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Sealskinz Extreme Cold Weather Gloves

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Sealskinz Extreme Cold Weather Gloves Reviewed by Dawn Smith

Trail Testers Recommended 100%

Sealskinz Web Page

SRP £50.00 Sizes S - XL

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During the last Arctic blast to hit North Wales, when the snow lay four feet deep and daily temperatures in the valley dropped to -18C, we got to test the Extreme Cold Weather Glove from Sealskinz®.

The gloves have an extremely tough Nylon Tactel outer shell and Polyurethane foam is built into the knuckle and fingers for extra protection from knocks and scuffs.

There is Primaloft® insulation and the gloves are big enough to wear merino liners when it really gets cold and the palms and finger tips are covered in soft leather. There is a wrist leash and the extended cuff can be closed one handed.

The by now famous Sealskinz® waterproof breathable membrane completes the comprehensive specification.

With abundant snow and ice and temperatures well below -20C on the tops, we were able to give these gloves a good test to see if they lived up to their name.

I would say that my hands are a medium, but upon using the Sealskinz® glove sizer which I downloaded from the Internet, I found that I needed a large size. These turned out to be a perfect fit with plenty of room for my Helly Hansen™ Merino liners.

I wanted to see if the gloves would keep my hands warm, allow me a certain amount of dexterity when attempting small jobs such as adjusting zips and laces and if they would prove as waterproof as some of the other Sealskinz® gloves that I had tested.

With a retail cost of just under £50, I was pleased to see that these gloves came with wrist leashes fitted. This is a very important feature for serious use when mountain ski touring, or winter hill walking, when the loss of a glove can make all the difference between keeping and losing one’s fingers to frostbite.

The gloves were tested with trekking poles for hill walking, snowshoeing and on a wild camp pulling a pulk. They were also partly immersed in a tank of icy water to see how they coped.

Temperatures during the tests seldom rose above -14C during the hottest part of the day and with wind chill could be below -25 on exposed ridges.

I found that the gloves were generally warm to wear, but once the temperature dropped below -20C I needed the extra warmth of the merino liners. At no time during the tests did I suffer from cold hands.

Dexterity was good and I was able when wearing the gloves to lace my hiking boots, fit my gaiters and zip up my layers. I had no problems fitting my MSR™ snowshoes as the photo at left shows. This is a very good feature as many gloves designed for cold weather are too chunky to achieve even simple tasks without taking them off.

At the farm I found a water tank with ice several inches thick, so I set about smashing the ice with a lump hammer and then lifting the wet pieces out of the tank. In order to scoop up the last of the ice the gloves were half submerged but still remained dry on the inside and my hands stayed warm throughout.

These gloves acquitted themselves well and I would have no hesitation in recommending them to readers for skiing, snowshoeing and hill walking.