Winter gloves and mitts review / General Outdoors Gloves Review - Montane, Rab, Extremities, Berghaus... Updated 2018

UPDATED January 2018 - To add the Montane Via Trail glove and to add in some more real world experiences. These gloves have all been used in the mountains across the UK regularly.

UPDATED March 2016 - Just a quick update. Been out in some serious winter conditions this year on and off. Found that the Ansell 78-101 work glove is just amazing for such a cheap price. Dries incredibly quickly (esp in Cairngorm winds!) I found the now discontinued Montane Thermostretch glove to be warm but pretty non-dextrous to be honest. For serious winter conditions and needs an under glove. The Outdry gloves were very good - they're dextrous, waterproof but not hugely warm. Finally, the Montane Extreme mitt is an essential bit of kit if you need to warm up your paws quickly and easily.

Instead of doing separate reviews, I thought I'd group together a bunch of gloves and mitts and tell you my experience with them all...

These aren't being compared against one another exactly, I'm just sharing my opinions! And this is by no means an exhaustive list. I realise the gloves listed all have different uses!

Here are the contenders... With a ruler next to the gloves to give some size comparisons... As a note, my hands fall just between medium and large frustratingly. I've got fairly long fingers (good for guitar playing!) Here's my hand next to a ruler if this helps...

1. Work type gloves (these are Toolzone latex fleece lined, Large) - £3-£5 a pair

These are cheap and cheerful. They are fairly close fitting and fairly hard-wearing, although you'll see the holes in them. These may be good as general gloves or climbing gloves as the weather gets a bit colder. The fleece lining doesn't really give that much warmth but these are solid cheap gloves. Everyone should have a pair, if only for gardening and work ;)


2. Rab Power Stretch Gloves (size large) - around £18-£20 a pair

Rab Power Stretch Gloves

Rab Power Strech gloves on the wrist

Powerstretch is a great fabric. It's 'relatively' hard-wearing. Don't go climbing and scrambling in them too often... But Powerstretch excels at being breathable, pretty warm and drying quickly. They also work well as liner gloves inside mitts. The Rab version is a long 'all in one' type of glove (no separate kind of 'wrist' part as some gloves do) which stretches a fair way down your wrist as you can see from the picture. The fingers of the gloves are very long and certainly much longer than the Berghaus equivalent. The cuff is also finished off nicely which is a great touch. These aren't actually my gloves so I haven't used them but I'd be as happy to use them as my Berghaus ones. Everyone should have a pair!

(Just as an aside, having tried on the Rab PowerStrech Contact gloves, the contact gloves' sizing is different - a medium in the Contact gloves is fine for me but the regular Power Stretch ones in medium were too small)


3. Outdoor Designs Outrage Gauntlet - OutDry (Waterproof). Large. Around £35-£45

Outdoor Designs Outrage Gauntlet

Outdoor Designs Outrage Gauntlet - on the wrist

The great thing about OutDry is that it's a bonded breathable membrane and so unlike some other gloves, the waterproof and breathable bit is together. I don't know about you but I also absolutely hate gloves that have detachable inners - they are (a) useless and (b) impossible to get back into the glove. Anyways, these gloves are waterproof and pretty breathable. They have a leather palm, a velcro seal, a detachable leash and drawcord wrist closure. On the back of the hand is high pile lining. These are great gloves when you need manoeuvrability in winter cold conditions with precipitation with a long wrist cuff. They are pre-curved so holding an ice axe is easy. My only 'gripe' is that these have a huge cuff area so they are brilliant if ice climbing (carabiner loop on each glove to hang right way up off your harness) but hard to fit under the waterproof cuffs. But this is more about knowing what to use the gloves for, rather than these specific gloves. I also don't like waterproof gloves as much as say pile gloves in the sense that they're not as breathable, hold water in when wet and take ages to dry out when wet! But that's separate to these excellent gloves. They are pretty warm too. Not really enough room for anything except a silk liner glove etc.


4. Montane Thermostretch Gloves - large - around £40

Montane Thermostretch Gloves - pile lining

Montane Thermostretch glove being worn

These are great gloves and pretty warm. They're fairly close fitting which I found perhaps slightly reduces the warmth (certainly in comparison the Outrage Gauntlets above have a looser fit) but they have Dryactiv 2000 pile lining on the inside. The palm has a leather palm, slightly pre-curved fingers for ice axe (one of its best uses!). There's also a nose wipe, a velcro wrist to lock in the heat and a DWR coating which works well. The gloves themselves aren't very long up the wrist so maybe get some wrist warmers if you're worried about warmth escaping up your wrists. They have a 4 way stretch as well, so these are great for winter / alpine use in my view.  Carabiner loops on each glove for storage. Small Montane logo on the palm of the glove very unobtrusively placed. Easy enough to use with ice axe and certainly warm but not quite so manoeuvrable as my Outdoor Design gloves - but stay warm when wet.


5. Montane Extreme Mitt - large - around £25-£30.

Montane Extreme Mitt and bag

Montane Extreme Mitt on the hand

The Extreme mitts have a Pertex classic outer shell, pile lining on the inside with some Primaloft (Gold - on these new ones, although 'Gold' is just a new name for normal Primaloft I believe) on the back of the hand. The palm is 'hypalon' which is pretty hard-wearing. I did read a review on these saying go one size up to layer but I personally found that going up to size XL was a stretch too far for my paws. Once I down-sized to large I found them much warmer. These are basically Montane's equivalent to the classic Buffalo mitt. They have an adjustable hem and wrist cinch which both help with warmth, keeping spindrift out etc. I have used these all over the place in all kinds of weathers and they have completely warmed my hands up within 5-10mins on a few winter days after fingers have got cold snapping photos. I cannot recommend them highly enough and think everyone should have a pair especially in winter. They can be put in a stuff sac as well which helps. Awesome!


6. Ansell Therm-A-Knit 78-101 gloves. Size 9. Around £6

Ansell Therm-AKnit gloves

Ansell Therm-A-Knit gloves live in action...

Ok so these don't need much explanation. They're a basic 'liner' style work glove with thermal properties. I'll say this about them - they're my go-to gloves. I've even worn these in minus C temperatures in the snow on their own as they dry super quick and are super light. Brilliant. Get a pair or two as you need a bunch of gloves like this when out on the hills, moors and mountains - breathable, quick drying and lightweight. Just get some.


7. Berghaus Power Stretch Gloves. Large / XL size. £15-£20

Berghaus Power Stretch Gloves

Berghaus Power Stretch gloves on the hand

One of the great things about Powerstretch is simply the warmth and lightweight nature of them - plus they dry very quickly. These Berghaus gloves are smaller than their Rab equivalents without a doubt and certainly the fingers are smaller. But they're absolutely fine and have had loads of use with me as part of a glove system of taking a bunch out on the hills in cold weather. I tend to use power stretch gloves a bit less if I'm scrambling - my go-to gloves for that are my Extremities Sticky Thickies. But again, Powerstretch gloves are great. I've read some reviews from people saying these gloves have been a bit inconsistent in terms of wear. But I've had no problems!


8. Extremities (Hi Wick) Sticky Thicky Gloves. Large 

Extremities Sticky Thicky gloves

Extremities Sticky Thicky gloves - on the paws

Initially described as a liner glove, these (if can be found) are more accurately described as hard-wearing multi-use thermal gloves! Chris Townsend wore these one winter while on a walk across Scotland and I can see why. I found that the medium was a bit too small and that the large was a bit too big (my fingers are right between the two sizes). I opted for large. I found that the highly grippy silicone palm means they aren't so easy to use as liner gloves, which is fine as I use them on their own. These are very durable and strong. Perhaps not as quick drying as I'd read about but brilliant for everyday walking, scrambling and hill walking. Having used them loads of times and washed them I can't see any holes or faults which is a testimony too their durability. Probably because these are slightly too big for my hands, I don't find them as warm as the Ansell ones. Great for scrambling though!


9. Montane Via Trail Glove

A recent experience led me to decide to get some hard wearing and lightweight decent touchscreen gloves. While wandering in the mountains during a brutally windy and yet beautiful day being whipped by spindrift, I decided to take a number of photos. This led to extremely cold hands due to removing gloves to take the pictures on a smartphone. The photos became more important than my fingers! Thankfully the Montane Extreme mitts were in the bag and warmed my tingling and slightly numb fingers up quickly. But I thought I needed to get that issue sorted! I'd got a pair of Lowe Alpine 'spiderman' touchscreen gloves which are great for around town but not hard wearing enough. So onto the Montane Via Trail glove...

These again fell between medium and large on my hand so I went for the large. They are quite big and fit up the arm a fair way. Designed for trail running, these are a softshell glove that are wind and rain resistant. There's a 'snot wipe' on the thumb of the gloves and they're touchscreen compatible. Perfect really and highly rated by ultralightoutdoorgear. These fit the job perfectly and will be fairly hard-wearing. The one thing is that you can feel some of the stitching on the inside of the glove so they have the potential to be *slightly* uncomfortable. But have been perfect so far. Just check sizing.

Montane Via Trail glove back of hand

Montane Via Trail glove

I hope this mini gloves review is genuinely helpful. I realise we all have different paw sizes and varied needs in our uses of gloves. But this is my guide - feel free as ever to write any comments etc below.

Scarpa Manta SL Activ B1 Boots Review

The Scarpa SL Activ boot - a cracking leather boot that's as tough as, er, old leather. This has been a boot I've used for four winters now and it's still going well.

Update Jan 2018 - I have upgraded to a pair of B2 La Sportivas to get a better fit for my foot (very narrow heel and wide front foot). But I still use these in non-snowy wet weather and on the moors.

Scarpa Manta SL Activ boots up near Helvellyn

These have been my go-to winter boots. They're quite a heavy and hefty pair of boots which is great for durability but not for fast and light movement! I actually chose them because they were (a) reduced and (b) fitted and (c) were leather without the Goretex liner that every other boots seems to have (fair enough to use one, especially can help in the cold, I just didn't want it...)

Nicely polished with Scarpa's HS12 cream - spot the military training!

These are B1 compatible only (so only C1 strap-on crampons need apply). But in use with my 12 point Climbing Technology Nuptse crampons, these have been amazing. Even without, they've kicked some pretty good steps and been utterly reliable. These have gone up snowy and icy ridges like Fiacaill Ridge in the Cairngorms, Hall's Fell on Blencathra and Striding / Swirral Edge and front-pointed without any problems.

The boots coping well with winter scrambling Halls Fell with some interesting conditions

Of course, fit is everything with boots so the best thing to do is to get your boots fitted properly by people at shops like Taunton Leisure, Cotswold, Gaynors etc. They'll help the boots fit properly! These boots fit very well but I do use a different lacing system (shown below) as I find a wee bit of heel slippage.

Click to show the lacing system

The leather does mean that you will scuff up the leather etc but the leather on these boots is so tough and thick that I wasn't worried about this. With careful attention (HS12 cream) the leather also means these breathe well and stay waterproof naturally. The only moisture I've ever had is on the inside through perspiration.

Slight scuffing on the boot

The leather does mean that you will scuff up the leather etc but the leather on these boots is so tough and thick that I wasn't worried about this. With careful attention (HS12 cream) the leather also means these breathe well and stay waterproof naturally. The only moisture I've ever had is a slight amount on the inside through perspiration.

Oot and Aboot (for the Canadians reading...)

Finally, I removed the footbed which came with the boot and replaced with a Grainger's trek footbed. However, I did find even that and some thick socks didn't stop my foot (under my big toes) from getting slightly blistered (nothing bad). So I would recommend getting a proper footbed like the green Superfeet.

The sole has worn well, as has the rand around the boot - a great feature

The boots have been used over four winters around 40 times and have climbed, scrambled, walked and waded through snow, rock and water (they've also been used at other times of year too!) So I'd say they're holding up very well (few scuffs into the leather now - January 2018). These are not B2 compatible unlike my La Sporitvas. However, don't let them hold you back.

But for UK mountain walking, hill walking and scrambling, these are brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Only slight downside is their weight. But hey, it helps you get fitter!!

Great pair of boots. Try them, get properly fitted and kitted and they'll serve you well, even up to grade II winter scrambles and easy climbs with the right crampons on!

Edelrid Vacuum Bottle Flask Review

Quick review on the Edelrid Vacuum Bottle / Flask...

I've got a couple of Thermos basic vacuum 0.5 litre flasks and these are great for Summer use and short days out. What I wanted was something a bit more substantial and larger for those winter days (from experience!)

Sat by Ullswater having come down from a snowy Helvellyn. Flapjack and tea - mmmmm...

Trail mag did a review of a bunch of flasks and the Edelrid seemed the best all-round value for money flask for me at least!

Find the Trail mag review here - which says the bottle only lost 4 degrees C in 2 hours and only lost 14 degrees C over 8 hours. The disadvantage to them at least was the 'cup' and the possibility of cross-threaded the screw on part (e.g. not putting the cup on properly).

Personally I haven't seen any disadvantage like this at all. At worst it's occasionally a bit fiddly, but very rarely.

The flask is white and quickly looks scruffy, which may not suit some. The outside of the flask is textured which is great and makes it very easy to handle without it slipping out of your hand - important with a white flask, especially in the son! With the lid off, the top is a simple press down to open and press down to lock affair and the cup easily threads on to the top of the flask.

The only downside that I found was after doing my Mountain Leader Training - that I managed to 'flavour' the removable silicon seal. Having said that, my guess is that this would happen on any flask with plastic parts. The lesson is: don't boil up energy drinks in your flask! The disadvantage was that having contacted Edelrid, I was amazed that they don't do spare parts, although a year or so later, at least that taste has now gone.

Having said that the flask works very well and keeps things warm for those days when you need a bit more in your flask for a bit longer! It's certainly much better than the basic Thermos flasks when you're outdoors and in winter but if you're out all day, don't expect miracles! Of course you may get slightly better 'performance' with the 0.5L version as in you'll finish drinking more quickly.

Weight is slightly high I'd say - the 0.75l one is 510g (and feels weighty). As a comparison, the Thermos Ultimate Mk II for example weighs 399g for the 900ml, with the previous incarnation of 800ml weighing apparently  just 382g (Thermos seem to neglect letting anyone know the weight of anything...)

UPDATE October, November 2015 - Three more thoughts / things for Edelrid to improve...

1. I find that the silicon on the 'seal' part of the flask sometimes slips down, which can cause leakage when you take the lid off the flask.

2. Even when the silicon is tight and working, I have found that after pouring a drink, I then have to click the seal to close the flask and then pour the whole flask downwards to allow any excess drink inside the seal mechanism to drain off. If I don't do this, when I next open the flask, it leaks. It doesn't leak much but it's enough to be a frustration!

3. You can't wash the stopper part properly (you can remove the silicon seal but that's it). Therefore, I've struggled to clean the inner of this and this results in little bits of old tea in the flask, even after you've used bicarbonate of soda to clean the inside of the flask - a great tip for any flask (never use washing powder like I once did!)! The Thermos Ultimate flask is very easy to clean, by contrast, but you pay a premium price for that.

So having given the flask a kind of 8/10, I'm downgrading it to 7/10 - improvements needed in spare parts and the cleaning / working mechanism issues.

But still a great flask.

Mammut Mens Polar Jacket Review

The Mammut Polar Jacket is designed as a mid layer for fairly aerobic activities I'd say. The non-hooded version is around 520g in weight and it's made from Polartec Thermal Pro (PTP for the sake of this review).

Mammut Polar Top - mine has the red logo like above, some have a white logo.

PTP is warm for its weight, fast drying, breathable, durable and comfortable. It packs down fairly small (smaller than an equivalent fleece for example). This isn't a windproof fabric so don't buy it alone for keeping yourself warm - you'll likely want a windproof or hardshell to cut out the wind when necessary.

The inner of the jacket is brushed so it's actually really nice to wear. On the descriptions around the web you'll read that it's ideal for winter sports or as casual wear around town. I'd second that. It's one of the very few tops that I would recommend someone to buy that genuinely looks stylish around town - with a good cut and design.

But it's also designed to work well as an actual mid-layer as part of your layering system and for this it works very well. It's the kind of top I'd wear when things are fairly cold and yet you're wanting to move fairly fast. I'd use this on slightly colder days instead of perhaps a fleece or your usual mid layer. For that it excels.

But not quite as much as it excels as just an amazing top. I managed to pick this up for around £60 and it quickly has become one of my favourite tops. Two pockets are nice. The build quality is very good. No toggle around the waist to cinch things but the cut, the articulated movement and flat lock seams (and good finish around the waist / arms etc) makes this a really well-made top. Functional and stylish for when you need it to be.

Highly recommended and I'll be getting another Polartec pro top for my winter mountaineering / hill walking for sure. Just remember that if you want a really warm top just generally, this isn't designed for that. If that's what you need get a synthetic insulated or down jacket or a fleece / jacket that is also windproof. But you will then sacrifice breathability. Just know what you need and what works :)

WED'ZE X Warm Ski Base Layer Review

This is a review of the Wed'ze W Warm Ski Base Layer which I've used for winter mountaineering and hill walking. 

Pic from the Decathon site

The mix is 20% merino wool and 80% polyester. Inside, the base layer has a brushed 'fleecy' type feel which is great against the skin.

The fit is very close and fairly athletic, so just be aware of that if you're slightly oversized. It is slightly 'loose' around the stomach are and is quite a long baselayer, so this is helpful if you want or need to tuck this in to keep the warmth in! 

Although it's a snug fit and not particularly articulated, I didn't find it restricted my movement in any way. Having some merino content I found that it didn't pong at all, despite a few days of intense use in the hills. Merino isn't brilliant at wicking moisture away, so I'd say that it may not be as good as other fibres at removing moisture from the body. But I did work this pretty hard!

Under the arms and slightly down the sides, the material is a wee bit more 'meshy' which really helps with breathability and is a nice touch. I got the baselayer in blue / white and it's a nice stylish top too if that helps you. There are white 'cuffs' which extend a bit and can cover the wrists which is nice - but then get a bit more mucky with the white - but a small point hardly worth considering!

I also like the half zip and pretty good cut on the neck which helps keep things warm but doesn't poke into your neck like a cheap softshell I once bought did! 

The best thing is that in March 2014 (date of this review), this is only £17.99 (plus delivery of £3.99) which makes it a brilliant bargain. Sometimes even cheaper too!

Again, I actually really don't like showing my face - but on a real wintery climb up Halls Fell, I was only wearing a softshell and this baselayer and was fine (I was moving fast). Only walking via another way on the way down did I put on proper mitts and a belay jacket!!

Scrambling up Halls Fell with axe and crampons needed!

A wee update (March 2015) is that this was worn in some very serious winter weather recently. Hail storms, snow and brutal winds and spindrift meant this thing was pushed to its limit and it was amazing. Wearing just this, a 100 weight polartec fleece and a Gore Tex Pro hardshell I was even a bit toasty at times going uphill ! Highly recommended and tested!

North Face Five Point Gore Tex Pro Jacket - Review

I'll admit it... I've never had a Gore Tex jacket up to now. But a winter skills course found me out with my existing waterproof which had lasted me a good number of years. I needed something better, more reliable and definitely more rugged.

At the top of Fiacill Ridge

The latest incarnation of Gore Tex Pro fitted the bill, especially when webtogs had a sale and I got a drastically reduced price!

Since then I've used the jacket enough to review it effectively. Bear in mind that my jacket is not the absolutely latest 2014 jacket but the season before.

First up, the hood - it's excellent. Fits over a helmet and responds well to head movement. The small drawstrings to tighten are fiddly and the one at the back of the head is definitely too fiddly. Not sure if this has been adjusted in 2014 version but hope so!

The hood. The weather was way worse and way colder than this looks!! Hail storm assaults all day!

The cut - as befits an American company is looser than the standard 'athletic' cut of Montane and Rab. So whatever size you are normally, that's the size you need to get. Any bigger and you'll look like a spaceman. I'm medium in most things and my medium easily takes a Montane Ice Guide jacket under (or over!)

The arm length is fine. Velcro cuff tabs are OK but many don't like them because of snow sticking to them. The actual length of the jacket is slightly shorter than (for example) a Montane Venture and there's not really much of a drop tail at the back either.

The adjusters for cinching in around the waist are located inside the pockets which is slightly odd and not hugely effective I must admit. Again, a small re-think needed by North Face as these are tricky to adjust in winter conditions with gloves on. One issue with the little draw cord things is that they're not easy to un-do once tugged tight (I could be missing something but seems the only way is literally to 'pull apart' the jacket to loose the toggles...)

The jacket itself in terms of performance is brilliant, although only tested in some fairly cold winter conditions and has breathed very well. There are pit zips (again, not hugely easy to do back up once unzipped unless someone else helps). But this thing is a beast and very hard-wearing.

Spindrift and snow storm - became a whiteout but the jacket was amazing!

Additionally, this cut out so much wind that I actually noticed the difference up against an eVent jacket. I wouldn't wear my Gore Tex in Summer but the Gore Tex Pro is an amazingly huge improvement on my only other Gore Tex paclite (bin bag) jacket! 

I have to say that some days in -14C temperatures (windchill affected), all I needed was a merino/polyester baselayer, a fleece and this jacket. Yes, I attempt to move like a mountain goat but even when sitting still this really helped me keep fairly toasty with my belay jacket remaining in my bag! In the Cairngorms in Winter, I really only needed a thick baselayer and this jacket to be warm when moving.

All in all this is an almost perfect (tweaks needed) winter hardshell !

Under Armour 9" (23cm) Boxerjocks (2014 version) - Review

Just a very quick review of these otherwise very good boxers...

Everything about these UA is excellent, except for one thing - the waist sizing which is way bigger than the 6" (15cm) boxer jocks I bought in 2011.

I have had to order (and re-order) these 9" (23cm) boxers twice because the size is vastly different from before. In fact the size differential on the waist is almost 3 inches.

Here are pictures (below) with the 9" boxer at the top and the 6" boxer underneath. I've also compared them to other boxers and they are also bigger than those.

I'd say there's a major flaw with the sizing. The US site also has reviews of people complaining the 2014 version hang down the waist too far.

But, let me state again that these are the best boxers I've used in the outdoors. But sizing does appear to be a real issue

I have to thank sportsshoes.com for amazing service in helping me sort this out. In the end I bought a pair of the 9" ones in small and these turned out to be exactly the same size as the 6" ones in medium. So it's a strange one. Pic below is the 9" (small) on top of the 6" (medium) - both of the original boxer jocks!

UPDATE October 2015 - These are the perfect fit for me and better than the previous version. Theses don't ride up and just fit very well. Highly recommended... once you get the right size!