OCCASIONALLY SOMEONE RESOLVES AN OLD CLIMBING PROBLEM WELL, ELEGANTLY AND ROBUSTLY. RARER, SOMEONE RSOLVES A PROBLEM SO ESTABLISHED IT WAS SIMPLY ACCEPTED AND GIVEN UP ON AS A NECESSARY EVIL. EVEN RARER STILL IS WHEN A PROBLEM IS IRREDUCIBLY SOLVED, MAKING THERE NO PROBLEM ANY MORE, TAKING IT OFF THE TABLE.
OUTERU HAS DONE JUST THIS WITH THE FACEGLOVE, TAKING A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT HAS HAD COUNTLESS STOP-GAP FIXES, FIXING IT ONCE AND FOR ALL SIMPLY AND DEFINITIVELY. WHERE SKIN DAMAGE HAD BEEN A SERIOUS ISSUE RANKING WITH DEHYDRATION AND COLD INJURIES, THE FACEGLOVE FIXES IT IN THE SAME WAY MITTS AND HEAT EXCHANGER MASKS FIX PARALLEL PROBLEMS FOR THE HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBER.
THE FACEGLOVE IS A MASK THAT COVERS THE NOSE CHEEKS AND JOWELS, BLOCKING SUN RADIATION, WIND AND SPIN DRIFT, AND TO A SMALLER DEGREE WARMING AIR INTAKE. IT AVOIDS FOGGING GLASSES AND GOGGLES BY NOT COVERING THE MOUTH, AND IS HELD ON BY LOOPS OVER THE EARS LIKE A COVID MASK.
IN ITS WAY IT IS IN DIRECT EVOLUTION FROM THE UBIQUITOUS NOSE GUARD, BUT COVERS MUCH MORE AND REQUIRES NO ATTACHMENT TO GLASSES. IT ALSO LOOKS COOLER AND HAS NO BREAKABLE PARTS, AND CAN BE EASILY CARRIED WHEN NOT IN USE. IT DOESNT OBSTRUCT HEARING AND DOESN’T NEED TO BE REMOVED TO EAT OR DRINK, TICKING ALL THE BOXES FOR USE WHILST CLIMBING.
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TWO VERSIONS OF THE MASK EXIST; THE THERMO-MOLDABLE VERSION AND THE MINIMALIST FLEX.
THE THERMO-MOLDABLE VERSION IS POLARTEC POWERSHIELD, A MEMBRANED FABRIC WITH A FURRY BACK SIDE THAT THERMOFORMS WITH A PIECE OF PLASTIC SEALED WITHIN IT, AND SEEMINGLY SOME PROPERTY OF THE FABRIC ITSELF, PROBABLY THE MEMBRANE. THIS VERSION IS ROBUST, MORE PROTECTIVE THAN ANYTHINGELSE SOFT YOU WOULD WRAP AROUND YOUR HEAD, INCLUDING ANY BALACLAVA WE’VE SEEN THAT CALLS ITSELF A WINDMASK. COMING IN SEVERAL SIZES IT COVERS THE ENTIRE NOSE, EXTENDING BELOW, WHERE THE FUR OF THE FABRIC TRAPS A SMALL POCKET OF AIR. THIS IS THE VERSION FOR SERIOUS USE, INCLUDING REAL PRECIPITATION AS THE POWERSHIELD WILL REPEL THAT LIKE SHELL JACKET. IT IS VERY WARM AND THE HIGH CUT SEALS RIGHT UNDER GOGGLES, AND COMBINED WITH THE REST OF A HIGH ALTITUDE SYSTEM WOULD BE PART OF A ‘FULL CONDITIONS’ SET.
THERMO-MOLDING IS EASY AND REASON ENOUGH TO GET ONE. AS HUGE ADVOCATES FOR CUSTOMIZING GEAR THIS IS UP THERE WITH BOOT LINERS AND PACKS. SIMPLY HEATING THE MASK THEN PUTTING IT ON AND SQUEEZING INTO SHAPE, THIS COULD EVEN BE DONE IN A TENT OVER STEAM FROM A POT AND THE RESULTS ARE EXCELLENT. THIS CREATES A REAL BIT OF EVERYDAY USE GEAR, AS INTEGRAL AS THE SUN CREAM IT NOW REPLACES 1000% MORE EFFECTIVELY.
THE FLEX IS A LIGHTER LESS RIGID VERSION, MADE OF A LIGHTER SOFTSHELL FABRIC THAT STILL BLOCKS WIND AND PROBABLY LIGHT SNOW. THIS IS THE VERSION FOR WARMER CONDITIONS, BEING SUNSPECIFIC, AND HAS A SMALL NOSE TIP PROTECTOR THAT HELPS WITH SOME REFLECTED RADIATION AND WIND. THIS IS THE CHOICE FOR FAST MOVEMENT, EVEN SOMETHING LIKE RUNNING, WHERE WEIGHT ON THE FACE MIGHT BE AN ISSUE, AND IS LIGHT ENOUGH TO CARRY AS A SPARE.
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UNTIL THE FACEGLOVE, SUN DAMAGE WAS PROTECTED BY SUN CREAM, NOSE GUARDS, BUFFS AND DUCT TAPE – ALL OF WHICH WERE SO UNRELIABLE THAT SKIN DAMAGE WAS JUST ACCEPTED. SUN CREAM WEARS OFF, IS GREASY, GETS INTO YOUR EYES AND MOUTH AND ON YOUR LENSES, AND REAPPLYING IT INVOLVES TAKING OFF GLOVES AND OF COURSE CARRYING THE STUFF. EVERY TRIP EVENTUALLY BECOMES A ‘SUN CREAM ECONOMY’ BECAUSE EVERYONE RUNS OUT. EITHER THAT OR THE TUBE BURSTS OR IT GETS DROPPED. NOSE GUARDS WORK – FOR YOUR NOSE – UNTIL THEY GET DAMAGED OR BREAK, BUT THE MAIN ISSUE WAS THEY ATTACH TO GLASSES, RARELY GOGGLES. BUFFS HAVE THEIR PLACE NO DOUBT, BUT REALLY FOR SUN PROTECTION, WHERE GOGGLES STILL FOG UP, THEY ARE HOT, OR GET WET AND FREEZE. SLICING HOLES IN THEM WORKS, BUT IS INFURIATING TRYING TO ALIGN THEM IN THE DARK OR WITH GLOVES, AND EVENTUALLY LOOSES SHAPE AND WITH IT EFFICACY. DUCT TAPE SOLVED A LOT OF THE PROBLEM, WITH THE ONE ISSUE BEING THE TAPE ITSELF, THAT HAD ONLY SINGLE USE AND COULD COME UNSTUCK UNLESS YOU HAD THE RIGHT TYPE.
A VISIT TO ANY BIG BC WILL TURN UP A WIDE ARRAY OF SEMI-SOLUTIONS, WITH MOST CLIMBERS PATCHING TOGETHER SEVERAL TO GET THEM THROUGH A TRIP, AND YET STILL PEOPLE GET BURNED, FROST BITTEN AND WIND CHAPPED.
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WE THINK THAT FACEGLOVES SHOULD BE AS COMMON ON MOUNTAINS AS SUNGLASSES, HATS AND BUFFS. IT IS A BASIC BIT OF PROTECTION THAT FORMS A CLIMBERS ‘COMBAT ENSEMBLE’, AND WHEN YOU SEE THE EFFECTS OF SUN, COLD, WIND, AND ICE ON THE FACE IS A NO BRAINER. FOR THE COST THAT THEY ARE THERE’S NO REASON NOT TO HAVE ONE.
WE ALSO LIKE OUTERU, ANOTHER SMALL BUSINESS DOING SOMETHING OVERLOOKED BY THE CORPORATIONS, COMING FROM REAL WORLD DEMANDS AND INTERFACING DIRECT TO USERS. TO GET THESE OUT THERE WE TALKED DIRECT WITH KEVIN, AND CLIMBERS ON OUR TRIPS HE WILL SORT A DEAL ONCE VERIFIED. WE WILL BE TAKING THESE ON ALL TRIPS TO TIBET AND XINJIANG, AND HEAVILY RECCOMEND TO OUR TEAMSTERS ON THE BASIC GEAR LIST.
