Damascus DZ-9 SubZERO gloves

[jnathan]

A few months ago I bought a package containing a pair of Damascus (http://www.uscav.com/Productinfo.aspx?productID=9545&TabID=1&CatID=5230) DZ-9 SubZERO gloves and a pair of Damascus MX-10 Nexstar I gloves from U.S. Cavalry. Now that it's cold out, I realize I've made a poor choice...


I bought the DZ-9/MX-10 package primarily for the DZ-9 SubZERO gloves. I live in SouthEastern Michigan and I wanted a warm glove that offered high dexterity.

I received the gloves when it was still relatively warm out and I've enjoyed wearing them for the past couple months. Though these gloves have some nice features such as a full leather palm, other aspects of the quality are questionable. For example, the very first day I received the gloves some of the wrist strap stitching tore on the left hand DZ-9.

Unfortunately, the DZ-9 SubZERO gloves have failed to live up to their primary selling feature; that they will keep your hands warm to -40 F. This past week (beginning 1/14/2007) has been very cold, as low as 12 F, and my hands were NOT warm wearing the DZ-9 SubZERO gloves. They were cold enough to convince me to write this review.

I suspect that if you wore these gloves in -40 degree weather (-40 is the same temperature for Celcius and Fahrenheit), you'd end up with frostbite.

I posted this review on U.S. Cavalry's website but despite my technical Kung-Fu I don't see my review (perhaps they must approve it first? )

-Jeff







edit: Shortened link. Please have a look here on how to do this yourself: How to shorten a link to just a word or phrase. (http://edcforums.com/index.php?topic=5896.msg72625#msg72625) :gz:

[bruner]

jnathan,

Thanks for posting that review. It's nice to see a new member contributing to our library of EDC information.

Sorry to hear that the gloves didn't work out for you, but thanks for warning the rest of us.

Take care and post more reviews :)

Thanks,
Dan

[RoisonDubh]

So how about some suggestions from the board as to a good pair of warm and thin gloves?

Any recommendations?

[7k7k99]

thanks for the review on the SubZERO gloves, I almost bought those, glad I didn't

I don't think there is such an animal as thin and warm

I bought the bulky Cabelas Military Gore Tex Gloves (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0040159960284a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=gore+tex+gloves&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=gore+tex+gloves&noImage=0)

haven't had a chance to use them yet, but expecting really cold weather in the next few days

[Vic303]

Actually the warmest pair of gloves I ever had while living in KS, was a pair of Fleece with Windstopper built in. As long as they stayed DRY, your hands were warm.

[mr.fixit]

For me the warmest gloves are neoprene. They are thin, less than 5mm thick. They're available as diving gloves or hunting gloves. Cost is about $10-30. They've usually got good grip in the palm and are curved a bit (like the hand is) for a good fit. My hands stay toasty, even in below zero temps. Even if they get wet inside, they're warm :)

[scríbhneoir]

Welcome, mr.fixit, to EDCF!

Karen

[Goldtanker]

Hi mr.fixit-

Welcome to EDCF!

Denny

[mr.fixit]

Thanks, Guys! :highfive:

[beardy]

I haven't found any gloves that will keep hands warm down to -40 without some time of heating source built in. There is just so much surface area that heat loss is so much more rapid than my circulation can keep up with. Interestingly, I looked at a bunch of technical mountaineering gloves, and once you get below -10F, many companies only offer mittens.

Nice review!

[cratz2]

Hrmm... Well, my issue with the neoprene gloves is that if you are working hard enough to build up a slight sweat, they feel really cold, at leat when the wind gets under them. I have a pair that had worked while just walking through the woods and general outdoor use, and they are pretty thin AND they had a nice, grippy rubber palm. But here in Indiana, we recently had quite a bit of snow and I had to shovel the driveway twice in one pre-dawn morning, then three times on another day and each time it was only in the ~10 degree range. They were fine when I first started working, but since they have no airflow, your hands tend to get pretty sweaty relaively quickly. I found that while facing into the wind, they were fine, but when working the same direction as the wind, a bit of wind with get into the gloves and particularly my middle fingers and ring fingers would get quite cold. Mine are not fleece lined though and I suspect that would help a lot.

The only pair of gloves that I have that are good for when it's really cold are a pair from Whitewater Outdoors. Not sure of the model, as they are no longer listed on the website but they are Advantage camo, have about a 2" strip across the palm, but not on any of the fingers but the first and middle fingers are double thick material. They are not really conducive to archery when using a trigger and I don't think they were billed as shooting gloves in any way. They are Gor Tex and Thermolate and they actually have a thin plastic type membrane. I have two pairs and one pair did get quite a bit of wear when we were laying block on a particularly cold day.

I also have a pair of thinner gloves that are suede type leather covering over heavy fleece and have 40 gram Thinsulate. They are very good, and are actually pretty good for dexterity, but they sure wouldn't work down to -40.

I don't know that they'd be good down to -40, but I think that is really asking a LOT from a normal type glove. The gloves they use in SUPER cold regions usually have seperate fingers, and then an additional mitton type cover OVER the traditional glove. I think a glove that will honestly protect you at -40 will not be conducive to dexterity at ALL.

[DUQ]

. The gloves they use in SUPER cold regions usually have seperate fingers, and then an additional mitton type cover OVER the traditional glove. I think a glove that will honestly protect you at -40 will not be conducive to dexterity at ALL.


Absolutely right cratz2. Over the years I pick up differnt gloves trying to find something better but I always go back to my old standard. Wool gloves under cow hide mitts. The gloves must have a cuff long enough to go under your coat sleeve and the outer mitt should be long enough to go over the two. Elastic at the wrist or adjusting strap is also a plus. I have a box of gloves that have not performed as claimed, most of which I end up donating to a charity. A little "pay it forward" goes a long way.

[Unsub]

These are canadian military goretex gloves with goatskin palms and are as warm as you can get in a glove. After these you will need mits. Where I live it often gets to -50C for months .http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/2/5419451789.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4849821) I use these when riding my motorbike in below freezing weather and they are fine. Helly Hansen gloveliners are usually overkill. These were designed to be the warmest gloves were you could still operate equipment.