Ice Gloves

There are two primary characteristics of these gloves: they are warm and they are a bit bulky (they separate your fingers a bit). But if you're wearing them when your hands would otherwise be freezing (as your face likely is at the time) you won't be thinking about the bulk ;-)

Pros:

• Warmth: These are great when it's freezing out. The fact that they are also waterproof means you can have your hands in freezing snow for hours on end (which is useful when you're plunging into deep powder every step). The warmth, however, means that these are too warm for for me above freezing, esp. ice climbing. In warm ice climbing weather I prefer the BD Dry Tool glove (but wish it had some knuckle padding) and the neoprene Glacier Glove. Of course, two of my friends have had cold hands with the BD Ice gloves at the same exact time....
• Knuckle Padding: Every glove for ice climbing should have some so the padding an all four fingers is a great thing. Of course, now I'm much more careful with my swings - with and without padding.

Things (for BD) to consider:

• Freezing: I'm not sure if all gloves have this characteristic or not, but these gloves are fine and warm when I'm wearing them but in adverse conditions, if I take them off just for a few moments and put them on the snow to take a photo, I find that the glove fingers are frozen when I put them back on. Possibly from the moisture inside but I've had to bite off ice that had formed on the outside of the fingers....
• Liners: If my hands are even slightly wet or damp from a little snow, it is a bit of a challenge to get them back into the liners comfortably. Is there a better fabric out there for this?

Overall, nice gloves but definately built for more extreme conditions. A few minor touches would make these excellent (5-stars) but we'll see.

Nice gloves, a lil bulky but for real cold days everything is. I have the older gortex models. The liners are a lil wierd, they bunch up alot. I prefer to use my powerstrech gloves instead

I got a chance to borrow a pair 4 years ago. That sold me. When they became available in Montreal I snapped up a pair. I have a lot of trouble with cold hands up high and while I prefer mitts for the added warmth these have worked will for me. I have only used them mountaineering above 19,000 feet. They keep me pretty warm. At lower alitudes unless they weather is really crappy they are almost too warm. But this can never be a problem with a glove. I have not used them ice climbing but I am sure they work well. They seem almost molded to my hands. A tad expensive but I will spend any amount of cash to keep my hands and digits warm.

Used these gloves at 14000 feet in 10 degree F temps and lots of wind and they kept my hands warm. Three days later I used them ice climbing in near zero F temps and they kept my hands warm except when actually climbing when I don't think anything would have kept my hands warm. Stayed dry even when I had water splash over them.



I would like a wrist strap so I could sinch them down tigher for ice climbing.



Would buy these again.

I bought a pair of these a little over a year ago. They kept my hands toasty warm and dry last January in New Hampshire at -25F and 35mph wind. The padding is definitely effective--nary a bruise even after two solid days of swinging tools into some very brittle ice.

Awesome gloves, great grip and really good warmth for the weight.



A solid buy, for ice climbing and mountaineering.

I have the 2002-2003 version. BD has redesigned the Ice Glove for 2004. My review is for the version of the glove pictured above...



Pluses: Nice warmth, nice dexterity, nice waterproofness.



Minuses: insulation ends at the wrist cinch. The rest of the gauntlet (up past the wrist) is un-insulated. I get a real bad cold spot at my wrists when I wear these gloves with some of my jackets.



Minus for me, maybe not for others: I have narrow-ish hands and fingers. These gloves would fit someone with wider hands better than they do me. For me, the fit is a bit sloppy.

I started ice climbing in 2004 with these, with leashed tools. They work fine for easier climbing and following.

But when I started leading ice I decided to use thinner gloves and just carry multiple pairs, rotating them between my hands and the inside of my jacket. This yields better dexterity for placing gear, at least for me.

These gloves are great for mountaineering though.

These work pretty good ice climbing. I would by them one size bigger than you might liner gloves or mittens as I can't wear a liner in them which is a drawback. They're very nice gloves. Warm, comfortable, and durable. They require a little break in time but otherwise they work great.

I just bought these and used them in Peru up to 18K feet on technical terrain. These are awesome. My hands were warm the whole time and the dexterity is just fine. Great product.