My first pair of gloves was 5mm rip curl 5-finger glove. After 4 months of use they developed holes along the fingers. So I bought a 5mm pair of 3 finger gloves, they suffered the same fate after about 6 months of surfing.
Then I shelled out an extra 20 bucks on top of what I was usually spending and picked up a pair of these XCEL 7mm mittens. They came to about $70 cnd and so far are well worth it! I have used them for half of the (07/08) winter season and the entire (08/09) winter season and they have kept my hands nice and toasty. Actually, the only complaint I have so far is that they have actually kept my hands uncomfortably warm and I’ve had to simply pull my wetsuit up to allow some cold water to leak in and cool things down. After a full season and a half the seams are still tight and don’t look to have much wear on them. There is some peeling of the seam near the thumbs but I contribute this to me putting my mitts on in a rush to get in the surf and then realizing that I still need to wax my board. This is hard on all gloves and if waxing your board with mitts on can be avoided, it should. I expect to get another winter season out of them at least. Also, I also noticed that I have a stronger paddle stroke with the 7mm mitten, the benefits of webbed feet!
So after one fall/winter season using the 7mm XCEL I would strongly recommend these mittens if you surf at all in the winter months (Jan/Feb) of Nova Scotia. However if you’re just surfing when the weather is good save 20 bucks and keep your 5mm gloves as these may keep you too warm.
Available sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
Xcel Surf Glove features:
Taitex sealed seams
Full grip palm
THERMOSPAN lined
Superstretch back of hand
MSRP: $60-80 (CND)