Free The Powder Gloves/Mittens

[DanoT]

Overall cow skin is thicker than goat.

Cow leather might be thicker, but goat leather is tougher. Goat leather doesn't take dye as well as cow leather so that is why Hestra gloves that are made with goat leather are dyed white instead of colours that can bleed.

For me, I always seem to wear a hole in the thumb of my gloves right where I grip the ski poles. With my Hestra gloves I wore a hole through the felt liner, but not the goat leather. A duct tape band-aid over the hole in the removable felt liner and the ski bum glove repair is not even visible.

 

[Slim]

FTP is all I wear anymore..I have 3 pairs of gloves. Wife and 2 daughters have mittens. I totally recommend to anyone who will listen.......made in PC....

No they are not. They never claimed that they were made in the USA either.

From the FAQ:

“We’re are your gloves made?
We have family friends in Pakistan that own a leather products company. It is in a region that supplies much of the World's best quality leather.”​

 

[Slim]

One important note about FTP gloves: you MUST treat them with a leather waterproofing cream or lotion periodically when the gloves start to wet out during the season. Having no waterproof/breathable membrane means that only the DWR treatment that you add will keep external water out of the gloves, but on the upside it means that your sweat is very unlikely to be kept in the gloves and liner making your skin clammy and cold due to heat loss.

This is the same for the regular (non GTX/Outdry versions) Hestra Heli gloves/mittens.

For most skiing, I am a big fan of this, since most people don’t ski in the rain that much, better breathability, better dexterity and faster drying (lunch break!) is more useful than a full waterproof insert.
Hands are some of the sweatiest parts of the body, yet they don’t produce much heat to dry/force breathabilty

 

[Slim]

Well with one glove on, I could not get my hand back in without pulling the liner and putting that on first. I couldn't get a grip on both the the glove and liner with my gloved hand well enough to pull it onto the ungloved hand. The liner just scrunched up.

That’s ironic, because they make a big deal about liners pulling out in their brand story.
Could be the the sizing on yours is a tiny bit off?(Shells a touch big, liner a touch small?)

“2. Removable or sewn-in fixed liners ? But the problem with removable liners is that they are often difficult to re-seat in the correct position inside the shell. And when your hands are sweaty, it could be big trouble. The fundamental problem with removable liners, that's hard to avoid in most ski gloves, is that the liner is not fixed so the gloves rarely fit exactly right, and dexterity is often compromised. The liner (in most designs) moves relative to the shell every time you move your hands. Learn more about the pros and cons of different ski glove liners​

Free the Powder specializes in designing removable liner ski gloves that fix all these issues - our X Series. Check them out”​

I have none such problems with my Hestras, I have an under cuff 5 finger glove and a gauntlet mitten, both with removable liners, and never had even a finger(thumb) tip pull back. My daughters have the kids mittens and adult trigger mitts and no problem there either. All of us take them on and off all day long, skiing or biking to school in winter.

 

[jmeb]

I don't have said issues with the liners. But of course individuals experiences will vary. I love my liner gloves (probably have about 60 days in them) and appreciate how easy it is to get them in / out, and they never come out without me telling them to.

 

[dbostedo]

That’s ironic, because they make a big deal about liners pulling out in their brand story.
Could be the the sizing on yours is a tiny bit off?(Shells a touch big, liner a touch small?)

“2. Removable or sewn-in fixed liners ? Removable liners can be really nice. The liners can be used by themselves as an effective second pair of light mittens/gloves. But the problem with removable liners is that they are often difficult to re-seat in the correct position inside the shell. And when your hands are sweaty, it could be big trouble. That's less of a problem with mittens, but gloves can be a crap-shoot, depending on the design of the glove. When you try them on at the store, make sure they come apart and go back together easily, because when you're out in the elements it will be much harder. The fundamental problem with removable liners, that's hard to avoid in most ski gloves, is that the liner is not fixed so the gloves rarely fit exactly right, and dexterity is often compromised. The liner (in most designs) moves relative to the shell every time you move your hands. Learn more about the pros and cons of different ski glove liners​

Free the Powder specializes in designing removable liner ski gloves that fix all these issues - our X Series. Check them out”​

I have none such problems with my Hestras, I have an under cuff 5 finger glove and a gauntlet mitten, both with removable liners, and never had even a finger(thumb) tip pull back. My daughters have the kids mittens and adult trigger mitts and no problem there either. All of us take them on and off all day long, skiing or biking to school in winter.

Maybe I didn't explain my problem well. I don't have any issue with taking the liner in or out of the glove if I want to. And I don't have any issue with the fingers scrunching on taking the glove off, or the alignment of them going back in. The issue is with the liner cuff... as I start to put my hand in the glove, the liner cuff scrunches up so that I can't even get to the fingers. If the liner cuff were stitched or velcroed to the leather cuff, it wouldn't be a problem I don't think. (And if stitched, wouldn't be a removable liner glove of course.)

Also, I'm talking about the short cuff gloves, which I like to tuck inside the cuffs of my shell or jacket. The longer cuff gloves might not have this issue if the liner cuff is also longer?

 

[jmeb]

Huh. That clarifies what's going wrong. All I can say is I wonder if you got a bad liner/glove match. Because that doesn't match my experience -- also on the short cuff with removeable liner (or reports for any of the half dozen people I've given to as gifts that are avid skiers.)

 

[BC.]

No they are not. They never claimed that they were made in the USA either.

From the FAQ:

“We’re are your gloves made?
We have family friends in Pakistan that own a leather products company. It is in a region that supplies much of the World's best quality leather.”​

I stand corrected...I'm sorry I misinformed the OP.......Thank you for pointing that out. In dealing with Shannon and customer service, I always assumed I was dealing with a made in USA company.

 

[DanoT]

Hestra Heli gauntlet glove/mitten has the best liner/glove interface of any glove that I have ever seen. There is a velcro strip all the way around the base of the shell and liner. Also the felt liner is shorter than the shell so the shell can create a tight seal around the forearm. Even if not snugged tight, snow cannot build up on the leading edge of the felt liner because it is not ever exposed.

 

[dbostedo]

Huh. That clarifies what's going wrong. All I can say is I wonder if you got a bad liner/glove match. Because that doesn't match my experience -- also on the short cuff with removeable liner (or reports for any of the half dozen people I've given to as gifts that are avid skiers.)

Hmm... maybe there's some kind of technique thing I'm missing, never having had removable liners before :

1) With no gloves on, I put one glove on by holding part of the cuff and liner together, thumb to the inside, and pulling it onto my hand.
2) Then I put the other glove on, but I can't pinch both the cuff and liner together with my thumb on the inside - when I try, I can get ahold of the cuff, but not the liner - there isn't room between my hand and the liner for my thumb, and the cuff is too floppy and not held in place, so it scrunches up.
3) At this point I can try to work my hand into the liner, only holding the glove cuff. But if my hand is damp at all (which it often is) then I can't get my hand into the liner either.

How do you hold the liner in place when putting on the second glove?

 

[John O]

This is the same for the regular (non GTX/Outdry versions) Hestra Heli gloves/mittens.

For most skiing, I am a big fan of this, since most people don’t ski in the rain that much, better breathability, better dexterity and faster drying (lunch break!) is more useful than a full waterproof insert.
Hands are some of the sweatiest parts of the body, yet they don’t produce much heat to dry/force breathabilty

Yeah, for decades I always wore Gore-Tex gloves because I thought I needed my gloves to be waterproof. Even skiing in the PNW, my hands are consistently drier since I switched to the more breathable FTP gloves. I'm sure other good quality non-waterproof gloves like Hestra behave similarly. I'm a believer and a convert.

P.S. I haven't skied in actual rain with them, but I imagine they'd do as well as my waterproof gloves. The problem with a waterproof glove in the rain is that the glove wets out and stops breathing. Combined with the fact that it's warm enough to rain, I'm often going to be sweating. My hands can often end up pretty wet in those conditions anyway. The best glove in rain is the dry pair you have to swap into once the first one is soaked.

 

[Scruffy]

Hmm... maybe there's some kind of technique thing I'm missing, never having had removable liners before :

1) With no gloves on, I put one glove on by holding part of the cuff and liner together, thumb to the inside, and pulling it onto my hand.
2) Then I put the other glove on, but I can't pinch both the cuff and liner together with my thumb on the inside - when I try, I can get ahold of the cuff, but not the liner - there isn't room between my hand and the liner for my thumb, and the cuff is too floppy and not held in place, so it scrunches up.
3) At this point I can try to work my hand into the liner, only holding the glove cuff. But if my hand is damp at all (which it often is) then I can't get my hand into the liner either.

How do you hold the liner in place when putting on the second glove?

I have the new short cuff gloves with removable liners. With liners out: I put both liners on hands. Then grab leather outer by inside cuff with just thumb and forefinger and pull on. I have no issues. If you're doing it this way and have a problem, then it may be your particular hand geometry that is hanging up about your knuckles. What size did you get? I assume you measured your hand before ordering?

 

[dbostedo]

I have the new short cuff gloves with removable liners. With liners out: I put both liners on hands. Then grab leather outer by inside cuff with just thumb and forefinger and pull on. I have no issues. If you're doing it this way and have a problem, then it may be your particular hand geometry that is hanging up about your knuckles. What size did you get? I assume you measured your hand before ordering?

The size is fine. I don't have an issue if I pull the liners. I don't want to have to pull the liners, as I love my non-removable liner FTP gloves. Maybe I should give pulling the liners more of a shot. Although I don't know if I'll like that either, because then I have to pull the liners off and keep track of them too if I want to do something with my bare hand. I typically take my gloves off on chair lifts or mid run several times a day.

 

[Scruffy]

hmm... sorry, I thought you were having trouble getting the kit back together with liners out. If liners are in gloves before hand ( NPI ), then I have less issues pulling them on by grabbing both liner and outer with thumb and forefinger, soooo, I'd have to conclude it's your specific hand geometry, or your liners are totally whacked in some way. Take a video and send it with a note to FTP, maybe they have an idea. Maybe these gloves aren't going to work for you.

 

[raytseng]

how broken in are the gloves? if youve worn them for a bit some of the insulation will have packed out and molded/grip more to the outer glove and also result in a bigger insertion hole

Another option is to start wearing 1 more layer of baselayer liner gloves, which will be more slippery to avoid the scrunching ( see other thread for screen compatible liner gloves).

Maybe if you want to hack, you put a strip of doublesided tape at the problem area to convert it to semiremovable

Personally ive got the longcuffs so dont havr same issue.

 

[dbostedo]

how broken in are the gloves?

Not broken in at all... I wore them for half a day, got frustrated with having to pull the liners to put them back on, and switched gloves.

Maybe if you want to hack, you put a strip of doublesided tape at the problem area to convert it to semiremovable

I was thinking of putting some velcro in to hold the liner and see if that works. Otherwise, I think the better/easier solution is to find different gloves.

 

[raytseng]

yea the breaking in does change the liner,
but if you don't have velcro, give wardrobe doublestick tape a try, or just plain doublestick or mounting tape.
https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Essentials-Wardrobe-Strips-W-101/dp/B00WUW12X0/

or as you said, different gloves...

 

[DanoT]

I think the better/easier solution is to find different gloves.

I think the better/easier solution is to switch the style of ski glove to a glove with an over the wrist and forearm gauntlet. When skiing in a snowstorm or wind storm there is no chance of snow accumulation on the jacket cuff or wind getting in. AND they are easier to get off and on, warmer too.

 

[bbinder]

But they don’t look as cool.

 

[dbostedo]

But they don’t look as cool.

If I got the long cuff gloves, believe me, they would not be the reason that I don't look cool when skiing.