weatherproof but not insulated

By Justin Buckles Ranked #83 - Ski Gloves January 16, 2009

Let me first say that Mountain Hardwear's conduit laminate system is very effective. These gloves are both windproof and waterproof as advertised, and they do a good job of both. They also allow a full range of movement and a lot of dexterity. I purchased these gloves for a field orthinology class during the winter, where binoculars were needed. I was able to adjust the focus wheel and diopter settings with ease (something that's very difficult to do with gloves on) That said, I'll move on to the flaw. These gloves are basically a stripped down version of a ski-glove, meaning if you took your average nylon-shelled ski glove and took out all of the insulation, the Mountain Hardwear Epic glove is the result. This is not to say these gloves are not a good product, as they do their job of blocking wind and rain quite well, but with the tradeoff of insulation. The "brushed" interior lining is paper thin, which means the gloves retain less body heat, and can be kind of clammy when your hands perspire or when the temperature is around zero, and the outter conduit shell is chilling your hand. The solution is to spend a little extra money and pick up a pair of thin lining gloves to wear under the epic gloves, Mountain Hardwear's "butter" glove seems to work well for this, as it adds that extra layer against your skin to help retain heat and wick away moisture. The sizing felt a little small to me, as I usually wear a medium in gloves and had to purchase a large in this case. All in all, these are probably the best pair of lightweight weatherproof gloves I've used that allow full finger dexterity, that extra baselayer is the only thing I would heed caution to.

View Details: Mountain Hardwear Epic Glove - Men's

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