The Hestra Heli is the warmest, most comfortable, most dextrous glove I've ever owned. I was nervous about trying a leather glove, so I applied a nice thick coat of the supplied wax a few days before I used them. After 4 days at Mt. Baker, my hands didn't get cold or wet once, and so far no damage from my board edge. On the thrid day, a few spots in the leather looked like the wax had worn off and water had soaked into the leather, but my hands never got wet. No cuts from my board edge yet either.

The one issue that I have is that snow seems to work its way into the velcro wrist closure, and if you're in deep powder, by about 10am they won't even close. I had to leave them open all day towards the end of my trip. Not a deal breaker, but I've never had that issue on my last two pairs of Burton Gore-Tex gloves.

Got this in a 157, I have 5 days on it so far this year. Compared to my 2011 Custom X (which I love), The barracuda has a bit less pop and a bit less grip, and the base doesn't seem as fast on flats, but it's softer, more forgiving, and I don't have any issues on groomers or ice. Overall I was indifferent about it until riding in knee deep powder at Mount Baker. I'd get quite a bit of leg burn last year on my CX, even with the bindings set all the way back. The Barracuda is absolutely effortless in powder. ZERO leg burn and awesome float, even with my stance set at the reference position.

I bought this mainly for my trip to Alaska, and planned on riding my Custom X on non-powder days in the lower 48. I'll still pull out the CX for hardpack groomer days, just because I can, but this Barracuda is a blast in all conditions that I've ridden it in so far.

I bought this for my wife because she was having trouble learning on the 2007 Atomic Tikka that we got as a free hand me down. The atomic was WAY to stiff for her (5'1" - 112lbs) and she had a lot of trouble linking her turns. I hoped that the reduced camber and rockered tip/tail would help. It took her about a half-day to get used to the K2, because it was so much more responsive than her Atomic. But once she did, her snowboarding improved significantly. Her turns were smoother, her transitions more consistent, and she felt MUCH more comfortable and confident on her board. I'm sure this board will suit her well as she progresses to an intermediate, but it's pretty soft so I don't know how it would hold up on steeper stuff or at higher speeds.

I'll echo what others have said. I bought a small for my wife, who wears and XS in some things and an S in others. The waistband was so tight she couldn't even bend over to strap on her board, and the legs were too loose and constant rode up. There were not comfortable for her at all. I'm sending them back and going to try something else.

The padding seems decent if you are the right size/shape for them to fit right.

I just picked up a pair of these for snowboarding. I haven't used them yet, but I've worn them around the house to see how comfortable they are for a few hours. So far they are great. I also got a pair of the CW-X insulator stabilyx tights because I have some minor knee problems. I thought these two products would be similar, but they aren't even close. The CW-X's are heavy, thick and spandex-like, like a heavy pair of bike shorts, while the X Bionic is much thinner . . . like a comfortable pair of lightweight socks.

I'm 5'6" and about 180lbs with 33" waist and big legs. According to the size charts, I'm between sizes for both garments, and got the larger size in both (L/XL in the X-B and M in the CW-X). Both of them ride pretty high on the waist, about halfway up to my chest. Probably partly because I'm on the shorter side, but I think this is somewhat intentional as well. It's good for snowboarding to keep the snow out of your back, so I don't mind. But because the CW-X are much thicker and heavier material, they tend to bunch up around my mid-section when I sit down and need to be adjusted all the time, whereas the X-B stay put and are comfortable in any position. The CW-X have much more compression than the X-B, possibly due to the sizes I got. The X-B doesn't really compress my legs at all. I don't think they will help my knee issues, but they fit snug and seems like they'll do a good job keeping my temperature regulated for most days on the mountain. I wear 2-layer Gore-Tex shell pants, and I think these should do pretty well underneath, but I might wear another pair of shorts to prevent my butt from getting cold while sitting in the snow on really cold days.

They also come in a pretty fancy box . . . I don't think I've ever seen nicer packaging for any product, ever. That could explain part of the high price.

I think its a great product, but I deducted one star because I was expecting more of a compression fit, because I wish they would come in a wider range of sizes, and because they are very expensive. I'll probably get the matching top at some point.