Hestra glove - Army Leather Heli Ski 5-finger
Hestra leather Helli Ski 5-finger
What we liked …
Great fit, very long cinch-able gauntlets, washable inner, will keep you dry and warm in all but the most extreme of conditions.
What we didn’t
Not a lot to complain about …
The Verdict
OUR RATING
5 out of 5
THE SHORT READ…
These are such a classic ski and snowboard glove - been around for yonks - up there with the Black Diamond Guide glove. There’s so little to complain about - they really deserve their 5/5 rating. They fit well, and Hestra offer both a men’s and women’s cut. I love the super-long cinch-able gauntlet that comes a way up your arm, over your jacket, to keep snow out. The inner can be removed and washed. They can get waterlogged but only in pretty extreme wet conditions. And waxing the leather regularly helps. For most of us, they’ll probably keep our fingers warm in anything down to -8/9C before you need to consider additional liners, an even heavier set of gloves - or just going inside to a warm fire! Oh, these also come in a ton of colour options too.
THE LONG READ …
Materials & Construction
These are a super good fit - The shell is a mix of Hestra’s own ‘Triton’ waterproof fabric on the back and gauntlets, with ‘army goat leather’ on palms and fingers - so probably not vegan then… Pre-curved fingers enhance the fit and if you do match their sizing well there’s not too much extra material at the ends of your fingers, meaning you can do some of the more technical and fiddly machinations with your kit if you have to, without folds of fingertip material getting in the way.
Not only is the wrist elasticated, but there’s a wrist strap too - and the gauntlets have a draw-cord.
There’s also an arm loop - or maybe wrist-loop if you prefer wearing it down there - just so that when you take the gloves off they don’t fall immediately into the snow. I’m in two minds about these, sometimes this seems useful and sometimes having your gloves bouncing around on a string from the end of your arm just gets them in the way of stuff. But, it’s up to you, these are removable too.
The removable inner is a fleece-like fabric. When you take that out, you realise that outer shell is not that thick - it’s very supple leather, but is tough. Hestra provide a pot of ‘leather balm’ to go with them, to help keep them supple and more waterproof.
Loads of colour choices!
Fit and usage
As already mentioned above, the sizing for men and women, pre-curved fingers, and their suppleness, make these gloves lovely to wear.
I have got cold in these - but the temperature was usually well below -10C and/or blowing a hoolie into the bargain. The sizing leaves room inside for you to wear an extra liner - silk or thin wool perhaps, which will help. Hestra don’t say to what temperature these are rated, but they are not the warmest gloves they offer. The Black Diamond Guides are rated down to an astounding -29C - so that’s the next level, for sure.
I love how the very long gauntlets come halfway up my arm - but them I’m a rider who likes their gloves over their jacket sleeves - many of you, I know, prefer your gloves under your jacket. You could still do that, of course, but it would be a bit of a hassle, tucking this much material up there.
Elasticated glove retaining strap (top) and gauntlet draw-cord.
Velcro wrist strap and mini-carabinier.
Doing up the velco wrist-strap up traps a bit more heat around your hand - but sometimes also moist air, so watch out for that, you don’t want to get damp in there if possible. If I’m skinning with these gloves still on, I often undo both the velcro wrist strap and the gauntlet draw-cord, to help with breathability.
You can see that the elasticated strap for attaching the glove to your arm (shown in the picture on left, above, and below right), is quite long. Sometimes this is a bit annoying - when dangling from your arm it can swing around all over the place, getting in the way, wrapping around your ski poles. On the plus side, the length of the cord does mean you can tuck the gloves up under your armpit when going for a number 1, to keep them well away from the stream…
Having a removable inner is super useful - in spring riding I can sweat easily on long descents, and being able to wash those out after a day of that sort of thing, and have them dry quickly ready for the next day, is a winner. The inner velcros to the inside of the outershell, keeping them in place nicely when you take your hand out of the glove.
SUMMARY…
A top recommendation as an all-round splitboarding glove. It’s a classic for a reason. It’s money you won’t regret.
The one caveat to that is if you are after the ultimate in warmth, you’ll need to look elsewhere - perhaps something like the Black Diamond Guide glove. That’s more pricey again though, and less supple. But if you need a more general-purpose glove to take you from spring riding down to early negative-double-digit-celcius cold, the Hestra Leather Heli-ski 5-finger glove is a great option.