What is on your hands?

I wear gloves that some kind friend gave me - Blue smurf gloves. They are great, a cotton base so good to wipe sweat from your brow, easy to rinse by hand. They last about 5 climbs (depending) then need to be replaced as the blue is gone and all that is left is the cotton base.

So - Do you wear gloves?
What type?
Where do you purchse them?
what is the break point when the cost is to high to buy a certain glove as they are a quick to replace item of climbing gear?

thanks

jz

Atlas smurf gloves it is. I make mine last a long time, use them for going up and use a light touch going down. In winter I use the heavier version. I've tried a lot of different gloves, smurfs are the best IMHO

Vhat 'da heck are you doing to kill them in 5 climbs?
-moss

I use leather gloves that have no-finger covers. Inexpensive, last long and can be washed after a few uses to remove the funky smell. I get them at Home Depot. I last tried a fancier version recently with only two finger uncovered and made of lighter cloth and plastic material but they do not last as long as the leather ones.

Originally posted by JerseyGirl

Where do you purchse them?

They're available all over the place, I like the Atlas brand that Sherrill carries.

The deal with the smurf gloves is that they allow you to grip the rope with less pressure when your'e ascending DRT. This saves energy and reduces wear and tear on your forearm tendons.

Just adding this:
Chronically overgripping the rope while loading your arms can cause Medial Epicondylitis aka Golfer's Elbow. I've found the smurfs to be effective in reversing my inside elbow soreness.
-moss

I have IronClad Framers (from Sherrill) which have two fingers uncovered. I like not having to take off my gloves to tie small knots etc. The only wear I have seen is from forgetting to take them off when clearing briars/brush. They're pretty tough.

Originally posted by cherring
I have IronClad Framers (from Sherrill) which have two fingers uncovered. I like not having to take off my gloves to tie small knots etc. The only wear I have seen is from forgetting to take them off when clearing briars/brush. They're pretty tough.

Ironclads are great gloves. I climbed my first winter using the Ironclad Cold Condition gloves. Very nimble fingers even with gloves on They were only good to about 25 degrees and the gripping texture wore off after about 5 months of climbing. Maybe I can dip the palms in rubber to bring them back Still ok for rappeling and general rope handling as is. For very cold weather I wore them underneath cover mittens so I wouldn't have exposed skin to tie knots when the mittens had to come off.
-moss

I wear 2 pair simultaneiously. The first is a super this polypro liner. I have some made by marmot, some patagonia and some REI and some mountain hardware. The REI were crap, but the rest were all good. I wear the atlas smurf gloves over the liners. The liners keep my hands drier longer.

I have a pair of IronClad Box Handlers. They have a spider-web patterned grippy coating on the palm that is....BREATHABLE!!! These are my favorite to wear, but there is 1 drawback. The grippy coating is silicon, and it is slippery compared to the smurf rubber. They don't help much on a long ascent. I've toyed with using the smurfys on the ascent, then switching to the breathables for the rest of the climb.

Ironclad is headquartered very close to where I live. I got to go down once and see the distribution center. Here are the gloves I have now: https://www.ironclad.com/www/productDetail.jsp?prodID=129&catID=69

love
nick

I don't use gloves on DRT. I will put a pair on for SRT. I'm using the Sears knock-off to Atlas just to see what happens.

I started with leather and they were good but hot in the summer. Then I went with a nylon weave that had rubber stripes or small rubber nobs on them. The cloves could be worn on either hand (REVERSEABLE) so I got double the life. Home Depot has them most of the time. They are really cheap so to replace them is reasonable. They can be washed but I have found the older they are the better they work. The rubber in the weave really works to enhance the grip on the rope. I recently found a cotton pair that has the same rubber surface and they work well also. I like a glove thats light but functional. Since I take stuff(pills) for health my skin is thin and gloves are the answer for me.

I can't seem to shake the habit of climbing bare-handed, even in the winter. None of the other helpful things about gloves really seem to trump my preference to feel what's happening on the rope. The only exception is when I want to rapp down a longish way, then I'll slip a leather glove on the hand the rope is sliding through.