Are Hand Jammies Lame?

I would like to preface this by saying that I do not own a pair of Hand Jammies, and I have taped up my hands like a good red bloodied American for several years now. That being said, it was brought to my attention recently that BD listed Hand Jammies as "lame".
Admittedly I have poked fun at the Jammies for years... then I saw a picture in an advertisement of an elderly man in his 60s-70s climbing a crack at J-tree with some HJs on and thought.. "gheez, that makes a lot of sense to me." From that point on it has been a slippery slope effect, and now I find myself wondering.....
"Maybe we could learn something from our elders here. Maybe Hand Jammies are the ecological alternative to the growing pile of trashed tape which occurs at places like the creek. Maybe Hand Jammies would protect me from infectious Guano smears inside cracks better. Maybe in my next ten years of climbing I would save a fair amount of wasted material if I just got myself a pair of these things, got a tee-shirt that said "LAME", to save the jerk elitists some wasted breath, and called it good?
True, I will miss watching my white gloves turn brown and the satisfaction of removing said gloves..knowing this is the last bit of pain I have to experience at the end of a day of crack climbing... but maybe I need to sacrifice my pride, and just do what makes the most common sense.

Am I slipping here or what? When are they going to make finger tape for boulderers that is reusable?

hand jammies are lame.

I may rethink my position if I am still climbing at 70 years old.

that is all.

Yes, hand-jammies are lame.

Believe it or not, I once knew a guy that both taped-up and wore hand-jammies at the same time. If the crack got too thin enroute he would remove the hand-jammies (and visa-versa).

But, heck, if that what it takes to enjoy the rock, then have at it!

Bob Scarpelli- " These things will invalidate every climb I have ever done ". Yes Bob did say - invalidate.

They are no more lame than rubber on your feet or any other of the compromises we make. I've not used hand jammies but I still own and use the old spider mitts and they are way better than tape.

You can only say hand jammies are lame if you never use tape.

This is going to turn into a thread about who's style is "real climbing." Always does. I say if you want to wear them and it makes you enjoy your experience climbing, because in the end nothing else about our silly sport matters, then go for it.

Btw, my style is soooo much better than your style.

I can't use em because they press right on a nerve/tendon on one of my knuckles and it hurts like hell, but I fell they have their time and place. My 56 year old father uses them sometimes, and I can't blame him, your skin gets thinner and dryer as you get older, especially when you've spent 40 years with chalk all over you hands. You shouldn't judge someone for wearing them, but in my experience they tend to be more awkward than helpful.

Yes they are lame. But, if you are 70 and still climbing that's pretty cool and thus counterbalances the lameness of hand jammies.

It's all a question of balance. If you climb barefoot you can use handjammies. Use a hemp rope... hand jammies are fine. If your rack consists of a few pitons and some chocks, hand jammies are acceptable.

But, if you have good footwork, nice technique and fluid movement, you already have an unfair advantage and thus hand jammies are cheating.

Phil, You sound like Hand Jammie wearing, Pinko Commie...I'm going to keep my eye on you.

Do you really care what others think ?

I've been climbing cracks for 30+ years.
Pretty much tried it all, no tape, tape, hand jammies and scar tissue.

HJs are on my rack, they're not the ultimate, but they have their place.
Awesome in wide hands and fist cracks.

I like the way Baxter put it once (to paraphrase):
after 40 years of scar tissue, give an old guy a break.

These things definitely help from tearing up scar tissue.

I am 57 and have been taping for years. The backs of my hands have so much scar tissue on them that if I look at them wrong the skin peels off and instant skin tear. That being said I have always raised my eyebrow over someone donning a pair of jammies. I can't say I will ever use them but the truth being told if tape is acceptable jammies have to fall in there somewhere. What ever makes the climbing experience enjoyable is fine with me.

ha ha, found it:

Personal Use Superimposed Seam Yankers

good question. one can only answer for themselves. its all grey.

i personally would put handjammies in the same category as kneepads in Rifle, or heel spurs for ice, or hell even stick clips etc.

but is it much different than wearing long sleeves and pants for offwidth?!

i personally dont have a pair. but i typically dont really tape for cracks anymore. maybe some on select fingers for hard ones. but i find myself wearing belay gloves and approach shoes for some wide cracks or warm ups. so maybe not too much different.

as tyler durden says. "hey man, do what you like"

Never say never. I have yet to try them and I doubt I ever will but, never say never. I will admit when I see them though, I think "dork". But who cares what I think.

My thinking is, improve your technique and toughen up your hands first but don't ruin a climbing trip by getting major gobage your first day.

I found a pair laying around some 10 years ago, and I have yet to use them.

I guess my style is just too good.

Just wait til the Nano Technology, of replicating Gecko's feet is applied to climbing gloves, and shoes.

Are hand jammies lame? Obviously, that depends on your point of view.

If you believe there's a fundamental difference between using hand jammies and using tape gloves, you might consider hand jammies lame.

If you believe using anything other than your bare hands to climb is a form of cheating, you probably consider hand jammies lame (of course, that would make tape gloves lame too).

I have hand jammies and use them; I've also used tape gloves. I don't consider hand jammies to give me any kind of climbing advantage over tape gloves. If anything, jammies are sometimes a disadvantage when they make your hand too thick to fit a crack. The only advantage of hand jammies for me is the convenience factor of not having to go through the damn hassle of making the tape gloves.

If other climbers consider me "lame" for using hand jammies, I couldn't care less.

JL

The name is lame. Before hand jammies came another design with a cooler name, I can never remember what they are called. Anyway, I have a pair of these old versions and have used them occasionally.

Tape works better, IMHO. But tape takes time to apply, and sometimes you need to climb a short crack section and don't want to bother with the whole taping scenario. In this case, these devices work well.

George Bell wrote:The name is lame.

Heh, have to agree with you there! "Hand Jammies" sounds like something made by Fisher Price.

I think a name like "Krack Konquerors" would eliminate the lameness perception entirely. A lightning bolt logo would also be a plus.

JL

Paul Davidson wrote:Do you really care what others think?

That about sums it up. Just like anything else in climbing, its about personal preference. I haven't used em- but I look at em' at Mtn. Chalet every time in there and think hmmmm, should I?

If its "cheating" or not..?? That debate will always be there. Some think thick tape is cheating, some think tape period is. Who cares? Back in the day some climber was like "Duuuude- check out these EB's I got from Europe or CA or something, totally rad man. Rubber n shit on em- should I use em?? Is it cheating? ARE THEY LAME?"....know what Im saying. Same for Cams, helmets, gri-gri....etc. Look where we are now- .15b sport,.14+ trad, sick ice-aid-mixed.

Steph Davis says it best in the Jan 09' issue of Climbing- "I find it hard to get worked up about climbing "ethics"-they seem like a euphamism for telling others what to do. I would love to see some of the passion people put into climbing ethics directed towards substantial issues..." So- (yes, I am guilty- but bored at work!)

Hand jammies, like tape, protect your hands and give you friction. If you like em' and they work for you- wear em. As far as the climbing community acceptance of them- well, how that affects or matters to someone is their own too. So what if others think they are "lame"?

BTW- the Eco-impact mentioned in the first thread concerning tape seems like a very good point. How many crags [IC] are just tape collection junk yards. HJ's or something reusable like that, could be an answer and the next invention waiting to happen...???

Bob who said what??

In climbing there is no ufair advantage- just skill, technique, gear, mental aspect and style. How or what someone uses/has of those things is individual- just like the sport.

Ok....flamers attack!!!! And nervermind the above- you can only wear HJ's if you climb OW tapeless, shirtless and in hemp soled cobnail boots.... :)

nah a prAna logo on them would make them cool.

what if you wore them backwards and climbed slab with them?