Bringing back webbed gloves

stunet's picture
stunet started the topic in Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 1:54pm

When I watched the Martin Potter vid on Swellnet the other day the thing that stood out most wasn't his surfing, which still made for incredible viewing, but his webbed gloves. I'd totally forgotten about those things! How garish they are and yet they were fashion du jour at the time. Shows you how much of a hold fashion has on all of us.

Anyway it planted a seed. And I watered that seed by checking out eBay for webbed gloves - just out of curiousity you understand. While there I came across silicon webbed gloves for swimming. "Swim like a frog," the description said. "Swim and catch a wave faster."

Catch a wave faster.

So I bought a pair so I could catch a wave faster while bodysurfing. Dunno if I'm game to paddle out with them while surfing. They cost me $2.21 for a pair including shipping all the way from Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.

Here they are being modelled (note the lightning bolts):
img_9207.jpg

And here's the eBay link if you're curious: Webbed gloves!

I'll post later on after I've given them a run...

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 1:55pm

No typo. They cost $2.21 incl. postage.

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 2:22pm

You know I was just thinking about this today and voila! I've been thinking with all the clips floating around of Jaws, I'm wondering why the big wave set hasn't adopted them or at least given them a trial? Surel ywhen trying to catch one of those moving mountains every little inch of momentum counts?

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 2:37pm

Thinking big Zen!

Here I was considering them fun for a two foot body bog, and here you are thinking they're the secret weapon for seventy foot Jaws.

But you're right, when every bit counts why not get your board up to speed that bit quicker?

udo's picture
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udo Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 2:39pm

Bargain eh ,went to the link and scrolled down to a listing
zoxoro body glove full flipper slippers only $784.99 WTF
ha ha but you get free shipping .

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udo Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 2:44pm

If you go down on a 50 fter hope they get ripped off your hands quickly, or its just a bit more leverage to pull arms out of the shoulder joints.

mk1's picture
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mk1 Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 2:57pm

I've seen these online but wondered if they are tight enough to stay on in the surf? Could be good for snorkelling & diving. Bit awkward for spearing

uplift's picture
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uplift Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 3:22pm

Just a professional tip... probably best to beef up the hands a bit first Stewart... well a fair bit. Its my job to notice these things... they got that...'ooowwwchhh vat hurwts me fingasth... where's the bosu ball/jazz ballet zentensity class' look about em... just sayin...

These are like the ones camsless used over here, to get in early, except they were cheaper and wore out. They looked like they worked, and when he surfed without them he said he noticed it.

http://www.ewetsuits.com/acatalog/swim-gloves-webbed-fingers-swimming.html

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 3:24pm

It's an illusion Uplift. The camera takes 5 kilos off your hands. I thought everyone knew that?

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stunet Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 3:26pm

mk1 wrote:

I've seen these online but wondered if they are tight enough to stay on in the surf? Could be good for snorkelling & diving. Bit awkward for spearing

They're pretty tight mk1, but then my hands are really beefy.

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mk1 Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 3:38pm

Haha got it.

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harold Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 5:38pm

Hi my name is Jacinta Harralde-Huang and I have surfed for a year. My grandad and I like to read Swellnet to learn about surfing. He surfed in France when my mum was little.He and his friends made webbed hand-fins and thought they were great. But then one day he wiped out at a beach called Avalanche and both his shoulders got dislocated so after that he threw them away .He also said he made the first legrope. I think a good legrope for big waves would be one with a plug that moves from one rail to the other with a slidey thing in between so the board would come up quicker,like when I learnt to duckdive and grandad said,Pull up on one side and u will pop out the back. Maybe someone could patant this idea and make a lot of money.But even if you did,you still might not be happy,like my aunty Linh who won the lottery but was a sour-faced bitch till the day she died. I fucking hated her.

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 6:04pm

So cute! Now run along now little one. There's a good girl:)

SurferFuk's picture
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SurferFuk Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 6:20pm
zenagain wrote:

So cute! Now run along now little one. There's a good girl:)

Harold zenz?

Heroldz better.

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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 6:30pm

Ich weiss nicht.

Ich kann dich nicht verstehen:)

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SurferFuk Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 8:12pm
zenagain wrote:

Ich weiss nicht.

Ich kann dich nicht verstehen:)

けっこうだKekkōda.

あなたは雪に乗って大きな毛むくじゃらの男として私を知っています

sidthefish's picture
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sidthefish Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 8:28pm

Wore webbies a'la Mr X era.for awhile, but found on long hauls they threw your shoulders out.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 8:48pm

I am seriously enjoying this thread.

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 8:59pm

Useless. The bloody things don't do anything.

The webbed gloves, that is. Wore them while I went for a body womp this arvo but they're useless. Worse than useless, actually. Splay your fingers and you get less hold than if you cupped them so it feels like you're going nowhere.

Webbed gloves can work, I wore them years ago, but there's gotta be more webbed surface area between the fingers. Also, I forgot how odd the feeling is stroking through the water while your fingers are splayed apart.

Nup. Waste of $2.21.

caml's picture
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caml Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:00pm

Not sure about these things are worthwhile are they ? But excellent for hand planting the reef & warmth

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caml Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:02pm

Could be what they need for really big wave surfing perhaps . But improved manufacturing cos they've always been daggy

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:05pm

ピンクパンツあります誰にも伝いいます

私の心幸せです

caml's picture
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caml Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:09pm

Wat does that mean !

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:11pm

Don't worry about it Cam, it's stupid and childish.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:45pm

It's also intriguing Zen...please tell.

Stu- I'm struggling to believe your gloves didn't work as advertised.

Maybe your hands were just too big.

That computer monitor looks tiny next to your hand.

You would have got a better return if you'd invested in X Ray specs or Seamonkeys maybe ?

Didn't hurt to dream though did it ?

$2.21 - How is that even possible when a stamp in Oz now costing a dollar ?

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 9:54pm

It was a stupid response to Surferfuk- from what I can gather he said that 'he is a big hairy snow surfer and he is known as that' (maybe Surferfuk is Welly?)

I wrote (roughly) 'Don't tell anyone my underpants are pink but my heart is happy'.

Told you- Stupid.

caml's picture
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caml Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 10:11pm

Oh yeah u guys speak Japanese I didn't get it

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 10:15pm

I was suspecting Welly myself , Zen.

zenagain's picture
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zenagain Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 at 10:21pm

And I write Japanese even worse than I speak it so not very well Cam.

On a different note, i mentioned at the start of this thread the big wave crew potentially wearing them in XXL waves, have you worn them in solid surf and if so, did they help with getting into the waves earlier?

I think Barton Lynch wore them at pipe and Richie Collins from the old vids but he was more of a small wave specialist.

(Same question to anybody else who's worn them).

chook's picture
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chook Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 9:32am

of course they are useless for body surfing...all the propulsion comes from the swim fins on your feet. if you need to make more than one stroke with your arms you aren't catching that wave. as mark cunnigham says "kick like hell".

stunet's picture
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stunet Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 9:41am

But to get yourself in position and swim back out, and even take that "one stroke with your arms"?

It's all bodysurfing to me.

caml's picture
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caml Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 9:41am
zenagain wrote:

Don't worry about it Cam, it's stupid and childish.

Cool I thought you were heckling president obama

asharper001's picture
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asharper001 Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 3:10pm

Still have an old pair of Oz Sports Skins (I think Barton Lynch was sponsored by them at one stage from memory). Got them for a 21st present (a couple of decades ago now) but still sit at the bottom of my plastic wetsuit box. Think I wore them once.

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wellymon Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 4:16pm
Blowin wrote:

I was suspecting Welly myself , Zen.

?????

I get that walking down the road or at David Jones by onlookers.

Hey mate did you just get out!
Hey mate its Paulo, isn't it how long you been out for?
Wainoz how are ya, where've all ya tats gone?
Fuck Shano you're loking buffer that you were on the inside, compared to when we were smacking hard bro?

Surferfuk is nothing like Wellymon.
He don't really like surfers by the sounds of it.
I don't think they're that good of a breed either tho?

talkingturkey's picture
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talkingturkey Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 5:24pm

SurferFuk's been rumbled, I reckon. Check out the 'What's What?' thread.

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caml Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 5:29pm

Glen winton more so than barton , ash harper

Shatner'sBassoon's picture
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Shatner'sBassoon Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 5:46pm

Barton Lynch was sponsored by Surf Skins, which then became Sports Skins. They made good wetties!

I'd reckon Winton, Richie Collins, and even Liam McNamara were the more prominent webbed glove dudes.

My old man swore by 'em. He is 80. Still getting out there.

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asharper001 Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 6:35pm

Cheers caml and SB. Memory is not what it used to be. Thought sports skins and Oz sportz skins may have been the same entity. Remember a lot of footage of Mr X and Richie Collins with the gloves but Barton only for a brief period. How was Liam McNamara's form, not only the gloves but the pipe takeoff and helmet visor pull-down. Don't think I ever saw a McNamara wave through the 80's without the same modus operandi. Could have trademarked the visor pulldown move as his own. Stoked for your old man SB to still out there. Well played on his part.

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Shatner'sBassoon Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:13pm

Allied to this, anyone out there ever have a weird or obscure or defunct brand of wettie from yesteryear? There's been a few brands over the years.

Apart from the Sports Skins above, I remember I got a custom-made Fox long-arm springy once when I was living up the Goldie back in 99. Idiosyncratic colour-scheme to say the least.

There was a hot Asian woman who did the measuring. She insisted I stripped down to my undergarments for a proper fitting! Hot tomatoes! I think I had to go visit the Dole office afterwards...and this other joint that was next door-ish. If memory serves.

Life in the fast lane!

stunet's picture
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stunet Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:20pm

Riot Wetsuits knew that sex sells:

sidthefish's picture
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sidthefish Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:20pm

Paddling, like swimming is all technique. Props will never beat technique, always have a laugh at those guys thrashing in the pool, going nowhere.

sidthefish's picture
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sidthefish Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:22pm
stunet wrote:

Riot Wetsuits knew that sex sells:

A smile would help too. Looks like he's busting for a crap and the shoots taking too long.

sidthefish's picture
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sidthefish Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:23pm

Loved the Chapstick and FOX. Louie still going I think.

stunet's picture
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stunet Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:29pm

Rockin':

Shatner'sBassoon's picture
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Shatner'sBassoon Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 7:45pm

erm...so you had a couple of these wetties, Stunet? Get down!

groundswell's picture
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groundswell Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016 at 11:22pm

Piping Hot made wetties but went broke i think. Now they make pluggas and ugg boots, and sponsor Sally Fits.

Vicboy6's picture
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Vicboy6 Thursday, 4 Feb 2016 at 4:43am

Gloves are useful for people who are just starting out and don't have the strength yet to paddle into a wave. I used them when I was starting out, after many frustrating sessions with only a few waves ridden I tried them and found them to help. That was many years ago, might try them today for a laugh.

caml's picture
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caml Thursday, 4 Feb 2016 at 8:22am

How funny is this really . Webs would work if they were quality made . You know those mask n snorkels that cost very little & dont fit ppl hand em to children at xmas ? Rubbish . Like plastic knife & fork instead of steel , rubbish

talkingturkey's picture
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talkingturkey Thursday, 4 Feb 2016 at 9:33am
Shatner'sBassoon wrote:

back to the future!

http://www.swellnet.com/news/rearview-mirror/2011/02/11/webs-paddling-gl...

http://www.swellnet.com/news/rearview-mirror/2010/05/19/coloured-wetsuit...

Oi Caml, if you look in the old webs thread here, in the comments, someone claims you used to use them in your time at G-Land?? True?

caml's picture
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caml Thursday, 4 Feb 2016 at 9:42am

Yes . Custom alterations made by tailors to strengthen them & the velcro