I'm looking at the Precip or the Versaliners as shell gloves and wanted opinions on them. They both claim to be waterproof, I guess with laminate coatings since no eVent or GTX is mentioned. I'm looking for reports on fit, durability, grip, and performance in wet/windy conditions.

I've got the versaliners.

Fit is good. The fleece liner fits snugly and well, but not too tight. Good for dexterity, but even with the little rubber dots on the fingertips and hand, they can be slippery when holding something smooth, such as a smartphone. The shell slides on and off easily, but you lose some dexterity because it is a looser fit. Both the liner and shell have a little pull loop to help you get them on, and this works well.

I've had these for a year, but haven't used them too extensively, so I can't comment on long-term, high usage durability, but so far so good.

Wet...this is something that I wish the pertex shell did better with. Maybe I'm expecting too much from Pertex, but these have wet through many times. Part of the issue is that the seams are not sealed, but when I'm stuffing a cold, wet tarp into its sack, or dribbling water on my hands while getting water from a cold river, my hands always seem to get wetter than I would like.

On the plus side, they are breathable which allows them to dry fast, as can be seen on a cold day and you can watch the steam come through the shell.

Edited by T.L. on 01/17/2013 18:49:54 MST.

Travis, thanks. Have you tried heavier gloves under them than the included liners?

No, but I think you could fit a thicker liner. How much thicker would probably be a question of trial and error at your local gear shop.

FWIW, my first pair came in the mail with a small cut in the shell fabric. I contacted OR about it and they were really good about getting me another pair. So, +1 on ORs customer service.

I use the Mountain Hardwear Epic gloves for shell gloves. They are 100% waterproof and very light, with a light wicking fabric inside and plenty of dexterity. Worth considering.

+1

The MH Epic is a nice cold wet weather glove and OutDry is made for gloves and boots. My wife uses what I assume to be an older model with yellow trim in the gauntlet.

Edited by rmjapan on 01/19/2013 01:10:56 MST.

+1 on Versaliner and OR customer service.

Another good thing about the Versaliner glove is that shell's can be nicely packed inside the little zip pocket on the liner glove so you always know where you'r shells are. I've just tried them on with this combo: thinn polypro linner glove + versaliner linner glove + powerstretch glove and still was able to pull the shell glove on without major problem. The only thing that might block the shells to be used with heavier linner glove would be their cuff as it does have some limit in it's stretch.

Another good thing about OR is that they offer infinite guarantee on all their products.

Regards,

Thanks for all the input, everyone. The MH Epic gloves look nice but I wasn't able to find them on sale. Maybe if I put off purchasing till the end of winter I will find them at a discount. Sunny Sports has the OR and Marmot on sale right now, which is what prompted me to consider a purchase.

I am leaning towards the Versaliner because of the feedback here, plus I've been very satisfied with the fit of other OR gloves (The Marmot looks long in the thumb) but can anyone speak to the cuff on the Versaliner (thank you Velimir for already contributing!)? The Marmot's gauntlet seems like it would protect better from water ingress.

Edited by spelt on 01/20/2013 09:33:08 MST.