People are often surprised when I tell them not to forget their sunglasses when they are heading to extremely cold places, a rookie mistake if there ever was one! The sunlight at high latitudes and altitudes is usually incredibly bright, especially when you consider the pure white reflection off the snow and ice. As with sunburn, don’t be caught out by the temperature or clouds up above. In a recent expedition to Alaska, one of my teammates experienced severe snow blindness which can be very painful and last for days. Protecting your eyes with sunglasses or goggles is crucial for safety. They also provide a great shield from the wind from moving ice and snow in polar climates. Eye protection should always be high up on your list of adventure essentials! In this review we've looked at warmth, dexterity, water resistance, durability and overall design. We've climbed, skied, hiked and camped in these mitts at low temperatures and in terrible weather, and here are our findings. The palms of the mitts have a grippy reinforced material that seems fairly hard wearing (so far) but we don't think it has quite the beef of a real leather palm (get it!).

There’s so much information available online when we’re shopping now, that it’s easy to find lots of detail about products like Montane Extreme Glove. This is of course really helpful, but there’s almost too much information available, so it’s important to know exactly what you’re looking for. It has touchscreen usability built into the finger and thumb and a generally dexterous and light feeling meaning that phones can easily be held and used. The main downside to it is the price but then if you really suffer from cold digits throughout the day, perhaps you’ll find it money well spent. I’d otherwise argue that you’ll be slightly better suited going for some of the slightly lower cost variants in this roundup. The warmth was excellent, easily up to the job in Alpine winter, Scotland and we would love to take them to the Greater Ranges, confident the UKC review budget would take more of a battering than our hands would in these warm, tough and fairly dextrous mitts. We've some of the best mitts on the market in this test, and although mitts generally break down really into two different types; the rugged waterproof Mitts that you can actually use for technical climbing (obviously not as technical as gloves), and the super-fatty pairs for those who are either wheezing up at high altitudes or want something for winter Alpine bivvies (masochists!), we've mainly covered type 1. The exception to this is the super lofty Berghaus mitts, which are very fat and very warm, but not dextrous. Read the review for full info!Helly Hansen have designed the Ullr Leather HT Glove as a ski glove, but, like the Columbia option here, that doesn’t mean that it’s unsuited to a winter walking or climbing environment. These mitts are fat, very fat. These mitts are warm, very warm. These mitts are not hugely dextrous due to the previous two facts, but you can't have it all! Warmth-wise we found these Nebula Mitts to be perfectly warm enough for Alpine winter, Scottish belays and probably beyond. You do pay a premium and give up a little breathability with increased waterproofing, so we’ve included a few non-waterproof gloves in this test. These are more suitable for winter walking/running where you’re spending little time with your hands on snow.

We’re really pleased to have scored Montane Extreme Glove so highly, givimg it 9.5 out of 10, making it well above the average for all gloves. PrimaLoft Gold insulation / Pertex Shield / Kevlar stitching / split-finger lining / BDry waterproof insert. Our test team climbed Scottish grade V in these bad boys, as well as days skiing, and the obligatory wet walk-ins and outs! They have performed excellently throughout and it was actually very hard to tell the difference between these and 'Best in Test' winners from Mountain Equipment. They were very very similar in spec. The down insulated Ulvetanna mitts from Berghaus are by far the warmest in this test and are clearly aimed at extremely cold temperatures and high altitudes. They are overkill for Scottish winter, but could be a finger saver in the harshest of Alpine winter conditions. But they are best suited to the Greater Ranges. I've only had them out on a couple of day hikes so far but I do know one thing: these puppies are WARM! Really warm. The Primaloft insulation and pile lining mean almost instant warmth when you pull them on. Because they don't have a membrane they also breathe far better than most manufacturers 'Big Dumb Mitts'. My only concern with their design is how the Primaloft insulation handles any moisture build up on longer trips.

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When buying gloves, the quality of the product is going to be one of the factors that you really scrutinise before you commit to buying. It’s fairly beefed up, but despite this, there’s still good dexterity. It has a very slightly pre-curved construction and the leather is supple enough without being flimsy. This covers the whole palm and then wraps around and over the index finger. If you’re unsure then I’d err on the side of caution and go for a slightly warmer glove than you imagine. There’s nothing worse than a numb pair of hands halfway through your day. All in all, this will be a great companion to go with one of the mitts lower down in this roundup, or just for use during those adventures at pace. Full Specifications There are however some methods that you can use to determine a product’s quality without needing to physically have it.

The material the product is made from is often a sign of the quality for gloves. Take a look at the product details over at Cotswold Outdoor to get a feel for this. Aside from the choice between a mitt or a glove, insulation also has a big influence on how dexterous a glove is. In short, more insulation equals more warmth, but that trade off is a less flexible glove. You’ll have an idea yourself how much insulation you require. One thing is for sure, there isn't a bad mitt in this bunch, but some were better than others, and some were more suited to specific tasks. Read on to find out which mitts won our best in test, and why.

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It’s also worth bearing in mind that the amount of insulation required depends on the activity you’re buying the glove for. For example, a winter climbing or ski touring glove will need slightly less insulation than that of a walking glove. A glove that will be specifically used when sitting on belay ledges on the north face of the Ben will require a fair bit of insulation. At first glance these mitts look pretty chunky, but when you put them on you realise that most of the 'chunk' is behind the hand, meaning the Nebula mitts are surprisingly dextrous (for their size). The Meteor is a modular mitt, a lightly insulated weather-proof shell with a detachable fleece inner. You're effectively getting two pairs of mitts for the price of one (a fair price too), and this gives you three different options for maximum versatility. I’ve gone through heaps of gloves following my time spent crashing around the mountains. Almost all the failures have involved the palm or fingers wearing or splitting apart. This makes sense, of course. The palm takes the brunt of the wear whilst out in the mountains, so it always helps to have gloves that have a high quality leather – or something equally durable – in that area as well as clever stitching methods to avoid the seams splitting open. The palms are reinforced with a grippy, rubbery material that is fairly robust, but not as tough as leather. We wouldn't want to climb tens of rough Cairngorm routes in these.

Be aware that the Pertex outer fabric might offer good breathability and dexterity but it won’t have the same kind of durability that some of the other gloves here can boast – the Rab and Salewa for example. The leather on the palm is also quite thin. We couldn’t see this withstanding consistent abuse from climbing or skiing. Used on its own we've found the inner is good for fair weather walk-ins, gearing up and camping. The 300-weight polyester fleece feels very snug, and comes a long way up the arm for super wrist coverage. However the fabric provides no wind protection and of course wets out instantly in damp above-zero conditions. We imagine that this will begin to soften off over time as we use the glove over a longer period, but still, it might be worth considering sizing up here. In short, gloves tend to offer more dexterity, but less insulation, whilst mitts offer more insulation but less dexterity.Weighing in at 260g, these aren't the lightest mitts in the test, more mid-weight. They are filled with synthetic insulation (Rab's own 'Cirrus') and they are shelled with a water resistant Pertex outer.