Custom (ish) fit: A review of Hestra's carefully crafted Belay gloves | Gear Fan

2021-12-15 00:32:06 By : Ms. Sunshine Li

November 30, 2021 | By Sam Anderson

They are not actually custom made, but the fit makes Hestra's Climbers short 5-finger protective gloves feel like they are made for you.

If there is such a thing, I am a grumpy person with protective gloves. I like to have a pair, damn it wouldn't go out without them. Over the years, I have started to include them in everything from rock climbing days to multi-rope hikes.

Having said that, I don't always like what I have. I am very picky about flexibility, size, convenient opening/closing and durability. But during the test, Hestra's fingerless Climbers Short 5 finger protective gloves performed well in every category.

I found that the brand uses the strongest materials in the right place, while the pattern, size and elastic textiles help to fit comfortably.

In short: adhering to the company's long-standing reputation for quality, Hestra's fingerless protective gloves inspected every box in our tests. The durable double-layered palm resists wear and tear, and the carefully selected materials keep it smart.

Hestra positions itself as a glove manufacturer based on tradition and fascinated by quality. The Swedish company started manufacturing gloves in a small house in 1936, but it still does not produce anything else.

Hestra is still ahead of its competitors in innovations such as sizing systems. Hestra's gloves range in size from 5 to 13, instead of the usual S/M/L.

The circumference of your palm determines your size in the unisex size. The size is developed around the "average hand size", so the brand recommended size is the recommended size.

I wore size 9 for a 215mm hand, which puts me in the lower third of the size range. The gloves feel very comfortable as soon as they are taken out of the package-not too tight and not too loose.

At first, this did worry me a little bit because I was worried that they would become too loose once I broke them. A well-fitting leather glove is great because it fits your hand, but once it stretches to fit, there is no turning back.

Hestra seems to solve the stretch factor by using a textured polyamide/elastane fabric on the back of the hand. The panel is combined with elastic wrist strap and Velcro strap to make the gloves adjustable and comfortable.

In practice, the gloves are excellent. In our climbing area, it is vital that protective gloves can handle both well and withstand abuse.

The climbing time is short, the bolt position is important, and the pinch-off posture is usually clear and somewhat low. For the protector, this means taking and giving a lot of slack often quickly, and carefully catching the leader to fall.

A layer of DuraTan was sewn on the leather on the palms and fingers. It withstood a lot of rope friction, and I slackened. Although the opening of the finger is very wide, it has never jammed or jammed anything. The gloves had never been stitched or frayed, and at the end of the test period they were as good as they were at the beginning. Although a few of my big-minded friends tried them, it was indeed the case.

At first, the goat leather used on the inside of the fingers seemed too thin. I can say that they will handle well, and the DuraTan palm makes sense-the brand says it is 10 times more resistant to wear than leather.

But I want to know whether the exposed leather will wear out, especially between the thumb and fingers.

But in fact, it's not. On the contrary, the shape of the glove fits my hand very well and it can be grasped almost immediately. It turns out that the reinforced area is strong enough to withstand the impact of abrasion.

Not only that, DuraTan ultimately refused to show the bronze color like most leather. This effect improves my grip, especially on greasy ropes.

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In addition to the structure, Hestra pays great attention to the specific user comfort of protective gloves.

The perforations on the back of my fingers help prevent my hands from getting wet on the protector in direct sunlight (85 degrees Fahrenheit or higher). Nonetheless, they are still thick enough to prevent the numb, claw-like sensation that occurs when you protect for long periods of time on cold days.

At the same time, the padded knuckles gave me a surprising safety boost. At first, this seemed a bit strange. Have I hit anything (or anyone) with protective gloves? No, not intentionally, but when I stacked and rearranged carabiner on the anchor, I had already used my knuckles to lean on the rock many times.

As a 125-pound person and almost only protects big people (not shown), I often ride on a plumb completely against the wall.

Hestra's knuckle pads are registered as popular safety blankets in these scenes. In practice, when I often wrap the brake cable around my hands, it can also protect against long-term overhang/shake well.

My only criticism of Hestra gloves is the size of the loop. Unfortunately, they are not wide enough for real carabiner to pass through comfortably.

But this pickiness is not a big problem. After a few meetings, I stretched them to fit. In an ideal world, the incision to reinforce the palm might be wider at the thumb groove. However, this has not caused any problems with my gloves.

In its fingerless Climbers Short 5 finger protective gloves, Hestra put a lot of energy into a simple item. Protective gloves can be annoying, or they can be thought of after the fact, but Hestra elevates the form with thoughtful design.

At a moderate suggested retail price of $55, Hestra is superior to all other protective gloves I have worn in terms of handling and structural quality.

Sam roams the American continent, following adventures, exploring natural wonders and finding good stories. After going to college to become a writer, he was distracted (or rescued) by rock climbing, and spent most of the next ten years on the road, supporting himself by trade work. He has addresses in the Adirondack Mountains, Las Vegas, and Kansas, but his heart belongs to the mountains of Texas.

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