Serious winter gloves in the pipeline from the nice people at Rab.
Alongside its clothing range - see our report on what's new this winter - British mountain brand Rab also has a small but perfectly formed selection of gloves and the range has been tweaked for autumn.
The two star turns, according to Rab's Dan Thompson, are the new Icefall Gauntlet - we like 'gauntlet' as a word, it sounds all medieval - and the Guide Glove, which uses 'kangaroo-coloured leather', though it's not actually from kangaroos... Make of that what you will.
Rab Icefall Gauntlet - £80
The new Icefall replaces last year's Latok Ice and is a waterproof, eVent-lined technical mountain glove. It has Pittards Armortan leather on the palms and fingers and selected reinforced seams, but the back of the glove is made from a soft shell fabric with built-in stretch.
In addition, there's synthetic PrimaLoft fill insulation on the back of the glove to give extra warmth without interfering with dexterity from the pre-curved palm and fingers. There's a snot wipe area - sorry, 'flocking patch' it says here - on the back of the glove too and it feels nice on the hand, though a tad warm for a centrally heated show-room...
Rab Guide Glove - £65
The Guide Glove hasn't changed beyond some new colour options - that kangaroo-coloured leather - and strategic reinforcement and is Rab's all-round winter mountain glove so worth a look. Like the Icefall it has a full eVent waterproof and breathable liner coupled with a leather Pittards Armortan palm and reinforcements.
It has a cosy, fast-drying micro fleece liner on the palm and a thick pile layer over the back of the hand for added warmth again without compromising grip and dexterity up front. Again it feels nice on the hand and looks promisingly 'pro' in a serious mountain way.
Rab Latok Glove - £70
We like the look of this one, maybe best of all. It's a stretch soft shell mountain glove with a full waterproof eVent liner, brushed fleece inner and a palm covered with sticky silicone grippy stuff and with a big snot wipe too. Looks like a sensible option for UK conditions where leather-palmed gloves can get get wet and then dry slowly. This looks like a faster-drying but still warm option.
Gaiters
While we're at the extremities, you might not know that Rab has a NeoShell gaiter based on their Latok gaiter but made from Polartec's excellent, super breathable, waterproof NeoShell fabric. It has a full Velcro closure - no fiddly zips - the top section is NeoShell, the boot bit a stretch waterproof fabric, underboot strap is held on with Velcro so easy to fasten and replace and there's a silicone gripper strip to hold the gaiter in place on the boot.
Also on the gaiter front, there's a scree gaiter made from double-weave Matrix soft shell fabric. Not waterproof, but intended to keep loose debris from falling annoyingly down the cuff of your boots...
More Rab info at www.rab.uk.com.
