A guide to some of the best swim gloves for outdoor swimmers. Keep your fingers warm and cosy – and stay in the water for longer – with a good pair of swimming gloves, ideal for open water swimming sessions.
Numb fingers can detract from your cold water swimming enjoyment. Step in neoprene swimming gloves. Designed to keep your hands (and sometimes wrists) warmer in cold water, they can be brilliant for protecting your fingers from pain, numbness and nerve damage.
However, some cold water swimmers warn against wearing neoprene gloves. Why? Because they say that your hands – and feet – are your best gauge for ensuring you don’t stay in the cold water for too long. In other words, wearing gloves can lull you into a false sense of security, putting you at risk of hypothermia.
I started wearing neoprene gloves because my fingers hurt in very cold water and because I suffered nerve damage. This wasn’t painful or permanent, but it felt weird and worried me – I go into this a bit more in my buying guide (scroll down to read).
It’s not worth messing with your hands – they’re too important. So, I recommend investing in a pair of neoprene gloves but being mindful of how long you can tolerate being in cold water.
At a glance
Best adjustable swim gloves: Speedo Adult Swim Gloves
Most comfortable neoprene swim gloves: Orca Core Swim Gloves
Best swimming gloves for keeping water out: Lomo Swimming and Triathlon Gloves
1/ Orca Core Swim Gloves
Most comfortable neoprene swim gloves
Specifications
- 2 mm thick neoprene
- Highly elastic inner lining for a better fit
- Extra-long pattern to overlap a wetsuit for better insulation
Reasons to buy: Easy to pull on and take off, minimal water ingress, long wrist cuffs, super comfortable
Reasons to avoid: Slightly thinner neoprene than other gloves
When it comes to neoprene gloves, comfort is at the top of our wish list. Orca’s offering is just that – comfortable to wear and easy to get on and off.
Made from 2mm flexible neoprene, these swim gloves are nice and stretchy. This means pulling them on is a cinch and they feel comfortable. But what separates them from the other gloves is how they’ve been tailored to fit your hands.
While 2mm neoprene is stretchy and flexible, the flip side is that it’s not as warm as thicker neoprene. However, a good fit is key and our tester found these easy to wear with minimal water ingress. Five stars.
2/ Lomo Swimming and Triathlon Gloves
Best swimming gloves for keeping water out
Specifications:
- Super stretchy 3mm neoprene
- Glued & blind stitched
- Liquid seams
- Wrist gasket
Reasons to buy: Minimal water ingress, toasty warm, good value, good sizing range
Reasons to avoid: Tight to get on and off, short wrist length
Like their neoprene socks, Lomo’s gloves come with a promise to minimise water ingress by having better seams, a wrist gasket and tighter fit.
With glued seams, 3mm thick neoprene and a thermal lining, Lomo’s Swimming and Triathlon Gloves feel like excellent quality and they’re comfortable to wear.
They’re our tester’s favourite swim gloves. She likes the gasket, which fits tightly around your wrist and the thick, 3mm neoprene. However, this does make them a very tight fit – we recommend checking the sizing carefully and perhaps going up a size.
3/ DHB Hydron Thermal Swim Gloves 2.0
Best neoprene gloves with a grip
Specifications
- Neoprene outer with thermal lining for warmth and comfort
- Non-slip bright print on the palm
- Extended tab makes them easy to get on and off
- Perfect accompaniment to dhb Thermal Wetsuits
Reasons to buy: Easy to put on and take off, flexible, comfortable, non-slip grip
Reasons to avoid: Grip cracks, water ingress
If you grip a railing to get in and out of the water, you’ll need to ensure your hand doesn’t slip. That’s where DHB’s Hydron swim gloves come into their own.
Our tester’s ever faithful swim gloves have got her through a few winters of swimming. With a thermal lining and mid-length wrist tab, they’re warm, comfortable and easy to get on and off.
We like the bright orange palm grips, although these do crack after a while – which doesn’t affect their performance. They’re not quite as warm as some of the other gloves we tested, which cost them a star. Four stars.
4/ Speedo Adult Swim Gloves
Best adjustable swim gloves
Specifications:
- Velcro fastening wrist loop with gasket seal – designed to help keep glove in place, provide a secure & adjustrable fit and reduce water ingress
- Optimised wrist length – designed for wearing with or without a wetsuit
- Gripped palm – designed for increased grip, and to aid in ease of getting gloves off when cold
- Designed to be comfortable and enable good freedom of movement and feel for the water whilst swimming
- External seams – for comfort
- Made from Yamamoto neoprene – limestone based neoprene
- Made from 3mm neoprene
Reasons to buy: Adjustable wrist fastening, gripped palms, easy to get on and off, comfortable, warm
Reasons to avoid: No thermal lining
Speedo is nailing its cold water swimming offering, and we struggled to find fault with these gloves.
Made from 3mm Yamamoto neoprene, which is slightly more sustainable than other neoprene, they’re comfortable and easy to get on and off. They don’t have a thermal lining, meaning they don’t feel quite as warm as some other 3mm gloves. But we found them perfectly snug.
The winning design feature for us, though, is the adjustable wrist gasket. That little strip of Velcro ensures a good fit wetsuit or not. It’s also great if you have thick or thin wrists.
5/ Nabaiji Swim Gloves
Specifications:
- 2 mm neoprene gloves
- Sealed seams
- Palm grips
Reason to buy: Long wrist sleeve, minimal water ingress, flexible and comfortable,
Reasons to avoid: Not as warm as other gloves, limited sizes
Decathlon’s open water swimming brand, Nabaiji, is known for making decent gear – and these swim gloves are no exception.
Made from 2mm neoprene, they’re not as warm as other swim gloves. However, they proved a surprise favourite for our tester. This is largely down to the long wrist covers, which stop water from getting in and keep your wrists warmer.
We found them extremely comfortable – we like having more flexibility than perhaps thicker gloves can offer. We were also surprised by how little water got into the gloves.
Grippy palms, good seals – great gloves. We just knocked off half a star for the limited range of sizes.
A few more great gloves we like:
Zone 3 Neoprene Heat Tech Gloves
In the market for a warm and reliable winter glove? Look no further than Zone 3’s Heat Tech design. This glove uses 3.5mm thickness neoprene and liquid sealed seams to trap in heat, and a clever titanium lining further reflects warmth for noticeably warmer hands in chilly winter waters. We love the longer-length wrists, which fit easily under a wetsuit but also feature a strap so that you can get a snug fit (this stops the gloves getting flushed through with water as you swim). The rubber grip on the palms and fingers is also good.
Material: neoprene
Thickness: 3.5mm
Sealed seams: liquid sealed seams
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros: reliably warm thanks to reflective lining, good adjustable wrist straps, decent grip
Cons: too thick for warm water dips
Price £35 (RRP £35) $46
Buy Zone 3 Neoprene Heat Tech Swim Gloves from wiggle.co.uk
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Patagonia R3 Yulex gloves
Neoprene is a bit of a wonder material for swimmers – it’s warm, lightweight, comfortable and close-fitting. The one downside is that this petroleum-based material is not good news for the environment. Wetsuit and swim glove makers are now turning to yulex, a more sustainable material harvested from rubber trees. Patagonia’s R3 glove is our pick of the pack – 3mm thickness and taped seams trap in heat, and the grip on the palms is brilliant. These are the priciest gloves in our round-up, but if you love to swim and surf all winter and want to shop sustainably, they’re worth the spend. A mitt version is also available.
Material: yulex and recycled polyester
Thickness: 3mm
Sealed seams: taped seams
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros: made from yulex, a more sustainable alternative to neoprene, taped seams, great grip
Cons: pricy, no wrist strap
Price £55 (RRP £70) $72
Buy Patagonia R3 Yulex glove from amazon.co.uk
Neoprene Diving Gloves
Shopping for swim gloves on a budget? These simple gloves are great value for money at under £10. Aimed at divers, snorkellers and swimmers, they’re thinner than most swim gloves at 1.5mm, which makes them much more dexterous but less warm than other designs. We’d stick to using them from spring to autumn, but if you already own thick winter gloves and want something you can pull on for year-round swims, this is an affordable second pair to choose. It’s just a pity there’s no grip to speak of.
Material: neoprene
Thickness: 1.5mm
Liquid sealed seams: no
Sizes: M/L
Pros: Affordable price point, thinner neoprene means more mobility, ideal for warmer weather
Cons: no grip, too thin for winter swims
Price £9.70 (RRP £9.70) $12.70
Buy Neoprene diving gloves from amazon.co.uk
Dakine Cyclone Glove
Most of the gloves in our round-up are aimed specifically at swimmers, but Dakine’s Cyclone glove is a surfer’s favourite design that doubles up nicely for any kind of water sport. These streamlined gloves are made with a mix of neoprene and nylon and are easy to pull on and off. The Cyclone has 3mm of thickness coupled with liquid sealed seams to suit most water temperatures, and a good grip thanks to a hex pattern on the palms made of silicone. Sizing from XS-XL also make it easy to get the right fit, although these gloves run on the small side.
Material: neoprene
Thickness: 3mm
Liquid sealed seams: yes
Sizes: XS-XL
Pros: great grip, comfortable to pull on and off, liquid sealed seams, versatile design
Cons: no wrist strap, sizing runs small
Price £35 (RRP £50) $45.79
Buy Dakine Cyclone Glove from surface-2-air sports via ebay
Blueseventy Thermal Swim Glove
Blueseventy’s thermal glove ticks all the boxes for swimmers – it uses warm, heat-retaining neoprene at a 3mm thickness and the seams are liquid sealed. Even better, this design has a metallic liner that further traps in body heat, so these gloves work for bitter winter swims without much loss of mobility. The slim, longer-length cuffs on these gloves also make them easy to pop under a wetsuit. There are only two sizes – S and L – available. Most women should find the S fits them, while the L will suit the average man, but if you’re between sizes you might find gloves with a bigger size range more suitable.
Material: neoprene
Thickness: 3mm
Liquid sealed seams: yes
Sizes: S/L
Pros: effective heat-trapping metallic liner, liquid sealed seams, works well under wetsuits
Cons: only two sizes available, limited grip
Price £37.50 (RRP £37.50) $65
Buy Thermal Swim Glove from wiggle.co.uk
Buying guide – What we look for in a great pair of swim gloves…
The main reason for buying swim gloves is comfort. When we get into cold water, warm blood shunts away from our extremities to keep our core warm. The result is numbness, tingling and changed sensations in our hands and fingers, which goes back to normal once we’ve warmed up. Although temporary, in the extreme cold, this numbness can be quite painful and unpleasant.
But, some cold water swimmers suffer from something called non-freezing cold injury. This is where the normal cold water symptoms (pain, altered sensation and cold sensitivity) can persist for weeks, months or even years. Researchers don’t know how cold is too cold, or how different people will react.
The downside of swim gloves
With the risk of non-freezing cold injury, why would anyone not wear swim gloves? One of the main reasons is that they reduce feeling, or bio-feedback. In other words, because you can’t feel the water on your hands, it can alter sensations and disrupt your technique. For winter swimmers, it can also impair your ability to tell when it’s time to get out. Without your hands as a gauge for how cold you’re getting, you risk staying in too long making you more susceptible to hypothermia.
What about Reynaud’s?
Lots of swimmers who suffer with Reynaud’s ask if wearing swim gloves will help. Raynaud’s is a vascular disorder where the small blood vessels in your extremities overreact to the cold. This causes your fingers (and toes) to turn white or blue, lose feeling and become painful and uncomfortable. Most suffers of Reynaud’s say that wearing neoprene gloves is the best protection from these uncomfortable symptoms.
How do neoprene gloves work?
Swimming gloves work like a wetsuit. They trap a layer of water between your skin and the neoprene, which then warms up to your body temperature. When you first put them on, many gloves will keep your hands dry. The water seeps in as you swim, usually through the seams and down the wrists. This is normal, but the water shouldn’t feel freezing cold or make your gloves sag – if they do, they’re too big.
Which neoprene gloves?
Start by choose the thickness of your swim gloves. The thicker the neoprene, the warmer the gloves will be. But there’s a trade-off – the thicker the gloves, the less sensation and mobility you’ll have in your hands. So, think about what kind of swimming you’ll be doing, in what temperature water and how well you cope with the cold. For example, if you swim front crawl over a distance in 10-15 degrees Centigrade water, you’ll need thinner, more flexible gloves. If you’re dipping in sub-5 degrees Centigrade, go for the thickest gloves you can find.
Also look for:
- Durable welded or liquid-sealed seams to keep more water out
- A wrist strap or gasket to help seal the cuff
- Grippy fabric on the palms and finger
- Wrist covering – a long wrist will help with warmth and preventing water ingress
- Thermal linings for extra warmth
Measuring and fit
Whichever gloves you choose, ensuring they fit as snugly as possible is really important. Follow the brands’ fitting guides, using a fabric tape measure (or bit of string and a ruler) to measure your hands. It’s worth measuring both hands as your dominant hand is often slightly bigger. If you’re between sizes, go with the smaller hand.
Top tips for warm hands
What you do with your hands before and after your swim will also affect how comfortable they are. Your hands are so important, but they’re easy to neglect. Show your hands the love they deserve and follow this handy cold water swimming routine!
- Take off your dry gloves and put your neoprene gloves on straight away
- Before you swim, do some jumping jacks, running on the spot and windmilling your arms to get the blood flowing right to the tips of your fingers
- Swim in your neoprene gloves
- After your swim, put on your normal gloves – mittens are best. You can also use hand warmers, hold a hot drink or hot water bottle to help warm your hands
- Wear warm, loose layers as tight clothing will restrict your blood flow
If you enjoyed this….
You might also enjoy reading our other articles on open water swimming and cold water activities
A guide to the best winter wetsuit
Cold Water swimming gear – everything you need before taking the plunge
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