Belay glove (advertising)

So my old gloves are worn through at the juncture of my thumb and forefinger and on my little finger. Apparently that's where the pressure points are when I lower. So, it's time to get a new pair. I'd like to see how reinforced those points are on the commercial offerings and yet, when I go look at belay gloves on-line, what do I see? The back of the hand. What the hell is with that? Back of the hand is totally secondary! In every case, every company, I see the back of the hand. What does the back of my hand have to do with belaying? I don't even hit my climber with the back of my hand when he/she deserves it for failing to send! Damn it! We hates them!

true, but if you also use your belay gloves for aid climbing, the back of the hand is really important...a thinner material will rip apart and destroy your knuckles....just sayin

Belay gloves are for aid climbing. The knuckles and the back of the hand are crucial (as said above) because that's what gets torn up when you take shorter falls.

If you need belay gloves for lowering you're doing it wrong.

I've been totally psyched on these Wells Lamont leather gloves. $12 from the local hardware store. Reinforced in the palm area where you're likely to have the rope run through while lowering and cheap enough to not be too concerned when they do wear out. The back of the glove is a breathable mesh so hands don't get too clammy.

Also, try switching your lowering hand from time to time to keep one glove from wearing unevenly from repeated lowering.

Using belay gloves for lowering, or any belaying/rapping, is never *doing it wrong.* It's doing it right. You don't have to use them, but they are always a good idea and add a small margin of safety for rare accidents. And they save your skin for the climbing.

Don't give lame advice, eh?

Oddly, the holes I've worn in mine are on my non-brake ring finger. I've aided, rapped, and belayed with mine. Those holes mystify me a bit.

I use the tip-less Metolius ... On my second pair.

The reinforcing between the thumb and pointer seems to hold up well. Pinky in dominant hand wears out first ... perhaps from lowering from below althouh that is mostly a guess.

I don 't aid climb .

I use the Metolius Iron Hand.

I use gloves for belaying simply to keep my hands clean.

Outdoor Research's website shows both sides of the glove. I think they're about the most expensive belay gloves out there, but the fit and reinforcement is really great.

Unfortunately, more reinforced belay gloves mean reduced gripping force i.e. they'll suck more for belaying.

They really should call nearly all "climbing gloves" something else like vertical work gloves. All that extra leather makes the gloves very wear resistant but you have to grip MUCH harder to catch a fall. Pretty much NOT what you want. Rappelling is it's own "thing" because you're not dealing with high loads so much as you are lots of continuous friction.

REAL belay gloves, IMO, are not all that durable. They provide a layer of protection so you won't burn your hands with a hard catch BUT they also provide GRIP so that you can actually make the hard catch.

The thin leather style "Mechanix Glove" is the best belay glove out there right now - often quite cheap so durability shouldn't be that much of a concern. BD Crag Gloves can be found for $15

mattm wrote:Unfortunately, more reinforced belay gloves mean reduced gripping force i.e. they'll suck more for belaying. They really should call nearly all "climbing gloves" something else like vertical work gloves. All that extra leather makes the gloves very wear resistant but you have to grip MUCH harder to catch a fall. Pretty much NOT what you want. Rappelling is it's own "thing" because you're not dealing with high loads so much as you are lots of continuous friction. REAL belay gloves, IMO, are not all that durable. They provide a layer of protection so you won't burn your hands with a hard catch BUT they also provide GRIP so that you can actually make the hard catch. The thin leather style "Mechanix Glove" is the best belay glove out there right now - often quite cheap so durability shouldn't be that much of a concern. BD Crag Gloves can be found for $15

Mark Hudon wrote:I use the Metolius Iron Hand. I use gloves for belaying simply to keep my hands clean.