2012 Hestra Patrol Glove Review

Bomber. If I were to use only one word to describe the 2012 Hestra Patrol Glove, that would be it. Fortunately, I enjoy using descriptors that appeal to other than slang-talking skiers out there. And whether you choose to employ words such as waterproof, durable, warm, colorful, tough, and comfortable to your gear, or the straightforward ‘bomber,’ this glove is all of those things.

A glove that works as hard as I do in the mountains - the 2012 Hestra Patrol Glove. Notice that although my coat sleeve is wet, the glove is completely dry. This is after being in the snow for hours.

Where to begin describing a piece of gear this impressive, coming from a Swedish company that’s been producing gloves since 1936? I’ll just dive right in.

I’ve worn these gloves out a lot while backcountry skiing this winter, including several long days where it snowed all day long. Between the snow and the uphill exertion (sweating), everything I was wearing was soaked, after having snow on it for hours. Everything except the 2012 Hestra Patrol Glove, that is. Think I’m embellishing? Take a look:

Here's the Patrol Glove after approximately four hours in a snowstorm, dry as can be. I've circled the two tiny points of moisture on the glove, immediately behind the forefinger knuckle. That's not a lot to be concerned about. Impressive!

Running the Hestra's through the trees on a deep, constantly snowing, powder day in Beartrap. Warm hands ensued. Picture by Jon Swain.

Yet another all day blizzard with dry hands, courtesy of Hestra..

The Triton and Entrant Waterproof/Breathable twill shell is impressive. I spend plenty of time spider crawling up steep couloirs on all fours. This activity is the ultimate test for a glove, because not only are the gloves in near constant contact with the snow, they’re also subject to the abuse of being on the hand as it punches holes through glazed ice and other nasty snow conditions, seeking some form of purchase. Not only do my hands stay dry in these functional, waterproof gloves, but the lining is thick enough that there’s no temperature transfer from the snow to my hands as I get where I’m going up a couloir or a steep mountain face. That means my hands stay warm, hours into an ascent where I’ve been wrist-deep in snow much of the time.

It's not much to look at, but this is what one sees for some time when they're doing a spider crawl up a steep slope. On this day, it was a graupel-like layer on top of firm snow.

The Patrol Glove comes with articulated fingers, which means they’re curved for use right from the manufacturing process. That’s great for active hands, which need to grasp, then hold on to various things during the ski day, such as ski poles, ice axes, skis, rocks, and skins, to name a few. The pre-curved army goat nappa is a great idea, because this material (leather) is tough. Just picking the glove up and holding it in your hand is enough to recognize that the leather is thick and strong. After climbing around on rocks to get to some ski destinations, the leather is always ready for more abuse. Although minute scratches occur in the surface of the nappa – some rocks are sharp! – the leather is so thick that these are merely cosmetic. It took a few days, but the gloves formed their own natural creases around my ski pole grips, so they’re completely form fitted. Nice.

Articulated fingers grasp a shovel handle well. That's handy when there's an entire tent footprint to dig out.

So, the 2012 Hestra Patrol Gloves keep my hands warm and are tough. What else do they do? Just about everything, actually. After sweating in the gloves all day, some moisture will accumulate in the removable bemberg and polyester based liner. Fortunately, the liner is easily removed, for easy drying. Following big days, I’ve separated the liner from the shell for thorough drying. And that’s easily done, even though the liner is held securely in place with velcro. Velcro is also the name of the game as the wrist closure, which makes for a handy, fast venting or sealing option. When I’m about to spend time with my hands in the snow, I tighten down the closures, and that helps to keep snow off my wrist.

Sizing is slightly different than typical for gloves – it’s a bit more precise. I’m always a size large in gloves, yet came up as a size 8, or medium, in Hestra. The gloves were just the tiniest bit snug on the first day or two, then packed out perfectly, form fitting to my hand. Pulling the gloves on is a cinch with the leather tab that’s included on the bottom side of the wrist gauntlet.

As for the Hestra Handcuffs – the elasticized wristband straps that attach the gloves to one’s wrists so they don’t disappear down the mountain when one takes the glove off – well, I’ve never enjoyed wrist straps, personally. However, I did try these out before removing them (which involved no cutting). The wide, elasticized straps felt better than the average, skinny string straps that are typical fare. If you like retaining wrist straps, you’ll enjoy the feel of these Handcuffs!

Durability is definitely built into these gloves. I’ve punched my way through thousands of vertical feet of icy, manky snow on the way up many ski descents in the Patrol Gloves. So far, they show zero signs of deterioration from this abuse.

Sometimes, there are sunny skies on glove testing days.. Here's a picture of the Patrol Glove in use by A OK on Utah's Bonkers line, taken by Jon Swain.

Can a glove this good have any drawbacks, you wonder? Well, few things in the world are utterly perfect, even though the Hestra Patrol Glove comes very close. Here’s what I noticed:

~ The shorter wrist cuffs do allow some snow to get between my coat sleeve and the glove. However, this only happens when I’m crawling in snow, or take a fall. When simply skiing, shoveling snow, hanging around the tent, or skinning along, the cuff length is not an issue.

The Hestra Patrol Glove is well suited to hanging around the winter camp zone.

~ The smart, off white leather color does tend to get dirty over time. But that’s true of pretty much anything that’s white, at least for me.

~ The waterproofing has begun to fade ever so slightly with heavy usage. In the early days of use, the gloves completely repelled snow and moisture all day long. Now, snow will occasionally stick to them after a few hours, depending on how much they’ve been in the snow. However, they’re still largely (almost entirely) water resistant. Snow only sticks to them when they’ve been in the snow for a long period of time.

At $115 retail per pair, these gloves by Hestra don’t come cheap. And they shouldn’t. They perform exceptionally well through rough use in tough winter conditions. Overall, they’re fantastic! I give them a 96 out of 100. In an age of frequently replaced gear, these gloves are built to last. Bomber, like I said.