What Gloves for Rainy Winter Steelheading?

[SanFranFlyFish]

This weekend I wore my 3mm neoprene scuba gloves, which are great on cold sunny days. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, raining and 40 degrees. The gloves quickly became waterlogged, an my fingers were cold, numb and blue.

Any suggestions for waterproof gloves? I Was even thinking of trying a pair or rubber Playtex kitchen sink gloves over ski-glove liners. Thoughts?

[bigbadbrent]

Those new Kast Steelhead gloves look awesome, I played with them at a local show. Waterproof but way more dexterity then other gloves I've seen....


Regardless to what you get, take your gloves off for handling fish! (yes this has been said lots lately, but it can't be over done)

[speyhurricane]

i like wool (fingerless) they're warm even when soaking wet.

[jlajoie]

Originally Posted by speyhurricane

i like wool (fingerless) they're warm even when soaking wet.

There is a company called SealSkins that makes a good waterproof glove that you can find at REI and other outdoor stores. When we get hit with the real cold stuff her in the northeast, I wear a pair of those under my fleece fingerless. Allows some dexterity, but keeps the hands dry, and easier to warm up.
SealSkinz Ultra Tough

[flytyer]

Old school wool fingerless gloves are what I've using for 40+ years. They keep you hands (and fingers) warm, even when they get absolutely, completely, and totally soaked. I haven't found anything that works as well despite trying several of the top-rated synthetic gloves designed for fishermen; therefore, I will remain old school and out of fashion, but my hands and fingers will be warm regardless how wet it is outside.

[inland]

Old school fingerless wool gloves for me as well.

[fredaevans]

Originally Posted by jlajoie

There is a company called SealSkins that makes a good waterproof glove that you can find at REI and other outdoor stores. When we get hit with the real cold stuff her in the northeast, I wear a pair of those under my fleece fingerless. Allows some dexterity, but keeps the hands dry, and easier to warm up.
SealSkinz Ultra Tough

+1 here. If you have 'circulation' issues keeping your hands dry is paramount. And that's where a good rain coat with seal-able cuffs is a must.

[Matt16]

Boiled wool fingerless (NOT convertible mittens) are the best. Take a pair of gloves large enough to be "too big" and wash them in the wachine machine then dry hot in the dryer until they shrink and compact to fit your hands. They're water repellant, warm when wet and don't smell terrible like neoprene/synthetic.

I'm allergic to wool, but Simms fingerless gloves do not cause s rash wherever the gloves touch (ie: wrists, between fingers etc).

[sevilla315]

I read on another forum of a method which uses latex surgical gloves, then on top some micro fleece fingerless gloves.
The latex provides the warmth and waterproofness (and also dexterity becuase it's so thin), with the fleece extra warmth.
I haven't tried it yet, but from all accounts it's the biz.

[zencaster]

My better half picked up some Merino Wool fingerless gloves when she was in New Zealand a couple years back and I have never used anything better. I have been out with them in severely cold weather and been warm and toasty. The only down side is the fact they are not the most durable. Leather palms would make them perfect.

Regards
Brayden

[speyday]

Yep, nature provides. Good quality wool fingerless gloves. Work well when wet.


Bonus: when applied with pressure to an out of control screaming spool on a click and pawl reel? They make an excellent drag pad.

[beau purvis]

Here is a article from Deneki on gloves.


Kast Steelhead Glove Review
Posted: 12 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST

Warm, waterproof, great dexterity.

A few months back we heard from the folks at a new company called Kast Gear. They make a few different products designed for fishing in the cold. They sent us a pair of their Steelhead Gloves to try out.

We fished them in cold weather. We liked them. Here’s why.

Design and Fishing Use

They’re fairly close-cut gloves that combine a waterproof (more on this below) / breathable outer layer with fleece lining on the inside. They’ve got some really nice secondary features, like a nice soft section to wipe your nose, and sturdy nylon loops on the cuffs to help pull them on.

The cut is really comfortable and allows for very good dexterity. There’s not a lot of excess material between or underneath your fingers.

This lack of extra bulk allowed us to keep them on much more than we typically keep on other full-fingered gloves. We’d take them off to tie knots, but we actually fished while wearing them! Spey fishing using a Skagit head and thin mono running line was doable while requiring that attention be paid to line management – but that’s about the most challenging line-handling situation we can imagine. If you’re fishing a single-handed rod or using PVC running lines, you’ll have very little problem managing your line with these gloves on. That right there is worth an awful lot!

Our one gripe was with the cuff design. The cuffs are cut fairly small and made to seal tight, underneath your jacket cuffs. We tend to keep our jackets on and take our gloves on and off during the day (tying knots, for example), and these cuffs were a little too small to easily close over the tops of our jacket cuffs.

Waterproof

This is the feature that blew us away. Kast says these gloves are waterproof. Maybe we didn’t pay attention, but we assumed waterproof in a “sheds water like a raincoat” sort of way. We certainly didn’t expect this…

NOTE: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to watch the Kast gloves get dunked on our web site.

Yep, they’re totally waterproof. Rain is not going to make your hands wet. Landing fish is not going to make your hands wet. Driving a boat in hard rain is not going to make your hands wet. These gloves are really, really waterproof.

Conclusion

Love ‘em. Great for winter steelheading. Great for Alaskan guides. Great for cold mornings on the ocean.

They’re cut well, you can fish in them, they’ve got a nice warm lining…and your hands are absolutely, definitely not going to get wet.

They’re not cheap at $79.99, but warm, dry hands are worth it in our book. You can pick yourself up a pair directly from Kast right here.

Here’s our Product Review Policy and FTC Disclosure.

[danimal]

I picked up a pr of patagonia R1 gloves recently. I like em
Glad I read the reviews on them before I purchased online--they run small. So order the next sz up.

Held up really well so far-waterproof too. At least for now anyway.

Two gripes-slick for tailing fish-neoprene (smooth coating) tends to stick to running line .
I hold line above and below the reel when I shoot for the moon, both hands notherwords. I have trouble getting a clean release of running line while wearing them. Prbly just me tho.

[raspberry-patch]

I have tried modern technology, synthetic, but I keep to going back to mother nature - wool. I guess evolution have given sheep a coat that works well in the rain.

Cold when I retreive-tail that fish, but warm up after that. I also keep a few pairs in my "change of clothes" bag to, for the eventual dunk we take.

[JesseCFowl]

If you don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money the Glacier Gloves are the best.

They keep me warmer, when wet, than the fingerless wool gloves I keep as a back-up.

They're $10 at outdoor emporium. Hard to beat.