"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in message news:gssod.176803$df2.33143@edtnps89...
"Dan O'Connell" wrote in message
nk.net...
This may be off topic (LOL) but does anyone have a favorite brand of very
cold water/airtemp paddling gloves. I bought a pair of Marmot
windproof/water resistant gloves this week..and froze the instant they got
wet. Is neoprene the best...etc? I also have super lightweight
pogies/mambas...so coupled with something else thinner and with tacky grip
may be my goal? Thanks in advance...this group always has the best advice
as usual....Dan O


NRS Toaster Mitts.

Yep, I second the paddling mittens!

From my site:

The problem with pogies is that they usually either require teeth or
the help of someone else to get your hands in them. If you do get your
hands in them easily, so will the water... Pogies are of no use when
you need to scout a rapid, as they stay attached to a paddle. I also
find that when I need to get my hands out to grab someone or
something, they get so cold so quickly that I lose some of the control
in that hand. It's also not easy to get your hand back into them if
you need to get your hand back in in the middle of a rapid.

I have a pair of Walmart neoprene hunting gloves, but they are only
used for when I handpaddle in the winter. The fingers are encased
seperately, keeping them less warm. The fingers cannot touch the
paddle, making you involuntarily grip your paddle harder, tiring your
fingers. If you use gloves that don't have pre-bent fingers, you're
also forcing your fingers to push against the neoprene even more,
trying to keep them around the paddle shaft. I also find that with
gloves I can't feel the buttons on my waterproof camera, which results
in pictures not being taken. Plenty of reason for me not to use gloves
when paddling with a normal paddle.

Pre bent open palm mittens circumvent the problems of both gloves as
well as pogies:

You keep all your fingers together, keeping them warmer. You keep in
direct touch with your paddle, keeping better control, and not having
to squeeze extra hard to keep a hold of your paddle. You get to keep
your hands warm, even if you go for a swim, lose your paddle or when
you're scouting a rapid. You don't have to fight against the straight
glove fingers keeping your fingers around the paddle shaft. It's also
easy to pull one or more of your fingers free of the end of the
mittens, so that taking pictures is rather easy.

Whatever you chose to go paddling with, make sure that you can still
find and use the panic loop of your spraydeck with them! BT Regular
David Mackintosh got very close to dying in the spring of 2002 when he
got stuck upside down in a nasty hole and he couldn't pull his
spraydeck with his surfer's mittens.


--
Wilko van den Bergh wilko(a t)dse(d o t)nl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://wilko.webzone.ru/