I have manged without gloves for years and just ended up with calluses on my hands at the end of windsurfing season, but now I am sailing further I am wearing even more skin off my hands and I am thinking of purchasing some sailing gloves.

I am interested in the experiences of those who have used them.
Are they helpful, or do they feel uncomfortable and end up discarded?

I tried it a few years ago to protect my lily white hands but as I was still learning and hanging on for dear life, it did tire my hands and arms a lot. It does widen your grip.

Maybe if you are more experienced you don't grip that hard and a few millimeter more doesn't matter.

My gloves are part of the debris at the bottom of my parts box.

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Windxtasy said...

I have manged without gloves for years and just ended up with calluses on my hands at the end of windsurfing season, but now I am sailing further I am wearing even more skin off my hands and I am thinking of purchasing some sailing gloves.

I am interested in the experiences of those who have used them.
Are they helpful, or do they feel uncomfortable and end up discarded?

I can't sail without them . I use sailing fingerless gloves for summer + wetsuit fullfingered diving ones for winter.

Niel Pryde Gloves.

They have Grippy bits on the palm which allows you a lighter grip

They don't work, just get some of that shiny silver gaffa tape. Works a treat when your hands start to bleed.

Good quality washing gloves. They dont tire you out too quick. Looks a bit silly on the beach though.

duct tape....best solution.

I got a set of the Neil Pryde ones when I went to Maui, as I had not sailed through autumn and early winter, and my hands had no condition.
As noted, they have nice grippy bits, and are very thin, so they don't give arm pump or inhibit feel etc.
I've tried the fingerless leather ones in the past, but find they roll up and give me the tom tits. They are also a lot thicker and do contribute to arm pump.

I sometimes wear bicycle gloves and it helps a lot..., when you are all blistered you rather get tired sooner than have bloody hands imo...

No matter how far or how much you sail, your skin will grow fast enough to replace itself.. It's just getting past the first day of wind which is the hard part, after that you should never wear through to flesh..

English people are the worst for going on windsurfing holidays with soft office hands, and getting their hands ripped apart... Like everything, prevention is better than the cure, so regular chin ups or something similar will give you exercise and will keep your hands tough enough to last for a decent session. If your skin holds together on the first day, as I said above, the skin seems to grow fast enough to last until the wind stops.. Avoid getting caught out..

say NO to gloves!

I agree, No to gloves as they increase the boom width and weaken your grip (Arm Pump). Relax your hands and maybe increase the width of your harness lines to take more of the strain

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kato said...

I agree, No to gloves as they increase the boom width and weaken your grip (Arm Pump). Relax your hands and maybe increase the width of your harness lines to take more of the strain

Other than gybing & jumping etc ( not talking waveriding) you shouldnt be holding onto the boom very tightly anyway..?

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sboardcrazy said...

kato said...

I agree, No to gloves as they increase the boom width and weaken your grip (Arm Pump). Relax your hands and maybe increase the width of your harness lines to take more of the strain

Other than gybing & jumping etc ( not talking waveriding) you shouldnt be holding onto the boom very tightly anyway..?

Dude it's all about the death grip!

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barn said...

No matter how far or how much you sail, your skin will grow fast enough to replace itself.. It's just getting past the first day of wind which is the hard part, after that you should never wear through to flesh..

English people are the worst for going on windsurfing holidays with soft office hands, and getting their hands ripped apart... Like everything, prevention is better than the cure, so regular chin ups or something similar will give you exercise and will keep your hands tough enough to last for a decent session. If your skin holds together on the first day, as I said above, the skin seems to grow fast enough to last until the wind stops.. Avoid getting caught out..

say NO to gloves!

I don't believe this is true for all people. No matter how much I sail and no matter how many calluses I get water seems to soften my skin within five minutes and blisters within about 15 mins of sailing. Cripes, if I stay in the shower too long the skin on my fingertips goes white and starts to flake off. I therefore wear gloves while sailing and often have to supplement with elastoplast fabric tape if sailing multiple days in a row.

I don't think I have the death grip and regularly sail more than 50k in a session.

I'd say if you think you need gloves you should try them and see if it helps.

my hands are trashed i think i have half the boom material inbedded on the
blisters over the callises.

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Windxtasy said...

I have manged without gloves for years and just ended up with calluses on my hands at the end of windsurfing season, but now I am sailing further I am wearing even more skin off my hands and I am thinking of purchasing some sailing gloves.

I am interested in the experiences of those who have used them.
Are they helpful, or do they feel uncomfortable and end up discarded?

Hi Windxtasy,
Try the Dakine gloves,they are really comfy and you don't feel like your wearing chunky gloves.2nd Wind have them I think

Just 6 million years ago we were all swinging from the trees without gloves, without even a harness, we were born for this!!.. Or are we witnessing the Devolution of Homo sapiens??..

bummer on the dissolving hands, put that down to the one exception.

Homo sapiens did not swing from trees anymore, but I see your point... the feeling is better and when the skin hardens its indestructible... I use gloves when I have open wounds on my palms not any sooner :)

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barn said...

No matter how far or how much you sail, your skin will grow fast enough to replace itself.. It's just getting past the first day of wind which is the hard part, after that you should never wear through to flesh..

English people are the worst for going on windsurfing holidays with soft office hands, and getting their hands ripped apart... Like everything, prevention is better than the cure, so regular chin ups or something similar will give you exercise and will keep your hands tough enough to last for a decent session. If your skin holds together on the first day, as I said above, the skin seems to grow fast enough to last until the wind stops.. Avoid getting caught out..

say NO to gloves!

Yep, I used to have some ripper callouses, never had a problem with bad ulcerating blisters.

What I did have a problem with was the callouses getting that big it was painfull to try and close my hands which required a bit of regular home surgery by having to prune the worst of them with a stanley knife or nail clippers.

Gloves is good if you want to use them.

I also sail with a PFD(Including wave sailing) and a helmut, but I look like a gumby without it anyway

No grasshopper, that is what is called Evolution.
We no longer swing from the trees, now we swing from windsurfing booms.
Not sure that any of the apes that weigh 80-100kg do much swinging through the trees anyway. That's more little monkeys and lemurs. Orangs do I guess, but they mostly climb, rather than swing.
Back to the Maui trip, couple of travel companions who eschewed the glove idea had some handy blisters after day one.
I have a soft-hand job, so I use em on and off depending on how much sailing I'm getting, or plan to get.

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barn said...

Just 6 million years ago we were all swinging from the trees without gloves, without even a harness, we were born for this!!.. Or are we witnessing the Devolution of Homo sapiens??..

bummer on the dissolving hands, put that down to the one exception.

I have used cheap Bunnings work gloves to protect from sun - I tend to get too much there. The thinner and cheaper, the better.
I don't use'em for grip or blisters, in fact I often cut out the palm.

Evolution was disproved in the 80's, The fundamental principals remain the same, but ground breaking research by the seminal prog rock band, coincidentally named DEVO, Largely discredited Darwin's already shakey Hypothesis.. While it was hard for people to accept we were evolved from other apes, it was impossible to deny the new devolution theory with all the evidence in plain sight.. Evolution is still wildly believed to be true, only because corrupt scientists hide the data to prove it, not because they disagree with it, but because they didn't like the song "whip it".. Its a big conspiracy..

Despite our Rapid decline, which will conclude into some sort of Eukaryotic slime mould, We still have the ability to grow extra cells on our hands and feet, Including fancy 'finger prints' to prevent skin delamination...

Here is video evidence of a Large ape swinging from trees.. looks about 75kg

Whitfords Marine sell various sailing gloves. I bought some with half-fingers, and the blisters have moved up to the mid-fingers.

Then I used diving rubber gloves, which were great, but the material streatched and were quickly destroyed.

Then I was given a pair of "Cheetah" (mechanical) working gloves, and use only them.
They seem to handle sea water well. I wash and then dry them after each use.

www.protectoralsafe.com.au/part/06326404/gloves-mech-cheetah-w935chl-black-l

Once they wear off, I'll get another pair. They work well for me.

Hello,
I've tried various types of gloves Dakine/ NP etc and the cheapest and best I've found are UVeto fingerless. They are made for sun protection which is a bonus.

They are very thin so don't effect grip and last at least a full season. Around $25.
Hope this helps.

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Dungbeetle said...

Hello,
I've tried various types of gloves Dakine/ NP etc and the cheapest and best I've found are UVeto fingerless. They are made for sun protection which is a bonus.

They are very thin so don't effect grip and last at least a full season. Around $25.
Hope this helps.

Sound good/look good. Where do you get them?

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barn said...

Evolution was disproved in the 80's, The fundamental principals remain the same, but ground breaking research by the seminal prog rock band, coincidentally named DEVO, Largely discredited Darwin's already shakey Hypothesis.. While it was hard for people to accept we were evolved from other apes, it was impossible to deny the new devolution theory with all the evidence in plain sight.. Evolution is still wildly believed to be true, only because corrupt scientists hide the data to prove it, not because they disagree with it, but because they didn't like the song "whip it".. Its a big conspiracy..

Despite our Rapid decline, which will conclude into some sort of Eukaryotic slime mould,

more evidence of devolution

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CJW said...

sboardcrazy said...

kato said...

I agree, No to gloves as they increase the boom width and weaken your grip (Arm Pump). Relax your hands and maybe increase the width of your harness lines to take more of the strain

Other than gybing & jumping etc ( not talking waveriding) you shouldnt be holding onto the boom very tightly anyway..?

Dude it's all about the death grip!

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sideskirt said...

Homo sapiens did not swing from trees anymore, but I see your point... the feeling is better and when the skin hardens its indestructible... I use gloves when I have open wounds on my palms not any sooner :)

Im glad Im a girl so I dont have to live up to macho expectations and can look like a girls blouse....

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KenHo said...

more evidence of devolution

Cool vid, maybe evidence of speciation?.. But if your sailing technique removes the same amount of skin as dragging your hands down a mountain, then maybe you do need gloves..

But, being a member of the Primates we have the ability/responsibility to do a moderate amount of swinging from a nicely padded boom.. And yes I know it was a long time since we descended from trees but we are still apes with hands perfectly evolved for the job. And its not like humans have never done any manual labor since we walked onto the Savanna ... I think every peasant, builder of pyramids, fighter of Persians, Hunter of Mammoths, just turned over in their graves at the suggestion we aren't cut out for some hard work!

If your hands rip apart after one session, then maybe you should use them more?

sboardcrazy, I know lots of girls who sail 300 days a year who don't use gloves, there is a case for girls not to wear gloves even more because girls normally have smaller hands, being even more disadvantaged by wearing gloves.. And if you must wear gloves then a skinny grip boom is also on the shopping list?

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Dungbeetle said...

Hello,
I've tried various types of gloves Dakine/ NP etc and the cheapest and best I've found are UVeto fingerless. They are made for sun protection which is a bonus.

They are very thin so don't effect grip and last at least a full season. Around $25.
Hope this helps.

+1 on the uveto, I've got a pair...

Needed them when I moved to WA, you'll notice the people with problems live in NSW/QLD [}:)]

Used them for a couple of months until my hands got used to sailing a lot more often. Haven't used them for a year or so now

Some boys like their girls to have soft hands. So go the gloves.

Just coz our ancestors grubbed around looking for slugs and worms to eat along with rotting wilderbeast doesn't mean we should. Humans are built for walking, we are not knuckle draggers.

Devolution is alive and well. As time goes on human brains are becoming smaller. With increased technology our lives become easier and we become softer. Humans in a few thousand years time will probably be weaklings who barely know their name and can't lift a finger, so dependent on technology we will be.