Ho Stevie! Surfing Wetsuit Claw Mittens 5mm Gloves

I ordered these gloves mostly to work under my sailboat here in the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest. The gloves looked like they should serve well given the heavy neoprene, sealed seams and mitten design. They are well constructed of what appears to be good quality material. Seams are well sealed as described in the listing. The XL gloves fit my large hands well (not all XL gloves do). The problem is the cuffs are far too tight, for me at least. I haven’t used the gloves in the water yet but I wore them for about ten minutes for testing. Getting the second glove on with my gloved hand was a challenge due to the very tight cuff but the bigger issue was that blood flow to my hands was being cut off; not completely but notably. That is of course a big no go in cold water, and unpleasant in any case. I don’t care if a little water gets into my dive gloves as long as significant ongoing flow in and out is prevented, which would be accomplished with moderately snug cuffs. A little water will warm up and be plenty comfortable inside the thick neoprene.

I may give these gloves a try in the water but I’ll have backups ready because I’m not optimistic that I’ll be able to work with them for long. I thought about giving the gloves 3 stars but I chose 4 because they are well constructed and I like the general design. Plus someone with wrists which are small relative to their hands may find the fit serviceable. I think it fair to say my wrists are average relative to my hands (with no fat). If your wrists are large relative to your hands I would certainly suggest finding another product.

Please watch my video review. These are very good quality liquid seam sealed 5 mm neoprene gloves. The lobster claw style is a combination between a glove and a mitt, and gives you some dexterity to release a leash velcro, or grab a zipper on your wetsuit. The Ho Stevie brand continues to bring good quality surf equipment at a reasonable price.

According to the size chart, I’m at the upper end of Medium, and that’s how these Mediums fit. They’re snug enough that the seams, which are raised and hard, are quite noticeable in some places. In one place on the right index finger there was a small bump sticking into my finger enough to be bothersome, so I carefully removed what looked like a little excess adhesive/sealant there. It was tricky because I didn’t want to break the threads. But it seems to have worked.

Some people might prefer to trade some dexterity for extra room by sizing up.

The rubber is very supple and pliable, which contributes to comfort and should help keep them from cracking or tearing.

The grip is quite good even in cold water.

The description says these are easy on/off. Maybe for people used to putting on and taking off wetsuits. For me, they’re not easy, but not too hard either. Helps to roll the cuffs up before putting them on, and then reverse for off, though that causes its own extra challenge in getting them over the hands.

I tested them moving my hands around in water about 46F (the lower limit they’re rated for, which happens to be about the temperature of my well water) for five minutes. They clearly made a *big* difference. No leaks, and my hands remained mostly comfortable. My index fingers were still OK but getting cold, followed by my thumbs. The rest was still doing nicely even at that extreme temperature (extreme for the intended use).

I don’t think these will dry well inside at room temperature unless they’re turned inside out. Maybe using a glove drier (not too hot) or putting them in a warm spot (out of the sun) would do it. To turn them inside out it helps to push out the finger and thumb from inside using something rounded and thinner than a finger like the end of a sharpee (not the end with the lid).

Except for the color (mine are black), the photos in the Amazon description are accurate.

Ho Stevie is a US brand based in San Diego. I don’t see any indication where the gloves are made.