| |
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
|
SealSkinz®
ChillBlocker™ Gloves
Long Term Report by Rick Allnutt
2
September 2004
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Danalco, Inc.
Year Manufactured: 2004
Manufacturer's Link: http://www.danalco.com/
MSRP: $49.95
Size: Large
Color: Black
Listed Weight: NA
Measured Weight: 3.2 oz (91 gm) for the pair
PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
50 Year old male
6' 0'' (183 cm) in height
198 lb (90 kg) in weight
Glove size: 7 1/2 US
Personal Website: Risk's Ultralight Hiking
Email address: rick (at) BackpackGearTest (dot) org
I live in Dayton, Ohio
BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last several years, I have become an
ultralight camper with a three-season base pack weight of about 15 lb (7 kg) and
skin out weight of 23 lb (10 1/2 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the
Appalachian Trail (AT) in all four seasons, with a total mileage of about 525
miles (850 km). I am a gearhead, a hammock camper, and make much of my own
equipment.
REVIEW
For additional detail about these gloves, a review of my Initial
Report and Field
Report may be useful.
These gloves are warm. They are dry. The gloves fit my hands well
and continue to be very comfortable.
I have continued to carry the ChillBlocker gloves with me, even in spring and
summer conditions as lightweight insurance against chilling. I find it possible
to reduce the thickness of my sleeping bag by carrying good insulation for my
feet, hands, and head. It is comforting to know that these parts of my
body can be kept warm even if all my other gear gets soaked by a driving rain
storm or a leaking shelter.
I know that my hands are great radiators of heat. Their surface area is
large in comparison to their bulk, and circulation can produce large heat
transfer across the hands. I find that when I begin to get chilled, my
hands' circulation shuts down, to preserve core body temperature. The fingers
and then the meat of my fist become white and mottled. At the same time,
the muscles in my hands become stiff and the skin of my fingers begin to lose
the sense of fine touch.
Being able to warm my hands and keep them dry preserves the circulation,
improves the strength of my hands, and gives me a much brighter mental picture
of the hours ahead.
An example of this situation was a cold rain shower early one morning. The
outside temperature was hovering near 50 F (10 C). Getting interested in
hiking into this rain was not an easy task. It certainly helped to know
that I could wear the ChillBlocker gloves on my hands.
I use two hiking poles and these make it impossible to hide my hands inside the
ends of the sleeves of my raincoat. My hands have to go out into the cruel
world where it is cold and wet. Being able to put a dry pair of gloves on my
hands when they are cold is a luxury I will not forgo.
Once I get warmed up, the gloves often come off and my hands become radiators to
get rid of extra heat. This change to "exothermic" hiking
usually happens about a half hour after I hit the trail. But until that
time, the ChillBlocker gloves are as important to my physical performance as
they are to my mental outlook.
TEST RESULTS
I have carried and used the gloves while backpacking on the Appalachian Trail on
a cool March hike. I have used them for a long hike in cold rain, in near
freezing temperatures. I have used them while working around camp in the cold
morning mist, with frost on my tarp, and while getting ready to hike in the cold
of the morning, before I have warmed up.
When I started the test/review, there were several items I knew would be
important to me. Below are those items, and my answers (in
red) at the six month point.
- overall comfort - feels good to my skin -
These gloves feel good and look good too.
- use of my fingers in the gloves - how stiff are they, and how tired might my
fingers get trying to overcome the shape of the glove -
I have had no fatigue of my hands while using the gloves. They work very
well when holding hiking poles in the rain.
- do they keep me warm?- do they keep me dry?
Yes, and yes.
- do they breathe and let moisture escape? -
Very well.
- do the gloves work best with a thin under-glove or without? -
I find no need to use a liner glove with the fleece lining. This fleece
acts as a dry liner by itself.
I can not think of any feature I would alter in the glove's performance or
function.
I will continue to carry and use the Sealskinz ChillBlocker Gloves. They
have earned a permanent three to four season place in my ultralight backpacking
gear list.
Read more reviews of SealSkinz gear
Read more gear reviews by Rick Allnutt
|
