Product Review Craft Siberian Lobster Gloves

I have taken a sabbatical from my life-long search for the perfect pinecone and have recently been focused on trying to find the perfect pair of cold weather gloves.  I haven’t found them yet and while I haven’t given up I thought I would share the expanding wisdom that is now taking up space in my oft helmet covered noggin.

The problem with sports equipment is that the bar continues to rise and now and again you come across a piece of gear that creates a new benchmark.  The Gabba jersey from Castelli and the Nano-Air jackets from Patagonia are examples of game-changing breakthroughs.   Their performance results in “Yeah, Go buy THIS!’ comments from everyone who owns one.

Finding gloves that provide breathability, water protection, warmth and dexterity across a range of conditions is proving impossible.  I realize it is a tough order to fill but I am hopeful.  I have accumulated a shoebox full of gloves that do a good job on one or more of those attributes.  I have yet to find a pair that gets the nod as an absolute “must have.”

With my highly predictable and perhaps pointless preamble out of the way; these Craft gloves do a fine job.  They keep you warm and have reasonable breathability when temperatures are not too far above or below freezing.  The split finger design is nice and the separate slots for each of your fingers (which seems to contradict the external grouping) is nice.  They are warm and as long as they remain dry they go one and off easily.

 Mr. Spock's glove of choice....

These are the gloves I should have taken when my son and I went Nordic skiing at -12F.  My lapse in judgment has resulted in my left index finger wanting to join the forces of cold every chance it gets.  When my extremities are even contemplating getting cold my finger behaves as if to say, “Let it start with me.” Hence I have at least a near term plan to “over-glove.”

It took a few rides for me to get used to shifting my road bike with the split finger design.  What I didn’t have to get used to was the nice warm hands I had while riding.  I haven’t used these in the rain so I can’t comment on their water repellency.  There are bits of reflective trim so these have been welcomed on some pre-dawn commutes.

They fit true to size and I could slip in a thin liner glove if I needed to.  They pass my acid test of drying quickly enough.  Like most winter gloves they can get too hot and with breathability that is neither exceptionally good or bad they get wet.  Then they are harder to get on and off and their insulation properties are compromised as well.

These are solid performers in the right conditions.  Four of Five Evos.