Hestra Army Leather Patrol

Hestra built the Army Leather Patrol around your fingers and your jacket cuff, and to get both it gives up a gauntlet and a membrane. Hestra rates it 6/8 "Agile" for mobility and 5/8 "Toasty" for warmth — dexterity leads, warmth follows. $175.

Fabric, and the membrane it does not have

Impregnated Army goat leather on palm and fingers, with outseams so no seam ridge sits under your pole grip. The backhand is Hestra's dobby polyester melange, a three-layer, wind-resistant softshell.

Behind none of it is a membrane — no CZone, no GORE-TEX. Hestra: "The glove does not include a waterproof membrane. It may offer water resistance from its outer material but is not designed to keep hands dry in sustained wet conditions." Impregnated leather is a treatment, not a barrier, and it wants periodic conditioner to keep shedding water. Water-resistant, not waterproof; the two words are not interchangeable.

Warmth and weather

Warmth is 5/8, "Toasty", on Hestra's eight-point scale — mid-pack, on purpose. The G-Loft insulation sits in the removable liner (art 34420) rather than bonded into the shell: the liner comes out to dry overnight, and Hestra lists a thinner Merino liner (art 34450) as fitting this glove, so you can dial the warmth down for skinning.

Fit and sizing

Hestra sizes numerically by hand circumference, not S/M/L, so measure before you order. Check the size before you fall for a colour: PTO stocks Beige in 6, 7, 8 and 9, and Olive, Charcoal and Navy in 7, 8, 9 and 10. The cuff is a neoprene collar with a Velcro strap, worn inside the jacket sleeve — no gauntlet, no snow lock.

Who it is for, and who should not buy it

Buy it for finger feel out of a leather glove, and for long cold days where drying the liner overnight decides how day two goes; Hestra rates it 6/8 "Rugged" for durability. Do not buy it for sustained wet — rain, spring slush, a day of wet snow. For those days the Army Leather GORE-TEX ($230) is the same leather with a membrane behind it. Do not buy it if you want a gauntlet over the sleeve: that is the Army Leather Heli Ski ($185), which seals snow out with a snow lock but is no more waterproof than this one. And if you simply run cold, the Patrol Mitt is the same money and warmer, rated 7/8 "Extreme".