I'll second the RBH mitts. I have a pair of the older BPL RBH mitts. I use them with an old pair of Outdoor Research Windstopper Airfoil gloves. Lots of warmth without bulk. I can take off the mitts and have excellent dexterity with the liner gloves, and very quickly warm my hands with the RBH mitts.

When researching these gloves I read somewhere that they aren't seam-sealed, hence not fully waterproof. For my purposes I think that they'll be close enough. YMMV.

after submerging for 20 min+

i found that
- the hands are effectively waterproof ... no air bubbles escaped and while there was a bit of a clammy feeling, no water came through so far
- the part near the wrist seemed to wick in moisture, this spread to the rest of the upper part on the inside glove ... it is possible that despite my best attemps, moisture did get through that "big hole" somehow ... however i was pretty careful, much more so that i would have been outdoors

so i do stand corrected in that they are effectively WP, the hands anyways for 20 min... however i can say that they will likely get damp fom snow creeping in as they are not full gauntlets, especially if youre taking them on and off ... however i do find they do dry quicker than leather gloves, and they do insulate decently when damp with a merino liner

ill post up rabs response once it comes in

this just makes me realize how good a deal this is ... $65 for an event glove that is warm, light, dexterous and "waterproof" ... intereting how they receive so little attention ...

Edited by bearbreeder on 01/03/2012 15:04:16 MST.

Wow, way to go Eric! I bought mine on sale for $45.00;(sorry can't remember where and I'm at work) now I'm even happier. These gloves are "close-fitting" i.e. you may need to size up--or certainly pay close attention to sizing charts--esp. if you want to wear liners.

John, thanks for the reminder about the Playtex gloves. I've been wondering what I'd use when doing a lot of snow shoveling and ice axe work this winter, and those should work perfectly. They'll keep my hands dry, prevent ice from cutting up my hands, and still offer plenty of grip on my ice axe if I need to self arrest.

Thanks everyone for your input. Lots of great choices to consider! I think I'm going to try the Defeet gloves and go from there.

Hey Leigh,

It looks like we're in a similar boat with gloves. I just ordered a pair of the Wool Duragloves as well and will using a pair of Nitrile gloves (VBL) under with a WPB mitt over everything. I tend to get cold fingers fairly easily and am hoping that this combo will help alleviate this. Best of luck!

Are these the same as the gloves you have but in gauntlet form that may help with the snow entry issue?

steven

the ice gauntlets have a leather palm and as such are nowhere nearly as dexterous as the basic latoks which have a fabric palm with silicone grip ... this does make the basic latoks less durable of course than a leather palm glove

i have yet to fine a leather palm insulated glove as dexterous ... leather palm uninsulated gloves such as the OR stormtracker, i can tie knots in all day long though

as a note ... rab indicated that the latoks are not seam sealed or taped, but that there is a WP insert ...maybe the insert is one piece or somehow sealed?

regardless with enough fun in the snow or rain, i can say its likely these gloves will eventually get damp ... like any other gloves

I can't imagine a dexterous insulated leather glove. I have several leather motorcycle gloves, and here's the only ones I would say are dexterous.



They're cow leather and very thin...soo thin that I've never actually used them on my bike. I have other gloves with thin kangaroo leather, but it's stiffer, so less dexterous. My insulated leather gloves are nice for what they are, but not dexterous at all.

My test for dexterity is if I can remove my wallet from my pocket and pull out my ID credit card without taking the gloves off.

I have tried many; the Cabela's Kangaroo Leather Thinsulate™ Shooting Gloves is the best I found, by a wide margin. The Gore-Tex version of this glove is significantly less dexterous.