The Warehouse is Caught Up and Order Turnaround Time is Back to Around 2 Days
I'm happy to be able to tell you that the warehouse has caught up and our order turnaround, the time from when we receive an order to when it ships is back to around 2 days. It's been really difficult with trying to find help and with lots of people getting Covid. Congratulations to our hard working and dedicated crew.
|
|
Toko Gloves organized from lightest weight to warmest
Here is how Toko gloves line up from lightest weight to warmest. Some are similar but have different constructions (ie mitten vs split mitten vs glove)
|
|
3 Season Glove. It's called the 3 season glove because it is so light, normally it would be used spring, summer, and fall (ie for rollerskiing)
|
|
Profi Glove. No insulation whatsoever and an elastic mesh between the fingers providing ventilation. Back of hand windblocker. (comes in 3 colors)
|
|
Classic Glove. No insulation but warmer than the Profi because between the fingers is also windblocker. (comes in 3 colors including all black)
|
|
Thermo Race Glove. Light insulation on the back of the hand underneath a windblocker layer. (Comes in 3 colors including all black)
|
|
Thermo Plus Glove. Insulated with Thinsulate on both back of hand and palm. Outer layer is a softshell. Comes in 3 colors including all black.
|
|
Arctic Glove. Insulated on both back of hand and palm with Primaloft Insulation. Comes in 2 colors including all black.
|
|
Polar Race Glove. Cold Weather Racing Glove, Warm fingers without the bulk under the strap, thermo fleece fingers with membrane. This is the best cold weather ski glove that I have ever made. It is very warm and insulated on the fingers but has far less insulation on the hand where the pole strap goes. This is a must have glove. Unfortunately it is sold out in many sizes for this winter.
This glove runs one size small, so get one size bigger than you would usually get. This is because it has quite a lot of insulation in the fingers but uses the same “starting size”.
|
|
Thermo Split Mitt. Has Primaloft insulation on back of hand and palm. Is a very compact split mitt that is surprisingly warm for how compact it is.
|
|
Toasty Thermo Split Mitt. Overstuffed with Primaloft insulation. I call this a "sleeping bag split mitt" that is supple, comfortable, and super warm. This split mitt is warmer than the Thermo Split Mitt.
|
|
Toasty Thermo Mitten. Overstuffed with Primaloft insulation. This a "sleeping bag" mitten that is supple, comfortable, and super warm. We have had a difficult time keeping these in stock because they have been so very popular. If you like warm soft plush mittens that fit into a pole strap, these will be the all time favorites.
|
|
Racing Overmitt. This is a windblocker overmitt that goes over the pole strap and whatever glove is being worn. The combination of a Thermo Plus and the Racing Overmitt is incredibly warm even in extreme cold temperatures (for people with reasonable circulation). They are a bit of a pain to get in and out of, but once in, they are great.
|
|
I did not mention the Convertible, but this a Classic glove with a pull out shell. When the shell is not being used, you can't tell it is there. When it is being used, it does a great job of blocking wind and moisture as well as trapping heat. The versatility of this glove is great for teaching lessons, bike commuting, backcountry skiing, and skiing up a pass and then putting the cover on for skiing down.
|
|
I also didn't mention the Rain Glove as this is a specialty glove for wet weather. If it is cold, normally there is no wet falling snow or rain, so this glove is designed to be worn in temperatures at around freezing. It is lightly insulated and ought to keep a person warm and dry in wet falling snow or light rain. This glove is not waterproof but works very well when conditions are wet.
|
|
Toko Glove Sizing and Fit
Toko Nordic ski gloves use European sizing which means numbers from 5-12. There are distinct advantages to this system over the traditional XS-S-M-L-XL sizing.
1. Smaller sizing increments. The difference in fit between a 6 to a 7 or a 9 to a 10 is smaller than the difference from S-M or M-L yielding a better fit.
2. More sizes to choose from. 8 sizes means more sizes to choose from compared to traditional American sizing where men and women have a maximum of 5 sizes to choose from (each).
3. For dealers, less SKUs (items) to stock. Because a women's XL and L are quite similar in size to a men's L and M, for example, there is overlap with the traditional American sizing system. With the European sizing, there are less sizes overall, but more sizes to choose from because the overlap is eliminated. This means that dealers can stock more glove sizing variety while stocking less gloves overall.
Above you can see a sizing chart which converts traditional American sizing to the European sizing that we use.
One very common men's size is size 9 which we call a medium large. If you are often between a medium and a large, this is the size that will probably fit you really well. If you are smaller than that go with an 8 and larger than that a 10. Of course for those with very large hands, 11 and 12 are pretty self explanatory.
For women, the most common size is size 7. I'd call that a women's medium. If a woman has larger than average hands, she is probably a size 8. If smaller than average, I'd say size 6. Size 5 is pretty teeny!
One thing that we did for a while, but then took down was to provide a measurement chart. My experience is that this measurement chart resulted in a lot of mail ordering/internet ordering mistakes. I got a lot of emails that included the phrase, "Normally I am a medium, but after doing measurements and comparing to the size measurement chart, I ordered a large which turned out to be too big for me". Our gloves run pretty true to size, so I'd say if you are normally a medium or a large, that's what I would order.
Additionally, gloves also have so much personal preference. I personally fit all of my gloves similarly but some people like the thinner gloves to be super tight. My wife wears very loose gloves. Were I her size, I think I’d wear a size smaller and I am not big on tight gloves. Some of our athletes size down on the Profi model. I like to size up on that model. What I am saying is people generally know what size they are for the most part and what their taste is.
That’s why I took down the measurements – it seemed to contribute to a lot of returns due to wrong sizing whereas if people simply had ordered what they traditionally order, they would have been good.
|
|
Sten Fjeldheim Interview
After 35 years of coaching the Northern Michigan University ski Nordic ski team, Sten Fjeldheim retired in the spring of 2021. Wining 4 NCAA Nordic Ski Team National titles, coaching 12 skiers who represented the US in the Olympic games, and guiding 7 NCAA individual champions since NMU joined the NCAA in 1993 is amazing and impressive. So is being named the United States Ski Association coach of the year 6 times and being awarded over 30 times some type of coach of the year award. However, to me, none of these accolades capture why Sten is a true legend. His athletes and community revere him not only for amazing achievement but also for the profound change he has made in them.
This interview was so wonderful to do. I'm sure that any passionate Nordic skier would regard it as the treasure that it is and would enjoy every minute of it.
The podcast (audio) can be heard at podbean and also at apple podcasts, google podcasts, and we are now back on spotify too (had to change the file format). Click on the video logo below to watch the YouTube. Also, click here to go to the entire video library.
|
|
How to Prevent Snow from Sticking to No-Wax Ski Bases
This is a very common problem among recreational skiers. Our readership is generally quite advanced and has mostly moved on from no-wax skis to skin skis but I still thought that there might be many who would appreciate this information either for themselves or for friends who ski with no-wax skis.
If someone were frying an egg on a frying pan and was having problems with the egg sticking to the pan, turning down the heat MIGHT help. However there are other things that might be the issue rather than the heat such as adding some kind of lubricant to the surface of the pan or using a pan that is thick enough to distribute heat to the entire pan rather than just one fairly concentrated spot.
Many of the solutions commonly given to avoid this problem while good often don't contain the necessary scope of things to check or address to solve the problem for sure.
Here is a list of things to check/address.
1. Make sure that the base of the ski is entirely clean. I'd say that this is the most overlooked issue and probably the most common culprit. New snow around freezing sticks like crazy to dirt and then it sticks to itself building up under foot. The ski bases (especially the "tread pattern" or "fish scales" need to be cleaned especially carefully paying special attention to the corners in the pattern where dirt tends to accumulate the most. If needed, I recommend using a nylon scrub brush and brush lengthwise, but in the tread pattern sideways (laterally) and with soap. You can also use wax remover, but to remove the dirt from the tread pattern, I think soapy water and a scrub brush is the best.
2. The base should be in reasonable shape. If the base is super scratched up and dried out, it loses its water repellency. You can metal scrape it (just generally to remove all of the scratchy and hairy stuff) and then fibertex it, and lastly a coat of hot wax will then make a huge difference. The harder variety will be the most effective in removing this rough stuff on the surface although it is not as hydrophobic.
3. Use a hydrophobic liquid on your whole base. Toko makes a product called "Grip n Glide". It is specifically designed for "no-wax" skis. You apply it on the entire base both glide and kick surface. It will repel the sticky snow (so long as the base is in OK shape and dirt free). There are other products on the market too, but I would recommend a liquid, NOT a paste or gel. The pastes (which we also make) will accumulate in the corners of the tread pattern thus attracting dirt and then this dirt will give good opportunity for the snow to stick. The pastes will work very well short term, but not long term for this reason.
4. Lastly if the ski bases get wet and then have contact to snow that is not wet, the not wet snow will freeze quickly onto your base. This can happen if there is wet snow (puddles) under dry snow or even if you take your skis out of your warm car and immediately start skiing on the new snow around freezing. It will help prevent this if you avoid puddles and also allow the skis to get cold before skiing on them especially in new snow conditions around freezing. Do this by simply putting the skis outside for a few minutes before skiing on them.
Good luck! I hope this was helpful.
Below is a 2 minute video demonstrating and explaining how to apply Grip N Glide Wax for no-wax skis
|
|
HP Hot Wax VS HP Liquid Paraffin: What is Better When?
First, on the World Cup currently, the old fluorinated version of HP Liquid Paraffin is being used as an underlayer for fluorinated topcoats. The technicians put their hydrocarbon base layers on and then after scraping and brushing them spray the appropriate HP Liquid Paraffin. After waiting only about 15-30 minutes, they brush it out and apply their topcoats. The fluorinated HP Liquid Paraffin acts as a great bonding layer for the fluorinated topcoat making it more durable and effective. In the United States, the use of fluorinated waxes is going to be banned/discouraged as of next week, so this waxing technique is a thing of the past.
So, rather than considering the HP Liquid Paraffin layer as a bonding underlayer for topcoats, we need to start considering the HP Liquid Paraffin as its own fast race wax and figure out when to use it compared to only hot waxes. To be clear, the old HP Liquid Paraffin was fluorinated. The one that is available starting this fall and winter is fluoro free. You can tell the difference because the new one has a "PFC FREE" logo on it. Otherwise the packaging is similar.
We tested HP hot wax on one ski compared to HP hot wax with HP Liquid Paraffin on top on the other ski. In general the ski with the HP hot wax covered with the HPLP was faster. The only conditions where the HPLP over the HP hot wax was not as good (initially, in all cases after it got skied in for a while it was the same and in some cases it became faster) was in dry new falling snow or dry new fallen snow that hadn't been groomed yet. This has been the case with other liquid paraffins on the market too, not just ours. (At least this is my understanding, I don't want to speak for any other brands).
In general, even if the snow is super cold, dry, and slow, the HPLP over the HP hot wax was better except for the tricky part of new falling cold snow. If the new falling snow is glazing readily, this is not an issue. It's only with more arid (dry) new falling or fallen snow.
Another important point, is that this wasn't necessarily a fair test in many cases. We tested mostly HP hot wax Red (for example) against HP hot wax Red covered by HPLP Red. What I mean is that the hot wax was the same in both cases. We did this as sort of a worst case scenario. We did also test what I would recommend waxing with the HPLP which is the following:
If using HPLP Blue, wax with HP hot wax Blue underneath.
If using HPLP Red, wax with HP hot wax Blue underneath.
If using HPLP Yellow, wax with HP hot wax Red unless it's really wet, and only then go with HP hot wax yellow as an underlayer.
Using a harder underlayer yields a benefit that exists only when combined with a liquid paraffin that isn't heated in. The harder underlayer in general is more durable, more resistant to dirt, and accelerates more quickly (earlier). When you cover it with the HPLP (even one color warmer such as Red), you get the benefits of the HPLP (slipperier and more hydrophobic) without giving up the other benefits because you didn't heat in the HPLP thereby softening the ski base. This is a key point. So, in general use a harder base (most commonly HP hot wax Blue) under the HPLP.
If the snow is dry at all, I would also caution you to go with the HPLP (or BPLP) Blue. This is awesome stuff with a huge range on it. In the Intermountain west where our snow (and air) is notoriously dry, between Dec and mid February, I'd say the HPLP Blue over HP hot wax Blue is the wax 90% of the time. It's simply and very effective!
Be careful about using the HPLP in new falling dry snow or new fallen dry snow where the new dry snow is sitting on top of already groomed snow. If it has been tilled in and then skied in, I would go with the HPLP with no reservations.
I should also mention that all liquids can be suspect in dirty snow. If the race is short or if it is not that dirty, probably there is no reason to concern yourself, but if the conditions are very dirty, I'd avoid the HPLP and go with HP hot wax with P Black hot wax underneath or mixed in depending on the conditions.
|
|
Interview with Chris Magerl, Toko Race Wax Tip Coordinator
Chris Magerl has been the Toko Race Wax Tip Coordinator since 2008 as well as a Toko Tech Team member. Additionally, Chris has been a groomer at the Mountain Dell Nordic Course since 2002 and has been running the grooming crew since 2006. In addition to having had worked Nordic ski retail and been a Nordic ski instructor, Chris has also been a photo journalist and a newspaper editor. Chris is a key and long time member of the Toko US team.
Toko Race Wax Tips are the most important thing that we do as pertains to the US Nordic ski market. We talk specifically about his role as the Toko Race Wax Tip Coordinator and what goes into the generation of a Toko Race Wax tip.
Find the podcast at Apple Podcasts or at Podbean. Click on the video link below to watch the YouTube video. Find the video library here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
