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robdotcalm
Nov 24, 2008, 3:58 PM
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Is there anyone out there that wears gloves while belaying? In the thread on CF (Complex Fastening)-ellettes, RGold recommends wearing gloves when belaying.
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...5;page=unread#unread
When I started climbing, we belayed around the hips. Like most climbers then, I always wore leather gloves and a heavy shirt while belaying. For those of you too young to know about such things, the heavy shirt protected the back in case the rope rode up (there were ways to deal with that, but they weren’t foolproof). Anyway, about 30 years ago, I was introduced to the Sticht Plate, the forerunner of most of today’s belay devices. After a short while, I stopped wearing leather gloves. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it just sort of happened. The running of the rope through the hand was so much less than with a hip belay, the gloves seemed unnecessary. I still own the gloves but they are used only for tasks around the house and not for climbing.
By the way my experiences with rappelling are similar. I first rappelled using the Dulfersizt and always wore gloves. Switching to the Sticht Plate, I gradually stopped using gloves for rappelling.
Gratias et valete bene!
RobertusPunctumPacificus
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clews
Nov 24, 2008, 4:05 PM
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for belaying I don't but in certain situations rapelling I do.
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coolcat83
Nov 24, 2008, 4:06 PM
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i don't wear them and never had a problem. but i've mostly climbed with ropes 10mm and greater, for something skinny i'd probably wear gloves at least for the break hand.
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blueeyedclimber
Nov 24, 2008, 4:07 PM
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I do not wear gloves, but definitely do not dismiss the idea. With today's higher friction belay devices, I do not think they are necessary in most situations, but here are some reasons to consider wearing gloves.
1. low friction belay device, skinny rope, heavy climber....or any combination of the 3.
2. Wet or icy conditions. You would want gloves anyways for warmth, but make sure they are thick enough around the palm so that the rope does not eat a hole through them.
3. There is a risk of a high factor fall.
Josh
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USnavy
Nov 24, 2008, 4:07 PM
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Yes it is ok to wear gloves. In some situations its quite important to do so such as when protecting a leader from a factor two fall. If a leader takes a factor two fall the rope will pull through the belay device and if you don’t have gloves on you could easily end up dropping him 60m to the end of the rope.
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climbingaggie03
Nov 24, 2008, 4:07 PM
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I don't wear gloves, unless I'm aid or ice climbing.
I can see if you make a mistake and the rope starts running through the atc uncontrolled, gloves would probably give you the protection you need to grab the rope, but I think that if you belay and rappel correctly, you don't need gloves. I have rappelled single strands of 9mm rope and found that my hands get a little warm, gloves would help, but they're not really necessary.
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Gmburns2000
Nov 24, 2008, 4:22 PM
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clews wrote: for belaying I don't but in certain situations rapelling I do.
Ditto, but I have been in a situation where, while I didn't need them, I could have used gloves for belaying.
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Goo
Nov 24, 2008, 4:23 PM
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When I'm rappelling on just a single strand of rope, just for the heck of it, I almost always wear gloves. you can do it barehanded, you just have to go really slowly--so i wear gloves. its fun to go fast.
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markc
Nov 24, 2008, 4:54 PM
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A friend uses gloves primarily for rappelling, but he runs around 200 pounds. At around 165, I haven't found the need for them. I did my first simul-rappels this summer, and I wondered how it would be gloveless. With a moderate pace, I didn't find it uncomfortable. I've toyed with the idea of getting belay/rap gloves, but I've gotten along adequately without them.
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rhythm164
Nov 24, 2008, 4:57 PM
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I don't, but after my wife caught me off a 20 foot whipper and ended up with rope burn on her hand, she does.
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dingus
Nov 24, 2008, 4:59 PM
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For like 2 decades (seriously????!) I suffered a problem of cracked skin on my right index finger.
After a day of climbing the skin extending from the edge of the nail bed to the tip of the finger would split open after a day of climbing. These skin splits can be VERY painful, surprisingly, esp. on day-3 of a wall climb.
I tried scrubbing, I tried soaking, still, RING AROUND THE COLLAR!
Oh wait a minute, wrong reference.
"You're soaking in it."
"DISH WASHING LIQUID!!!111"
All sorts of Drs and tribal herbalists tried to cure me (they tried to fix my finger too!).
First it was fungus. Dingus fungus. So I tried various potions and balms (who told you to put the balm on it???). They did not provide any help, scratch the Fungus Theory.
Then it was the way I clipped (or bit) my nails, cept that I changed every which way to no avail and it was ONLY THIS ONE FINGER.
Like clock work, a day out equaled a split finger (took about a week to heal).
A friend of mine sported belay gloves one day. As it so happened I broke my ankle that day and had to hike out on 3 fractures. It was a LONG afternoon, lol.
My partner found me a crutch stick and it had a rough spot on the pistol grip. She lent me a glove to pad the cane.
I noticed back at the car? NO SPLIT FINGER!
So I started wearing leather gloves, for hiking, for rope coiling, for belays, pretty much a lot of the time!
Guess what? My finger has not split once, NOT ONCE< (seriously!!!111?) since I went down the leather glove path.
Hind sight suggests it was a simple problem of my skin drying out and then cracking. The gloves apparently prevent that.
So yeah, I wear em now for balying... but not for the usual reasons haha.
DMT
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shorty
Nov 24, 2008, 5:14 PM
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I always considered wearing belay gloves a little geeky, but then had a chance to climb with Peter Croft. I thought it was a little odd that Peter pulled out a pair of belay gloves for every pitch, every route. When I asked why, he stated that:
1 - When he has to catch a fall, he can do it better with gloves.
2 - He has more hand strength for climbing at the end of the day if he has been wearing gloves while belaying.
If belay gloves work for an uber-climber like Peter Croft, they sure can't hurt a POS hack like me. I've been belaying with gloves since.
(This post was edited by shorty on Nov 24, 2008, 5:14 PM)
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shimanilami
Nov 24, 2008, 5:22 PM
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I wear gloves for the exact same reasons cited by Dingus and Shorty. If I'm going to fry my skin, I'm going to do it climbing, not belaying.
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petsfed
Nov 24, 2008, 5:24 PM
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When i use a gri-gri, I wear belay gloves. Lowering at more than an absolute snails pace causes the friction to be extreme, and I hate burnt hands at the end of the day.
For long rappels when I'm not wearing tape gloves, I'll break out the gloves. This is primarily because I want to get to the ground faster. 5 or 6 rappels before I can get back to the car? You better believe I'll be doing everything I can to safely speed up the process.
I've seen you rappel Rob and you don't seem to be in any particular rush. Then again you also described yourself as rather dull, by nature, and dull people rarely take needless risks.
If I'm climbing barehanded and the rock is sandstone (or the rope is still rather dirty), I occasionally break out the gloves to minimize rope gack build up.
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jeepnphreak
Nov 24, 2008, 5:54 PM
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I useally do not were gloves unless the temperatue drops below about 40F. My fingers can get cold while belaying in the fall.
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jakedatc
Nov 24, 2008, 6:01 PM
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I wear one or both belaying with my Cinch
i do not like the standard belay gloves by metolius, PMI etc. so i said "who uses gloves for rope work ALL the time?" Sailors !
super comfortable, good padding but still tons of dexterity and the cut off index finger and thumb let me load and use the Cinch much easier.
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markc
Nov 24, 2008, 6:19 PM
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I forgot that Dingus brought this up before. I get skin splits fairly often. (I have a couple right now, and they're not even from climbing.) I usually end multi-day trips with at least a few splits. Putting pressure on them while climbing isn't fun. The rope catching on dry edges while rappelling or flaking isn't great, either. I think I know what I'm asking for for X-mas.
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notapplicable
Nov 24, 2008, 6:22 PM
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I wear gloves to belay in cold weather, beyond that the only time I think they are really needed would be catching a fall with a high FF. The problem is, that means wearing gloves at every multpitch belay station and I don't really like having the gloves on my harness or wearing them.
I've chosen not to wear them but I've also never held anything with a FF worse than 1.0-1.1, so admittedly I have no idea how critical they will be in holding a fall directly on to the anchor. Anybody have any direct experience with a 1.9-2.0 FF while using a tube style belay device?
(This post was edited by notapplicable on Nov 24, 2008, 6:25 PM)
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churningindawake
Nov 24, 2008, 6:22 PM
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I wear gloves belaying so that it makes it more comfortable lowering (not rope burning your hands). I also wear them so that I do not get the aluminum oxide all over my hands.
I also wear gloves rappelling. I did it once, and didn't want to stop.
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chossmonkey
Nov 24, 2008, 6:25 PM
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I'll wear them while belaying on rock to keep my hands clean from a dirty rope when sport climbing. Or if it is cold. Not really so much for rope handling though.
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moose_droppings
Nov 24, 2008, 6:25 PM
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Definitely wear gloves while belaying.
Been burned before, wasn't thrilled by it.
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clews
Nov 24, 2008, 6:30 PM
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Goo wrote: When I'm rappelling on just a single strand of rope, just for the heck of it, I almost always wear gloves. you can do it barehanded, you just have to go really slowly--so i wear gloves. its fun to go fast.
that was my exact certain situation, other than going fast on a single strand for fun i don't bother
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dingus
Nov 24, 2008, 6:37 PM
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markc wrote: The rope catching on dry edges while rappelling or flaking isn't great, either. I think I know what I'm asking for for X-mas.
AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(I know it well)
I use cheap assed leather gloves from the hardware store. I go through several pair a season (I do a lot of trail work too) and can't bring myself to buy $30+ gloves when $12 gloves will work just as well.
DMT
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markc
Nov 24, 2008, 6:52 PM
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dingus wrote: markc wrote: The rope catching on dry edges while rappelling or flaking isn't great, either. I think I know what I'm asking for for X-mas. AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (I know it well)
I've gotten it down to a sharp inhalation through gritted teeth. That bothers the partners less. Let's see if I need telling a third time, or if this will learn me.
dingus wrote: I use cheap assed leather gloves from the hardware store. I go through several pair a season (I do a lot of trail work too) and can't bring myself to buy $30+ gloves when $12 gloves will work just as well.
I'll have to decide between el cheapo and fancy. I could always clean up and use a pair of cheap work gloves for a few outings to see how I like it in principle before ponying up.
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