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PossumDown Gloves

"Highest loft : weight ratio of any natural fiber glove.."

Overview

We set out to find a lightweight knit glove that we could wear alone or as liners, made with the highest possible loft:weight ratio. We found them in PossumDown gloves from New Zealand, which blend possum fur to boost loft, merino wool for temperature regulation, and nylon for added durability.

Applications

As a liner: PossumDown gloves are thicker than normal "thin" liner gloves, and thus, should not be considered for wearing as liner gloves underneath your normal sized insulating gloves. They do work well as liner gloves under mitts, larger sized gloves, shell gloves, etc. They serve very well as liner gloves when used in conjunction with the Ultralight Vapor Mitts, helping to regulate humidity with their natural fibers and boosting the temperature rating of those mitts significantly.

We have used PossumDown gloves under ultralight Gore-Tex shell mitts in very windy, snowy conditions at temperatures in the mid-to-upper twenties, with compromised circulation resulting from holding trekking poles. Our hands stayed warm.

As a standalone glove: We recently wore PossumDown gloves while winter hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Temperatures were near freezing, it was snowing, and winds were breezy. Our hands stayed warm while using trekking poles, handling cooking gear, and pitching a tarp. What surprised us the most about PossumDown gloves was their ability to preserve hand heat - even when the outside surface of the glove was wet with melting snow, the inside of the glove was completely dry and warm. How can this be? The possum fur adds significant loft to the fabric, providing tremendous dead air space between the fibers that you do not get with tighter knits:

Photo of the possum/merino/nylon fabric used in PossumDown gloves showing the significant loft resulting from blending possum fur into the fiber mix.

Limitations?

Of course. Like any liner glove, PossumDown gloves are not durable enough for sustained activity where abrasion is a concern: hauling firewood, rock scrambling, and agressive ski/trekking pole/ice tool use (including mountain climbing, ice climbing, downhill skiing) are activities that come to mind.

Sizing Chart

Summary

You'll probably not find a lighter natural (or synthetic) fiber knitted or woven glove that can match the effective loft of PossumDown. Under an ultralight mitt shell, there are few conditions encountered during your normal three season backcountry travels that would call for warmer handwear. We've found them to be entirely suitable when paired with a shell glove for mild winter conditions as well.

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