My Outdoor Research, Verts, after 50+ pitches of water ice and dbl rope rappels. Seams, material and leather palms still intact and still good to go after some literally smoking raps on thin, twin ropes.
I keep being reminded how a really
lwt, breathable and not water proof glove like the OR
Vert performed this winter on Canadian ice. The longer climb I did where the gloves where soaked through and my boots filled with water while rapping down comes to mind. I was able to literally wring the gloves out twice on route and put them back on. As the sun went down I was prepared for the worse and ready to pull a dry pair of gloves out of the pack when I got a chance but half way down the decent I noticed the
Vert gloves were warm and dry again. "Amazed", isn't too strong of word.
So may be being water proof isn't such a big deal in radically changing conditions and may be getting the gloves dried out while still in the field is even more important. For those that can remember back that far the wool
Dachsteins come to mind as a mitt that never failed, no matter what the conditions were. They did breath and they were not water proof. They are a hard act to follow actually when I think back on it. Every water proof glove to date I've used just gets wet from my perspiration and have been very difficult to dry out. More food for thought for glove choices.
I have also found out recently that both OR and
Mtn Hardware offer "lifetime" guarantees on their gloves. A guarantee I tested this week with
Mtn Hardware. Money well spent on any of these gloves
imo.
Here are two more models that I am now using and easily fit into my glove selection and my criteria from the previous post on
leashless gloves.
"My list of features for a good glove?
Leather palms and fingers,
Shoeller material in the glove body, nose wipe, medium to long, well tailored, wrist cuff. Both finger and cuff hangers and preferably a low profile
velcro seal on the cuff and wrist. Or at least a better elastic draw cord arrangement than what is common in most
everyone's design. Easy to turn inside out to dry....or at least easy to dry. Thin removable liners might even be better if you could minimise the bulk. And most importantly FLAT SEAMS on the bottom of the little finger and hopefully those seams on the side, not the bottom of the finger. Seams there, when climbing
leashless, will make your life miserable in the extreme."
Either could easily become a favorite with the other three climbing gloves I am using.
Mtn H's Torsion is certainly a best buy money wise if you buy into the non water proof glove idea.
They also fit my personal want list very closely, hitting every point except drying easily. But easy enough.
Mtn Hardware Torsion retails for $60. Little more insulation/bulk than the OR
Vert and a much better cuff. More insulation means they are a little harder to dry out. A very nice glove.
Mtn H's spiel:
"Torsion Glove
A snug soft shell glove for alpine climbing. Articulated cut for excellent dexterity, with
flatlock seams for a comfortable fit. Durable, water-resistant goatskin palm and fingers stand up to rock or ice.
Alpine Climbing / Mountaineering
Weight 3 oz. / 98 g.
Lining Brushed
TricotBody Deflection™ Soft Shell
Palm Material Water-resistant Goatskin Leather
"
These are the OR Storm Tracker glove. $69 retail. Thin glove and maybe better dexterity than the
Vert. Nice cuff length even with the added hassle of the zipper. A little steep price wise compared to the other
lwts but these guys rock as a technical climbing glove. Durability my be a question so we'll see if that O.R. "INFINITE..guaranteed FOREVER works" :)
OR's spiel:
•Intended Usage: Versatile
backcountry work glove for ultimate dexterity
Breathable/water-resistant
WindStopper Soft Shell fabric;
tricot lined
•Full leather palm
•
MotionWrap AT construction for added dexterity
•Elasticized wrist chili
•Gusseted entry with locking zipper
I forget the name of this creek but it was only a few miles into the park and it was the first view I had of Mt Rainier. Breathtaking.
This is a little further into the park. When the roads were constructed through the park the engineers took into account the “viewing pleasure” of the public and I must say they did an excellent job in selecting the sites for the viewpoints.
A couple of close-ups of the top of the mountain.
Probably the most visited area of the park is in the south-central part. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon when I arrived in Paradise and, as you can see, the clouds had moved in. I spent some time in the visitors center at Paradise - looked at the exhibits, viewed the park movie, then looked through the telescopes and saw three climbers halfway up the mountain.
The mountain played peek-a-boo with the clouds, but they eventually completely blocked out the view. I joined some of the other visitors on a short walk along one of the many trails in the area.
Mount Rainier and me!
Ragweed. This is the weed that is making me sneeze, and itch with allergies. It is just one form of ragweed as there are many many different times from what I understand. This is the kind that grows here in our desert but is not a native plant here. I fight it and fight it and it always seems to win. On the plus side the horses seem to think it is as good as candy although how they can eat the stickery stuff is beyond me. These are little ones that escaped my figures and hoe. I have seen them get up to six feet tall with multiple stems full of flower stalks and seeds. And it is a very ugly, very tiny flower.
Philo came up with a solution. He built a two-legged table that fits over the sill, doubling the depth so more plants can fit. 
Three of the Christmas cactus had set buds and went on the new shelf. The poky fourth one went out to the patio table.... maybe it will still set buds and catch up. 
The salmon geranium at right has been blooming in the breakfast room window since March of .. but the red cyclamen at left was a recent impulse purchase. One of the jade plants was tucked in, a just budded Mother-of-Thousands came in from the patio to stand on the floor at left and the aloe vera is jammed in back. When it gets colder the Meyer's Lemon can stand on the floor on the right.
So our inside garden will be safe when the real freeze arrives. Perhaps I should have left the iris outside to take its chances but there's something so interesting and surreal in seeing them on the table [with a couple of sprigs of lavender!] on November 27th. 
Outside, the light frost hadn't affected the Cestrum nocturnum on the south wall. This night-blooming jasmine usually releases its scent only after dark but I could smell its powdery scent today at 10 AM. 
The 'Champagne' mini rose continues to bud and flower in the secret garden. 
Cilantro plants go to seed when the heat arrives. The leaves are cilantro, but the seeds are coriander. After the seeds dried on last spring's plants I tossed them around and a few seedlings have sprouted to grow in cooler weather. 
Most of the pecan and ash leaves are still on the tree - actually they're still green - but there were lots of wet, brown pecan leaves to rake. They don't add much fall color, do they? In the background you can see the second Meyer's Lemon, planted in the ground near the south wall, still shrouded in its frost-cover. 
While raking I found a bunch of pecans and picked them all up. You know how you sort of learn to guess the relative weight of an object with experience? When I was in college I worked in a deli, and after some time could know what a half-pound was. This fall we learned to pick up pecans and know instantly which nutshells will be full, which empty, and which only partially developed. The good nuts are the smaller group lined up at the bottom and the larger group at the top are all empties. 
Pecans and iris at the same time! Who could have guessed this would be our November harvest?
Another picture of my grandmother (on the right) and her sister Jane. This time they are sharing a piece of watermelon. I don't recognize the background scenery so don't know where it was taken, but it was probably the summer of 1954.
