clincher style glove "hang up"

[alex38]

I have had my left glove get "hung up" on my handle a number of times, it happened more with Vices then it did with my new and preferred Pro Locks. It gets stuck at like 6 ball and by the time i free it up i miss the pass. last one was different, went to throw the handle to avoid slack hit out of 4 ball and left glove didnt release causing me to be be ripped forward and dragged, the glove strap tore off before anything worse happened.

 

What causes this? Is it my US Gear handle with the curved ends? Are these not for me? I take every safety precaution concieved, and love these gloves for the lack of blisters. Lately when approaching the course I have noticed the left strap kind of flipping over in my palm and have to regrip before gate pullout.

 

Anyone else in this boat?

[Wish]

Handle diameter matters in my opinion. Been using them for a decade or two.

[alex38]

@wish, nice, I never thought of that, I'm at .940, I assume bigger is safer? Go 1.0? I have lg gloves. Thanks.

[OKSkier]

I have Radar Vice gloves and love them - but I take the plastic dowel out for a more natural feel.

[Andre]

Use regular gloves!

When you let go it works!

(Can you tell i had a bad experience!)

Glad you're not injured.

:)

[A_B]

ditto on the dowel. not really necessary if your gloves are the correct size. shouldn't be able to straighten your fingers all the way out. I am using Radars with the Masterline Ergo Curved 13" and so far so good. They have me back on the water at least. No skiing, or slight risk of hangup, take skiing any day!

[alex38]

Great feedback, I have had hang ups without dowel too, so I have to lean towards bigger handle diameter or conventional gloves. Skiing does sound like fun.

[Ed_Johnson]

I use the Vice Gloves, and the only hangup I ever had was with a conventional handle..Never, ever, with the US Gear 1.0 curved end handle..In fact, I use to remove the dowels with the standard handle, but prefer them with the curved handle..Fourth year using these handles and not one hangup with Vice, Masterline, Goode, or Clinchers.

[TeamWally]

I used 'em for years footin, I would trade hands every set, clincher on right, Straightline on left, then switch. That was with a 15" handle, 1.0 from Siple. let me grip with finger tips rather than rolling the handle all the in and getting locked up.

[6balls]

@Ed_Johnson interesting. I ski dowel out straight handle and have for years. Very occasional I get a momentary hang up for some reason to 5 ball...not like I'm stuck I just didn't get my hand off for a split second longer than I wanted. At 35 no biggie but at 38 I can lose a pass and if I'm deep 38 that's the last thing I want.

Interesting also it NEVER happens at 28 or 32 off...only 35 or 38. It also never happens into 2,4,6 (good side for me).

May have to go curved on my handle. I've liked them in the past but ski buddies have straight handles and I didn't want to always have to bring mine. I've only hung up once at a tourney where it cost me...but I don't ski many of 'em anymore and don't want to have that issue end my pass. Thanks for the insight.

 

Pro comp or Pro V US gear handle?

[alex38]

Just keep in mind the root of this thread is:

-32 off

34mph

U.S. Gear straight with curved ends .940 diameter

Lg pro locks with dowel in

Knew I had slack out of 4 (onside turn)

Went to throw the handle towards the boat and I went with it via my left hand, and didn't come free until the strap broke.

Now that I look at it like that I am answering my own question

 

Still appreciate all the input and feed back, Ty.

 

[Ed_Johnson]

I had a strap break on the Masterlines, and they would wear out really quick..Got a free pair of Vices from Brooks Wilson when I did the Radar Music Video for him and Love them. Just bought my second pair from Performance last week.

 

The Handles I use are Gordon Rathburn Signature Pro V 13"x1" Curved.

 

 

 

[skihart]

I burned my pro locks...

 

Labor Day weekend two years ago. I was running up the line at 28 off. I had the pass but I was a little late into ball 5. Pulled too long and ripped out a huge turn dropping my inside shoulder. Had slack and threw away the handle. Same as @Alex38 the clinchers didn't release but my strap didn't break. I got yanked right out of the water and my hand went instantly numb. I figured it was either my shoulder, elbow or wrist that had dislocated. Lay there in the water till the boat came around and surprisingly everything still seemed to be in one piece. Thanked my lucked stars took some Advil and was in pain for days. A couple of days later when I started using my arm again I realized that my right bicep was just flopping around on my arm and I had no use of it. Figured I pulled an @Horton and tore a tendon....end of season. After seeing the Doc and looking deeper into it we realized I had a musculcutaneous nerve injury. Somewhere between my shoulder and bicep the nerve had been damaged or torn from the muscle. The doctor said that with any luck the nerve could possibly regenerate but recovery would be slow if at all. Months go by and no change. Tested again and still no change. Nine months after the fall my Doc says that chances are slim that it will come back on its own and that surgery would be possible but a long shot. He sends me for one more sets of EMG testing to see if there is any change. Well sure enough after nine months they get a signal that confirms that indeed the nerve is regenerating. The Doctor was shocked that it was actually coming back after that long and that the break must have been pretty darn big. Tells me that I am a very luck guy and asks if I had burned the gloves yet.....

 

In truth I really liked the clinchers and even remember thinking that I needed to order another pair on the starting dock just before the injury. They are Just Not Worth The Risk though. With all the other potential injuries possible in this sport why add this to the mix when you don't have to? I will never use them EVER again.

 

 

 

 

[Marco]

A guy that skis in our area lost a finger with clincher type gloves. That's enough reason for me to never use them

[eleeski]

Gymnasts use dowel grips for a reason - improved grip strength! Leave the dowel in and use the gloves for the advantage you get.

 

Grip release can be an issue. Waterskiers can't use chalk like the gymnasts. The flap of webbing can momentarily stay stuck to the handle when trying to release. There is an easy and reliable solution - attach the webbing to the fingers. This is easily done by using a rubber band at the base of the fingers. O-rings of the proper size are cheap, replaceable and small enough to not be felt. Or cut a bicycle innertube into strips. I have been using this for years with the Clincher style gloves with excellent results.

 

There is risk in all aspects of skiing. Losing the handle can hurt you as well as staying on it too much. Do what you can to minimize and balance the risks.

 

Eric

[6balls]

My guess is no more/less dangerous than those things on the ski we stick our feet into in order to ski. Sorry for any injured...I've run 'em since I was a teenager and never been firmly stuck, throw the handle when I want no problem.

[OldboyII]

@alex38 Combination of some surfaces could produce "nano-second" bonding effect.

It is so called "short distance molecular interaction". And it may be really powerful force.

That is a way how fly can walk on vertical glass surface.

We never can predict that effect before we bump into it.

You may try to treat strap with sand paper or rub and wash it with a strong detergent.

Then see if it helps.

@eleeski - good idea about o-ring. Will try this weekend.

 

[mwetskier]

i've tried o rings, rubber bands, and various other materials but the thing that worked best for me are skinny little scrunci hair ties from wallgreens -you get like 50 or 60 of the things for under $2 - thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/07/13/scrunci-hair-accessories-at-walgreens-only-0-99-each/

[OldboyII]

Im 10K kilometers away from nearest wallgreens, but I will ask my wife to find something similar ))

[Booze]

I've used Clinchers and the copies for years. I did learn early on that I have to make exagerated clear moves to safely release the handle. I make the discision it's time to quit and open hands firmly and fully. In a throw the handle situation, I treat it like a angry cat and make sure it gets away cleanly without snagging me.

[Booze]

....throwing an angry cat....LOL We've all had that happen, right?

[mshaw200]

I have been using the Pro Locks since 2009. In my opinion the length of the strap is what causes the hangups. The longer the strap the more likely a hangup is in my opinion. I have gotten pairs that the palm strap was longer and it means you have to essentially open your hand more to get them to release.

 

My suggestion is when you find a pair you like make a note of the length of the strap and make sure the new pair matches.

[scuppers]

@mshaw200 is exactly correct! I cram my medium hand in a small glove and eliminate the release problems (and a number of other problems like bunching, twisting, etc). I think all water ski gloves should fit very tight.

[liquid d]

Never throw the handle at all- bad things happen. Release it by just opening hand.

Dowels can hang up in corner of rope triangle. If you like to grab the very edge of the triangle and let the pull help tighter your grip, "clincher" style ain't for you. I have used them for decades and other than 2 handing 6 ball a few times in the early days, have not had an incident.

[ToddL]

Pro locks, then White Vices, to now black Vices. Used Dowels in the first two, but took them out of the Black Vices. Also, the finger strap is much shorter on the Black Vices. With the white ones, I would occasionally get the strap twisted under my grip. Very distracting and I wouldn't lean as hard. I use US Gear radius elliptical handle. Black ones are less prone to twisted strap grabs. I want to get off them, but grip strength has faded to the point were attempting with regular gloves is a bit scary. Need to build up my strength in the off season and then start the new year with regular gloves...

[Wolfeie]

About 20 years ago I helped a company test the Clinchers. There was a law suit brought against Clincher when a young kid skiing with Clinchers could not release the handle and got hurt pretty bad. I had skied with Clinchers (open water only) so we did some load testing in a lab and on

the water. The Clinchers had always released for me before without any problems. But after the testing was done I did have a release problem one time out of hundreds of uses. The dowel

would not let me release the handle just for a brief couple of seconds before I could regrip.

But I could see if I was falling I would have been in trouble. Never used them since....but I have

not open water skiied in 15+ years.

[OldboyII]

IMO:

If skier in clinchers release a haldle intentionally, by straightening or relaxing fingers - hanlde may go even faster because it pushed out from palm by strap.

If handle pulled out by force, it might stay in hand longer because grip is stronger - in fact Clinchers are designed for this ))

Relaxed or strained Fingers behaviour could be an answer of "hang up"

[gsm_peter]

Does the handle type impact the release?

Getting trapped in the triangle could impact.

I use clinchers and ML team monster handle with plastic tubing on the rope.

Have not had any release problem yet....:-S/

 

[Wish]

I think skiing smart has an impact on hangups. If you're skiing out of control or sloppy, bad things can happen with clinchers. Several weeks back I had the bright idea of hanging on to too much load. With convention gloves the handle would have popped. Instead the clinchers held on a split second longer and pulled shoulder muscles in left shoulder, chest and back. Felt pins and needles running down my arm. Off the water for a week. Typically in my older wiser age I simply toss the handle and ski another day. They can be very powerful.

[Ed_Obermeier]

The only issues I've ever had with Clincher-type gloves, which I've used pretty much since I started skiing a LONG time ago, is with handles that don't have some sort of a covering on the side ropes of the triangle. I've gotten slight hangups in the corners of the handle using that type handle so I make sure the handles I buy/use have covering on the side ropes. Otherwise never had a hangup issue.

 

@Wish did the same exact thing - tried to hold onto too much slack and yanked something loose in my left shoulder. I (should have) knew better but it was only the 3rd set of the season and was already running deep 32. Way early at 4 ball, got excited, cranked the turn and got a bunch of slack. Rather than just let it go I tried to hold on to finish the pass and yanked the crap out of my left shoulder. That was 5 weeks ago (damn crappy Midwest weather), haven't skied since... Been in full rehab mode since, think I might be able to go this weekend. So agreed, they can allow you to hang onto way more than you should sometimes so you have to learn when to just let it go. I knew better, just got excited.