Pogies vs gloves for kayaking?
Timothy McTeague
during late fall or early spring boating, neoprene gloves or pogies? I
tried a pair on nylon pogies and they were hard to get on, let a lot of
water in and were not very warm. They were unlined however. Then I
bought a pair of neoprene gloves and while my hands were warm I felt a
loss of control as I could not feel the paddle well enough. Are the
neoprene pogies an improvement? With gloves you can still use your hands
after a swim in really cold water, not that I am planing on doing that
mind you. But, fecal matter occurs. Anyway, what's the scoop?
Tim McTeague
Baltimore, MD
Roger Hardman
use 'Suzy' pogies, which are two layered, having a thick nylon outer
layer and a reflective silver inner layer. Hands warm up very
quickly with these, even after a swim. Yes, the water does come in
and out sometimes as your hands go under water, but the reflective
material keeps them warm enough for that to be ok. The benefits over
gloves, I find, are that you can move your fingers around easier, and you
can grip the paddle more securely with less effort. I have yet to find a
pair of neoprene gloves that give me a grip on the paddle I am happy
with, but I know other people don't find this so much of a problem.
The only time pogies are less than satisfactory is if you are using a
metal shafted paddle. My whitewater Schlegals, for example, have a
metal shaft and only a very thin plastic coating, so the heat gets
conducted away from my bare hands quite quickly. My competition
blades are Propulsions with a carbon fibre shaft, where the hand hold
points warm up quickly and stay warm, and the same is true of my
marathon racing Lendal Powermasters.
Cheers,
Roger Hardman (England)--
Bill Tuthill
: I have yet to find a pair of neoprene gloves that give me a grip
: on the paddle I am happy with...
The best paddling gloves I've found are the NRS paddling gloves,
US$29 from Northwest River Supplies, http://www.gorp.com/nrs.htm
on the Web. I think they grip better than bare palms, and if you
whap your hand on a rock, they make injury less likely. However
they are not at all warm. In very cold weather some people use
gloves in combination with pogies.
One big advantage of brightly-colored pogies is that they make it
easier to recover a lost paddle!
Bill Tuthill <t...@sgi.com>
John
>
Probably matter of personal preference. Mine definately is for pogies with
good pile lining. I have been breaking small sheets of ice in a snow storm
and my hands are still warm. I use neopreme gloves for diving, but as you say
they take away feeling of paddle.
John Larkin
Scott and D'Etta Broam
the same as a kayakers, the other accomodates a t-grip with a velcroed
opening in the palm. However they are not lined and the "shaft" hand
can get chilly. Canoeing is not only half the work (half as many
blades), it's also half as wet (only one hand is getting repeatedly
dunked) ! ;-)
Sporting good stores sometimes carry "water skiers" gloves that have
neoprene(sp?) across the back and synthetic leather palm and fingers -
I find this gives me a litter better feel for the paddle than gloves
made entirely of neoprene.
With today's wonderful weather I didn't need either...
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott Broam
preferred : br...@attmail.com or ca...@ix.netcom.com
Columbia, SC - where today it was 74 F and sunny on the Saluda!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riversurfr
makes a neoprene pogie called "Neo Pogies". They are made out of 3mm
neoprene and have a velcro closure with a larger opening than most of the
nylon versions. They're warm and easy to use.
I've tried gloves before and found that the best were these Japanese
Fishing Gloves...they kept my hands warm but minimized paddle control.
Pogies are my vote....
Steve Thompson ===> E-Mail: River...@aol.com
Wild Planet Adventures ===> Environmentally Aware Adventure Education
6 Vineyard Place ===> Private Instruction, Guiding,
Asheville, NC 28804 ===> Team-Building, and Custom Trips
(704) 255-9788 ===> Kayaking, Canoeing, Rock-Climbing
Robert Keller
neoprene next to the skin evaporates too quickly and removes heat from
your hands. Gloves also cause your hands to work harder (and perhaps
even cramp up) due to the stiffness.
Snapdragon makes a good pair that are all neoprene and are easy to
get your hands in and out of easily.
Robb
UpperB
warmer for the same reason that a wetsuit is warmer than a pile layer with
a non-dry top -- they actually warm the water next to your skin. Hot mitts
(don't know maker) are the best I've used. VERY easy to get on/off. Thick
neoprene - 4 or 5 mm I suppose.
As for gloves vs. pogies: I think most agree the better grip you get with
a pogie is highly desirable. But when the water temp is in the thirties
and the air temp is below thirty, my buddies and I usually wear gloves or
mittens under the pogies. One guy wears a hang-gliding mitten (no neoprene
over the palm area).
I got these cool-looking specially made paddler gloves with pre-curved
fingers (made by Salamander, maybe...). The finger deal is nice but the
lack of grip was absolutely pitiful! They put these little black dots on
there, but they make the grip worse!! Standard neoprene is cheaper and has
decent grip. Try the hunting department at Walmart or K-mart. I was able
to address the grip problem on my gloves by putting a bunch of Aquaseal
over the grip area.
Mittens may be a better bet because they are said to be warmer and because
the neoprene on both sides of each finger on a pair of gloves causes your
pinky to be farther down the shaft, and farther from your first finger,
than it would be normally, resulting in muscle strain.
Paul <upp...@aol.com> or <sch...@erols.com>
david r. dow
i see that most contributors to this thread vote for pogies. i use
neoprene water skiing gloves. they're reasonably warm. b/c they're
1mm, i can feel the paddle fine; the problem is grip. a typical
water ski handle has some foam on the handle, and the foam provides
tackiness for grip. but a ww paddle doesn't have the foam, and so
the grip with the gloves is not terrific. but if you're going to be
paddling in low volume rivers where you'll need to portage much or
push off rocks on the bottom, gloves provide some advatages.
scriver
paddling in Ottawa at -20 degrees C), neoprene mitts are the only way to
go. They are warmer and less constricting than gloves and far warmer
than pogies. You get used to the extra bulk of the grip and nylon 1
side on the palm gives you good grip. Your hands stay just as warm when
they aren't on the paddle shaft - pushing off rocks and such. I would
relegate pogies and amara palm light neoprene gloves to "cool weather"
but then again once you get used to warmth and comfort of mitts, there
is no need for anything else.
Phil Green
I agree, gloves require too much gripping force and you have to keep
your hands on the paddle with pogies. Mitts are it.
Rich Shipley
> during late fall or early spring boating, neoprene gloves or pogies?
Here's another idea for you.
I was a glove guy until I tried pogies. Amazing how warm they are and you
still have good grip and feeling. Here's another thing to try - especially
if you are in a colder area (but maybe not the far north). Someone I know
suggested using surgical gloves on your hands along with the pogies. It
keeps you skin dry - non slip grip - works well. Then I tried adding a
thin poly-pro glove liner under the surgical glove. Even warmer.
Somewhere in all of the suggestions in this thread, there is a combo for
anybody in any weather, right?
Rich
***
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Pete Cresswell
the palms cut out.
Probably not the ticket for extreme conditions, but for myself,
whose rule-of-thumb is that if I need gloves I probably shouldn't
be going out they are perfect for backup.
I wear them flipped up so they're just around the wrists.
If/when my hands start to go numb, I just flip them down and the
hands warm right up with no loss of grip.
Available at most windsurfing outlets.
Russell H. Patterson
(Pete Cresswell) wrote:
Another suggestion I would give is to use a wood paddle in the winter,
as opposed one with an aluminum or composite shaft. This would apply
mostly when using pogies. Wood just feels warmer.
Fkaputa
Frank CT
Kayakflow
with the paddle,and gloves you dont. When you go to roll with gloves on
its hard to find to find the oval shape in the paddle because of the
thickness of the gloves. well thats my opinion.
HAPPY PADDLING
KAYAKFLOW
Lakyak
tried pogies, that the latter are actually warmer! Sure, they let the cold
water in, but they also let warm air in after you've rolled back up, so
your hands dry faster.
With neoprene gloves, your hands may never get a chance to dry at all.
Pixie Cambino
As a poor 'ol Brit paddler we have to face a sobering fact....when the
air is warm enough to dry your hands there wont be any water...boo suck.
In the meantime if im just doing a little gentle river running then
gloves are great. If i intend to endulgfe in a spot of playing then i
find that the gloves reduce the feeling of control that i have on the
blades (some may say what control:) so i prefer to suffer the freezing
water temps.
Short story for you sunny paddlers;
whilst paddling the river Dart in southern England a couple of weeks ago
i was somewhat suprised to discover that, after resting for a few
moments in an eddy,
that i couldnt lift my paddles........my gloves had frozen to my deck!!
Thanks be that we have warming pubs and beer (its why we drink it warm:)
well cheers all, hope to come paddle in the states this summer, maybe see
some of you there,
cheers
camster