A few months back we heard from the folks at a new company called Kast Gear. They make a few different products designed for fishing in the cold. They sent us a pair of their Steelhead Gloves to try out.
We fished them in cold weather. We liked them. Here’s why.
Design and Fishing Use
They’re fairly close-cut gloves that combine a waterproof (more on this below) / breathable outer layer with fleece lining on the inside. They’ve got some really nice secondary features, like a nice soft section to wipe your nose, and sturdy nylon loops on the cuffs to help pull them on.
The cut is really comfortable and allows for very good dexterity. There’s not a lot of excess material between or underneath your fingers.
This lack of extra bulk allowed us to keep them on much more than we typically keep on other full-fingered gloves. We’d take them off to tie knots, but we actually fished while wearing them! Spey fishing using a Skagit head and thin mono running line was doable while requiring that attention be paid to line management – but that’s about the most challenging line-handling situation we can imagine. If you’re fishing a single-handed rod or using PVC running lines, you’ll have very little problem managing your line with these gloves on. That right there is worth an awful lot!
Our one gripe was with the cuff design. The cuffs are cut fairly small and made to seal tight, underneath your jacket cuffs. We tend to keep our jackets on and take our gloves on and off during the day (tying knots, for example), and these cuffs were a little too small to easily close over the tops of our jacket cuffs.
Waterproof
This is the feature that blew us away. Kast says these gloves are waterproof. Maybe we didn’t pay attention, but we assumed waterproof in a “sheds water like a raincoat” sort of way. We certainly didn’t expect this…
NOTE: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to watch the Kast gloves get dunked on our web site.
Yep, they’re totally waterproof. Rain is not going to make your hands wet. Landing fish is not going to make your hands wet. Driving a boat in hard rain is not going to make your hands wet. These gloves are really, really waterproof.
Conclusion
Love ’em. Great for winter steelheading. Great for Alaskan guides. Great for cold mornings on the ocean.
They’re cut well, you can fish in them, they’ve got a nice warm lining…and your hands are absolutely, definitely not going to get wet.
They’re not cheap at $79.99, but warm, dry hands are worth it in our book. You can pick yourself up a pair directly from Kast right here.
Here’s our Product Review Policy and FTC Disclosure.
Great looking gloves, can you still handle running line and feel your fly swimming with them on?
Also, there should be a note about removing gloves while handling fish. They’ve been shown to remove the protective slime and can lead to infections… Don’t tail steely with gloves!
Sorry I missed the first few paragraphs so missed the mention of running lines!
Where can i buy a pair of your kast steelhead gloves?
Hi Otis, you can buy the gloves directly from Kast here–
http://kastgear.com/product-category/gloves/
I bought and used your steelhead gloves for the first time while fishing the Quinault River in WA last weekend. The gloves are not waterproof .
They leaked after 20 minutes of use in heavy rain and were worse than no gloves at all once they were soaked. For the price theyshould have lived up to the billing.
Maybe they stretch with use and the pores open up but they were brand new Fortunately the fishing was good even with wet hands.
John Minahan
John,
There was obviously some sort of failure with your pair of gloves and they need warranted. Every pair of gloves is pressure tested prior to leaving our manufacturing facility, and are guaranteed to be submersible waterproof. So somewhere in the process between there and the river something has happened. We would also be curious to know where you purchased the gloves in an effort to pinpoint any potential issues.Please contact us for a replacement pair of gloves and we will send them right out.
Kast Team
Kast sent me a second set of gloves for free. Sure enough this pair is truly waterproof and warm I used them yesterday in a rainstorm. And, they are warm.
Buy them if you fish in steelhead weather
John Minahan
That’s great to hear, John – I’d expect no less from those guys!
Andrew
Hi there
Would like to buy the Kast gloves but apparently they don’t deliver to Europe? Any agents?
Hi Mike,
Great question – I’ll ask the guys at Kast and either they or we will respond to you here. Thanks!
Mike,
The Kast crew confirmed that they can ship to Europe – just send them an email at fish@kastgear.com and they’ll take care of it!
Live in Idaho and winter fish a lot, these are the first gloves I have which actually keep my fingers warm. Fished in 20degree weather and kept me warm ALL DAY! These gloves are best on market by far and allow me to keep amazing line control while keeping my hands warm. Takes a second to get accustomed to feel of glove and line but once this is accomplished after a few casts its seemless. Buy them. I have small hands (?) gloves run large…
I have owned 2 pair of Kast gloves for a number of years now. They are very nice gloves, with excellent dexterity. One of the best features is the relative ease with which you can put them on with damp hands (you know what I mean), the lining stays put better than most gloves.
They did start out completely waterproof, but after a couple years, they were much less so. I still wear them a lot, and I will be buying a pair of the new ones just released.
So, I guess you can take this as a qualified endorsement – great gloves that are waterproof for a while.
Cheers!
If you need gloves good and thin enough to tie a knot. They wont keep your hands warm. I have tried surgical gloves. You can tie a knot but its still a challenge. Your hands stay dry but boy do they get cold. These gloves rock and I’ve been steelhead fishing and tried every glove out there since 1965.