Reviews > Clothing > Gloves > Ibex Wool Glove Liner > Andre Corterier > Initial Report

Ibex Wool Glove Liners

Year of manufacture: 2004
Manufacturer: Ibex Outdoor Clothing LLC
URL: http://www.ibexwear.com/
MSRP: 25.00 USD originally, now 18.75 USD
Colour: Black

Weight Comparisons - scale accurate to 5 g (0.2 oz)
listed weight: 1.3 oz/pair (37 g) -avg.
measured weight: 40 g/pair (1.4 oz) -size XL

Manufacturer Statements:
On the easily navigated website of the manufacturer, I found the Ibex Wool Glove Liners in a category the manufacturer refers to as "ibextremeties". As the website now lists their spring catalog as well, this category is, at the date of this writing, found only in the winter section. The description says:

A second skin of superfine Merino wool. Stash a pair in your pocket for the day you really need them. Merino / Lycra® blend. This is a unisex glove. The sizing is based on men's sizing.

Specs:
• New for Fall '04
• Merino/Lycra blend
• Feature-free, pull-on fit
• No itch
• Easy care. Machine washable.
• Average Weight 1.3 oz./pair
• Imported

Best Uses: Worn alone - or as a liner inside another glove - for the running trail, the slope of spring corn, or the fingers on the camera that captures the adventure.

• Made in Sri Lanka
• Shell: 95% Wool / 5 % Elastane
• Palms: Genuine Leather
• Lining: 100 % Wool
• Insulation: 100 % Polyester

First Impression:
These are thin, black finger gloves (also available in red). The manufacturer's website gives example pictures for both the black and the red gloves, which I liked. However, the (black) gloves I received do not look quite the way I thought they would based on their appearance on the website: In the picture given, the Ibex logo sewn onto the glove looks to me as though it is sewn in a thread which is similarly dark as the black material of the glove itself. On the gloves I received, the logo is stitched in white thread, which makes it somewhat more obvious. As I feel that the logo itself doesn't look bad and does not include bold type text, this isn't a major detraction from their looks. But as I prefer a subdued nature-colours scheme in my equipment (Leave No Trace), I was slightly disappointed by this. Maybe I'll wash them with green or brown things of my wife or daughter...
The gloves' seams are tucked, so that the overlapping areas of neigboughring panels are doubled up inside the gloves. When I turn the gloves inside out, I can see many folds of cloth visible inside them, where the overlapping sections of neighbouring panels extend into the glove. Seeing this, I am almost surprised that the gloves have such a soft, snug feel to them. Nevertheless, they do. A true gram weenie might take scissors to trim down the overlapping sections, which extend past the seam by about 6 mm (1/4 in) - but given how light they are already and my fear of accidentally cutting a seam, I would not do so even if they were already my own.
I can roll each glove into a package the size of a small candy bar. By inverting the part meant to cover the wrist, this results in a self-contained package I can (just) hide inside my hand (though my hands aren't small).
Both gloves include a small black tag indicating their size as "XL". The left hand glove also features a larger white tag with washing instructions (cold machine wash - as per website -, no dryer, don't iron) and the erroneous list of features mentioned above.

Fit/Comfort:
My hands measure 22 cm (8.5 in) from wrist bone to the top of the middle finger, the middle finger itself is 10 cm (4 in) in length. This means I generally buy the largest size gloves I can find (often labelled "XXL"). The largest size in which the Ibex glove liners were available was "XL". Given the fact that they are meant to stretch, I thought that they should still fit, and that this would likely increase the chance that I would actually be able to use them under other gloves as liners.
This hope was not disappointed. The gloves fit well, although the finger sections end maybe half a cm (about a quarter in) before my fingers do, which seems to add a bit of webbing to my splayed hands. This is a phenomenon I commonly encounter with gloves and have gotten used to. While odd at first, this generally does not detract from the gloves' performance.
The glove liners do indeed fit underneath my Salewa Windstopper Gloves. The latter were labelled size XXL, but do not feel particularly loose on my fingers. Yet, there is enough room for the glove liners underneath (it doesn't take much), and they do provide insulation where there was none before. I feel that as long as I was to keep my hands out of the snow, this combination should suffice into temperatures well below freezing (but probably won't be able to test this during the test period). As long as snowball fights etc. aren't necessary, however, I will consider this combination the equivalent of my pair of Roeckl Goretex gloves, which are much heavier by themselves than this combination is.
The Ibex Glove Liners also fit beneath my (Roeckl Goretex) ski gloves, which were nicely snug to begin with - with the Ibex Glove Liners underneath, they are even more so. This may mean that the glove liners will therefore not add insulative value to my ski gloves: As the ski gloves are non-stretch, adding the glove liners will likely result in compressing the insulation of the outer gloves. This, I believe, would reduce the insulation provided by the outer gloves by an amount equivalent to the one added by virtue of the liners. I feel unable to test this, however. But as those gloves have plenty of insulation as they are, it would seem to be a moot point. Personally, other than wearing them on their own, I would be tempted to wear glove liners only under gloves which have no insulation of their own, and this seems to be their intended purpose. They seem to be well suited for these.

Trying Out:
Due to a recent foot injury, I haven't been able to take these gloves out for an early morning jog yet. However, I wore them on my bike ride to work this morning. It was before dawn, temps guesstimated around 5 to 8 C (40 to 45 F), with little to no wind. While I could feel that the gloves aren't windproof, the subjective wind generated at about 30 km/h (20 mph) wasn't enough to make my hands feel cold inside them. For a brief comparison, I took off one glove for a little while. That hand felt decidedly chilly after about 800 m (half a mile) of travel, at which point I put the glove back on. The gloves were quite sufficient to keep my hands comfortable for the rest of the 5 km (3 mi) trip.

Future Concerns:
No immediate concerns come to mind. Of course, with gloves so thin, I could see a snag doing more damage than I would otherwise expect, but I won't be testing for that specifically. And I'd hate for them to shrink after washing (I should be able to report on this in my Field Test Report).
Also, I have seen a pair of mitts somewhere made of Goretex PacLite, which were supposed to weigh the same as these glove liners. That would seem to me to be the perfect combination for almost any weather, anywhere - but I'm not yet sure whether I will actually be spending the money to test this.

Test Plan:
These Wool Glove Liners will be replacing my current gloves in most situations. The testing area will consist mostly of the local hills and forests, elevation not above 500 m (1,500 ft), temperatures from below freezing to the temperature at which they become too warm (the far end of the likely testing period being high summer around here, when I’ll faithfully carry them, but do not expect to be wearing them). At the little weight they have, I’ll carry them every day and wear them whenever I feel that having them on would be better than having them off.

Pros/Cons:
PROS: Lightweight. Good warmth. Little impediment to manual dexterity.
CONS: Logo too noticeable. Nothing else so far.

Personal Biographical Information:
Name: André Corterier
Gender: M
Age: 33
Height: 1,85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 80 kg (175 lb)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany
DATE: 2005-03-29

Backpacking Background:
I began backpacking in my late teens using Europe’s "InterRail"-System – weight hardly mattered, as we were on trains a lot. I recently rediscovered backpacking and have started out slowly – single-day 15 mile (24 km) jaunts by myself or even shorter hikes in the company of my little daughter. I am getting started on longer hikes, as a lightweight packer and hammock-camper. I’ve begun upgrading my old gear and am now shooting for a dry FSO weight (everything carried From the Skin Out except food, fuel and water) of about 10 kg (22 lb) for three-season camping. Not quite there yet.

Reviews > Clothing > Gloves > Ibex Wool Glove Liner > Andre Corterier > Initial Report