The quality of these gauntlet-style gloves is brilliant. Leather fingers and palms, plenty of padding, a carabiner to keep them together, and cords to keep them on your wrists should you need to remove them.
It took a while to get the right fit on these gloves. Although Vaude has a hand measuring guide on its website, the size I chose came up a bit large, so I chose a smaller size (and better fit) in the end.
Features:
- Kidskin leather fingers and palms
- Waterproof
- Windproof
- PrimaLoft Gold insulation
- High gauntlet cuff
- Carabiner to connect together
- Wrist strap
- Wrist cords
Vaude Roccia gloves on test
The first outing with the gloves was on a high level walk in the Pentlands in Midlothian, on a cold, windy day. The temperature was below freezing, and the wind chill pushed it into minus figures, and I could not imagine removing the gloves at the top of Scald Law. Single gloves litter the countryside, and hapless climbers and walkers have lost most of these. You shouldn’t worry with these though as there is a wrist cord attached, much like the type small children have for mittens. In fact, someone commented saying I was a bit old for the cords…
The fit is pretty snug, and it needs to be should you be scrambling while wearing these – you want to be able to feel what you are doing. Pulling zips is easy while wearing them, and I think they’d be great for rope work and when belaying. If you need to consult your phone though, you’ll still need bare skin.
I found the Velcro strap easy to use. It has a plastic end to stop it fraying, and to make it easier to feed through the buckle. You can slacken the strap off and the plastic end helps to stop it from slipping out of the buckle, which is helpful.
The wrist cords are attached to the gloves with a pretty flimsy clip, and I managed to break one of these, which was annoying. I just replaced the broken clip with a small metal carabiner, and that did the job. The supplied metal carabiner is meant for attaching the gloves together when not in use – which is important when you are rummaging for that missing glove in the tent.
These gloves are an essential part of my winter kit now, and I love them. I haven’t tested them in snow conditions yet, but they are rated as waterproof, so should be absolutely fine. I look forward to making some snowballs.
Vaude Roccia Gloves, RRP: £93. For more information see the Vaude website
