Bones
Your Humble Scribe
My search for a decent rain glove may never end.
For years I've used the $3 rubber glove covers available from Aerostich which keep 100% of the rain out and provide decent grip and dexterity. (The dexterity issue keeps me away from Aerostich Triple Digit covers.) One downside of rubber, however, is it keeps perspiration in so after a couple hours my hands start to get clammy.
Last year I decided to take advantage of a sale at motorcyclegear.com on S&S Dry Tech gloves. They proved unworthy of the “waterproof” description within minutes on my first ride wearing them in the rain. They weren’t expensive so I chalked it up to getting what I didn’t pay for and motorcyclegear.com was kind enough to give me credit toward another pair of gloves.
I decided to bite the bullet and buy a top-of-the-line waterproof glove, Held Rainstorm Gore-Tex. After I bought them I put over 10,000 miles on motorcycles and as luck would have it I hadn’t ridden in more than a shower, so they sat unused in my pannier. This past May, I was doing a product test of a rain suit on a day with steady moderate rain. I suited up, including those virgin Held Rainstorm gloves, and went for a ride on my Kawasaki Versys which has good size hand protectors. In under an hour my hands were damp. My rain suit test ride lasted over two hours and by then the inside of the fingers were wet and inside of the glove body was damp. The gauntlets, tucked under the rain suit sleeve, were bone dry so the water wasn’t entering from the sleeve end.
Even though it was the first time I'd worn the gloves, the warranty was already expired so motorcyclegear.com wasn't able to replace them. They did, however, go to bat for me and shipped them to Held for an assessment. Held performed a "3.5 hour leak test" and concluded that “the gloves do not leak.” So why were my hands getting more and more wet as I rode in the rain? On its report to me, Held cited "what Gore-Tex calls wet out or saturation. If the outside of the gloves are wet, then normal body sweat or perspiration cannot evaporate out through the Gore-Tex."
So $150 Held Rainstorm Gore-Tex lined rain gloves – pitched by Held as breathable and waterproof – cease to be breathable from the inside once they get wet on the outside. I can’t speak for everyone, but getting wet on the outside is typical of my experience riding in rain.
When an email I sent to Held got no response after several days I called to talk about my experience. I mentioned that my hands were beyond damp after only a couple hours in the rain. The helpful rep mentioned "Gore-Tex wet out" and suggested I Google it for more detail. She thought it was unusual that I'd ride in the rain for a couple hours. I said if it's raining and I need to be somewhere, short of truly dangerous conditions I ride. She assured me I was not typical in that regard. I suggested she must not know people who ride long distance. She said that the people she knows stop for a bite to eat when it starts raining. I suggested we know different people. Held clearly wasn’t going to do anything for me, so our phone call was over.
Even though they cost 50 times more, Held’s Rainstorm Gore-Tex lined “rain” gloves are no more useful in the rain than those $3 rubber dish gloves. FWIW, I’m still using the first pair of blue rubber gloves I bought in 2004. They’re not perfect but they’re as good or better than every option I’ve tried. Worn over Held Steves, their "clamminess factor" is better than the Held Rainstorm gloves, perhaps because the leather in the Steves wicks away some of the perspiration.
I have continued my search because (a) I like better ideas and (b) dry beats clammy. That said, in my view, invest $3 on rubber glove covers and save your money for gas and tires.
My $.02
For years I've used the $3 rubber glove covers available from Aerostich which keep 100% of the rain out and provide decent grip and dexterity. (The dexterity issue keeps me away from Aerostich Triple Digit covers.) One downside of rubber, however, is it keeps perspiration in so after a couple hours my hands start to get clammy.
Last year I decided to take advantage of a sale at motorcyclegear.com on S&S Dry Tech gloves. They proved unworthy of the “waterproof” description within minutes on my first ride wearing them in the rain. They weren’t expensive so I chalked it up to getting what I didn’t pay for and motorcyclegear.com was kind enough to give me credit toward another pair of gloves.
I decided to bite the bullet and buy a top-of-the-line waterproof glove, Held Rainstorm Gore-Tex. After I bought them I put over 10,000 miles on motorcycles and as luck would have it I hadn’t ridden in more than a shower, so they sat unused in my pannier. This past May, I was doing a product test of a rain suit on a day with steady moderate rain. I suited up, including those virgin Held Rainstorm gloves, and went for a ride on my Kawasaki Versys which has good size hand protectors. In under an hour my hands were damp. My rain suit test ride lasted over two hours and by then the inside of the fingers were wet and inside of the glove body was damp. The gauntlets, tucked under the rain suit sleeve, were bone dry so the water wasn’t entering from the sleeve end.
Even though it was the first time I'd worn the gloves, the warranty was already expired so motorcyclegear.com wasn't able to replace them. They did, however, go to bat for me and shipped them to Held for an assessment. Held performed a "3.5 hour leak test" and concluded that “the gloves do not leak.” So why were my hands getting more and more wet as I rode in the rain? On its report to me, Held cited "what Gore-Tex calls wet out or saturation. If the outside of the gloves are wet, then normal body sweat or perspiration cannot evaporate out through the Gore-Tex."
So $150 Held Rainstorm Gore-Tex lined rain gloves – pitched by Held as breathable and waterproof – cease to be breathable from the inside once they get wet on the outside. I can’t speak for everyone, but getting wet on the outside is typical of my experience riding in rain.
When an email I sent to Held got no response after several days I called to talk about my experience. I mentioned that my hands were beyond damp after only a couple hours in the rain. The helpful rep mentioned "Gore-Tex wet out" and suggested I Google it for more detail. She thought it was unusual that I'd ride in the rain for a couple hours. I said if it's raining and I need to be somewhere, short of truly dangerous conditions I ride. She assured me I was not typical in that regard. I suggested she must not know people who ride long distance. She said that the people she knows stop for a bite to eat when it starts raining. I suggested we know different people. Held clearly wasn’t going to do anything for me, so our phone call was over.
Even though they cost 50 times more, Held’s Rainstorm Gore-Tex lined “rain” gloves are no more useful in the rain than those $3 rubber dish gloves. FWIW, I’m still using the first pair of blue rubber gloves I bought in 2004. They’re not perfect but they’re as good or better than every option I’ve tried. Worn over Held Steves, their "clamminess factor" is better than the Held Rainstorm gloves, perhaps because the leather in the Steves wicks away some of the perspiration.
I have continued my search because (a) I like better ideas and (b) dry beats clammy. That said, in my view, invest $3 on rubber glove covers and save your money for gas and tires.
My $.02
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