Rab Power Stretch Grip Glove: Almost Too Sticky!

This lightweight glove packs a punch for as light as it is and as well as it climbs. Had the temperatures been more normal in the Tetons this season, I probably would have squeezed more milage out of the thin Rab gloves, but global warming had most of us stripped to light sleeves—and certainly gloveless—many a day up high.

My first impression after getting these stretchy gloves on was that they would be too tight and too sticky. But after managing ropes and climbing with them, I was a convert. The tightness equated to warmth unrivaled in a glove of this weight, and the stickiness made the most tedious of tasks with gloves on a breeze.

Finding the gloves almost disturbingly durable after a few uses, I tried prying off the silicon sticky bits on the palm side of the glove—just to see if they'd come off. They wouldn't. I also tried to convince myself that the gloves were so tight that they would decrease my circulation and make my fingers cold. They didn't.

The fabric choice and craftsmanship that went into making the Power Stretch Grip Glove is excellent and among the best I've seen for a glove of this weight.

The one downside to these gloves is that they are not wind-resistant. Upon investigating Rab's website, however, I found they make another glove of similar weight, called the Phantom Grip. This other product is wind-resistant and has the same sticky "dual layer continuous silicon palm print," for those of you who want to keep the wind out.

I'm definitely keeping my eye on Rab's products as they enter the U.S. market and will be checking out other gloves in the line.

Pros: Lightweight and warm; very sticky; quality craftsmanship and fabric, which dries quickly.

Cons: Not wind resistant (but the Phantom Grip glove is); seem tight at first.

Rating:

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