RBH Designs Vapor Mitt & Vapor Triggs
By David Loveland

There are a few constants in this life. You know about death and taxes, but is it possible that cold hands when you are outside is the other? General mountaineering will get your hands chilly most of the time, and rock climbing in brisk weather cold hands are a given, and in ice climbing, well, that is just something that you have to learn to put up with. Gearreview.com may have found some gloves that could put an end to all that. Ok, maybe not the death and taxes, but we might have the answer to cold hands.

The folks at RBH have got a handle on the cold hands. They are turning out some great gloves for mountaineering and ice climbing. We took these gloves on general winter camping, mountaineering, and ice climbing trips all over the Western United States. They soon became the favorite of all the testers, and even though we have had them over a year now ( a life time in the glove world!) they are still going strong.

They sell two types of gloves, the Vapor Mitts, and the Vapor Triggs. The mitts are built for general mountaineering, and the Triggs are built for ice climbing.

Mitts
The Mitts are built around that time-tested design, using the fact that if your fingers share heat with each other, they will stay warmer. Our testers really like the leather palms, and all the other bells and whistles these gloves come with, like the fact that the seams are sealed by hand with a syringe full of Seam sealant, idiot strings and a drawcord that can be tightened or loosened by a gloved hand- in the dark. Not once did they gloves allow our testers hands to get cold, and the glove comes apart for easy drying. The liners can be pulled out of the shell, it attaches with an ingenious Velcro arrangement, and they can both be turned inside out to dry if moisture build up is a problem.

Triggs
The Triggs are basically the Mitts, with a few modifications—the index finger has been separated from the rest of the fingers, in order to give better dexterity with your gloves on. It allows you to set ice screws, clip your rope, and generally do the things you need to do, all with your gloves on. Again, they have been well designed and thought out, and are hand built by people who love to climb as much as you do. Another design change is the fact that it has a soft fleece spot near the thumb. You will appreciate this small addition when your nose goes through that freeze/thaw cycle it usually goes through during ice climbs.

The only thing we could come up with for negative comments for these gloves was that they might be too hot! This may be like having a car that gets too many miles to the gallon! The solution of course is to take the gloves off for awhile, let your hands get back to room temperature and then back on with the gloves.

Summary: These gloves are top of the line mountaineering and ice climbing gloves. They provide warmth, protection and durability. They are easy to dry and hold up to the demands of ice climbing and will keep your hands warm for all mountaineering uses. If you have an aversion to cold hands, these gloves will find a place in your pack.

Cost:
Mitts - $155
Triggs - $145

David Loveland is a contributing editor to GearReview.com specializing in winter backcountry adventure.

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