Thumb loops on climbing layers...worst trend ever?

Sure maybe you slip the thumb loops on for a chilly approach (and your fingers remain cold) but really, no one wears the thumb loops while rock climbing. They just bunch up and get in the way of jamming, and catch on crystals, flakes, etc.

Would love to hear some realistic opinions on this...am I missing something? Why is it becoming harder to avoid this blasted feature? At least some companies are listening/using their knoggins:

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good for skiing or snowboard or cold approaches, bad for climbing and belaying.

some people like them, some don't. Women tend to like them because it provides a little more heat to their hands. Generally, I have found most men despise them.

Also I strongly believe that the Patagonia R1 is the best of those types of layers and they don't have thumb loops. BD gear is too boxy for my taste. (Patagonia clothing is boxy once you step up from the underlayers)

Hi Mitch & Others,

I though I might be able to add something to this discussion. I started climbing in the early 1970s. At that time the thumb loop was common on jackets/shells, etc., especially ones coming from Europe. The advertising that came with such jackets tended to focus on this idea--climbing involves a lot of reaching overhead and with a thumb loop when one reaches overhead and/or any other extended arm movement the jacket stays with the arm rather than retracting and exposing the forearm to the elements. I liked that feature and was a bit sad to see it disappear by the 1980s. The explanation for the disappearance was that it was simply another way to reduce costs. Another feature from that time was a differential waist cut to the jacket--similar to what one sees with cycling gear--i.e., the back is cut longer to cover the low back when bending forward. That disappeared in the 1980s for the same reason--to cut costs of production. In the alpine environment or ice climbing, etc., both are nice features and at least for me the fact that both are making a comeback is welcome. I surmise the comeback is due to the intense competition among manufacturers at the higher end, i.e., if one is going to spend hundreds of dollars on a jacket one will tend to look for distinguishing features which add advantages to one's climbing. The thumb loops do not have to be used--one can wear the jacket as one would wear any other jacket but for example when I am climbing technical ice and the ice is a bit wet the thumb loop is nice--keeps my forearms and thus by extension my hands just a bit dryer and warmer. This is especially nice for climbers who are born with arms that are a bit longer than normal. Hope I helped.

Cheers,
Bob Loomis, Spokane, WA.

Cold day, strenuous OW = shirts with the thumb loops are amazing.

Good point spokane bob,

However...climbing specific clothing has come a long way in design and cut. Articulation has been improved to keep cuffs from moving down the arms when lifted over the head. Length has been made longer to keep them snugly under harnesses.

Regardless, the thumb loops are easy to remove if you don't like them. Anyone can sew a few stitches once they cut them off and then they have a normal cuff.

The BD co-efficient just has long elastic cuffs. I have one from last year, there's not thumb loop.

I don't like them out while climbing rock, but it's nice on a base layer when it's really cold. A bit more coverage right at the wrist is nice.

my arms are too long to wear thumb loops on every jacket/layer that i have, but i do find them really useful for when i add a layer. it keeps the sleeves from riding up when im putting the next layer on, then i take my thumb out of the loop.

Clint - Looks like some iterations of the R1 don't have thumb loops, though the more climbing specific hoody does.

SpokaneBob - I appreciate your input but I disagree that the thumb loops simply don't have to be used. Bunching/rolling them up creates unnecessary bulk that is largely annoying and cumbersome. It is true that some companies do a better job of keeping them low profile, but IMO that does not solve the issue.

There are some layers where you could successfully cut the wrist cuff above the thumb loop and stitch it off. However, with many layers this will leave you with a shorter-than-desired sleeve length, or you end up removing some fancy cuff material (see BD Coefficient, and note it does not have thumb loops). Successful surgery in this regard is specific to each layer, and who wants to drop lots of money on a jacket just to experiment with cutting shit off of it?

axcxnj - you could also grab the sleeve with the same hand and hold as you dress. Pretty easy really.

All I'm saying is...there may be some uses for thumb loops that some people like, but why has it become such a trend that it's literally difficult to avoid? Climbing specific layers should be low profile at the wrist to facilitate climbing!

Like someone else said, the BD Coefficient doesn't have thumb loops.

Spokane Bob is absolutely correct though, it gives companies an extra feature for their product for when people are doing comparison shopping. I was reading an article a while back that stated that market research done by Nike found that people are willing to pay more for a midlayer when it has thumb loops, as compared to when it doesn't.

I don't mind having them; they can be ignored when you don't need them, but I like having them when I'm wearing gloves in cold weather, helps prevent my bare wrists from being exposed to the cold and/or snow. Rock climbing though, not so much.

I agree they are not great for rock climbing. However, these are awesome for alpine and ice. I am a dude with cold hands, and use the loops when belaying, slogging, or leading easier pitches. They provide a nice extra layer of overlapping wind protection on my arms between the jacket and glove. Don't take them away.

They are also great for skiing. Keeps the hands warmer in transitions. Useful when you need a bit of quick glove-free dexterity.

The Patagonia R1 thumb loops provide a longer cuff than the MEC knock off version. That convinced me to shell out more for the Patagucchi version.

You know, you don't have to wear clothing advertised as "climbing layers" to go, you know, rock climb.

Aye, except these days most baselayers or midlayers have thumb loops, regardless of how they are advertised. Ah well, I'm being picky for the sake of starting a conversation. I was just curious if others feel the same about thumb loops. I agree they can help seal out cold spots around the wrist, but I've never had an issue with traditional layering in this regard. Check out Jonathan Siegrist's review of the Konseal Hoody. I would take that as a vote against the thumb loops.

jstarinorbit.com/p/gear-rev…

theyre for winter sports ...

a little trick for winter ROCK climbing is to tape a warmer to the wrist over the fabric, roll the extra fabric back and tape that shut ... youll be amazed at how much it warms your hands on rock climbing around 30-40F

;)

I love the things. I have these super long arms and when a company adds the thumb loop they seem to make the sleeves longer to accommodate them - which finally makes the sleeves long enough for my monkey arms. No one seems to make a "tall" version of climbing clothing.

Thumb loops are awesome. Josh Wharton agrees with me (1:20).

youtube.com/watch?v=YJ74d6W…

Thumb loops are so the sleeves stay in your gloves, that's it, they aren't to make it warmer or to wear for chilly approaches pure function. Similar to why climbing specific jackets are cut allot longer, so they stay in your harness, does this add a bit of warmth and protection? Yes, but it's not the reason why it was cut long.

I'm a big fan of thumbloops as well as most other Patagonia ambassadors. So when you see thumbloops on Patagonia products the ambassadors and most likely the alpine ambassadors are to be blamed as we bitch anytime a base layer product is made without them.

I use them all the time while rock climbing. But maybe a lot of the rock climbing I do is in cold weather.

I like them, provided that the sleeves are long enough (and stretchy enough) to use them. On chilly days, they do provide some extra warmth in my hands, either when I don't bring gloves, or even to pull over my belaying gloves. I don't climb with my thumbs through the loops, since that would destroy the sleeves, but when I'm belaying, setting up anchors, etc, I often use them.

The other useful thing about thumb loops is to keep the sleeves from riding up your arms while you're putting on additional layers. This doesn't apply much to climbing for me, since I'm never wearing more than one other long-sleeved layer (if it's that cold, I won't be rock climbing), but for other cold weather activities, or ice climbing, it's useful. I usually don't wear the thumb loops under gloves, because I find it a little uncomfortable and makes a bulkier fit with your gloves, but I tried it last weekend when skiing in -20 temperatures (before wind chill), and I think it did add some warmth.

I have an EMS stretch fleece hoodie that implements them perfectly, they are my go-to layering piece for cold climbing, and pretty much all outdoor trips these days. I have some fleece layers from a different brand that have thumb loops, where the arms are a little too short even without loops, so for those it's pretty much useless, actually worse, since it's just a hole in the sleeve to lose heat faster.

I also love thumb loops. Often I use my climbing layers for cycling and other outdoor activities. And thumb loops are amazing with cycling as well because it gives me a little warmth without messing about with potentially losing a pair of gloves, and on days when I need gloves it helps cover the annoying gap my sleeves usually create (I have long limbs).

I also love extra coverage that differential cuts do to expand coverage on the back of shirt waists (drop back design) as well as on the front of cuffs (covers more of the front of the wrist or when there are thumb holes expands on the coverage to the knuckles). I want to chime in that this isn't a useless fad design, nor is it as unavoidable as some of the language people make it out to be. Often you can find cheaper layers at all the outdoor brand companies for layers that are absent of expanded cuffs, thumb holes, and hoods. I think y'all are ridiculous for misrepresenting and complaining and misrepresenting the presence of something easily avoidable.

I can go into any marshals/Ross/TJ-Max not to mention tons of online clothing sellers (eddie Bauer, Columbia/SierraTradingPost/backcountry etc) right now and easily find clothing that can be used for climbing without thumb holes...

My favorite things in all my base layers: thumb holes, differential levels on cuffs/waist and hoods. Easy to use, easy to ignore if not needed, but a godsend most times when I don't want extra glove or hat around to lose on my commuting or short crag trips.