Articles
Stohlquist Contact kayaking gloves
- Category: Kayak fishing apparel
- Published on Friday, 02 July 2010 18:26
- Written by Josh
If you saw my collection of gloves you'd make two assumptions about me, possibly three. Firstly you'd know that I don't like my hands getting cold and secondly, you'd also know I've made numerous attempts to address the issue, most of them unsatisfactory. Thirdly, you might very well assume that I have a glove fetish. Which I don't. Ok, I might.
It's not just the cold that inspires me to wear gloves while kayak fishing, but also for protection to. Mainly from the spikey barbs of fish, but also (in an era past whereby I used a paddle exlusively to get around) for protection from chaffing on my hands while paddling. I also find them very handy for sailing in high winds and rough seas, where gripping the mainsheet line tightly and frequent uncleating.
Among the various experiments with kayak fishing I quickly learned that full-fingered gloves arern't really suitable. Not only is it pretty much impossible to tie good knots with fingered gloves, it can also be a little precarious handling lures with them as well. Obviously thats a bit of a compromise when it comes to extreme cold so after a few attempts I simply decided that if its too cold to get away with fingerless gloves, it's too cold to go kayak fishing full stop.
A few of the fingerless gloves in my collection aren't really there to help with cold. These include my Owner fishing gloves, which are a lightweight nylon glove with textured palm. I also have a pair of Hobie fingerless sailing gloves. These are made from a combination of leather and synthetics and they have a thick palm with great grip. They're great for handling the Island but I have noticed some worrysome splitting of stitching in a short period of time, however. And once wet they stay that way all day long. Both of these styles are pretty comfortable but neither of these gloves do much at all in terms of insulation, so neither of them are a good all-round solution really.
Recently I tried an experiment by chopping the fingers off a pair of Seal Skin gloves, which I have to admit came pretty close to being an ideal winter solution. They're windproof and even stay warm when wet. Unfortunately by virtue of cutting the fingers off it didn't take long for the outer and inner layers to start freying. Close but no cigar.
By far the most all-round suitable product I've found so far is the Stohlquist Contact Fingerless gloves, which I've grown rather fond of after only a few days use. Chances are high that these are what you'll see me using pretty much exclusively from now on. Like all of the other Stohlquist products I'm now using (PFD, cag, boots) these gloves are really very comfortable, which is most important. They're also reasonably warm, with a soft neoprene backing. The palm consists of a double layered fabric with quick-dry lining and soft rubber-like polyurthane outer, which is waterproof and reasonably grippy. There is padding patches on the inner thumb and terry-cloth fabric patch on the index finger.
Unlike all the above mentioned gloves, the Contact gloves are made with a pre-curved construction, which makes gripping (say, a paddle) the optimal usage position. I wondered whether this might restrict other usage scenarios, such as fiddling with lures and knots, but it doesn't. So far I haven't given them a lot of time on the water, but have spent the past week wearing them all day at work (where it has been blistering cold by our standards) and they have certainly passed the comfort test. They also dry out pretty quickly to, and tend to shed water very well. To conclude somewhat bluntly, they're better than anything else I've tried and now I'm just hoping they pass the durability test.
Unlike all of the other gloves I've mentioned, the Contact gloves are designed by kayakers for kayakers. Making kayaking gear is the name of the game for Stohlquist, so there's every reason to expect them to get it right.
Update: As comfy as these gloves are, not terribly unlike their Ergo Caveman boots, these gloves aren't terribly strong and will only withstand a few months of solid kayak fishing work. There are better options
5 hours ago
