Canoeing gloves or mitts?

[Dagger]

I have tried some of the gloves and mitts my kayaking friends use, but theirs are often too grippy for my taste. I found that not having much slip is hard on my hands, as every j-stroke requires that I relax my hand a lot from the grip just a split second before and so on, thousands of times a day...etc. Heck some of them even squeaked every time I rotate the paddle shaft in my paddle hand - very annoying. And yes, water proof would be great too. I use coated wooden paddles like the Bending Branches Beavertail...etc. Perhaps that coating factors in?
What do you guys use?

 

[Mihun09]

We use cheap biking gloves from Wallymart. They are fingerless and give enough freedom and keep the blisters away on our usual long days.

 

[madmike]

I like these.

 

[Canotrouge]

I don't usually use gloves, but when it is cold, snowing, raining, I use canoe pogies as well. They are the best option. all the freedom you need, really warm cause your fingers are all together!!

 

[yellowcanoe]

rubber lobstermans gloves in winter, but its more kayaking as the lake is frozen. Summer lightweight bike gloves or tropical diving gloves with a leather palm. I use a very light gooseneck finger wrap around the shaft of the paddle. Never grab anything too tightly. Especially with the J stroke that can lead to tendinitis.

Your paddle is telling you to lighten up The squeaking can be eliminated by loosening your grip and sanding off the shaft where your hand grips it and the grip on the top where your other hand grips that. Oil those places. Some people are not bothered by the varnish from the factory and others are.

Usually I go gloveless with the single blade. Never had a blister from one. The double however...aagh I am doing something wrong.

 

[Peach Canoe]

I have some neoprene paddling-shaped gloves for cold weather, and some lightweight 'paddling' gloves from MEC for warm weather. Mountain-fed streams and rivers are usually on the cold side, so I use the outside air temperature as a guide around here. The Bow River around Calgary is near 0C in winter and 10C or so (warmer in the shallows) in summer.

I almost always wear gloves for a few reasons: when the gloves aren't wet the paddle always feels the same; I perceive there is some mechanical advantage to wearing gloves, but this is probably an illusion; and when I end up floating beside the inverted hull, it doesn't hurt so much to pull the thing to the shore.

The finish on the paddle is related, but that's probably a subject on its own.

 

[Dagger]

I looked at some 3mm and 2mm, pre-shaped neoprene gloves. The 2mm ones had leather (or something that looks like it) on the palm side. Do you recommend the leather(ish) material over the nobby rubbery stuff?

 

[yellowcanoe]

I looked at some 3mm and 2mm, pre-shaped neoprene gloves. The 2mm ones had leather (or something that looks like it) on the palm side. Do you recommend the leather(ish) material over the nobby rubbery stuff?

Can you take your paddle with you as you shop or is this online? Personally I don't think you need the nobby.. But they are your hands!

 

[BWCA66]

I prefer to not use gloves but I do have a pair of thin neoprene ones that I use occasionally. My paddles are always wood and the grip is always unfinished. Usually oil from my hands is enough to keep the grip oiled, if it gets too dry I will put on a quick coat of boiled linseed oil. I did render down some deer tallow this winter that I am thinking of using this spring.

 

[dave0]

I use both. Bring along a set of mittens, fleece lined insulated, and a pair of heavy duty gloves. Been mostly double blading this winter so it is mostly the mittens. Weather permitting I tend to go bare handed as much as I can.

 

[Mnoutdoorfunguy]

Atlas Temres 282 breathable, insulated and waterproof glove. These work well for cool to cold weather. They actually do seem to breathe fairly well. With extended use they do get damp inside and need to be dried. The dry quickly. The lining is attached but could be cut out and a separate liner glove of one's choice could be used. I have average size hands and the XL is perfect. The have good grip and are flexible. I like them much better than any ponies or neoprene gloves.
For warmer weather and for sun protection I use the thin, stretchy "production" gloves that have the rubberized palm and fingers. The keep the wind and sun off and dry quickly.

 

[Dagger]

Thank you all for your advice!

 

[Odyssey]

I've paddled in the cold days of October wearing light winter gloves. Even the light work gloves with grippy palms were okay, just to keep the bitter wind off the extremities. My paddles are full varnished (or urethaned?), but I likely don't paddle enough miles in a day to give myself blisters. I'd wear the gloves in the early morning and by the early afternoon just dip my bare hands in the lake as I paddled to warm them up. I always wore a tuque. That and wearing layers helped maintain a cozy core temperature. I miss the autumn colours but not the autumn temperatures.

 

[snapper]

Typically I don't use gloves but there was one fall trip in the Adirondacks that it was just too cold to go without any hand protection. At that point I pulled a pair of wool fingerless gloves out of my pack and paddled on. I now have a pair made out of Alpaca fur which I think will be even warmer should I ever need them again for this purpose.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I don't usually wear gloves while paddling in warm weather. Sometimes I will wear the cheap rubber palmed jersey gloves that I use for poling with the aluminum pole also when paddling. But that's more to avoid sunburn than anything else. When it gets cold, I transition to shaped neoprene gloves (I like the articulated Glacier Gloves) and then to NRS Heater Mitts. Hands still get wet in the mitts, but never cold - even down to 0°f.

Wife always wears a pair of those fingerless gloves similar to biker's gloves. IIRC, they were found at the local paddle shop. She doesn't do cold paddling.