Have you ever cut/burnt your finger when you didn’t pinch the line well enough on a hookset?  Or do your stripping fingers ever get raw from a long day of fishing?  Mine did.  I hated it.  It burns and you feel it the rest of the day.  Derek showed me these Stripee Finger Guards and I’ll be honest…I can’t live without them now.  They’re simple neoprene sleeves that protect your fingers.  They’re cheap (under $10) and I’d recommend them to anybody.  I’ve been using them for a couple years now and I’m on my second pair.   After two years of using them here’s a few things that may be of some help. (The following photos are courtesy of Fishwest.net)

A note on durability. The material (neoprene and felt) is pretty durable. They don’t fall apart or anything but I did wear through my first pair after about a year. Other than the thin line that was worn through where the line slides through my fingers, they held up pretty well. I’d roughly give them anywhere from 6 months to a year of life (depending on how often you fish).

The Good:

  • No more line burns or cutting your finger(s)!
  • Can easily be worn with fingerless gloves
  • Added sun protection
  • Comfortable and thin enough not to feel awkward or hinder your fishing in any way

The Bad:

  • I take photos a lot when I fish and because they’re often wet, I try to avoid wearing them when I take photos because a decent amount of water seems to drip/drain from my trigger finger.
  • They get stinky.  When I’m done fishing I always put them in my mesh flip-out pocket on my Patagonia Guidewater waders.  Even with letting them air out and dry like this they still get smelly over time. That smell transfers to your hand and makes your hand smell like a butt.  They are washable but I’ve never taken the time to.
  • I’m not sure if it’s just my skin (I have ecxema) but I find that a couple days after a full day of fishing and my fingers soaking all day, the skin on my index finger will peel.  Weird.
  • They tend to stretch over time.  As a result they can slide around a bit.

stripee fingers

If you’re interested in a pair you can purchase them HERE.

If you have used these please leave your rating below!

Stripee Finger Guards Review
A great solution to a simple problem.
The Good
  • Comfortable and uncombersome
  • They protect well
  • Don't impede grip
The Bad
  • Stinky fingers
  • Soggy fingers for eating, etc.
9Overall Score
Reader Rating: (2 Votes)
9.0

About The Author

Chinese Boy
Google+

The ringleader at OSF, Nathan likes well-proportioned fish, moonlit walks by the river, and stripping streamers through dark lies on the dreariest of days. View full bio.

7 Responses

  1. Lynnette Sorzano

    This has become one of my favorite blogs out there 🙂 Great stuff

    Reply
  2. WindKnot

    What about those thin stripping guards that Mangrove Outfitters or somebody used to produce? I think they’re lycra or something.

    Anyways, I use them a good bit for bonefishing (to feel the subtle take) and when tarpon fishing (to clamp the line against the rod without burning myself). They get pretty stretched and mangled pretty quickly–especially if you’re dumb enough to fish a Sharkskin line with them, but at least it’s a 50cent piece of fabric and not my skin (which, even though I spend a lot of time in salt water, is still flimsy human skin).

    I’ve never tried these bigger jobs. Do they seem to make casting feel weird? I’d think that having unnatural pressure from those pads would bother you for the first few day, or is it pretty benign?

    Reply
    • Nathan

      I’m not familiar with the lycra jobbers you’re talking about. These do stretch out a bit and get worked over but the felt holds up for about as long as I think you could expect it to. I’ve used Sharkskin with them but only on one of my reels so I couldn’t really give you an assessment there.

      They are thin enough where I didn’t find casting to be awkward like it can be while wearing gloves (not that you’d know anything about that!!). You can still get a solid grip and I don’t feel like I lose any control.

      Reply
  3. WindKnot

    PS Turtles are cool… my homeland used to be called Las Tortugas, back when poetic names were a little more popular.

    Reply
  4. WindKnot

    Ok, did a little digging (I usually order mine from a buddy who runs a fly shop), and found this pic I swear by these suckers for bonefishing. Bones have one of the most subtle takes in all of fly fishing and since they’re usually taking the fly off the bottom, you might not always see the bite. Being able to pull that line smoothly over my finger and feel ever little bump is key to taking advantage.

    Anyways, great site and great job. Keep it up.

    Reply
    • Nathan

      Those look pretty cool. Those definitely sound like they’d be a better fit for bonefishing, but you may give this Stripees a try as well. It looks as though they won’t be as sensitive as you may need for bonefish, but they’d probably be a good choice for other species.

      Thanks for the nice comments. Your site has some good reads and fish porn too – even for a guy like me who’s a salt virgin.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Nathan Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.