Ove Glove

[Brian James]

While not strictly lightweight, here's a neat multiple-use gear item: the Ove Glove.

http://www.oveglove.com

This is a mid-to-heavyweight glove (6 oz./pair) made of Nomex and Kevlar like firefighters' gloves. It's designed as a kitchen tool but I find it great for the backcountry.

I hate pot handles and I have white lines on my hands to show why. I hate pot lifters as they weigh a lot and offer relatively little control over big pots. The are often useless when the lid is on, too.

The Ove Glove is heat-resistant to 540 degrees so you can:

pick up a pot using both hands as if it were cold

pick up/move/adjust glowing-red stoves

adjust logs in a burning fire

…all the various things we do with sticks, pokers, multi-tools, and quite a bit of chance.

I wear my Ove Gloves as my summer gloves. Yes, they have a 60% cotton liner. Yes, they're heavy as heck. But they take the "balancing act" around the stove out of the equation, they're nice to sleep in, and they're silicone-coated for a non-slip grip on trekking poles and paddles.

[Thomas Knighton]

I've got one of these without the silicone visible in the above pictures. I love it for home use, and thought about it for backpacking, but I'm just not in love with the weight.

Tom

[Mark Hart]

I would think the weight would be a little on the hefty side (although there are usability factors in there that may offset it), but one word of caution: keep 'em dry!

I burned the puddin' out of myself after spilling a couple of drops of water on the index finger of one and then picked up a tray of cookies at 375 degrees F. The water turned instantly to steam and scalded my index finger…hurt for about a day and made it really tough to use that finger.

I can't imagine how that would change a backpacking trip.

[Mara Grey]

Another possibility might be the all-silicone oven mitts. I can't find any data on weights, but my silicone cookware is quite light. Most of the mitts are fairly rigid, but one, listed on Amazon, is called the "Lekue 232000 Super Flexible Silicone Oven Mitt". Wouldn't matter if these got wet, either.

[Brian James]

I liked those but you can't sleep in 'em! Well I guess if you thought of it as a VBL on steroids…

[Michael Mangold]

Or, just a thought until I try it out myself, how about cotton or wool gloves coated with silicone caulk (dried of course).

[Jason Shaffer]

Neat ideas. I prefer handle-less pots too, for all of the above reasons. My compromise has been plain old ragg wool gloves, with very little nylon content. Run a lighter over them – they might flare up at first, but then they should be good to go. Granted, you can't pick up red hot pokers with them, but since titanium pots don't get that hot, they're quite good for this. Fox river mid-weight gloves weigh 2 oz in size small, but warrant caution since they're still a bit high in nylon content (~15%).

Another thought: Lighter, liner-weight Nomex gloves might be found at SWAT/law-enforcement supply outfits. I thought I saw these (maybe 10 years ago), but now all I see are leather-palm versions.

[Roman Dial]

Ove Glove?

How about "One" glove? Bring one pair of gloves and share with a partner. Good for hiking and even snowshoeing if you just use one pole. Pull the ungloved hand into the long sleeve.

Ultralight, sharing and spartan.

[Brian James]

Great idea Roman.

Your posts about sharing one pair of trekking poles on the Arctic 1000 with Jason inspired me to try it — it works nicely. It's more of a challenge when going up or down a switchback as you have to keep switching hands, but it's a great example of creative behavior adjustment to reduce load. My hiking partner loved it too as she doesn't own her own poles :)

[Michael Mangold]

I just finished the experiment I wrote about above. I bought a pair of woolen glove liners at an Army surplus store for $5.00. I then applied a total of 3 coats of silicone window caulk to them. I waited at least 30 minutes between each application, spreading the caulk evenly throughout the entire palmar surfaces of the gloves. I even made sure to apply it to the sides and interdigitally. Later, when all had dried, I boiled a pot of olive oil, lifted it by the handle, and was able to hold the bottom of the pot without ANY heat coming through! The gloves went from 2 oz pre to 5 oz post, so each application was about 1 oz. The caulk was left over from winterizing my windows but if I had to buy it new, it would be $2.00 for 10 oz or 60 cents for the heat-proofing. That means about $5.60 total. DISCLAIMER: don't try this at home kids. I am a professional experimenter. Don't blame me if you get hurt trying this out yourselves…
Mike

[Michael Mangold]

I forgot to include a picture. Here it is:

[Terry Boldt]

Machael – did you thin the silicone before applying or smear it straight from the tube??

[Michael Mangold]

Squeezed a ball about the size of a golf ball for each application with the caulking gun. Then spread it out thinly like I was applying lotion to both hands at once.

[Brian James]

You boiled a pot of olive oil?

That's extreme, my friend. At what temperature does olive oil boil? And what's its' flash point?

Points for cojones :)

[Michael Mangold]

You're right: it was either brave or stupid. I held the bottom of the pot when the olive oil began to smoke, probably 400 deg F, not boiling as I said before.

[Brett .]

..and the smoking point is 375 to 400'. Where as water of course boils at only 212F..That test was definitely risky! This site has some seriously [insert appropriate word here] members. I was thinking "dedicated".

[cary bertoncini]

never could understand popeye's attraction to such a hot tempered woman

[Michael Mangold]

Insert "brave" since it worked. Insert "dumb" if it didn't!

[Rob Mcrae]

You guys are nutso.

But actually, that is a great idea. In the past I have just used tree bark or the gloves of the camping partner who isn't looking…
I think I actually might try that idea – it is cheap and I have plenty of silicone caulking – but when my wife isn't home telling me how ridiculous I am.
Also, I am not going to boil any frigging olive oil!

[Michael Mangold]

It didn't boil. Only smoked. For all of Popeye's health consciousness, Olive Oil still smokes.

[Mark Zollinger]

Not having woolen gloves handy, I tried this last year with cotton jersey work gloves.

Rather than cover the whole front with silicone, I just put it on the front of each finger/thumb.

They worked great for cooking, but I also wore them while hiking. I found that cotton was not super comfortable once I started sweating on the long uphill stretches.

I wish I could find some natural fiber gloves (most artificial fibers melt in heat) that are cool and have some wicking capabilities. (Yeah, I know. "Gloves" and "cool" just don't seem to go together in the brain.)

Has anyone worn flax or silk gloves with trekking poles?
Any other suggestions?

[Author]

Posts