Not the webbed between the fingers but the regular wet suit ones.
Do you find there is an adjustment period to the feel of gloves versus no gloves?
How do you cope with them loading with water?
Do you find they throw your timing off?
Anyone ever cut the finger ends off and if so does it help with feel?
If you’ve cut them do you find they don’t load with water?
Hopefully not dumb questions…thanks for your response.
Aloha,
D.R.
I moved from Hawaii to No. Cal (Trinidad) for a year. The cold water was very difficult for me to adjust to, but in the end I had to surf without gloves. I just couldn’t handle the water weight and I was able to get used to the cold without gloves. Then again, I moved back to Hawaii.
I’ve always surfed without glove, but I was up in the Bay Area over Xmas. I ended up buying a pair of the Psycho 1.5 mm gloves that worked really well. The retain a bit of water but I love the grippiness of them.
I notice the difference the first time I paddle out with them on but I have been wearing them since November and I don’t think about it any more. What I do notice is that I am wearing a 6mil wetsuite with a hood.
They don’t fill up with water if the fit is good and the arms of the suit are nice and tight over them.
It is like anything, you get used to it. Feels good when summer comes and it’s 3/2 and no booties. Nice to feel the wax under my feet.
One particularly cold winter here in SF I bought a pair but gave up using them after a few sessions. They would take on water and soak in water and just made my hands feel super heavy. Paddling effort increased massively and I decided I’d rather just be colder but not have heavy weights on my hands!
If anyone out there has a brand/model to recommend that doesn’t get heavy, I’d be interested in a recommendation though!
well being i live and surf mostly here in norway, i guess there aint much of a choice these days…
watertemperature being around 6-9 celsius. i got some quiksilver gloves that have a layer of some
kind of rubber on them and if you find just the right size they wont take on much water…also
they are really warm, almost too warm…5mm they are…i got used too it as i had to.
I could never wear gloves. My wife got me a pair of Excel 1.5mm for christmas. The best gloves I have tried. Get them very tight though. I wear small and I’m a 5’8" male with average hands.
I still hate gloves and I’ll only wear them as an absolute necessity if the air temp is close to freezing.
Does anyone know if cold water is bad for your joints ?
I always go for as small a size as possible and keep them thin… 1.5mm neoprene is fine for cold water
The will soak up a bit of water but but you’ll get used to it and they go give a better grip when you’re poppign up to your feet.
I once went with out gloves in December and I was unable to remove my wetsuit coz I had ZERO feeling in my hands for about 30 mins after I got out of water… Not a nice experience
I live in Sweden where we surf until the water freezes. So naturally gloves is nessesary. If using to stiff and thick gloves you lose to much mobility in the fingers which leads to freezing easier. It is also very bad when it comes to gripping the board. You should chose the ones with rubbery-skin like oldskull said. Better grip and less water. A good grip is nessesary to not messs up the pop-up. What i´m going to test next for those really cold days is a sort of diving dry-glove called Nordic Blue that some people here in sweden swear by. They wont suck up any water and the rubbery skin should give good grip. On the downside the might be quite hard to fix if you get a hole in them. They aint pretty, but than again surfing in sweden aint pretty most of the times. Here is a picture of them…
Ventura?
“cold” has a different meaning for you than me, brother.
Excell is the best glove in the thinner styles… O’Neil for the thicker ones. Don’t cut the fingers off or they won’t work at all. Wear them enough and you WILL get used to them. If you get flushed and your gloves fill up, just peel down the sleeve of your suit, stick your finger up the wrist of the glove and hold it open with your hand up and elbow down to let the water out.
Anybody who says, “I could never get used to them” surfs where you really don’t need them anyway, because nobody I know stops surfing because they can’t get used to gloves. You just suck it up and get used to it.
Those blue things are the ticket. Failing that good ol’ dish washing gloves with velcro tapes to seal’em up nice and tight or you could use silicone glue to just afix them straight to you winter wetties…
Regular surfing gloves are ok, you get used to them, paddling is tougher but that means all your winter practice just beefs you up for summer, it’s gudfoya!
Tucking the gloves under the wetsuit
keeps most of the water out.
Takes abit of getting use to, but I run with 6mm snugg mitts which keep out all the water. Only problem is the extra paddling power takes it out of your arms
cheers Joe
I had been out surfing and had noticed my hands were freezing, so the next time I was at the beach I ran into the local surf shop and grabbed a pair of 5mm Rip Curl gloves. Couldn’t find any that fit that had a texture in the palm, so I just went with these. Little tricky popping up the first couple of times but my hands were so warm I didn’t care.
I thought it would be weird to surf in boots but now I love them! So much better than always having to put wax on.
I normally surf in pretty warm water (80+ some days), and now I’m stuck with 45 on a good day.
Dennis, those years I spent In New England with no hope of winding up in a warmer climate for the winter were a hand in glove experience.
With water temp near freezing, it was a must and any hole, even a pin point sized one, meant you weren’t going to last more than a few moments.
The added size to the fingers alone meant that simply grasping your rail was completely different than gloveless, a full rail suddenly felt like a fat rail and this was before leashes, so an icy swim was far from enjoyable. Gloves have always fit tight enough NOT to fill with water and if they doid,. it would be an instant freeze out.
I don’t want to wear hoods, boots or gloves, I am fully pussified
Thanks guys and gal for the responses.
NJ Surfer, I know Ventura doesn’t get very cold, I’ve got great respect for everyone that surfs waters that do get really cold. I’m finding though that surfing in the not that cold winter waters here it’s not so much surfing but afterward that my fingers start bothering me. No doubt my age.
Since I work with my hands… Shape surfboards during the day…finger style guitar during the night, sore fingers give concern.
Last winter I got a pair of gloves ( O’Neil, 1.5m or is it 2m ) and wore them into the spring. Found the biggest draw back is how they load with water. But, warm hands are a good trade off. I’m about ready to put them back on.
Thanks again the your responses. As well, respect for those surfing icy waters.
Aloha,
D.R.
I think the answer to your problem is the XCEL five finger glove with the velcro wristband. Check the website. I think they come in 3mm, which is thin enough to keep some sensitivity to your hands in terms of gripping the rails, etc., but thick enough to keep you warm and toasty on even the coldest days you’re faced with. The key is the velcro wrist strap that makes a nice, snug fit around your wrist, and still lays flat to tuck up under your sleeve.
Check it out.
Happy surfing!
I bought a pair of the Xcel gloves and wore them for the first time today. They leaked like a fishnet around the rubber glued seams on both sides. Worst gloves I have ever used. I’m going to return them tomorrow and get another pair of O"neill gloves. They at leaast stayed leak-proof for one season.
That sucks.
This is the third year for my 3mm xcell gloves, and this year they’re starting to leak. So I got two good seasons… that’s about the lifespan I expect out of a pair of gloves.
Shame, huh…
If your gloves filled with water it may be because you were wearing a 3/2. A 5 or 6mm winter suit fits a lot tighter around the wrists.
