Not all waters and exciting waves are found in the warm Pacific areas, there are also wonderful waves attractive to all surfers that are found even during cold winter months. Just like any sport it is possible with the right equipment of course. To venture out in the cold without them is like suicide in hypothermia.
For experienced cold water surfers, they will actually say the last thing to put on should be your neoprene wetsuit gloves. And why is that so? Well for a start depending on how cold the water is, usually the first thing to put on is the wetsuit made of neoprene materials. Then if the water gets colder you put on the boots and then lastly your neoprene gloves and hood.
For flexibility a lot of them avoid the gloves. Mainly because of paddling issues. Granted neoprene gloves still gets a few water into your hands slowing the surfer down a little but still they are the only piece of equipment that can protect his hands enabling him to surf cold waters. But of course as a surfer, you better have that encumbrance than resist a day without an exciting surfing experience.
Here are a few tips in knowing all about the right choice of neoprene gloves for surfing. Neoprene types comes in stretchy and hugs the contours of the hands better than any other type. Therefore it allows less room for water to get into hence you can paddle faster.
Most neoprene thickness recommended for wetsuit gloves is 2mm to 5mm. The thicker they are the warmer you get. But of course you will want lesser feeling in your hands so you want lighter seams on the wetsuit gloves. There should be less water coming into your gloves so there are the blindstitched and liquid taped seams quality. These are the ones designed for waterproof types.
So get only real tight fitting gloves as they tend to expand more in water. If they are too big, you will feel like your hands are floating inside it and for sure it will pull down your paddle. It will feel like you are lifting a pound of water the moment you are lifting your hands off the water. Same thing like when you are wearing a big wetsuit or booties on.
Check how long do you want your neoprene gloves reach into your arm. They should be just long enough not to slip under your wetsuit which will fill up the water even before you venture out into the cold water for surfing. The longer your gloves the better it is for you so you avoid less water accumulation. It is even better if it comes with a strap that tightens it around your arms.
Finally there is the grip issue. Neoprene tends to be slippery and the last thing you want to have is having your gloves fall off the water as you paddle or slip off the surfboard rails just when you are about to stand up. So it should have a non skid surface probably made of a rubbery material on surface of the palm area for easy non slip grip.
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