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New SealSkinz Test Report 3
SealSkinz Glove: XL, Black
SealSkinz All Season Socks: L, Black
Date: May 20, 2002 (original report 5/2/02)
Tester Name: Will Rietveld
e-mail: willjanet@frontier.net
Gender: M
Age: 59
Height: 6'
Weight: 170
Experience Level: 45 years of hiking, backpacking, XC skiing, bicycling, canoeing, and rafting
Test Locations: SW Colorado, SE Utah, SE Wisconsin
SealSkinz Gloves 60-Day Test Report
During March and April, I tested the gloves on numerous day hikes and backcountry ski and
snowshoeing outings (approx. 20 days) in the above locations, and one 6-day backpack in SE
Utah. Test conditions varied widely, temps ranged from 20 to 50 degrees, windy versus calm, and
stormy (snow and rain) versus clear. Elevations in CO ranged from 6500 to 12,000', elevations in
UT ranged from 4500 to 6500', and elevations in WI were around 1500'. I hiked on and off trails
through a variety of terrain.
Features I liked best:
- Waterproofness. These gloves are definitely waterproof, and stay waterproof.
- Gripper Dots. The gloves grip really well. On rock, they are great to wear for scrambling
in cool weather. They are like climbing shoes for the hands.
- Durability. When bushwhacking off-trail, the gloves are great for grabbing brush and rocks
without being concerned about tearing them. They protect my hands very well.
Features I did not like:
- Not Breathable. The gloves are not very breathable. When I'm exerting and/or in warmer
weather, my hands sweat and the gloves feel clammy inside. The packaging card states
that the fabric has three "highly engineered layers that includes a membrane capable of
allowing perspiration to escape while not allowing water to penetrate". In practice I do
not find them to be breathable at all. Without liners, it did not take very much exertion for
the gloves to feel clammy inside. I normally do not perspire a lot, so I would consider
myself a typical user.
- Not Warm. By themselves the gloves are only somewhat warm. I found them to be
comfortable between 25-40 degrees. Above 40 degrees (and under exertion) the gloves
became damp (and felt clammy) inside. Below 25 degrees I needed to wear a liner inside
them to keep my hands warm. In cool/cold weather, with or without a liner, the gloves
accumulated perspiration, and when I stopped my hands got cold because of the wetness.
The gloves worked best in cool weather with liners, and I needed to change liners
frequently because of the perspiration accumulation problem. Changing liners only helped
somewhat because the inner (cotton-like) lining of the gloves absorbs water and is slow to
dry.
- Outer Fabric Absorbs Water. In wet conditions, the outer fabric absorbs water and is slow
to dry. When the gloves are wet, my hands get cold from evaporative cooling. When I am
finished with the gloves, I need to set them out to dry inside and out.
Specific Comments and Suggestions:
- The gloves seem to work best in cool/dry weather with liners and cool/wet weather with
liners. Liners need to be changed often. This means that the gloves should be sized to be
worn with liners (which I did). The liners help to absorb perspiration and avoid
clamminess. I have not tested the gloves yet under wet/warm conditons.
- The inner cotton-like fabric layer might be replaced with fleece. This might make the
gloves a little warmer and less clammy.
- SealSkinz should consider designing and selling liners to be used with their gloves. This
would help the customer choose the right combination of glove size and liner. Liner types
might be fleece, wool, polyester, etc. for different temperature conditions and exertion
levels.
- Overall, I really like the gloves themselves because of their durability and grippyness.
However, I don't like their lack of breatheability and perspiration accumulation. I also
don't like the fact the outer and inner fabrics absorb water.
Planned Testing:
- I will continue to test the gloves on more trips to determine their long-term durability and
continued waterproofness. I want to test them under warm/wet conditions. Also, I would
like to experiment with different types of liners.
SealSkinz Socks 60-Day Test Report
The socks were tested in the same locations and conditions as the gloves, only less frequently. I
often wear winter sports boots or Gore-Tex lined boots, so I don't have a frequent need for
waterproof socks. On several occasions I purposefully wore a pair of non-waterproof boots with
the SealSkinz socks so I could evaluate them. I wore them day hiking in slushy snow and mud in
25-40 degree temperatures.
The test results were similar to the socks. They are very waterproof and durable. My boots were
thoroughly wet, and the outer fabric of the socks was wet, but my feet stayed dry and warm. I
liked them much better with a pair of socks (SmartWool) inside the Sealskinz , rather than the
SealSkinz next to my skin, again because of the clamminess problem. Like the SealSkinz gloves, I
liked the SealSkinz socks much better with liners inside them.
Further testing I would like to do includes using the socks by themselves for stream fording, and
using them for boating under cold/wet and warm/wet conditions with and without liners.
I appreciate the opportunity to test the SealSkinz gloves and socks, and I hope my comments and
suggestions are constructive and useful.
Will Rietveld
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