You know that thing when you find something that works, then keep doing that? These sailing gloves are exactly that. Short lived but unrivalled dexterity and comfort, if there is anything better out there I have yet to find it
Sailing gloves are a necessity, especially when handling spinnaker lines and anything where you need a little more grip or there’s a risk of rope burn.
I know some people avoid them thinking they’re dangerous and a snagging risk. If you’re one of those bare handed souls who can handle all lines without issue, then this probably isn’t for you.
But for mortals like me, I rely on gloves for a range of uses on my boat and other boats that I skipper or crew on.
I have written a longer list of gloves we’ve tested across our editorial team, so if Gill doesn’t fit your hands, then there’s others available that might. Best sailing gloves: 10 top pairs to protect your hands and keep them warm
I can’t recall the exact time/year I found the Gill Deck hand glove, but it was a bit of a moment. Trying them on in a shop, and realising I finally found something that actually fitted and moved easily,
Most sailing gloves I find in shops are stiff and not very compliant. They cause hand fatigue. The other problem is that a lot of the other gloves just don’t fit. A mans size small isn’t a womens size small.
So here we are, the Gill Deck hand gloves. For a brief spell they made these in a women’s sizes/cut and these were possibly the most perfect fitting gloves ever. Since that brief foray a few years ago, Gill seem to have abandoned the mens womens different sizes and have gone back to offering unisex sizing.
They’re not without their faults, as can be seen in my used pairs, the material by the thumb disintegrates after a couple of years hard use.
But I don’t expect gloves to last much longer than two or three years anyway, so that is an acceptable attrition rate for me. If the material was harder wearing, then they wouldn’t have the ease of movement that these have. I actually forget I’m wearing them sometimes.
When trying on gloves in the shop, one of the most important tests is can you make a fist? How easy it to make a fist? Do you have the fight the glove to make that shape? Can you grip some 6mm or 8mm line easily? (or the thinnest line you have onboard) My reef lines are 8mm, but my furling line is thinner and sometimes benefits from wearing gloves to pull that sucker in.
I have a pair of the deck hand pro gloves too. These are much tougher, but equally much harder on the hands. They have lasted 9 years so far and are still going strong.
Some gloves are pre-curved, such as the pro deck hand gloves. They need to be precurved as the material they are made from is quite tough. If they were made flat, then it would be really had to grip anything with excess material in the palm.
Making a fist with the deck hand pro gloves is harder. I can feel more effort required to close my hand around ropes and lines. This is less of a problem when handling bigger lines. But I find I lose a bit of dexterity when wearing those compared to the softer, less hard wearing deck hand gloves.
This later model seems to have sorted the thumb disintegration issue, but the finger tips are on their way out. They still feel lovely though. I just wish they did a half size smaller to make them a little more snug like my older women’s specific ones were.
We can’t hold back the march of progress though can we.
Out of all the the gloves in the shops, these are still the best fitting gloves I’ve ever found. Despite their flaws, I keep going back to them and buying them over and over again. When I posted this on to a popular women’s sailing group on social media, the comments I received were almost universal “Hey you have my favorite gloves on!” (Kit) “I love those gloves” (Daisy) “haha I have the same ones! Not so worn though but love them” (Maria) Another commentator recommended some Ronstan gloves, so I’m going to go and check those out, because, you know, research. I am, if nothing else, thorough in my glove trials.
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