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SealSkinz Final Report
Products Tested: SealSkinz Gloves, XL, Black and SealSkinz All Season Socks, L, Black
Date: Sept 28, 2002
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 Six Month Test Report
Since the gloves were received in late February, they have been tested on numerous outings in a
variety of conditions. In late winter and early spring they were used on numerous day hikes in the
Southwest Colorado mountains, Southeast Utah desert, and in Southern Wisconsin. In the spring
they were taken on more day hikes and some backpacks in CO and UT. This summer they stayed
in my daypack and were taken on day hikes 3-4 days/week and on numerous backpacks. I
estimate that I carried the gloves in my pack for about 100 days and 1000 miles, and used them
about half the time, intermittently as needed.
I wear gloves a lot in the backcountry . I recognize the need to keep my hands warm and dry in
the mountains where temperatures change suddenly, and I also like to wear gloves to protect my
hands when I am bushwhacking in brushy terrain, and when I am scrambling up a mountain or a
desert canyon.
Almost all of my testing was associated with hiking. I intended to use them bicycling and
canoeing, but it didn't happen. I took them along on one canoe trip, but used them only briefly.
And I didn't do any bicycling this summer. I used them fishing in cool weather this spring and
they worked great to grab fish out of cold water, while keeping my hands warm and dry. I plan to
take them on an 8-day canoe trip in MT in September, and also plan to take them with me for elk
hunting in October.
An important point that I needed to remind myself of in this evaluation is that SealSkinz are a
specialty product intended for wet conditions. I failed to realize this at first, and tried to use the
SealSkinz as a multi-purpose glove because I liked their grippiness and durability. I tried the
gloves under dry/warm conditions and found that they have an uncomfortable "clammy" feeling
because of perspiration. I found that various other non-waterproof gloves are preferable to the
SealSkinz under dry and warm conditions. So, after using the SealSkinz in a wide variety of
conditions, I realized that the appropriate applications for the SealSkinz gloves are in a variety of
outdoor activities under wet conditions. The product information that came with the SealSkinz
gloves is clear on their purpose, and I am simply confirming that is correct. They are not
appropriate or desired gear for dry conditions.
Thus, I focused my evaluation on wet conditions, which is clearly the most appropriate, and
intended use of the SealSkinz. I elected to test them by: 1) using them as much as possible, in a
variety of situations, and taking good notes on their performance and my impressions; and 2)
comparing the SealSkinz gloves to alternative gloves that I use for wet weather.
The alternatives were neoprene gloves alone, and liner gloves in combination with either plastic
"chemical gloves" or waterproof/breathable shell gloves. The neoprene gloves were from
WalMart. They were unlined and did not have room for a liner glove. The liner gloves were
either polypropylene or microfleece. The "chemical gloves" were a translucent laboratory glove
that is thin and lightweight. The shell gloves were Black Diamond with a gripping material on the
palm side and a W/B material on the back side. Thus the four waterproof gloves evaluated (7
combinations with or without liners) were the following: SealSkinz with and without liners,
neoprene gloves without liners, "chemical gloves" with and without liners, and Black Diamond
shell gloves with and without liners. The weight of the gloves with thin polypropylene liners were:
SealSkinz 5.0 oz, Black Diamond 4.9 oz, and "chemical gloves" 1.9 oz.
Note that I did not take all of these glove combinations with me on any individual trip; I simply
didn't want to carry the extra weight and do all the glove-switching in the field. So my evaluations
are based on taking the SealSkinz and one or two alternative glove combinations on an individual
trip and comparing them. Also note that I did not have a lot of wet weather conditions to test the
gloves, since the Southwest is having its worst drought in 110 years.
Here are some general impressions of the four combinations of gloves. The neoprene gloves are
not breathable and accumulate perspiration inside and feel clammy, they are somewhat warm, they
grip well, and are fairly durable. The "chemical gloves" are cheap, very lightweight, are not
breathable and accumulate perspiration, are not warm, do not grip well, and are not durable. The
Black Diamond shells breathe fairly well, are not very waterproof because of the sewn seams, are
not very warm, grip well, and are fairly durable. Finally, the SealSkinz are not very breathable and
accumulate perspiration inside and feel "clammy", are somewhat warm, they grip extremely well,
and they are extremely durable.
Luckily, I requested the SealSkinz in size XL so I could wear liners inside of them, and that
turned out to be the best combination for me. The SealSkinz by themselves worked fine in cool
weather and lower-exertion activities, such as hiking on flat or downhill terrain. The exertion level
was the key factor. As my exertion level increased, the more my hands sweated in the gloves and
the clammier they felt, which was very uncomfortable, and often resulted in cold hands. However,
wearing liners inside the SealSkinz, and changing them as often as needed to remove the moisture,
worked very well for me. Overall, the SealSkinz with liners was the best combination for
waterproofness, warmth, grippiness, and durability. Following is a more detailed outline of my
impressions of the SealSkinz, and some constructive feedback for the manufacturer.
The features that I liked best about the SealSkinz gloves were the following:
- Waterproofness. These gloves are definitely waterproof, and stay waterproof. The
alternative gloves develop holes and leak.
- 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. The gripper dots do not come
off with use.
- 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.
After six months, they show very little wear. The alternative gloves (listed above) could
not take this kind of use without wearing through, tearing, or snagging. Thus, it appears
that the SealSkinz will last a long time, which makes them a good investment.
- They work well in combination with liners – providing you get the SealSkinz a size
larger than you normally wear, so they will accept liners without being too tight. The
SealSkinz in combination with liner gloves are warm and very waterproof and durable.
More on this later.
Features I did not like:
- Not Breathable. The gloves are not very breathable. When I'm exerting (e.g., climbing a
steep trail) and/or hiking 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 very breathable. 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 in dry weather. In warm/wet weather, the gloves
alone were comfortable (the amount of perspiration inside the gloves was correlated with
temperature and exertion level, but there was not a problem with my hands being chilled).
Below 25-35 degrees (depending on activity level) I needed to wear a liner inside them to
keep my hands warm. Under moderate or high exertion in cool and cold weather, with or
without a liner, the gloves accumulated perspiration, then 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 to remove the moisture. Changing liners only helped
somewhat because the inner (cotton-like) lining of the gloves absorbs moisture 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.
Discussion:
Overall, I like the SealSkinz gloves because they are tough, durable, and waterproof. But, as
noted above I have several qualifiers to that statement. For hiking in warm/wet conditions, they
work great by themselves when I have my full raingear on, I am walking down the trail in the rain,
and I want to stay warm and dry. In cool/wet conditions, they will do the same job if I use liners
inside of them. In colder weather, and cool weather when I am hiking hard enough to generate
some metabolic heat, the gloves get quite clammy inside. When I stop, the accumulated moisture
inside the gloves cools, my hands get cold, and I can't get them warmed up again. It helps to
change liners, but the cotton-like lining of the gloves holds a lot of moisture, which keeps them
cool.
How does this compare with alternative gloves? Better in a lot of ways. There does not appear to
be any perfect glove that will keep your hands dry and warm in wet conditions. Even Gore-Tex
fails in very damp conditions when there is little vapor pressure gradient and a lot of perspiration
to move out. It would be very difficult for any glove to defy physics and move water out under
cool/wet conditions. Waterproof/breathable jackets, for example, accomplish it through a
combination of ventilation and fabric breathability. There is no easy way to ventilate gloves and
have them be waterproof at the same time. So the solution seems to be to use liners and change
them as often as needed to remove the moisture.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
- SealSkinz is a specialty product. The main reason for wearing SealSkinz is for their
waterproofness, and to engage in a variety of activities in spite of wet weather. Given that
situation, the challenge is getting rid of perspiration that accumulates inside the gloves.
The situation is similar to wearing plastic gloves – they accumulate perspiration and get
clammy inside, which feels uncomfortable. The solution I found is to wear liners inside of
them and change the liners as often as needed. This means that the gloves should be sized
to be worn with liners. The liners help to absorb perspiration and avoid clamminess.
- The inner cotton-like fabric layer might be replaced with fleece or some hydrophobic
fabric that does not absorb water or lessens the clammy feel. That 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. This approach would help the customer to more readily get a waterproof glove
system, instead of the customer having to use trial and error to find what he needs.
- Overall, it would help if SealSkinz would market their gloves (and socks) as a "system" to
keep hands and feet dry under a variety of conditions, and provide information on how to
match their products to your needs and how to use their products to obtain the best
performance.
SealSkinz Socks Six Month 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 gloves. 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. Similar to the gloves, as my
exertion level increased, the more often I needed to change socks inside the SealSkinz to eliminate
accumulated perspiration and the clamminess feeling.
_____________________________________________________________________________
I appreciate the opportunity to test the SealSkinz gloves and socks. I would like to thank the
Danalco company for supplying the gloves and socks for this test, and for supporting the concept
of the BackpackGearTest user group. I hope my comments and suggestions are constructive and
useful, and I would be willing to respond to any inquiries about my evaluation.
Will Rietveld
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