Openwater Gloves Mens

The Orca Openwater Gloves Mens are 3 mm neoprene wetsuit gloves for swimming in cold open water. Liquid seams keep the water out of the panels, and a long cuff overlaps your wetsuit sleeve so the cold has no gap to find at your wrist.

Who it's for

Swimmers who keep going when the water turns. Hands are usually the first thing to give up on a winter swim: fingers go numb, your catch falls apart, and you cannot work the car key afterwards. Pull these on for a July morning in Port Phillip Bay, a lap of a Hobart beach or an alpine lake, and you finish the swim with hands that still work.

Buoyancy and flexibility

The pattern is cut to the shape your hand takes when you swim, so the glove sits in your natural catch position. A highly elastic inner lining hugs your hand and fingers, and you keep your feel for the water through the pull.

Warmth and sealing

Two things keep a swim glove warm: thickness and a dry inside. These are 3 mm neoprene, and the seams are sealed with liquid seam so water does not seep through the joins. The cuff runs well past the wrist to overlap your wetsuit. Tuck it under your sleeve or pull it over the top, whichever seals better on your suit.

Getting the size right

Measure around the widest part of your hand, across the knuckles and leaving out the thumb:

• S: 20.3–21.6 cm
• M: 21.6–23 cm
• L: 23 cm and over

A swim glove should fit like a second skin, with your fingertips reaching the ends of the fingers. Loose neoprene fills with water and drags through every stroke.

Water temperature range

These are cold water gloves. They come out when your hands start to ache in the first hundred metres, which for most swimmers means winter in the southern states and alpine lakes for much of the year. In a Queensland winter most swimmers leave them in the bag.

Looking after neoprene

Rinse the gloves inside and out in fresh water after every swim and dry them in the shade, turned inside out first so the lining dries. Keep them away from direct sun and heaters, and trim your fingernails before you pull them on.