Smell The Winter Glove Review

Hello and welcome to another addition of the weekly COTT gear review. This week I have pulled out some super warm, economical and understated moto gloves to keep those sausages from freezing as we head into the colder months.

The first pair are the Held Warm N Dry. Held has a stellar reputation for making quality gear, especially when it comes to their gloves. Just about every pair of gloves they make are super comfortable as well as functional. Though these puppies are quite expensive at $199, they come with a GORE-TEX and “Thermoplush Fleece” liner to keep you hands dry and warm or Warm N Dry (you see what I did there). Held also seems to have a focus on providing really good tactile feedback when it comes to their gloves, which is the reason I think they earn their keep at the $199 price point. Tactile feel is something that is usually lost with winter gloves. As you add layers between your hands and the controls you loose that intimacy you normally get when you grip up your handlebars and the vibrations of the motor slowly turn your extremities into useless skin tubes.

Held also takes protection pretty seriously. These gloves have hard knuckle protection that is skinned in leather (so you don’t look like a sport bike douche) as well as Super Fabric on the base of the palm. Super Fabric is sort of a new addition to the higher end moto gear brands and is the next greatest thing in abrasion resistance. In the picture below you can see a pad on the bottom left of the palm that has little dots all over it. Those dots are made of some magical material (ceramic) that is 14 times more resistant to abrasion than Kevlar. So, in short, you can slide further on these without burning through the glove.

So if your looking for a top of the line winter glove that will be worth every penny of $199 I would definitely check these things out. I would never spend that much money on gloves, but if you would, buy these.

Held Warm N Dry

Held Warm N Dry

Next up  are two less expensive gloves from REV’IT!. REV’IT! gloves also have a excellent reputation for being very comfortable. The fit of most of their gloves is a little bit wider in the palm than some of the other Euro brands like Held, Alpinestars and Dainese, which makes them feel less restrictive when gripping your controls.

The two gloves I chose are the Zoom H2O and the Element 2 H2O. Both make use of REV’IT!’s proprietary waterproof breathable GORE-TEX knock off liner called Hydratex (Note: Any proprietary waterproof/breathable liner that is NOT made by GORE-TEX will be, on average, 20% less breathable). The Hydratex lining works fairly well at keeping you hands dry in wet weather as well as allowing perspiration to evaporate out through the glove, and is much less expensive than using GORE-TEX. Both of these gloves are constructed of cowhide with goatskin palms and are insulated with a Fiberfill tri-fleece liner.

Personally I really like both of these gloves. I am a big fan of REV’IT! gear in general because they have a very respectable policy of not plastering their logo all over everything like most other moto brands. They also have discrete armor/padding in the knuckles, fingers, and palm to keep you protected without looking like Robocop. Bottom line on these is that they are great gloves that will be comfortable, waterproof and wont completely rob you of all your money. Check them out.

REV’IT! Element 2 H20

REV’IT! Element 2 H20

REV’IT! Zoom H2O

REV’IT! Zoom H2O

Coming from Finland we have a pair of gloves made by the masters of keeping cold weather at bay. The Rukka Pluto is one of the more affordable and understated gloves in Rukka’s arsenal, and come with both GORE-TEX and Outlast liners. The Outlast membrane is a pretty unique material. It reacts to temperature and humidity in a way that regulates your body temperature. The molecules making up the membrane will expand and contract based on the temperature, so if your booking along on the highway and the windchill is 30 degrees the molecules will shrink and tighten up to keep your body heat in. If you are walking around and start to build up some body heat, the molecules will expand and release that heat. It works very similarly to GORE-TEX, but is for insulation instead of waterproofing. Coming in at $169 they are neither super expensive nor super cheap, but come with a lot of useful features for the price. Also they look pretty normal for a winter glove, so if you decide to wear them off the bike you won’t look like an asshole.

Rukka Pluto Gloves

Rukka Pluto Gloves

Breaking into the more affordable options we have the Icon Patrol Waterproof Gloves. I really like these gloves. They are under $100, comfortable, waterproof and warm. They do have some flashier knuckle protection and do not come equipped with a some of the same features that the REV’IT!, Rukka and Held gloves do, but they fit well and do their job. The gauntlet on these is a little longer than most gloves too which is nice for keeping cold and wet weather out of your jacket. Bottom line….affordable and functional. Not much else to say about these.

Icon Patrol Waterproof Gloves

Icon Patrol Waterproof Gloves

Last but not least, if you have a problem with sticking your fingers where they don’t belong or find yourself turkey gobbling and making lewd hand gestures in public settings and you just can’t seem to stop, you may want to invest in a pair of the Rukka Lobsters. I’m looking at you ED.

-Quinn