To glove or not to glove

[Tony Anders]

What kind of gloves to most of you fellow cavers recommend for us to use.
I was wondering if Neoprene holds up. I have a pair of neoprene, but I thing I may have the wrong size cause the cut my circulation off.

We cave in a few wet caves and I was wondering if Neoprene would be the way to go.

Thanks for all your replies.

I hate to keep asking all these questions, but , like I tell them in all the classes I teach. The only dumb question is the ones you don't ask.

Thanks again.

[Azurerana]

Get some gloves which have some sort of palm tread and which fit. I cave in mud and water. I tried rubber dishwashing gloves, (for dry hands) and they did not work at all. I tried leather work gloves, and they got wet, and the leather cracked and they never came anywhere close to clean again. I tried cheap jersey gloves and they never fit. I was given some polyester stretch work gloves with some sort of ribbing which looks like hot melt glue on the palms, and they worked OK, but stretched way too much when sopping wet.

I finally settled on women's cotton gardening gloves with stretch cuffs (don't slip off) and the little dot nubbies on them. They fit me, they are cheap, not heavy when wet, they don't stretch,they've got some grip to them, and they just go in the washer with everything else (but not the dryer).

I realize you aren't a woman, but those gloves come in guy's sizes, too, without the flowery print, available at any good hardware store in lawn and garden.

[madratdan]

I have a hard time keeping gloves on my hands, while caving. Especially leather ones. I've never had any luck with neoprene gloves as they tend to shred from the rough limestone surfaces. The few times I've worn them, I've ended up ruining them. I know a caver that used tool dip on a pair of neoprene gloves as a protective coating. The tool dip shrunk when it dried and he could get them on. Buy extra large if you try this trick. www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000210.php

The gloves I like best are called wonder gloves.
wondergloves.com/prod01WG.htm
They also have tool dip on them which makes it easier to pick up and feel things through the gloves.

Here is another link to a site that sell all kinds of gloves and has good pictures for comparison. www.capcityequipment.com/gsgloves.html What ever you wear will end up getting trashed, as caves seem to have that effect on gear. Especially gloves. I've thrown more than one pair away after caving in leather gloves in really muddy clay filled passage. Good luck and keep them questions coming.

[Sharon Faulkner]

madratdan said:

The gloves I like best are called wonder gloves.
wondergloves.com/prod01WG.htm They also have tool dip on them which makes it easier to pick up and feel things through the gloves.

I use gloves similar to the ones shown in the link Dan posted above. They are not called Wonder Gloves, but they look similar to them. The ones I use can be found in garden centers of retail stores like Walmart, Lowe's or Home Depot. They are fine for mud and water and are above average in slip resistance to me. You can also throw them in the washer without worry.

Feel free to ask questions. We all started caving at one time or another and had questions.

[Karsthuntr]

I use these:



They are a bit expensive, but since I use them for work its not bad for me. You can wash and dry them with no problems, they fit well and are not heavy when wet. When I survey I wear latex exam gloves under my regular gloves, I can wipe the mud of those to keep my instruments fairly clean.

www.mechanix.4ursafety.com/6-29-05-new/mly-h25-01-tn.gif

[Sharon Faulkner]

Tony, here is a photo of the gloves I use. I had taken this pic when this thread first started and found the photo when I was downloading the photos from our cave trip of yesterday. The smaller gloves next to them are a children's version made of similar material.

[Tony Anders]

Thanks Sharon,

Lucky dog, got to take you one yesterday huh. If the rain holds out here, we might try to go Friday, before hunting season starts.

Catch you later.

[Sharon Faulkner]

I understand. Hunting season keeps us out of some good caving areas here too and it has already started in all three states of TAG. But we still have a few caves to visit that will not be affected by hunting season.

TAG Deer Hunting Season Schedule:

* Tennessee (Archery & Gun): September 23, 2006 to January 14, 2007

* Alabama (Archery & Gun): October 10, 2006 to January 31, 2007

* Georgia (Archery & Gun): September 9, 2006 to January 1, 2007

Note: There could be youth hunts or other special access hunts that may fall outside of the dates listed above, so check locally before going in specific areas.

[American Grotto]

I use mechanics gloves
www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=31687-46572-H25-01-011&lpage=none
I love these gloves
they fit tight on the hand so they work well with equipment
Charles

[Tony Anders]

I knew I had seen those gloves before, those are like the ones my brother has.

Thanks for the reply.

[Kelly]

I like to use general gardening gloves. They are cheap, thus easy to replace. I sure go throug gloves. I used to have a pair of the neoprene gloves, but they made my hands sweat and then started stinking pretty badly. They held up okay, though.