Reviews > Clothing > Gloves and Mittens > Gordini Fever Gloves > Test Report by Nancy Griffith

GORDINI FEVER GLOVES
TEST SERIES BY NANCY GRIFFITH
LONG-TERM REPORT
April 08, 2009

CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE FIELD REPORT
CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE LONG-TERM REPORT

TESTER INFORMATION

My outdoor experience began in high school with involvement in a local canoeing/camping group called Canoe Trails. The culmination was a 10-day canoe voyage through the Quebec wilds. I've been backpacking since my college days in Pennsylvania. I have completed all of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Now I usually hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Most of my trips are section hikes or loops from a few days to a week. I carry a light to mid-weight load, use a tent, stove and hiking poles.

INITIAL REPORT

December 1, 2008

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Gordini
Year of Manufacture: 2008
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.gordini.com
MSRP: $50 US
Listed Weight: Not available
Measured Weight: 143 g (5 oz)
Size Tested: Women's Medium
Also available: Men's S, M, L and Women's S, L
Color Tested: Black (also available for Men)
Also available: Dark Chocolate (Men and Women)

Other details provided by manufacturer on the tag inside of one glove:
Shell: 100% Polyester
Trim: 85% Polyester/ 9% Wool/ 6% Nylon
Palm: 100% Genuine Leather
Lining: 90% Polyester/ 10% Wool
Interlining: 65% Polyolefin/ 35% Polyester
Insert: 96% Polyurethane/ 4% Other
Padding: Polyurethane Foam
Made in China
This information is also listed in French on the opposite side.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The gloves came with a small plastic display hanger that was attached to either glove with a nylon strap. The nylon strap has a recycle logo and says 'Gordinigreen'. There were also 5 hang tags for the following: 'AquaBloc', 'lavawool', 'Gordinigreen', Style/Size/Color, and Women's Medium (also in French on back).


The Fever gloves are part of a new 'green' line of gloves which are made with some recycled materials. In this glove the recycled materials are used in the Thinsulate insulation and in the shell.

The shell is a three layer soft shell fabric called AquaBloc which is supposed to be windproof and waterproof while being breathable. It has a diagonal print on the knuckles for a bit of fashion style. The palm, fingers and thumb have a leather layer for durability.


The insulation is Thinsulate. The liner material is a blend of fleece and wool called lavawool to help move moisture away from hands. The fingers are sewn in a way that has them bent slightly.

The gloves extend an inch (2.5 cm) or so past the wrist and have a hook and loop closure strap at the bottom of the glove. There is a thin stretchy section under the strap which fills the gap left by the adjustment slit.


There is an elastic silicone grip leash sewn to the end of each glove. The pair can be held together with a small clip buckle.

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

There is a caution label inside of one glove which says to remove the gloves by pulling each finger individually so that the weather proof liner does not get inverted by pulling the hand out quickly. This caution is also listed in French on the back.

This makes sense since the waterproof liner can't be sewn to the shell or else it would have a bunch of holes in it. Just from putting on and pulling off the gloves several times, I didn't really see that it would be very easy to invert the liner. But it is nice to be aware of the possibility.

I did not find any washing instructions included.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS & TRYING IT OUT

My first impression when trying on the gloves was that they seemed small. However, my husband noted that they fit me perfectly. There is ample room for my finger length with the webbing hitting just right between my fingers. This seems to put my knuckles in the right locations too. I am able to make a fist with some slight resistance felt since there is no stretch in the back of the gloves. The liner is soft and comfortable on my hands. I cannot feel any seams or unevenness. Wool typically makes my skin itch and become slightly irritated, but I did not notice any reaction at all to the lavawool liner.

I then dragged out several pairs of my old gloves and found that most of them are Men's sizes. Since Women's sizes weren't readily available when I purchased most of my work gloves and ski gloves, I have gotten used to wearing gloves that are too big. It seems that the only properly fitting gloves that I own are my bike gloves. It will be interesting to test these gloves.

The construction of the gloves is well-done. The seams are complete and uniform with no loose threads. The tags are sewn in evenly. The tags for the caution and material content are large. I will leave them there for the test but cannot wait to cut them off. The elastic silicone grip leashes also are in the way when they are not used. I'll give it a fair shot to see if these bother me or not and whether I find them useful.

PROS & CONS

Things I like so far:
Weatherproof
Fit/comfort

Things I'm not so sure about:
Usefulness of elastic leash

SUMMARY

The Fever gloves are not yet on the Gordini website, so I cannot comment on how they compare to their advertising. However, I could not find a sizing chart on their website. I tried to call customer service, but it was after their hours. So I searched the internet for Gordini glove sizing and found another pair of Gordini gloves and used that sizing chart.

Overall the gloves are high quality and have some great winter features. I'm looking forward to getting out in the cold and snow.

FIELD REPORT

February 25, 2009

FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

I have worn the Gordini Fever gloves as my only pair of gloves this winter. I've worn them on one backpacking trip, 7 snowshoeing day trips, 3 cross-country skiing day trips, hikes, on cold commutes in the car (until the heat kicked in) and even for working in the yard. Just including uses for outdoor athletic activity, I wore the gloves on 15 days.

For backpacking I wore them in the evening and morning in camp but did not wear them while hiking. For snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, I wore them about 2/3 of the time and hung them from the leashes about 1/3 of the time when my hands were too warm. I wore them for running one time but had to remove them after about a mile (1.6 km) because my hands were getting sweaty.

Some examples of my trips follow:

Backpacking:
Point Reyes National Seashore (California): 18 miles (29 km); 0 to 854 ft (0 to 260 m); 39 to 60 F (4 to 15 C); sunny to foggy weather

Snowshoeing:
University Falls, Sierra Nevada (California): 5.6 miles (9 km); 3,450 to 4,100 ft (1,052 to 1,250 m); 31 to 37 F (-1 to 3 C); sunny

Echo Lake, Sierra Nevada (California): 5.0 mi (8 km); 7,300 to 8,000 ft (2,225 to 2,438 m); 35 to 45 F (2 to 7 C); deep snow conditions; sunny

Loon Lake, Sierra Nevada (California): 6.5 mi (10.5 km); 6,400 to 6,700 ft (1,950 to 2,040 m); 31 to 45 F (-1 to 7 C); deep snow conditions; sunny

Cross-country Skiing:
Spooner Lake (Nevada): 10 mi (16 km); 7,080 to 7,600 ft (2,158 to 2,316 m); 20 to 35 F (-7 to 2 C); calm to windy snowstorm conditions

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

Warmth:
The gloves are nice and warm. While snowshoeing and skiing my hands often became too warm to wear them. I hung them from the leash and found that to be quite useful. It didn't really bother me to have the gloves flapping around as I moved. In the Initial Report I was unsure about how I would like the leashes, but I have come to like them and appreciate having them. I use them on nearly every trip.

Waterproof:
I once wore the gloves in a rainstorm where they got fairly wet but my hands did not get wet. The gloves dried relatively quickly. They also got wet just from making snowballs or falling down while skiing (oops) but I never felt moisture get through to my hands.

Breathability:
Although I mention my hands getting warm and sometimes sweaty, I found the breathability of the gloves to be acceptable.

Windproof:
The gloves seemed to block the wind well. I wore them several times in windy conditions and could not feel any air coming through.

Dexterity:
My dexterity and tactility is fairly limited with the gloves. I can perform gross tasks such as gripping my trekking poles but I have trouble with finer tasks such as unbuckling a strap or operating a camera. The resistance that I feel upon making a fist has not loosened over time. The material does not have any give and is not changing with use.

Clip:
I used the small clip to hold the gloves together in a pair while stored in my backpack or in my closet at home. Although I never had any problem with the clip coming open, I was a bit concerned about the security of the clip. I never counted on it to keep me from losing a glove when out on the trail. When I wanted to hang my gloves from my pack, I routed my pack strap through both elastic leashes.

Durability:
The gloves still appear to be in great condition. There is no sign of wear on the palms or fingers. I have not yet tried to wash them. One time I used the gloves as a seat on some exposed granite during a snowshoe trip. They provided nice cushion and great insulation between me and the frozen ground. The granite did not appear to damage the gloves.

Cuff Length:
In colder conditions, I found the length of the gloves to be too short to protect my wrists. I ended up tightening the cuff of my jacket over top of the gloves on these occasions. It worked out well because my jacket sleeves are long enough that they didn't pull away from the gloves with movement. I did not find the hook and loop strap on the gloves to be useful. It didn't keep snow or cold from getting inside the glove due to the short length of the cuff itself.

Liner Inversion:
I didn't have any problem with the liner becoming inverted with the shell when removing the gloves. When my hands were sweaty, I was more careful about removing them. But I didn't see that it would be very easy for this to occur.

Putting Them On:
The tags and leashes are in the way when putting the gloves on. I will cut the tags off as soon as the test is over. But I found that by wrapping the leashes around my wrist before putting the gloves on, it helped to keep them out of the way.

SUMMARY

Likes:
Waterproof
Warmth
Leashes

Dislikes:
Lack of elasticity in material
Lack of dexterity

LONG-TERM REPORT

April 8, 2009

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

The weather changed to spring during this test period, but I still was able to get several good testing days in. I wore the gloves for 4 snow outings as described below. On the Glacier Point and Vernal Fall trips, I wore the gloves the entire time. For the other trips, I wore the gloves for about 2/3 of each trip and used the leashes about 1/3 of the time.

Cross-country Skiing:
Glacier Point Road, Yosemite National Park (California): 11 mi (18 km); 7,200 to 7,350 ft (2,200 to 2,240 m); 18 to 22 F (-8 to -5 C); groomed snow conditions; sunny to overcast

Snowshoeing:
Vernal Fall, Yosemite National Park (California): 5 mi (8 km); 4,035 to 5,400 ft (1,230 to 1,646 m); 25 to 30 F (-4 to -1 C); deep snow; heavy snowstorm conditions

Blodgett Research Forest, Sierra Nevada (California): 2 mi (5km); 3,600 to 4,100 ft (1,100 to 1,250 m); 40 to 45 F (4 to 7 C); overcast conditions

University Falls, Sierra Nevada (California): 5 mi (8 km); 3,450 to 4,100 ft (1,052 to 1,250 m); 37 to 43 F (20 to 24 C); overcast to rainy conditions

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

Warmth/Breathability:
The warmth of the gloves is outstanding. I used the leashes quite often since my hands get so warm. The breathability was also good. I tried to hold the finger tips when removing the gloves, but I really didn't make too much of an effort to remember to do that. I haven't had any problem with the liner wanting to invert even though my hands were often slightly damp when removing the gloves.

Waterproof/Windproof:
On the last hike in the Blodgett Experimental Forest, it rained for a solid hour. The gloves were quite wet on the outside but didn't allow any moisture through to the inside. I would have to say that they are waterproof. I never felt any wind pass through the fabric to my hands.

Dexterity:
These gloves are warm and weatherproof which may be the reason that they are also not very flexible. My dexterity with these gloves is probably my single most negative feeling about them. They are somewhat bulky and cumbersome. I find myself removing them for adjusting my pack straps and buckles, using my camera, digging snacks out of my pack, etc.

Durability:
The durability of the gloves is excellent. They are in great condition. There is no sign of wear, loose threads or abrasions.

Cuff:
The cuff length is too short to protect my wrist and the hook and loop strap does not tighten enough to prevent the cold and snow from contacting my wrist. In the coldest conditions, I strapped the cuff of my jacket over top of the gloves which worked quite well.

SUMMARY

The Gordini Fever gloves are a warm and weatherproof pair of gloves. They are well-constructed and durable. The leashes are a surprise positive for me. I was expecting that they would just seem to be in the way, but they are very useful when my hands are too hot. I didn't mind having the gloves bounce around on the leashes and had complete confidence that the leashes would not break.

I'm less thrilled about the bulkiness which doesn't allow for very good dexterity and the short cuff length which allows my wrists to become cold.

Hot:
Warmth
Windproof
Waterproof
Leashes

Not-so-hot:
Short cuff length
Bulk/Stiffness

CONTINUED USE

I will continue to use the Gordini Fever gloves in the winter especially in very cold and snowy conditions.

This concludes my Long-Term Report and the test series for the Gordini Fever gloves.

I would like to thank Gordini and BackpackGearTest.org for choosing me to participate in this test.

Reviews > Clothing > Gloves and Mittens > Gordini Fever Gloves > Test Report by Nancy Griffith