[For some of iRunFar’s current favorite running gloves, check out our best running gloves article.]
Winter’s here, so we thought we’d share a couple of our favorite gloves with you. Bryon Powell starts off by sharing his favorite running glove, the Mountain Hardwear Momentum Running Glove, which is perfect for all but extremely cold runs. Allison Pattillo follows up with her take on the extremely warm Manzella Windstopper Hatchback glove. If you’re looking for even more running glove reviews, we reviewed a set of five running gloves last winter.
Mountain Hardwear Momentum Running Glove ($35) – Bryon
Despite my extensive gear habit, I usually ran in $3 cotton gloves. That is, until I found the Mountain Hardwear Momentum Running Gloves. Now, these are my go to gloves for all but the coldest of runs. Why? Because of a splendid dichotomy. What first drew me to these gloves is their simplicity. They’re thin, single-layer gloves that are quite comfortable. They’re not weighed down with pockets, convertible shells, or unnecessary insulation that would be needed for non-running specific gloves. On the other hand, a handful of technological embellishments raise these gloves to another level without negating their simplicity. For instance, the backs of your hand and three fingers are protected by a windproof shell that’s lined with comfy fleece. The backs of your thumb and index finger are covered in an ultra soft fabric perfectly designed for wiping your nose. A few other details worth mentioning are the reflective designs on both gloves, small clips that hold the gloves together when you’re not wearing them, and, after a year with the gloves, I just learned today that there’s a small “trap door” in the side of the index finger that makes it easy to operate touch screen electronics.
In colder weather or when it’s snowing (or I’m likely to fall in powdery Utah snow), I sometimes pair up my Momentum Running gloves with Mountain Hardwear’s waterproof Epic Gloves
. Together, this Mountain Hardwear team can tackle a wide variety of weather conditions.
Manzella Windstopper Hatchback ($30) – Allison
The Manzella Windstopper Hatchback Gloves
are truly bombproof winter running gloves! I recently went for a run when it was -4 (didn’t find that out until I got home). It was so cold one eye froze shut, but my hands were absolutely toasty, and I was wishing for a Manzella Windstopper body suit! They offer the comfort and flexibility of gloves with the warmth benefit of a retractable Windstopper finger hood for really blustery days. The palms have good grips and the glove thumb even has another retractable bit for operating any requisite MP3 players or phones. Buttery fleece around the wrist keeps the cold and snow out, making these great for cold weather running, cross country skiing and even downhill skiing. I didn’t enjoy them so much for snowshoeing, mainly because I was pushed into a snow drift by my former exercise companion and the hatchback part of the glove filled with snow. If you stay upright, I don’t see this being a problem. They also have some reflectivity for those of you running in the cold and the dark.
Call for Comments
What are your favorite winter running gloves? Anyone living in a cold enough climate for two hand layers? If so, tell us about your set up!
[Disclosure: The items reviewed above were provided by their respective companies for testing. Also, links above to Amazon.com are part of an affiliate program that helps support iRunFar.com.]
