Winter gloves...

[LloydDobbler 2]

Hey, folks -

Anyone have any good recommendation for some gloves for the winter? I've got a pair, but since my girlfriend is going through AFF up in Denver right now, I was thinking about getting her a pair of fleece-lined gloves (or some such things) to wear, now that it's getting a little colder.

(I have gloves, but they're just standard Parasport skydiving gloves, and I know it gets just a *tiny* bit colder in Denver than it does in Southern Cal).

Any suggestions/recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks!

[AggieDave 6]

There's been a few threads on the subject that contained a lot of good information. If you do a search you'll find the threads.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[LloydDobbler 2]

D'oh!!

You would think, after a while of reading the forums, I'd know the drill...

Thanks for the reminder.

[freakflyer9999 1]

Be very careful about the gloves you select. My best friend died after spinning his canopy into the ground. At least a contributing factor was the fact that he had one of his gloved hands caught in the brake line. He was wearing thick neoprene type gloves. They kept out the cold well, but the apparently were difficult to slide loose for his tangled brake line.

[masterrig 1]

I've found, over the years, the best gloves are baseball batting gloces. Your hands don't freeze-off and you still have the 'feel' for your pilotchute pull or any other handles. Try 'em!


Chuck

[trippin 0]

I use mechanix gloves from advance auto, they have a good snug fit and work good for me.

[johnski 0]

I have found that water skiing gloves are a real good option as they are warm with no bulk and fit skin tight

[ryoder 1,383]

Quote

Any suggestions/recommendations from personal experience?

Thanks!

Go down to the Army/Navy surplus store on South Broadway. Check out the grey unlined goatskin gloves in the bins along the wall near the front of the store. Goatskin is the softest leather I've ever seen. You have full dexterity and feel but it is still wind-proof. After a very nasty experience in the past, I will never again wear insulated gloves on a jump.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[sundevil777 93]

Wearing the tight fitting surgical type glove under the traditional leather baseball batting gloves works very well.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Superfletch 1]

I like to wear a child's sized knit glove stretched over my hand under a pair of slightly oversized batting gloves to accomodate the added thickness of the knit gloves. The knit gloves keep your hands warm and the leather batting gloves break the wind so that the heat doesn't escape. It's the best combination I've found so far.

Gary "Superfletch" Fletcher
D-26145; USPA Coach, IAD/I, AFF/I
Videographer/Photographer

[rhys 0]

I mentioned in one of the other threads that i use roekle gloves(made somewhere in europe), believe it or not they are the largest glove manufacturer in the world! and they have wonderful gloves for all kinds of sports.

the best thing is that they make them with windstopper and quite thin, dunno if you can get them where you are but they are the best, hands down!

i got mine from a mountain biking store!

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[NWFlyer 2]

I have a pair of these that are great for those really cold days. Not exactly cheap but I love 'em.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[monkycndo 0]

You might take a look at these from Square1.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[pilotdave 0]

Just FYI, as of Sept 14, Square1 is permanently sold out of those winter gloves in sizes S and XS. I was told they'll be making a new version of them "within the next two months or so."

The best winter gloves I've found so far are the Akando winter gloves, but in cold weather I wear a thin liner under them. I wore my pair on nearly every jump I've made since last fall. They're finally getting pretty worn out and have a couple holes. I went to order another pair and found out they don't make them anymore but still have some in stock. They replaced them with the Akando Windstopper gloves, which are supposedly much warmer and only to be used in the cold weather. I'll see about that when they arrive.

BTW, the akando website sucks, but they respond to emails. The winter gloves have never made it to the order page (I ordered the all-black gloves and they emailed me to let me know those are out of stock but they can send me the winter gloves instead). And there's no information about the windstopper gloves, but you can order them.

Dave

[bch7773 0]

I use some leather-palmed scuba gloves, and wear some silk glove liners under them. They work pretty well, but don't have much of a grip (more of a C182 problem then a turbine problem)

MB 3528, RB 1182

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

In the winter, I usually wear leather batting gloves over a pair of glove liners.

The only drag is getting a-hold of the toggles (i.e. getting your fingers / hand inside the toggles) after opening is a bit if a pain sometimes.


A word of caution... I WOULD NOT recommend heavy "mitten style" ski-gloves for winter skydiving.

[EricTheRed 0]

I've had really good experiance with reciever (football) gloves. If it's colder, the tackified linemans gloves work really good.
gloves like these: http://www.sportsdepot.com/footballgloves.html
aren't the cheapest but they have good grip, good tactile sensation and hold up well in our demanding environment.

Check your local sporting goods store to see if they carry some and try 'em on.

illegible usually

[MotherGoose 0]

I'm also on the market for good skydiving winter gloves. I've been looking around for some time now. Last February, I jumped from 10,5 when it was -26C on the ground. The thermometer wasn't registering in the Cessna at altitude but the pilot said it was well below -50C. I had a great time on the jump except for my hands. I was wearing some fitted thermal rubber dipped work gloves, and let me tell you what a mistake that was. These gloves are great for the spring and fall, but once it gets really frosty, the rubber freezes in freefall and actually refrigerates your hands. My hands were burning for almost an hour after I had landed, it hurt so bad. This year I plan to be prepared, but it doesn't seem like the right glove is out there. Here's what we need . . .

- thin silk liner
- thin windstopper or equivelant exterior (possibly GoreTex)
- LENGTH !!! these gloves need to extend halfway down the forearm at least.
- form fitted for safety so they don't get caught in toggles etc.

Did I miss anything ??? I wonder if there are any glove manufacturers out there that are up to the task. Its really not that difficult.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[Cloggy 1]

I'm using Burton superpipe gloves for a few years now. They are not too bulky, have windstopper/goretex liner and a good grip (tacky palm).
If it's really cold I use some Craft glove liners as well.
They were fairly expensive, but justified that to myself by using them for skiing as well I thought they were somewhat overpriced for the quality (Made in China) but they're holding up well.

I don't think they would be good at -50C though. I used them at -30C at altitude and that was just ok: some cold vingertips but not hurting.

Just had a look at the Burton website and this year's version seems a bit more bulky than the ones I have. Make sure they would be ok for skydiving!

[Sled14 0]

I bought a pair of Ironclad Cold Condition gloves last year and jumped with them all through winter here in New Jersey and they worked great.

https://www.ironclad.com/www/productDetail.jsp?prodID=39&catID=44

[lekstrom10k 0]

Being a Michigan winter jumper for 36 of the last 39 years I found neoprene Ice Fishing gloves have worked well for me. Kame-Aparts {K-Marts} sold them in alot of sizes. I found a snug undersized than normal worked best. My hands would almost sweat Making other jumpers upset. They were only $8, If you got them at a large Chain sporting goods store with a velcro strap {unnecessary} for $13. They also worked well if you had to chop out frozen eaves troughs like mine.I tried all kinds but had my best luck with them

[DJL 232]

I use sailing gloves with a surgical glove liner. They're designed to work with (tie/untie) lines and grip fabric whether you hands are wet or dry.

The problem I've had with gloves is that if your hands sweat the least bit then you're screwed. Thus the surgical glove because it keeps your glove fabric from getting wet.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[nshaver2 0]

I got these for christmas

http://www.square1.com/manufacturers/square1/p1154.asp#SQ1Heavy-WeightWinterGloves

I just got a chance to jump with them last weekend. They are great. I like jumping in the winter but my hands are usually really cold. I have tried a few different gloves, but these work the best. I had no problems with my hands being cold. They are warm and keep the wind out, but they are also thin and have a tacky palm, so you can feel your handles.

[vesatoro 0]

By far the best winter jumping glove I have used. Here the temperature at 13500ft can easily be below -20C (-4F). No problems. With thin silk liner gloves underneath I have used them to -30C (-22F).

http://www.mxsport.fi/skiing/product.aspx?productid=61

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[DJL 232]

Funny that this thread comes up about three years later. Since then I have done about 100 times more stuff in extremely cold environments and my advice from a few posts up still stands.

Get surgical gloves to use as your base layer. That way you don't have any evaporation and you don't get your gloves wet. You're not just protecting your hands from the temperature difference but from the air that blows through the fibers. This windproof barrier does more than any amount of thickness added by a cloth liner.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher