10E2580: LLBean Rangley Wool Plaid/Leather Gloves

From the "reading my mail" department. The goodness of leather palms and the niche of wool.
Via LLBean. 

• 100% deerskin leather palm and fingers.
• Wool/nylon blend back with knit cuff.
• ThermaTek insulation
• Fleece-lined

Love the use of malone plaid.

• 100% deerskin leather palm and fingers.
• Wool/nylon blend or nylon back with a polyester knit cuff.
• Waterproof and breathable TEK2® insert keeps hands dry.
• ThermaTek insulation keeps hands warm.
• Fleece-lined for extra comfort.

10E2575: Montana Mittens | Piper and Paisley

Saw this note from a friend, 'gloves' 'wool blanket' - and we are away.

Montana 'lodge' Mittens (mittens made in Montana...) from a homesteader selling as Piper and Paisley.

Made of chunky blanket pattern wool (Pendelton in the case above), deerskin leather, and micro fleece lining. Not your ordinary clumsy mittens. They are designed with a slim fit, and a set-in thumb for high range of motion. Full interior interfacing, double-stitched thumbs, neoprene thumb wipe, side-release clip, and elastic cuff.  Made in Montana, USA $75-85  Shop here.

10E2487: Very Orange Work Gloves

Steerhide palms (like those woodstove gloves your gramps had), Thinsulate liner, and nylon backing. Slim fit. And orange as all get out. Made and shipped out of Missouri. $3 + postage.

10E2428: Grip Swany Gloves

Japanese glove makers Grip Suwanee Inc. have been making this particular style of glove since 1986, adapting traditional western USA Pioneer style leather work by using double stitched Kevlar thread (5 times stronger and more durable than cotton), chrome tanning and waterproofing treatments... they wear in, not out. 

Boom - from the inbox. Thx Chris. Belay glove with suede palm, £69.99 via UK distributor Kinoko.

10E2259: North Star | Bukaroo Work Glove

From North Star gloves in Washington state;  leather palm/canvas back chore glove. Gunn pattern with wrap around index finger (see glove pattern explanations here), straight thumb. Great graphic. $16 via Bailey's.

10E2233: Tohoma Glove by Poler

I am a huge glove-nerd, especially workgloves masquerading as winter gloves... #wheelhouse. New product from Poler is the Tohoma Glove (spelling take on Tahoma? Old name for Mount Ranier??). Anyhow; made with Poler-tastic Duffaluffagus hide (100% Goat Leather ), durable water repellent finishing, stash pocket for your Poler Heat Bag, insulated with Thermastuff high loft synthetics and waterproof breathable membrane. $99: upper-ish end for me admittedly. Some other styles (unlined, mittens, in black... here)

 

10E2226: Burton "Lifty" Glove

An homage to $18 grainstore Kinco workgloves favored by ski-patrollers, lifties and chainsaw wielding snowboarders all over the States - Burton has introduced the Lifty. $40. Maybe part of the next Olympics uniform?? #readingmymail

Also a modified AxeMan style in the Warmest Mitt. 

that waiting for snow look

Have been out on the hill twice so far, but waiting for that one big Vermont snowstorm to kick off the year. Here again is my hot tip for parents; check your local mountain for a lower-lift or beginner ticket + the U12 kids are usually free or maybe $5, so you can get out there for around $20 total. Stratton offers a lower mountain ticket for $15 which paradoxically then makes it the cheap option for ski/riding if you are taking beginner-ish kids with you.


Jacket: Burton Groucho in fowl camo.
Wool layer: Ibex Scout
Helmet: Bern (Watts). Keep saying, you should wear a helmet for several reasons... and they are probably all down in the lodge waiting for you.
Goggles: Anon Vintage.
Pants: Burton x Carhartt. Or your sno-sealed lined logger pants...
Tool: Leatherman Blast.
Socks: Darn Tough. Calf padded. Made in Vermont.
Coals to Newcastle. VT maple syrup. Drink it now and dream of snow.
Gloves: I still have a hard time finding something better (and certainly not cheaper) than Kinco lifty gloves.
Vest: Carhartt, pile lined. More pockets...
Boots: Burton Rover (w/ Red Wing).

Will also note that Stratton Mountain is currently celebrating its 50th year in operation with the release of a retrospective book by Hubert Schreibel [our old neighbor -ed.], a Burton x Johnson Woolen Mill run of bags (similar to those they did last year but a pleasing red plaid this time), a special Smith goggles make-up and reissue of the iconic "eagle" sweater from Stratton's Austrian invasion days. Further reading.

carolina glove company

The Carolina Glove Company is based in Conover, North Carolina and makes a slew of incredibly affordable work gloves. Owned and operated for three generations by the Abernethy family. Founded in 1946.

Love these inexpensive (most less than $5), ink-printed gloves; styles like The Patriot, Super Derrick, American Logger -in cotton canvas up to 24oz(!) and some poly blends. All gloves as below made in USA. They also do old timey cowboy gloves for kids.









This one is new to me. Double thumb oyster glove. Can't tell if there are infact 2 thumbs or they mean the thumb is double thick... anyway, $2.86.

that us open beer garden look -repeat

The months just click by, and when March hits in southern Vermont you will inevitably hear the words "is the sap running yet?" quickly followed by "is it The Open already?" This is referring to the USOpen Snowboarding Championships held at Stratton; this year sort of a week early... Right now. But hey, at least you can watch Tricia Byrnes give a live webcast.

Won't knock you over the head with it but this is a longstanding event that positions itself as a sort of good-time/season-end/local-vibe affair and it pretty much is.

Being 3 hours from the nearest major airport it must be a bit of trek/pilgrimage for a lot of the pros and bros, though maybe that adds to the mystique. Of course as The Open gets bigger each year people grumble it is not like the old days, some truth in that. (e.g. there are no timed/racing events anymore; no slalom, no GS, no boardercross. I hear there might be a race for the old boys on Friday though.)

I posted a similar blurb 2 years ago -saying that the one place you are guaranteed to meet up with your buddies (or the guys and girls you only see this one time a year) is the beer garden after the pipe finals... So see you there.

Jacket: Mine. Carhartt blue duck Detroit with snap-on hood. Older red quilt lining. Vest worn over the top in the patented 10e draught excluder system or DES.
Shirt: Post O'Alls wool/flannel.
Pants: Johnson Woolen Mills. Icecutters.
Gloves: Kinco. 100% de rigueur, must have, solid gold. To paraphrase Lebowski; "ties the whole look together".
Knife: Case Bartender.
Reading material: East Coast Snowboarding. This is a direct descendant of Eastern Edge right? Thought so...

For S&G, including an old 10e look below. Not a huge hell of a difference, and that is sort of the point. So what have I learned in 3 years of blogging? PostO'alls are a huge find, crepe soled boots still rule (though admittedly maybe not the best traction in snow), and a good old hat and snowglare shades still go a long way... Grungy prepster out.

hycreek work gloves

Not sure these can be beaten...

• Deerskin outer
• Nylon top
• Thinsulate liner
• Waterproof Gore-Tex liner
• Made in USA
• $10. Yes... $10. Buy direct from Hycreek

little and large

Think we got these at LLBean forever ago. Yes, yes... nylon straps.
Small one holds a case of beer vertically. Perfectly.

These Kinco gloves are so simple and effective they have become
a mainstay in ski-towns across the nation. Essential. Imported.

Better? Two pair of choppers from Berlin Glove.
"Berlin Glove was founded in 1869 and based in Berlin, Wisconsin.
On May 21, 2008, Berlin Glove Midwestern LLC filed a voluntary petition for liquidation
under Chapter 7 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin" -via.

For the man/woman who has everything.

that two foot of fresh look

Johnson Woolen Mill jacket.
Ibex first layer.
Labonville braces.
Kinco HiVis gloves.
NoBoard stomp pad on an old board.
Darn Tough socks
Carhartt lined pants.
Drop x Bigfoot goggles.
Hardhat liner for a hat. It velcros under the chin -clutch.

carhartt -new line of gloves

Looks like Carhartt are about to revamp their glove line. I'm heisitant to say I have a thing for workgloves incase you get the wong idea... but they are another industry to look at in the decline of domestic production and this is maybe the 18th time they've been mentioned on 10e... There used to be whole towns devoted to glove manufacture (hello Gloversville and Johnstown) but now just a few of the older manufactures left (notably North Star and Brookville).

Regarding these new Carhartt gloves, can't find a whisper online about them except this indepth video but not 100% about who is actually manufacturing them or where. They introduce Gore-Tex, kevlar, fleece insulation and knuckle guards all over the place, a cableknit pair for women and a new technology dubbed C-Grip (an advanced dipped-type glove that will be harder wearing and grippier than Nitrile). The C-Grips could maybe double as pipe gloves... or someone can jump and do a joint project with this material... Drop MFG???

Personally I look for gloves with tough enough palms for carrying wood and insulated for winter but you can still drive in them. Not overly bulky either. So far I haven't found anything that beats Kinco's lifties.

klein tools -always wear your gloves

Bags within bags. That is the key to organization so I hear. Via Klein Tools

north star glove co.

There are several aged American canvas-work-gloves manufacturers still in existence today (e.g. Galeton, Brookville), but July marked the centennial of Washington state's North Star Glove Company.

North Star produces “cut & sewn” types of canvas and/or leather work gloves in a multitude of patterns and variations. This selection of USA made gloves gets sold predominantly in the western states, Alaska and Canada, and the Southeastern lumber producing states. The family-owned, Tacoma WA-based company manufactured its first pair of gloves on July 9, 1910 and recently celebrated its centennial, quietly. They graciously answered my request for more info and some images; which I have paraphrased below.

The company was founded by Albert Wekell (seen above), a sturdy and adventurous Swede. Wekell arrived in Tacoma from Sweden around 1890 and ventured out to Alaska and the Yukon in the early 1900s Gold Rush. He didn't find his wealth there, however struck it rich by playing cards on the riverboats and steamers with successful miners and ship captains on his return to Seattle.

With that start, young Albert bought some machines and material to start North Star Manufacturing in Tacoma. Serving mostly the logging trade of the area, he would ride the local trolley car to the commercial wilderness out along McKinley Avenue where the logging camps started and sell his gloves to the merchants set up nearby. With that money he would return to town and buy new material to make even more gloves; thus pushing his selling territory out further and further.

Fast forward to 2010; the company remains in the family managed by corporate President Rob Wekell and brother Tom -Albert’s grandnephews. Further reading.

Over the past century, America could count at least a thousand glove manufacturers. Today, according to Rob Wekell, there are now barely a hundred – as small plants have been subsumed by larger companies, or moved offshore where labor and materials were cheaper, or simply closed.

“World War I was the first hit,” said Rob. “In World War II, we didn’t have enough people to work.” In 1944, the company opened a manufacturing plant in Orting and hired local women to sew and assemble gloves. Said Tom, “If you couldn’t make money in the Fifties, you shouldn’t have been in business.”

Thousands of jobs have disappeared in the last 10 years in the Northwest. That includes aluminium, lumber and plywood jobs. “During a recession, we go back to our basic product lines. People go back to the basics.”, Rob says. That means basic products; for example their White Ox brand canvas glove, produced since 1933.


Billed as The most popular glove in the Pacific Northwest The White Ox work glove has been used by loggers and woodsman has known for over 70 years.

• 100% cotton; fourchette pattern (material sewn between the fingers)
  
• Double ply quilted palm equates to construction from 22oz canvas
  
• 10 oz. canvas smooth back; knitwrist
  
• Fuzzy nap both inside and outside
  

Why so popular though? Part of the reason is price (around $7 a pair); the intelligently configured cotton affords near leather safety, but for the price of canvas. Some also prefer cotton to leather as they feel it grips better in the wet conditions of the NW. Sidenote: really like the classic stamped-red, simple branding on these and other gloves of their ilk (more). An updated version has a red wrist strap, as below.


Fun fact: Due to various factors, including hiring practices, glove sizes have changed over the past 100 years. Where the U.S. Forest Service once ordered gloves in two sizes – Big and Bigger – the agency now buys seven sizes, including small.

Again, thx to Rob Wekell (and Sherry) for providing text and images.

parenting -l bow gloves

L-Bow make children's gloves and mittens that have a gaiter up to the elbow; goes over the jacket or under. Have seen these in the wild -bulletproof. The mittens are sort of uni-thumb in the middle, so does not matter which one goes on first. Further reading at LBow.

drop mfg.

Drop have updated their site with the 2009/10 line. Below, the HD in woodgrained glory.

that pack it down look

Major toboggan action starts now. Should have a nice run packed down for later/tomorrow. I know nips (miniatures) are a waste economically but feel like a kid in a toy store when you go to those NH border state-liquour stores. Hell yes a helmet... heading down field towards a nice split-rail fence you might also want a barbwire-proof neckwarmer... layBaACK!!!

Pants -Johnson Woolen Mills.
Fleece -Patagonia RetroX, turns you into a Muppet. Then turns you into a Yeti as snow sticks to it.
Carhartt vest on top. Nip in vest pocket.
Mittens -Kinco.
Socks -Chrimbo present (thx Carrie), might as well have the best right??
Boots -Lacrosse Alphaburly.

vancouver olympics -team usa

Burton Snowboards are partnering with Gore-Tex to provide Team USA (expl/del-YEAH) snowboard uniforms in 2010. Burton designed the 2006 uniform too, a pinstripe (as in baseball) design. Greg Dacyshyn, Senior Vice President of Creative at Burton, quoted below on the 2010 outerwear design, which will be revealed once the U.S. Snowboarding Team is officially announced. [Team USA roster set as of 9/15/09 pressy, team will be announced January]

"The inspiration behind the U.S. Snowboarding Team outerwear for the 2010 Olympics is classic Americana," says Dacyshyn. "Although we are creating a uniform, our first objective is to express the individuality of snowboarding. As such, we are taking vintage American looks and interpreting them in a very unique and unexpected fashion. Finally, we will ensure that all of the highest technical attributes are maintained in the pieces, so that performance and function are not jeopardized. The result will be a progressive and fresh look that challenges the former conservatism of the Olympics."

An Americana mix of denim, plaid, leather (cowhide elbow patches... ok too much) and treated-wool would be great to see. Slightly underwhelmed by the BurtonxCarhartt offerings last year have to say, but getting that oh-so-recognizable brown duck material on the goggles or gloves would be icing... Something like below?? [In reality goggles and gloves are rider choice.] All items below from the Burton family except the (killer-never-saw-before) Kinco gloves. Add a lined chamois or flannel shirt, pocket bandana, make them logger-style pants and done. Bosh. [Reminder; Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter of the 2010 US Olympic Team, responsible for opening ceremony garb, press junkets etc.]


Pants: The Shark Denim Pant.
GORE-TEX® Performance Shell 3-Layer Denim with DRYRIDE Fabrication
Fully Taped Seams with GORE-SEAM® Tape
Link ZIP™ Jacket-to-Pant Interface
Boot Gaiter with Cuff-to-Boot Interface, Articulated Knees
Leg Lifts™ to protect your pants from Parking Lot Carnage

Jacket: 3L Gore-Tex Commissary Denim
Fully Taped Seams with GORE-SEAM® Tape
GORE-TEX® Performance Shell [3-Layer]
Removable Contour™ Hood

or

Jacket: White Collection Division (Factory Plaid)
DRYRIDE Durashell™ 2-Layer Coated Fabric [10,000MM, 10,000G]
Fully Taped Seams, Mesh-Lined Pit Zips™
Thermacore™ Insulation [60G Throughout]
Fulltime Hood

All snowboard events for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be held at Cypress Mountain, 30ish minutes from downtown Vancouver, Canada. For a bunch of reasons I am looking forward to watching the (official name) snowboardcross (but still call it ) boardercross. To recap the Olympic rules on this one; four racers start down a course of jumps, ramps and obstacles. The fastest two racers from each heat move on to the next round. Set the dvr now.

February 15, 2010
10:30 - Men's Snowboard Cross Qualification
14:00 - Men's Snowboard Cross 1/8 Finals
14:26 - Men's Snowboard Cross Quarterfinals
14:42 - Men's Snowboard Cross Semifinals
Medal Event 14:53 - Men's Snowboard Cross Finals

February 16, 2010
10:00 - Ladies' Snowboard Cross Qualification
12:15 - Ladies' Snowboard Cross Quarterfinals
12:29 - Ladies' Snowboard Cross Semifinals
Medal Event 12:40 - Ladies' Snowboard Cross Finals