DaySailer.org Forum

Since others have mentioned gloves, I will add my two cents.
First, they are invaluable in handling sheets and halyards and can prevent rope burns when the running rigging is sliding across the fingers and palms.
I prefer the relatively cheap bicycling gloves from Target to real sailing gloves. I have bought many pairs from many manufacturers and like the target ones best.

Nice! Thanks for the recommendation. I just bought some nice fitting garden gloves with nitrile grip but haven't tried them yet.

Tried bike gloves, then got a pair of Gill's for about $30+. The latter are a bit stiffer, which works for me. Also, they are possibly a bit warmer - around here, that can be a bonus even well into the season.

I do my bit of crewing on big boats, and there it's even easier to get rope burns - to keep things simple, I only use one pair at a time, so I may be using something that's a bit overkill on the DS.

I'll second that GL - I love my Gills! Both gloves and shoes ...

... tried batting gloves before, but all they did was leave my hands black when they got wet!

I've tried the sailing and biking gloves and found that I don't like the "half finger" coverage. So I switched to "mechanics gloves" sold at big box home improvement stores for around $10. Synthetic leather palm, spandex back and very flexible. They have held up well.

We use these gloves at work - always wondered if they'd make decent sailing gloves? Guess I'll have to give them a try sometime!

http://www.wondergloves.com/prod01WG.htm

ChrisB wrote:I don't like the "half finger" coverage.

I find it essential. There always seem to be some tasks that require fingertips, and where even the half-fingers feel clumsy. Beats me what precisely those are but I know I run into them all the time, because I remember that "clumsy" feeling.

The one annoying thing is that there's no finger tip with which to pull off the glove

When I first attempted the Tx200 in 2010, it was suggested to get sailing gloves. Hadn't ever used gloves before then. I bought the cheapest pair at West Marine and have been using them since. I like the half finger type. When trying to undo knots, I find it easier having finger tips.

John

Chris, I like those mechanics gloves, as well. I got a couple of pair from HD that fit great but the last time I went in they fit weird with all the fingers being approximately the same length.

My gloves, which someday I'll remember to put on, are half finger and they have these little 'cups' of material on the back of the 2 middle fingers which are used to easily pull the gloves off!

Ah, clever.

I store mine in a pocket on my life vest. That way, I only need to grab one thing.

That would work if I could remember to put my PFD on!

I'm of the "never without" school. And I can tell you that this has been really effective: I've never fallen into the water while wearing mine