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The cold world of skimo & alpine climbing

The cold world of skimo & alpine climbing

Monday, January 21, 2013

REI Fall Glove..a best buy.





In the climbing  pictures on the last two blog posts I am using REIs "Fall" glove.  It is an well insulated,  light weight soft shell, with a combo synthetic and leather palm and fingers.  Easy to place screws and rap with.  Even though I generally prefer a full leather palm on my climbing gloves.   And a bit less bulk.  These are a bit bulky in my Nomic grip until used some and the insulation in the palm is compacted...which took a couple of days.  And hopefully they will compact just a tiny bit more.  My guess is they will and end up being a "perfect fit". And one of my first choices when I need a little extra warmth.

So far they have stayed dry and exceptionally warm which I really appreciate in a high dagger on alpine snice with cold dry snow over it.  The cuff isn't very long or very tight but worked well over both a hard shell and alone with a soft shell while on everything from wet grade 3 to 4+ water and then cold snow over alpine ice.  I was impressed as I had my gloves on and off at least a hundred times taking photos and sorting gear over the weekend.  Perfect way generally to soak your gloves quite quickly.



I shook the Fall out every time before putting them back on.  That helped protect them from adding unwanted moisture internally by getting the snow and ice out early.  So did the gloves ability to dry with just my hand's body heat while I was wearing them.

They cost me $40 on sale.  $60 retail, which I would likely pay if  I really had to.  No refund on the coop dividend with that $40 price.  But I feel like they have already paid for themselves with warm and dry hands every minute I used them so far.  That is never an easy job no matter the glove's price point.   I have other gloves that are more (some a lot more) than twice the price of the  REI "FALL", that I know wouldn't have kept me as warm or as dry in the same circumstances.

REI sez:

Soft-shell REI Fall gloves
  • Waterproof, windproof and breathable REI Elements® inserts help keep hands dry and warm on snowy days
  • Polyfill synthetic insulation provides extra warmth
  • Soft-shell exteriors offer good dexterity; polyurethane palms with leather patches grip well
  • REI Fall gloves have a slim wrist design that fits under jacket cuffs to seal out cold air (and it is much better than it sounds)


3 comments:

Dee said...

Hey Dane. I am currently using a pair of mountain equipment alpine gloves for skiing and climbing. I am looking a for something a bit warmer for those days when its -10 C. Would these fit the bill. Also I am after a pair of mitts that I can put my hand plus ME alpine glove into at belays. I don't like taking off my climbing gloves then putting on mitts. Just stick hand and glove straight into insulated mitt. Any recommendations.

Dane said...

They might work. The FALL is a pretty warm glove in my collection of Mtn Hardware and OR gloves. You have pretty much quoted the temps I wanted the FALL for. I think they will be perfect there for me. Mitts? I hardly own any these days. But I would look to OR first if I wanted something along those lines.

James said...

Dane, you should try out the MEC shaman gloves. Same idea, but with full leather palms. I think they're $40 retail. Used to be $35, sadly. Don't come pre-treated with DWR, but once you treat them, they tend to stay dry, and I don't usually soak them too fast from my sweat. Nice dexterity for climbing. The Prophet is the insulated version of it with reinforced palms. My climbing partner has them and he loves them.