Wanted: Users for test of prototype cold water glove

westy · Since 01 Oct 2008 12 Posts

I am an industrial design student at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (VANCOUVER, BC) and am designing a new cold water glove for sports requiring maximum grip and sensitivity in the fingers and palm (i.e. kiteboarding). I am conducting short user trials with a prototype glove and I require some volunteers.

WHO I'M LOOKING FOR
Men (sorry ladies - only one prototype at this point)
19+ (legal stuff..)
Large hand size (If you're a largish medium, or on the edge of extra large that's OK)
Kitesurf in cold water

USER TRIAL DETAILS
What: 30 minute user trial held inside (You won’t be getting into the water)
Where: Emily Carr Institute of University Art + Design, Granville Island, VANCOUVER, BC
When: Week of March 22nd (I’m looking at having slots both one weeknight and one day on the weekend. Days/times will depend on volunteer availability)

If interested in volunteering a bit of time and your valuable insight please contact David Westwood
dcwestwood@gmail.com

Many thanks!

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

Good idea! The sport definitely needs something like that

You'l probably have more luck finding people in your area with this forum though, a lot closer to BC:
http://pskite.org/

$ociopath · Since 28 Nov 2007 523 Posts Twilight Zone Addicted

mail me a pair and i'll give ya the lowdown Thumb's Up

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

It'd be nice if someone could make a glove with those features AND didn't get ripped up the first time you use it.

almost every pair of neoprene gloves I have used kiteboarding have shown accelerated wear on on several parts of the glove including:

Index finger
Middle finger
base of the pinkey finger where it attaches to the hand
Middle of palm below index and middle fingers
thumb

I think this is because the control bars these days are also covered in grippy neoprene so when i have grippy neoprene bar contacting grippy neoprene glove it is too much grip for such a soft material and so it tears its self apart.

Also it would be really nice to see more lobster claw style gloves. these seem to work the best for keeping hands warm in extreme cold since there is much less surface area exposed to cold weather.

other added benefits of a lobster claw glove:

Less materials since the fingers are not separated out. this makes it easier to close your hand or grip something tightly

index finger and thumb are kept free so that you can still straddle the depower line on a control bar.

when it gets really cold you can move your index finger over with the rest of your fingers effectively making it a mitten. (helps warm your index finger back up quickly if it gets too cold.

easier to put on and take off then a 5 finger glove.

probably cheaper to manufacture.

I use the ones in the picture shown below. I love them but they have been getting ripped up from friction against my control bar so I'll need a new pair or something better soon.

maybe a neoprene glove with sued-ed leather welded to the palm and insides of the fingers? yeah that'd be nice!