How to Choose Cold Weather ATV Riding Gloves
If you don't want to pack up your ATV and your off-roading fun all winter, you don't have to. Many people keep going through the whole season. As cool as that is, be prepared to discover that neither regular ATV gloves nor regular winter gloves will cut it in winter weather. In this article, we'll discuss everything you need to know to buy cold weather ATV riding gloves.
BENEFITS OF WEARING INSULATED ATV GLOVES IN WINTER
ATV gloves are a must for protecting your hands fr om branches, thorns, and other threats on the trail. They also offer protection for your hands in an accident. With gloves intended for regular ATV riding, that is their sole purpose. They aren't intended to keep your hands warm.
You may think, "Eh, how bad can it be? I'll just tough it out." When you're outside for hours, your hands away fr om your body on the handlebars, with flexible gloves on to work the controls, and wind from the speed you're going blasting your hands, you'll discover a cold unlike any you've prepared for. Even on slightly cold days, the wind will punish your hands. What happens when you go out in the snow, on the ice, or in really cold weather?
For your comfort, protection from frost bite, and to keep you alert and not distracted by your cold hands, you'll need cold weather ATV riding gloves.
These gloves are carefully designed to hold heat in while wicking moisture away, protecting your hands from the threats of the trail, and allowing you flexibility to work your ATV controls.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING COLD WEATHER ATV GLOVES
Waterproofness
Cold weather gloves need to be water-resistant or waterproof to keep snow, ice, rain, and any other moisture you encounter from making your hands cold. This will often come in the form of membrane fabric technology. It is great for average cold weather conditions wh ere you could encounter some moisture. If water is definitely part of your cold weather ATV future, look for a glove that offers full waterproofness.
Opt for the gloves that are made of membrane materials. They provide 100% waterproofness and breathability to ensure ultimate comfort on the trails.
Insulation and heating
The most obvious and crucial aspect of a cold weather glove is holding in heat to keep your hands warm. This kind of makes them their own natural heaters.
The insulation can come fr om a variety of factors, such as fleece lining and technical fabrics designed to trap heat with limited layers.
Some cold weather ATV riding gloves are heated to provide additional protection. You can also buy heated liners for ATV gloves so you can use gloves with other features you want and just add heating. Heated gloves and liners can be turned on and off with a button and often have multiple settings to achieve the warmth you need in various situations.
Breathability and moisture wicking
The problem with insulating alone is that trapping in heat can make hands too hot, and sweaty. Sweaty hands both feel gross and detract from their warmth. After all, sweat is designed to cool us. So, you need your gloves to both hold in heat and wick moisture away to keep your hands truly warm. Cold weather gloves will advertise their moisture wicking features.
Pro Tip: When planning an entire day ride, always keep a spare pair of gloves on board.
Windproofness
One of the main threats of ATV-ing in winter weather is the wind. The fabric of all cold weather gloves acts as a wind breaker to keep the winds from driving at high speeds from freezing your hands.
Protection and durability
Some winter ATV gloves provide some reinforcement for protection from branches and accidents, but are more focused on keeping your hands warm.
It is possible to find cold weather ATV gloves with extra reinforcement and even shields to offer as much protection as your regular ATV gloves that are made specifically to protect you from cuts and impacts. These will be advertised with their extra protection and you can probably tell just from looking at them.
Simpler ATV gloves made solely for warmth will be smoother like more typical gloves wh ere ones offering more protection will have visible additions over the knuckles and other vulnerable parts of the hands.
Dexterity
To work controls and handle incidents, you can't just slip on any warm glove. Thick gloves will restrict your dexterity. All cold weather gloves made specifically for ATVs keep hands warm while remaining lightweight and flexible. They'll look not too different from any glove in terms of size and shape, but pack powerful warmth.
Size and fit
Cold weather ATV riding gloves with reinforced areas for protection have to fit you correctly to work as they're intended. And like many things we buy, sizes can vary by brand. So do your research to find out if the gloves run small. If they do, you can buy a size down from what you normally buy. To be precise, measure your hands to make sure you're buying gloves you can get full benefit from, or wear at all.
You don't want to get uncomfortable gloves that will be distracting on the trail either.
