Gloves/Mittens/Wetsuits/Drysuits for winter sailing

[evans]

No. But really this is what I wear and I get them for $19.00 at Cape Fisherman Supply in Chatham. http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=35341&gclid=CKvz-b7F9bMCFYqZ4Aod0yMAkQ

I don't know how those guys wear the open palms? If you end up swimming in cold water you are phuqued!!!
Neoprene gloves are warm and if you have your harness lines adjusted properly you only need your hands when out of the harness going down the line.
Not sure what you do for a living but I do use my hands so it might just be that I have forearms like Poppeye?

I would think Outcast would have a stronger grip with all the bowling he does? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=978uQUK231M

[U2U2U2]

the mittens are restrictive, lack of grip during maneuvers for me. The gloves above look the bomb. Thanks Evans

[rigitrite]

Sealskinz; they work and they don't make your arms tired. You gotta figure out a way to minimize water getting into the cuff, so I tuck em inside my wetsuit sleve cuff and that seems to work pretty well.

http://www.sealskinz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=61

[georgemarr]

IMHO the Neil Pryde Closed Palm Mitt is better then the DaKine. More water tight.

http://www.inlandsea.com/p-505-neil-pryde-closed-palm-gloves.aspx

Then when really cold I put a pair of glove liners under them.

[mat-ty]

Problem solved ? Check out this interesting idea.


http://www.ianovated.co.uk/background/

[outcast]

OK!!!!

That system meets my criteria of being so wacko it works

Def going to stop by Home Depot and get some tubing!!!!

[evans]

I have a better idea!! I am going to hook tubes up so when I pee it warms up my hands!!! ( Iwill understand when people don't want to shake my hand at the beach no hard feelings).

[slinky]

Never thought I'd get so many laughs out of this one! You guys totally crack me up. I' ordered some Dakine mitts from inlandsea. My forearms are more like Olive Oil's than Popeye's.

[isobars]

It's not about grip strength or forearm size. It's about natural tolerance of or adaptation to having the less secure grip provided by anything that can bunch up or squish around between palm and boom. I can support my weight with one hand/arm in a near-chinup position for longer than my hands retain their strength and comfort in neoprene gloves.

It's also about Plan B, when one has to adjust or fix something in the water. I've had to abandon my gear and swim to shore without it after my hands became useless within a minute after shedding my gloves.

And, of course, there's the pain of thawing hands. I know first hand that passing a kidney stone or breaking a bone feels better, IMO.

And around here, winter westerlies almost always present absolutely HORRIBLE wind quality.

That's four strikes and no balls ... no matter how you interpret that comment. I also know first hand that I prefer land sports whenever the air and water temps get down to the mid-to-upper 40s degrees F ... down to the coldest temps I've ever experienced: minus 35 F.

[ISmith]

The cold hand problem all the way down to 0°c / 32F has been solved. Unfortunately it involves buying another winter wetsuit to use in parrallel with your existing winter suits. The breath powered system only works by running the tubes along the inside of the wetsuit for most of the mouth to hand journey so that the breath is insulated by the wetsuit and boosted by being next to the body.
This is the wetuit you need to use on the days when the air is below the hand neutral 10°c level.

http://www.ianovated.co.uk/

To understand how it works with cut away palm-less mittens so that you still have a bare hand grip on the boom watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfKA1WpJNX4

I great insight into actually using this system is given by this video
http://youtu.be/RGMObxsjU3s

Looking forward to driving my sailing barrier forward in the better wind and waves winter gives us.
Iain