Don’t know what glacier these gloves were designed for, but the mean temperature there must be above 50 degrees. I very happily put down the 39.95 for these gloves at Bass Pro, in anticipation of winter fishing. I lasted, or rather the gloves lasted, about an hour. The temp was around 25, the wind chill made it feel like 10. The water was about 50. My hands felt like -10 after they got wet through the little thumb and forefinger holes. Even with the surgical gloves on under the glacier gloves, it was just way too cold to work right. Plus, when they’re on, to take a #20 fly out of a moving trout mouth, you’ve got about 1/4 inch of neoprene between your fingers. If you can get your finger and thumb out of the little holes, you have to battle about a half inch of extra materials to get the fly out. Then battle icing up around the holes as you retract the fingers.
Maybe the makers of glacier gloves, or any number of other fly fishing products would consider making clothing in a womans size, with the warmth and durability of the mens clothing. (the two do not equate…for some reason a womans jacket goes down to 20 degrees comfort level for about 10 minutes, while the mans jacket gets to -10 for a few hours)
And, as I painfully found out, one size does not fit all!!
Hey Betty, Thanks for the GGloves report. I was about 2 seconds away from ordering a pair of them and had even wrapped a tape around my hand knuckles to get the size correct. Guess I wait. Supposedly Santa is getting me some type of neoprene fishing glove…he may be getting them back. lol! I’m not looking forward to having that kind of frustration on the water, but being a flyweight thin guy there’s no extra meat nor blubber to insulate me from the chill. And the prospect of keeping my hands warm by blowing on them and and accientally ingesting beaver inhabited pond water giardia cysts isn’t too exciting either. YUCK! Lucky for me the Trout are very far from here and WW FF is close to not happening til March. Great reports in the other section BTW!
Steve
As far as I’m concerned Glacier Gloves are virtually worthless. When I bought a pair a few years years ago, they included a “free” pair of poly liners. Free? Right! Just $39.95 for one of the worst pair of gloves on the market, plus a free pair of liners worth about 2 bucks.
I now buy cheap polar fleece gloves at the local Mennonite Mall (hey, they even call the store that themselves!) for about $2.95 and they work bettter than anything on the market as far as I’m concerned (even better for winter fishing than those $40 Simms fleece mittens, which I also wasted money on).
Plus, the El Cheapos at the local Mennonite Mall also come in women’s sizes, and are inexpensive enough that you wouldn’t mind having to throw a pair away in case you ever caught them in your pant’s zipper!
[This message has been edited by John Rhoades (edited 09 December 2005).]
Got to agree with you on those gloves. Got a set a few years back and tried to use them on the river. My hands were cold even before they got wet and it was not even down to 20 degrees. They now sit in my drawer after getting used just two times.
If your looking for good cold weather fishing gloves, look into getting some rag wool gloves with thinsilate linings. The mitten glove style will keep your hands warm even when wet plus when need your fingars are free to remove hooks and tye knots.
Ghost
time is like a river running though the world, if you dont take a moment to sit and watch it go by we loose so much. GrayGhost
I have a pair of Windstopper gloves that are working very good for me. I think they call them “3/2” since your thumb and first finger are the only 2 digits that the glove is cut off at the first knuckle and the other 3 digits are covered. I put one of those hand warmer pouches, the ones you shake up to get them to produce heat, inside the gloves on the top of my hands and I think they are waterproof. I tried, several years ago, the idea of the latex gloves under other gloves and my hands froze! I think the latex/surgical gloves do not allow moisture to wick away from your hands and that moisture will cause your hands to freeze the same way that body moisture trapped inside you waders will make you colder during winter time fishing. This is just my thoughts on the subject. Trapped moisture at below freezing temperatures will freeze. Just thoughts.
Betty - How do you wrap the Depends around your hands so you can handle fly line
I have tried different techniques and never came up with a great solution. There are small hand warmers that produce heat chemically and help and I have found the $6 wool fingerless gloves to be as good as anything. I usually wear one of those on my stripping hand and a full golve on the rod hand and then cover the stripping hand as it gets frozen. Then I stick my hands under my armpits when the above stops working.
Last solution is take a trip to Fla. and fish there.
I’ve got a pair of Wind River pile gloves, fingerless, that keep my hands reasonably warm. Once they get wet, no gloves will really keep your hands very warm.
The Wind Rivers have a wind block layer which helps. They have a PU grip surface on the palm.
Wearing latex or vinyl gloves will result in wet and cold hands. A high wicking rate liner glove under pile or wool is the best option.
aka Cap’n Yid.
Stev Lenon Trout Ski, 91B20 '68-'69
When the dawn came up like thunder
Here in Ohio we don’t know what “dry cold” & “dry snow” is, so we learned long ago that goose down & some other materials (that are fantastic in dry climates, but have no insulating qualities when wet) are worthless here unless in waterproof shells. Wool & fleece (polarfleece, polyfleece, etc) are 2 materials that insulate when wet, even without the bulk of a shell. To me, that is the key. I think John Rhoades is right…many years ago, I paid 30 or 40 bucks for “waterproof” nylon shelled gloves with fleece inserts. Folks, forget the shells…just buy the “el cheapo” inserts!In cold, wet weather, I can be found wearing fleece or wool…I honestly don’t think better materials exist combining warmth with minimal bulk in cold/wet conditions.
Mike
Tried neoprene gloves about 5 yrs ago, I to found them worthless…even the ones without holes still are not waterproof…
I fish bare handed in all seasons and periodicaly slip my hands in the pockets of my fleece pullover…best I have found to date…anyone Have a secret second skin tight fitting almost undetectable glove that the rest of us don’t know about…??? we’d pay big dallahhs…lol
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) “Spinner’d Minner Fly”
I wondered about wearing the dishwashing gloves (Playtex) under the fingerless fleece for staying dry, they fit a little closer in the fingertips. I know the warmth may still be a problem, but it’s an idea.
There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim
I must have $ 200.00 worth of fishing gloves and none of them really work as advertised. I think a lot of that has to do with me being diabetic, my hands and feet are always cold.
Surprisingly enough, I think the Glacier gloves do the best job out of all of them. However, I won’t put them on until I’ve warmed them up on the truck’s defroster vents. Putting my hands into cold gloves assures that my hands will stay cold all day long.
Whatever gloves you wear try that defroster trick. It will make a world of difference for you.
Another thing which may help keep you warmer, most of us carry our waders in the trunk or back of the truck. Instead put them in a bag to keep the interior of your truck or car clean, but put them INSIDE the vehicle when you head out and put them on INSIDE as well if you can. Drawing the heat to the outside of your body to warm up the cold waders is not a winner. Conserve all the heat you can.
Us old folks know this stuff.
Several of you have made comments that turned on that old, dim light bulb.
If you keep your torso well insulated your body will expell heat through your hands and the back of your neck.
How much heat is generated depends on the activity. Years ago the gal’s bought sleek colorful sking outfits for snowmobiling and darn near froze! Chic was too cool for that sport. Likewise if you tried to ski in a snowmobile suit you’d over heat!
Now if I could only find waders that would fit over the snowmobile suit!!??
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
I have real problems with frozen hands – nerve damage from years of vibration using a chainsaw.
I used to be a surveyor, and had to use a calculator with tiny buttons in below zero temps. I used neoprene gloves, with fingerless fleece gloves over them, the fleece gloves have a mitten that can pull down over. I still use this same system for fishing in cold weather now, BUT –
My problem with neoprene is how fast it wears out from friction. One session with a stuck truck and ropes, and it’s worn thru–$40 bucks down the drain. Fortunately, the local fly shop carries Chinese neoprene gloves, at $9.99 a pair. I use 'em, and figure on one pair a year. After the thumb wears thru, you ca cut up the neoprene for all kinds of uses – including fly tying.
I have yet to find anything better than fingerless wool gloves. I like mine with thinsulate lining, no mitten, tho. Get em wet, wring em out, shake em a couple times, and put em back on. Although I carry a spare left hand one most days. for when I do dunk my hand.
I love to night fish on Taneycomo (Branson Mo)… I dont really care about the weather… Ive been fishing in weather cold enough to freeze the fish as it jumps out of the water…
heres a few winter fishing tips…
use chap stik on the eyes of your rod… it helps with the ice build up… it doesnt stop it total… but it takes alot longer for if to develope…
next… vasaline…
heat up your hands with the car heater… rub them down well with the vasaline… and put your gloves on… (your hands may fell alittle greasy at first)… but once you get use to it… you’ll LOVE it!!
the vasaline acts as a berrier for the water and the cold weather… keeping the water off your hands… and the warm on the skin…
I have not solved the fishing in cold weather and hands yet. I will probably be trying all suggestions here. But the one thing I do…I WEAR my waders during my trip to fish. They are not only inside, they are on my body. So they are warm when I get out of the truck.
Gem
[This message has been edited by Plain Old Jim (edited 11 December 2005).]
Steelheading in Michigan since the '70’s, I had to try anything and nearly everything to keep warm.
Had the neo gloves and ditched them after one trip. Not only did they not keep my hands warm, they were so stiff they blew out muscles I didn’t know I had!
Simms! Fiber pile inside and out with a breathable wind-blocking membrane in between. They even have thumb and finger pockets that fold out of the way when not needed.
It sure beats the old days of dippping stanky rag wool gloves in the snow to make them wind proof!
