I'm an avid day hiker, camper and am moving towards lightweight backpacking. Most of my camping has been car camping, but I felt adventurous enough to try out snow camping this season.

Having spent most of my life in India, hiking in the summer on various trails in the Bay Area, California is just an extension of my comfort level. However, the nippy Northern California winter is still a shock to my system and I avoided hiking in the winter, until a recent trip to the East Coast in the month of December. That is when I realized how blessed California is with the weather (if you can get over the omnipresent earthquake warning) and decided not to let a little chill factor weigh me down.

I have recently joined a hiking-backpacking group and hope to try out more activities which I have never done before.

Personal information:

Name:               Shaheen Patel
Age:                 40
Gender:             Female
Height:              5 feet 2 inches (1.5 m)
Weight:             115 pounds (52 kg)
Email address: shaheen_patel@yahoo.com
Date:                March 16th, 2005

Basic Product Information

Manufacturer:    Ibex
MSRP:              $25 US
Year of Manufacture: 2004
Product:            Wool Glove Liner (Ibextremeties)
Listed weight:    1.3 oz (36.85 g)
                      I have not had a chance to confirm the product weight listed on the Ibex website
Size:                 Extra Small (Sizing based on Men’s sizes)
Color:                Black
Website:           http://www.ibexwear.com
I did not find the Ibex website very intuitive. Searching for the Wool Glove Liners on Ibex website took a little digging around, as the website defaults to the 'Shop Spring' products where the search for the glove liner returned no results. To find the Ibex Wool Glove Liners on the website, I had to click on 'Shop Winter' products link on the website homepage. Then I had to click on the ‘ibextremeties’ tab, which presented me with the option to search for women’s ibextremeties products.

Preliminary Information

The Wool Glove Liners arrived the week of March 7^th, 2005 in perfect condition.
The Ibex website described the product as:

A second skin of superfine Merino wool
Machine washable
Merino / Lycra® blend
Compact and stashable in your pocket for the day you really need them

My initial impression of the product was based on the packaging itself… Great!! A very thorough job with multiple layers of packaging to ensure that the product is not damaged in delivery.

The nippy winters of Northern California have taught me important lesson of ‘layering’ clothes, instead of wearing bulky clothing. Having tried this with clothes, I want to take it a step further and try the layering for my hand, with glove liners. Maybe I can finally get rid of my bulky gloves, if I can layer my gloves for protection against the cold and wet weather. I have tried layering with cotton gloves and mittens and have ended up with cold wet hands and soggy gloves. What I am really interested in checking is how dry my hands remain with the Ibex Wool Glove Liners.

Fabric and Stretching

One of the first things I noticed was the feel and texture of the gloves. Having the Ibex website describe them as ‘superfine Merino wool’, I was expecting some delicate gloves to be handled with utmost care. However, the gloves have a very Lycra like texture to it, are soft and they do stretch firmly.

Sizing and Fit

I pulled on the gloves to test for size and was pleasantly surprised. They actually do fit my hand without slipping/sliding off. I have a very small and slim hand and the XS size I ordered fit the width of my hand very well. However, there is a bit of space left between my fingers and the top of the glove fingers. Either my fingers are shorter then the rest of the folks out there or Ibex needs to have sizes as XS-Short, XS-Average to account for the length of the hand as well.

Pulling the glove on and off is very easy and a second layer of gloves can be put on top of the liners with no bulk at all. The cuff hugs the wrist very snug and should help keep the fingers warm.

Initial Observations

On receiving the Wool Glove Liners, I wore them for a late night walk, and they sure did keep the chill off my fingers. Since they are such a thin layer, they do not seem to be a hindrance and I could even button-up my coat with the liners on (a big plus).
For the brief period that I did wear them, the glove liners did not itch me and were very comfortable. The best part was that I could slip them into my coat pocket so easily.
The Ibex logo on the back of the hand looks very elegant.

Test Plan

During the test period, I will travel to the Sierra Nevadas to freezing cold, snow and rainy weather.
I plan on testing the gloves out for my ski trip to check how warm they keep my fingers in the harsh conditions. I also plan on testing them on all my day-hikes and camping trips to ensure they measure up to the set expectations.

I will be testing the glove liners for:

Fit
Ease of use in pulling them on and off
Use a outer layer
Use as inner layer with other gloves as outer layer
Weather resistance in wet or snowy conditions
The degree of warmth it provides
Itchiness
Wear and Tear
Machine wash endurance
Shrinkage
Shape and form maintained over a period of time

Read more reviews of Ibex gear
Read more gear reviews by Shaheen Patel

Initial Report

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