GearFlogger

Outdoor Research StormTracker gloves

UPDATE: We still love the StormTracker for all the reasons listed below, but unfortunately our suspicions about durability have borne out. The leather is just too thin and wears out too quickly under any sort of actual use. We can't recommend the StormTracker for anything other than hiking and driving.

ORIGINAL 4/20/2009 POST: Sweet glove of love, where have you been all my life? Outdoor Research has always made some nice handwear, but they've outdone themselves with the StormTracker.

How do I love thee? Let's count: WindStopper soft shell, tricot lining and full leather grip are a good start, and besides that's as high as I can reliably count, what with the missing fingers and all. What really sets the StormTracker apart is the fit. The leather is supple and grippy, and the cuff has a zip closure to snug it up so it will fit under sleeves.

These gloves have a full liner that gives it a wonderful combination of plush feel and dexterity for finger tasks. The articulated fingers definitely do the trick, and at a mere 3.5oz for a medium they stow away nice and flat in your pocket. The only downside was the price, but they're on sale so problem solved! One thing to watch: the leather is so supple I'm not sure how they'll hold up long-term, so if you're looking for a burly work glove these might not be it.

$38.32 (on sale from $58.95) at Backcountry Outlet

Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch glove

Spring is in the air, and numb fingers can't be far behind. As usual the glove bin is full of mismatched gear. If you're in the same boat and looking for a lightweight glove for casual or liner duty, the Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch gloves are a great candidate.

Power Stretch recently won a Nobel prize. OK that's not true, but it could be the way they're giving them away these days. MH's gloves are a standard light but not too light design. Their big advantage is the snug cuff; it feels secure while jogging and keeps them on your hands when you pull your mittens off.

Another nice touch is the snaps, which can help prevent lost-glove syndrome. But only if you actually use it. Oops. Keep in mind these are not grippy gloves. Power Stretch is a fairly slick material - not for driving! - designed for light insulation and high breathability, i.e. medium wind blocking. Also these are not constructed like a work glove, so if you're looking for traction, weatherproofitude and durability look elsewhere. For jogging, hiking and liner applications they're great.

$27.00 at REI

Marmot Evolution gloves

As we come up on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin (and Abe Lincoln, coincidentally), what more fitting tribute can we make than to crassly commercialize it? Hence, the Marmot Evolution glove!

The Evolution is a speedy little glove that weighs about as much as a Euro-teen bouldering queen, which is to say not much. It's just a thin layer of proven WINDSTOPPER - no kidding, it's in all caps, look it up - and a high traction palm and fingertips leather treatment.

The fit is close and articulated, the better to match our ape-derived meathooks. It's a nice little glove that disappears into your pocket so you can have it on you when you need it. Not to be used for heavy duty stuff of course, but makes a great liner glove.

$29.97 (on sale from $39.95) at Mountain Gear

Mad Rock Alpinist Glove

I'm not by nature a violent person, but when I walk around with the Mad Rock Alpinist gloves on I feel a certain... attitude, if you will. Like Mad Max about to close the dealio with the mutants with heads sticking out of their chests.

Fantasy life aside, the Alpinist is a first rate ice climbing glove. The hard plastic knuckle protectors do the job and don't interfere with mobility at all, and the fingers are curved a bit to naturally grip your tools. The drawcord cuffs will keep the debris out as you cavitate your way to the top of your favorite icicle.

But best of all are the features geared towards minimizing the natural enemy of the ice climber, the feared screaming barfies. Sticky patches on the palm and fingers will help you to not overgrip and thusly cut off the insulation to your hands. And the shell is windproof, waterproof and lightly insulated. Sizing runs a tad small. The Mad Rockers don't do things by the book, and their innovation has really paid off with this nice glove. It's just gravy that it's priced below its quality level.

$69.95 at Mad Rock

DaKine Mustang glove

DaKine makes a wide range of gloves for skiing and snowboarding. The Mustang is classifed as their "high performance freestyle" glove. It's so supple it feels more like a dress or driving glove, but the padding on the knuckles and the back of the hand gives up its serious side.

Getting down to business the Mustang has pre-curved fingers, although the leather is so soft finger stiffness is really not a factor. The cuff is neoprene lined, but the rest of glove is leather and will get wet during a day throwing powder. The cushy tricot lining will keep that wetness from affecting your hands too much.

The cuff has a zipper, but it just barely snugs the fit and isn't meant to stabilize the wrist at all. A better design choice might have been some kind of elastic or adjustable webbing that could keep snow out no matter what. If you're looking for a light-duty glove for warm and not too wet conditions that can double for about-town duty it's a good choice, especially given the reasonable price.

$49.95 at Backcountry

Mountain Hardwear Lightspeed gloves

Make it so! The Mountain Hardwear Lightspeed glove (also available as a mitten) is an evolutionary step forward in glove design. Mountain Hardwear is definitely out on the cutting edge of welding gear seams, and the Lightspeed features a welded waterproof Conduit 3-ply shell and a removable mid-weight fleece liner.

The system is waterproof as advertised, yet very supple and provides excellent tactile feedback thanks to an articulated design, light weight (7oz) and sticky grip that glues itself to ski poles and ice tools. There is just enough velcro to keep the fleece insert in place without having to futz around with it. The fleece inserts have a pull loop that will take a 'biner.

The shells clip together and have a built-in leash, which is not removable contrary to what the product description says. In fact this is a weak point: the sample pair came to me with the weld torn open where the leash met the seam just inside the cuff. Any pressure on the leash will pull on this weak spot, so beware. You can cut the leash off and attach it to the cuff drawcord, but at this price it should come that way from the factory.

$134.95 at Backcountry.com

Marmot Alpinist Pro glove

I have a bit of a glove fetish. I find a glove I really like, but eventually I become bored and a more exciting glove crosses my gaze. Love blooms, and soon I dump the old, fat ugly glove to move in with my new hottie.

The homebreaker in this case is the Marmot Alpinist Pro, an ice climber with a superb balance of warmth, dexterity and protection. The  Alpinist is warm down into the single digits thanks to its Primaloft insulation, the padding protects fingers well and the leather on the palm provides a sure grip through all kinds of vertical nastiness.

The short and stiff velcro cuff provides great wrist support. Not that mine are limp. More like oddly dextrous. Not too effeminate though. Shut up. Anyway, the Alpinist Pro has a nice tailored feel to it that makes rope handling and clipping 'biners seamless. A microfleece lining completes a very attractive package. Go ahead, have a fling.

$74.95 at Backcountry.com

REI All Season gloves

Someone gave me a gift certificate to REI, and in a fit of gear porn consumption I picked up these gloves so I would have a matching ensemble with my REI Power Stretch top and bottom. So spank me.

These have the same great insulation, breathability and flexibility as the other Polartec items, and one additional bonus feature: they are made from Polartec Wind Pro Hardface so they are durable, windproof and highly water resistant, not to mention like any good synthetic they retain significant warmth when wet.

Two minor quibbles: first, the raised silicone pattern on the palm and fingers does not do a good job of adding traction, and as a result they feel a little skittish on a steering wheel or an ice tool. Second, the stitching on the inside is a little rough, although in actual use it's not bad enough to present any problems. All in all a great glove for cold weather activities like hiking, running or snowshoeing, or for service as a nice liner medium-weight glove.

$28.00 at REI

Outdoor Research Alibi gloves

The Outdoor Research Alibi glove is a true multi-sport product: ice climbing, S&M, B&D, or anytime you need sticky rubber wrapped around the shaft of your tool. (Really, sometimes these reviews just write themselves...)

More than just fetish handwear for watching the latest Japanese tentacle-porn, the Alibi glove actually enhances climbing performance. Designed to be used with leashless tools, the tight fit and sticky, sticky, I've been a bad boy smack-my-bum palms allow precise tool placement and unsurpassed tactile feedback.

The velcro cuff is extra-stiff for good wrist support without being restrictive, and the oversized pull-loop is actually useful instead of decorative. There are even gel inserts in the strike zones on the sides of the palms for the inevitable mash-up. Too thin for cold weather use, these are race gloves, and they perform as advertised.

$59.00 at REI

Marmot Evolution gloves

No glove, no love, as they say. Windproof liner gloves are essential gear. I just leave a pair in my pocket starting in the fall, since they take up virtually no space and weigh almost nothing.

For more serious use they're indispensable to wear under heavier gloves, giving you some dexterity to tie knots, clip 'biners or otherwise pleasure yourself in the comfort of Gore Windstopper N2S.

These Marmots have a beefier palm then most, and display the usual Marmot attention to detail in their quality construction.

$35.95 at Mountain Gear