I love these and they are on sale for $15!
I wonder if your 3 mm gloves could be too thick. The fingerless Guide gloves work great for me with temps in the 40s or high 30s. I know that sometimes on longer paddles my hands may sweat inside the gloves and then get cold so I always have a couple extra pair of dry back-up options in cold weather
Do pogies fit on a GP?
Pogies will impede your ability to do extended paddle techniques. I have used Nordic Blue (“dry”) gloves, various brands of neoprene gloves, surfer’s claw mitts, Level 6 neo mitts and NRS toaster mitts. I now have pogies which I intend to deal with colder air conditions but NOT for water temp under 50 (your hands will get INCAPCITATED!). For me, NRS toaster mitts is the way to go. Provides warmth in cold water conditions (air down to 20s and water temp down to upper 30s) and yets affords a feel for the paddle. The plus is that NRS mitts will hold up for several winters of usage before a seam blows (but I still keep 2-3 extra pairs around to not miss a winter paddle), while I have had seams blow on Level 6 mitts after 2-3 times out.
Do a search on neo gloves and mitts and you’ll find a multitude of threads discussing this topic. Most of the information are still relevant. Not much has changed with winter hand protection.
sing
I suppose it depends on the pogie. Mine can fit a larger diam shaft than what I have but not if the velcro is aligned all the way on either side.
I bought these in the 70’s. Once they are on the shaft I can slip my hands out. Slipping back in involves holding the pogie with the other hand for the first one, then with my teeth for the second.
A larger diameter shaft on a Euro paddle is still no where near the width of a Greenland Paddle blade. Most GP users value the ability to slide up and down the full length of the paddle and these techniques are what significantly differentiates GP from Euro paddling. A pogie that can accommodate a GP blade width of 3-3.5" would then offer much less protection from water and air intrusion from the sides of the pogies.
sing
Here is Greg Stamer’s (PNet’s more eminent Greenland style paddler, with due respect to @RoyM) take on cold water hand protection:
sing
Not effectively in my experience. I have created some before.
I use NRS mittens they discontinued I think. I put a nitrile disposable glove on left hand under mitten and a neoprene chemical glove on right. Right is the skirt attachment, photo and smoking hand. High was 39 today wind brisk and that right hand got cold a few times. Not from smoking. It Becomes comfortable paddling in a couple minutes, not warm. If I put that set up on and don’t take the mittens off it is comfortable as long as I want to paddle. 3 hours today.
Kind of like cross country skiing, don’t take very long breaks.
Peace J
Kosi Pogis
Light, heat reflective, fits wide range of shaft diameters, stiffened cuff = easy on/off.
I have both 3mm and 7mm neoprene dive gloves. The 3mm gloves are good for water temps down to maybe 50 degrees. The 7mm gloves were warm (when wet) even in icewater.
100% agree with warm, windproof pogies. I’ve tried everything else and nothing else compares.
Pogies AND a wind proof warm hat. Without a something on my head my hands are cold.
I also agree with the pogies recommendation but I prefer wool gloves or mittens to neoprene for cold weather paddling.
I have been using Glacier Glove Perfect Curve Waterproof Fleece-Lined Neoprene Gloves whenever it gets into the 30 - 40’s and they always keep me warm and dry. If it’s even colder, I will wear a pair of alpaca gloves inside the Glacier Gloves and it is toasty warm.
Amazon.com: Glacier Glove Perfect Curve Waterproof Gloves - Large - Black : Tools & Home Improvement
I recently tried a Vessi glove which is water proof and a knit. I put light weight Merino wool gloves inside and was very happy with them. They were flexible, easy to move on the greenland paddle, (gearlabs Ipik so shoulders were helpful in maintaining positioning) and kept my hands dry and warm in plus 4C, 39F air and water was about 8C or 47 F in a high mountain lake here in B.C. The cuffs sat nice with my suits cuffs. I’m always dipping my hand in the water as I paddle so I was pleased to see these actually worked.
Dumb question as I don’t use gloves and only paddle seasonally
Can a pair of wool gloves be worn under any of the neoprene gloves, providing they don’t let water in at the wrist?
If they fit comfortably
+1 for glacier gloves. It depends what you mean by “cold” water. I have two sets that i vary through out the fall-winter-early spring depending on temps.
I also have the NRS Maverick gloves which work well in really cold water but i don’t like as much as the Glacier Gloves, I find the Glacier Gloves are a bit more comfortable on the inside.
For colder windy days I’ve found Showa 282-02 waterproof insulated gloves hard to beat. They’re long and you need to keep them sealed to stay dry, but they’re warm grippy and work great with GPs. If you’re going full immersion, that may be a bit tricky. Easy enough to find online and inexpensive. I wear L gloves, but needed XL for a proper fit.
I may need to try something totally waterproof like the Glacier gloves. I’ve found that with the water at 60 degrees, or even the high 50s, I don’t really need gloves at all. My hands feel cold at first, but adjust after a bit. We had a recent cold snap here in Cleveland, and I finally got out there again today. The water temp felt like it dropped a bit more, and with the wind, it made for some cold hands.
First, I put on my fingerless biking gloves, and they were OK, but my hands still got pretty cold. They get wet since I’m using a GP. I popped on a pair of cheap-ish pogies I got off Amazon. They’re a neoprene outer, with a fleece-like material inside. It feels good when dry, but water inevitably gets inside. Even when they were wet, my hands felt pretty decent in there. However, they do greatly inhibit my ability to move my hands up and down the GP.
Maybe waterproof gloves will be better than the 3mm neoprene dive gloves I used last year? Or maybe I need to get thicker dive gloves? I’ve been out with water in the 30s, and once they get wet and soak through, the dive gloves leave my hands darn cold. Better than bare skin, but still cold.
I gave up on “dry gloves” (Nordic Blue) because the inside would inevitably get wet from sweat while surf paddling. Once that happens, my hands (with wool liner) would get cold. With neoprene gloves (which I used to use) also fail to protect over a session because the fingers are isolated/insulated from each other. With mitts, your fingers are together, can be moved and rubbed together. This generates heat and allows the fingers and hand to stay warmer together. With gloves, your fingers and not only isolated but actually have to work against the resistance of the individual finger covering. This gets harder as the fingers get colder. I don’t bother using gloves, except on early in the “shoulder seasons.” For full out winter paddling (surf for me), where immersion of hands in the water is inevitable, mitts have been the only hand protection that allows to me to surf year round in New England.
sing
