The venerable multi-purpose Showa Temres 282-02 fishing glove: a great tool, with our simple mod, for spring skiing too. Photo: Showa
Editor’s Note:
Frequent a haunt like Hyalite Canyon mid-winter, and you cannot miss the fishing gloves on display. Showa, a Japanese purveyor of rubber fishing gloves, is de facto handwear for ice climbers and alpinists. In short, Showa gloves are simple—rubber outers dipped in polyurethane, making for a seamless, waterproof seal. Some Showa gloves come with fixed-in-place-liners, while others are linerless and bare-bones.
Showa gloves are not new to the climber/skier scene. Our first exposure to them was through Colin Haley many years ago. Their functionality in the alpine is the cat out of the bag: The big-chain gear review sites have “discovered” them.
We’re focusing on some ski tourist mods to the classic Showa Temres 282-02 glove. This Showa model arrives with a fixed fleece liner and a gauntlet with a quick adjustment to tighten the gauntlet over the wrist/lower forearm—the gauntlet effectively shuts out spindrift and snow.
We’re not on a never-ending quest for problems to solve. But small gains are gains, nonetheless. Here’s where we are going. Showa claims their rubber/dipped-in PU gloves are breathable. In high-exertion situations, moisture/sweat doesn’t effectively pass through the gloves. As a result, the stock fleece (non-removable) liner can wet out.
Kelly Cordes, known to have soft yet rugged hands, has a simple Showa Temres 282-02 hack for us. You, too, can have supple, warm, and dexterous hands the next time you walk miles on your skis. The hack removes the glove’s liner and replaces it with your preferred liner.
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Liner removed and stand alone Temres 282-02 shell. I use Truck gloves that fit great inside the Showa shells—which provides extra protection.
Here is a solution for potentially wetting out the stock liners. With this low-tech hack, there’s no need to remove one glove to swap out for another before descents, etc. These are the famed Japanese ice fishing gloves that are the absolute best for ice climbing and alpinism. Nothing else comes close. $27 for the version with the gauntlet. Warm, 100% waterproof, dexterous, durable. No seams to blow out, nothing (shells are rubber dipped in PU). You can sweat-out the attached fleece liner over time, though (long alpine routes, etc…big days with lots of skinning may be the same). These gloves run small, so I wear L for climbing (I’m M in all other gloves). But here’s the ski solution, and what I’ll almost certainly bring on a multi-day ski traverse — and I can’t see how this wouldn’t work for anything down to probably 0°F.
A close up of the incision to begin cutting out the liner.
The Showa Temres 282-02 arrives with an easy to cut out liner. Here, I am pulling the liner out gently, as the fingertips are glued in place.
Order up one size (XL for me). Grab scissors, cut liner from where it’s sewn-on at the hem. The fingertips are attached internally with a touch of glue. Give a gentle tug and they come right out. Viola! Now you have a perfect shell, and modular system. Slides easily with leather — smoothly over my skinning gloves (Truck ones I bought, they’re great). Great dexterity, and yet I’ve just multiplied the weather resistance and warmth of what I wore on the up-track. The shells themselves are so compact (rolled up photo), just stuff ’em in your pocket or clip’ em on the side of your pack. (Rule #1 of the efficiency doctrine: Omit needless steps.) Throw skins in your jacket, don’t even need to remove your pack.
A true alpinist’s friend. The shell (sans liner) rolls up nicely.
A glued-on fleece section makes for an excellent nose-wipe.
As a backup, or for colder situations, ya pack/have a thicker pair of fleece liner gloves, too (probably not the original liner, they’re floppy once you pull them out). In spring, this glove-liner system is great for situations where your hands come in contact with wetter snow.
For handy DIYers with spare fleece fabric around, grab a section of fleece, cut to shape (it will be placed between your thumb and wrist), glue onto the outer shell. Now you have a snazzy snot wipe. (This snot-wipe add-on also makes use of Rule #1 of the efficiency doctrine).
Love it! I love gear kids, but don’t have any actual skills like sewing or machining, so this 9s right up my alley.
Sloppy spring days are exactly when the waterproof gauntlet of the 282-02 comes in handy, but it’s also the time you are likely to be warm and sweat a lot, so the fixed lining is annoying.
At Showa prices you can afford to try it and if you don’t like, you are not out very much.
I meant I love “ gear mods”.
Although I do love seeing kids with cool gear too.
Love this! What’s a good adhesive to use for the fleece snot wipe? Super glue tends to be so stiff, and softer silicone adhesives seem to be hit/miss for actually adhering to things…. Open to any/all obvious or not obvious recommendations!
We’ve got two options according to KC: Gorilla glue (clear) or e6000. Word is…go light on the glue application.
The High Route delivers! What other publication is covering the state of the art in the world of Showa gloves? Love it.
Thanks for the tip! This worked out well. I usually wear a M glove, L in Showas, and XL Showas with the liners removed fit nicely over mid-weight gloves.