Reviews > Clothing > Socks > SealSkinz Socks and Gloves > David Anderson > Initial Report

I do most of my backpacking in the Washington and Oregon, which along with sea kayaking means I get wet a lot.

I have been using SealSkinz over the calf socks and their normal gloves for a while now, so I decided to test the WaterBlocker Socks and Gauntlet Gloves. They arrived yesterday 2/28/2002 by first class mail in a Tyvek envelope. Both the socks and the gloves came packaged in zip-lock type bags with a hole at the top for hanging on a rack.

The Gauntlet Gloves

The gloves came packaged with a picture of a gloved had reaching into water on the front. Most of the rest of card contained sales pitches for the rest of their products. There is also a short care section recommending that you hand wash them and let them drip dry.

During my initial bathtub test I found they did not let water in until I lowered the cuff below the surface of the water. This result was what I expected.

The gauntlet comes a little more than half way up my forearm and th cuff gives it a snug fit. If you have skinny forearms you might find it to be a bit loose.

The gloves are cut flat so that they are not snug fitting in the palm of your hand, but I never considered these gloves to be for any sort of intricate work, their purpose is to keep you dry when it's wet out.

The WaterBlocker Socks

The WaterBlocker socks came with a similar insert, but on the inside a much larger section was given over to the care of the socks. It seems that the WaterBlocker seal is made up of a delicate membrane that you have to very careful with while you are putting the sock on and taking it off.

The major difference between the WaterBlocker socks and my regular SealSkinz socks is that just below the cuff they have a 2" section of membrane that will make contact with your skin, hopefully forming a decent seal. You then fold the cuff down over the membrane portion of the sock to apply a bit more pressure.

I decided to give the The WaterBlockers a good long test in the bath tub. I put on cotton socks to show up any wet spots and then put the SealSkinz on over them. I then had to roll my cotton socks down to keep them down on my foot instead of being under the seal. After about 5 minutes in the tub I felt what I thought was a very small amount of seepage through the seal behind my left calf. When I later took my socks off I could confirm that the ankle of my sock was rather damp. My right sock also had some dampness but it was significantly less.

Given that the cuffs of the socks were completely submerged for over 20 minutes I found this level of seepage to be quite acceptable. I did not find them as comfortable as my other SealSkinz, but if I suspect that I might be doing any deeper water crossings, I would definitely prefer the WaterBlockers.

Test Plan

I plan to test the socks and gloves by getting wet. I'll find some deeper stream crossings, walk in the rain and wear them kayaking. I will be trying the socks specifically during rescue practice in the kayak, this would cause quite a bit of water pressure to try and push past the seal.

David Anderson
www.quiet-like-a-panter.org

Reviews > Clothing > Socks > SealSkinz Socks and Gloves > David Anderson > Initial Report