I can now stop spending precious time trying to identify the perfect cold weather and rain cycling gloves.   I have been in search of the perfect glove system for some time now.  I have some heavy duty insulated gloves for really cold weather.  They work great when the weather is cold, but they are not water proof.  So, I have been searching for an overmitt or rain shell and was about to pay a lot of money for a descent pair of OR rain shells.

Thin full finger gloves with exam gloves over the top.

Luck would have it that today, Wheeling Wednesday, our bike ride was to be a soak-a-thon in a complete Oregon down pour.  Not having yet purchased my expensive glove system, I used an old trick- I layered my favorite thin Pearl Izumi full fingered light weight gloves underneath light blue medical exam gloves – which I have an abundance of at home and work. I teach wilderness medicine for Remote Medical International and I seem to have exam gloves in every pocket and all of my desk drawers.  At Linfield, we use the exam gloves in our exercise physiology and anatomy labs. They are particularly useful when dissecting cadavers or changing the spit trap during a VO2 max test.

The ride was indeed wet. My North Face rain shell worked fairly well to keep my upper body dry.  My REI rain pants soaked through and my Showers Pass Booties along with my Salomon Gortex trail running shoes did a great job keeping my feet dry and warm. My hands? They were toasty warm and dry in my new and very inexpensive glove system.

I probably won’t use exam gloves in the future (I always have some in my first aid kit) although I did like the bright blue color.  I will most likely purchase a pair of heavy duty dish washing gloves as they will be more durable in the long run.  The best part is that I can find dish washing gloves anywhere in the world.

Glove system problem solved.