Youngstown Waterproof Winter Plus Work Gloves
Warm hands during wet winters
I received these gloves about six years ago from my wife, in one of those rare intersections of need and availability. It was Christmastime and I needed to shovel, so I broke these out and went to work. I never gave them a second thought, until I realized I had done a fair amount of ice chopping, opening the garage, and manipulating other things without ever removing the gloves. This is somewhat of a rarity for me since I usually cannot work in gloves. Fast-forward to spring, and I used them to protect my hands when chopping and stacking wood; working on the car; working in the garage. I *far extended* the prescribed use of these, despite the fact that they were winter gloves and waterproof. In a pinch, I’ve even used them when moving flaming logs in an outdoor fire pit.
A short word about the waterproofing: I tend to agree with other owners in that these aren’t strictly waterproof. If I was a long-line fisherman I may not use them. However, as a north Jersey resident who works on his cars, shovels snow, and builds snowmen for the kids, I can attest to their warmth and utility in the cold and wet.
With respect to function, they fit my slightly larger hand size well, and the back strap does seal in against cold and snow. The palms and fingers are textured and I am able to pick up bolts, thread nuts, small tools and sockets, and work with wrenches rather easily. The fingertips are boxed, not tapered, but in some ways the fingertips work to my advantage in picking up things on the ground.
When they get *really* dirty, you can toss them in the wash. The construction is such that the inner glove liner is not sewn to the shell, but it is a huge pain in the posterior to re-fit the glove components back to original fit. I used a wooden spoon and patience to eventually restore it to normal comfort.
You can kill them. Eventually, I wore them down at the seams where the fingers meet the palm, and the palm itself. I hung onto them as long as I could but until recently could not find them. I hung onto the wrist strap tag so that if I ever found them online, I’d be ready. I rediscovered them on Amazon not too long ago and will be re-ordering soon. I plan to look at the normal work ones in addition to the winter ones; the capacitive thread ones look intriguing, since they have a conductive thread sewn into the fingertips and thumbs for smartphone use.
01/23/12Youngstown Waterproof Winter Plus Glove $29
