Originally Posted by
dscheidt
This will destroy any water proof properties the glove has, and depending on the glove, may make them much colder, by reducing the loft of the insulation at the finger tips, and by providing a route of air infiltration. Glove makers know that two part gloves are a pain, but they still make them because there are few real alternatives.
Agree but the alternative is to simply throw the gloves at the garbage so even if this solution is not the best it allows to still use those gloves at least.
I did that with my Louis Garneau gloves which have a waterproof membrane and i didn't even notice any difference.
By the way, the funny thing is that coincidentally i decided earlier today to remove the thinsulate insulation of my LG gloves after more than a year of use so what damages sewing 1 or 2 dots did to the waterproof membrane is quite fresh in my memory and it wasn't so bad.
There are some things to consider though,
First, we use gloves to ride rather than grab wet snow so the lack of waterproof due to some tiny holes at the fingertips shouldn't matter much.
Secondly, due to the riding position the tiny holes at the fingertips are not directly on the way of the air flow.
Thirdly, chances are like i noticed on my LG gloves that the thread will mostly fill the holes so that just the water going though remain a problem but not so much the air.
Fourthly, even with tiny holes at the fingertips it doesn't mean that air can go right through due to the boundary layers. That's even why professional swimmers keep some gaps between their fingers because even with openings water can't go through.
Fifthly, if your gloves aren't waterproof at start then there is nothing to worry about.
And finally, this technique is pretty much useless in most cases because most liners inside the gloves are usually made of thinsulate or primaloft which can't bare comparison with wool in most cases and should be removed rather than sewed.
Regarding the loss of insulation i do agree that with high loft liners the insulation could be reduced consequently probably not so much with 40g thinsulate liners though.
But i believe that if you intend to use your gloves for other use than riding those problems could matter more.
So i'm going to add specifics to the previous post to avoid some problems.
But there are possible ways to prevent all the problems from occurring.
For instance, by dipping the thread into some glue before sewing so that glue will clog holes. Or by sewing not through the liners but from the outerlayer of the liners to the innerlayer of the gloves when possible which should prevent the loss of insulation (but increase tear strength)