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Extremities Banff Glove

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Extremities Banff Winter Glove Review

At around £30, the Extremities Banff winter glove is amazing value for money and well worth considering as a versatile glove for mountain ski touring and winter hill walking. As you can probably tell I was well pleased with my purchase and wore these gloves every day out in Norway for skiing and snowshoeing. Brilliant!

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Extremities Web Page

SRP £30.00

In the Norwegian winter, the right gloves mean the difference between keeping your fingers warm and possibly losing them to frost nip, or even worse, frost bite.

I took four pairs with me to Norway earlier this year, comprising gloves, liners and mitts.

I wanted a pair of everyday gloves that would keep my hands warm when mountain ski touring, but still leave me enough freedom and feel in my fingers to fasten the zips on the tent!

There is a vast selection of winter gloves out there and so I decided my best bet was to spend a day out shopping, trying them on and seeing which ones were the most comfortable.

I looked at a number of well known makes and tried one after another, across a wide price range, until I found a pair that offered dexterity and comfort with the promise of warmth out on the mountain.

I decided on the very well specified, but low cost, Banff glove from Extremities.

The glove has a number of features including a microflex PU palm which feels like supple leather and offers plenty of grip.

Anatomically curved fingers for optimum fit.

A brushed lining insert, which feels warm and snug.

A waterproof breathable membrane.

One handed cuff closure.

Velcro wrist grip.

Soft goggle and or nose wipe.

The one thing missing from these gloves were safety leashes and at this price point it is not surprising that this feature had been omitted.

Gloves that come with leashes as standard, tend to cost a lot more money and are often chunkier, contain more insulation often being designed for ice climbing or expedition conditons.

However, leashes are equally essential when mountain ski touring, to prevent the accidental dropping of a glove that can get soaked in wet snow, or worse still lost down the side of an icy slope.

The implication of losing a glove when out in sub zero temperatures is immense. A simple leash costing only a few pence to manufacture, and available as an accessory, could make all the difference between keeping and losing your fingers.

I easily solved the problem by cannibalising an old rucksack and making up my own leashes with the bungee tie downs and one handed spring closures. These looped around the wrist straps on my gloves and whenever I removed them, stayed safely attached to my lower arms.

Just in case, I always carried a spare set of winter mitts in my pack.

On the coldest days when the temperatures fell to a mind numbing -40, I wore the Banff glove, together with a merino liner, which kept my hands dry, warm and supple. There was plenty of space inside the glove for the liner and the extra insulation made an already great glove even better and more versatile.

Dawn Smith - Ed

Extremities Banff Winter Gloves worn mountain skiing in Norway. Worked well with home made leashes made from a cannibalised rucksack. With Helly Hansen Lifa liners these gloves performed brilliantly on mind numbing days of -40C.