if i lose them…
Thin Smartwool
I use thin Smartwool gloves with palm grip. (Merino wool) They are comfortable and cool in summer and warm in spring and fall - (I then switch to NRS neoprene gloves for colder temps).
lifting gloves
$5.00 per pair at Meijers. My hands usually get wet at some point so the heat is never an issue.
My skin gloves
work best. If you paddle correctly you don’t need gloves in the spring,summer or fall.
Paddlin’ on
Richard
calluses.
Not he 1st one and
I paddle around 100 miles a week.
Paddlin’ on
Smooth hand Richard
bike gloves
In the summer, I like old bike gloves (the half-fingered kind). The slight pressure on the wrist seems to help keep wrist problems at bay (a greenland paddle helps too…).
Gloves = blisters
If gloves work for you great but a word of warning, I’ve seen people wreck their hands by wearing gloves. I think its the seam where the thumb meets the hand putting even more pressure on the usual blister spot. Also wearing gloves will have the same effect as using a larger diameter paddle shaft and people with small hands may be using a shaft that is too fat already, which causes problems further up the arm.
I posted the following on another thread but it might be relevant here as well; I’ve had a lot of luck with surf board wax on paddles, a little sticky so no need to grip as hard but allows just a little movement as well so no tissue tearing and it seems to moisturize hands a little reducing “prune finger”. I have often used it successfully to stop sore points becomming blisters on soft handed novice paddlers.
sealskins
I like sealskins for warm weather/cold water.
SUGGS
Sport utitity gloves from Lowes/homedepot. They are a good pair of work gloves with a velcro wrist band, leather palms.
Not water proof or anything but they stop/minimize blisters. After a 70 mile paddle I had only one little blister using the suggs. With out the suggs I had about 5 after 70 miles.
NRS Boaters’ Gloves
– Last Updated: Jul-10-08 1:34 PM EST –
I'm pretty happy with these open finger/thrumb gloves. They're very lightweight, and it's easy to forget you have them on. As far as being easy to take on and off, it depends on what you call "easy." My experience with gloves is, if they fit well for the purpose intended, they're going to be snug and so will require a bit of pulling - especially when removing them. It's a small price to pay, though.
Edit - Went back and re-read the original post. They want gloves that are light colored, not light weight. My bad. The NRS gloves are dark blue.