REASONS TO BUY
Incredibly affordable
Durable leather
No-frills design
Decent dexterity
REASONS TO AVOID
Not super warm
Absorbs water
Unisex and limited fit
Few to no features
Kinco Pigskin Leather Review
This pigskin glove is perfect for the penny-pincher looking to explore the mountains in generally dry, warm conditions
Kinco Lined Grain Pigskin Leather - Women's
Credit: Kinco
RELATED: Best Ski Gloves for Women of 2023
Our Verdict
Looking to pad your wallet? The Kinco Pigskin Leather Gloves may be your best option. With a super low price tag, it is inexpensive and built with quality materials. Featuring a pigskin leather outer and a cloth-knit material on the back of the hand, this glove is fairly warm and quite breathable. It features a polyester knit cuff that slips under jackets nicely. Not only is it perfect for skiing on warm days at the resort or hiking uphill in the mountains, but it also doubles as a great work glove. We weren't too impressed by its warmth or water resistance. The knit cloth on the back of the hand provides a place for heat to easily escape and for water to absorb readily. Because of this, we don't think this glove is the best cold weather or wet climate option.
Editor's note: We updated this review on December 6, 2022, with other recommendations and more product comparisons.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Kinco Pigskin Leather | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  | | |||
| Price | $26.99 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $99 List Check Price at REI | $63.96 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $28.99 at Evo Compare at 2 sellers | $50 List Check Price at REI |
Overall Score  |
|||||
| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Incredibly affordable, durable leather, no-frills design, decent dexterity | Extremely featured, warm, Gore-tex insert, good deal | Warm, versatile, dexterous for a mitt, touchscreen-compatible liners, excellent value | Great price, breathable, warm, comes with liner glove | Inexpensive, warm for price, stylish |
| Cons | Not super warm, absorbs water, unisex and limited fit, few to no features | Could be more dexterous, stitching located in some high stress areas | Not a lot of extra insulation | Not fully waterproof, less durable construction | Not very water resistant, not very durable |
| Bottom Line | This pigskin glove is perfect for the penny-pincher looking to explore the mountains in generally dry, warm conditions | This quality ski glove impressed us with its high-end performance and reasonable price | A mitten that is weather-resistant and dexterous at a reasonable price | A well-priced glove that'll work fine for your ski trips this winter | The bare bones mittens are a good option if you prioritize warmth at an inexpensive price |
| Rating Categories | Kinco Pigskin Leather | Outdoor Research Wo... | Burton Gore-Tex Mitten | Dakine Camino | REI Co-op Guide Ins... |
| Warmth (25%) | |||||
| Water Resistance (25%) | |||||
| Dexterity (25%) | |||||
| Durability (15%) | |||||
| Features (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Kinco Pigskin Leather | Outdoor Research Wo... | Burton Gore-Tex Mitten | Dakine Camino | REI Co-op Guide Ins... |
| Waterproof Material | Leather outer | Gore-Tex waterproof insert | Dry-Ride Two Layer & Gore-Tex Insert | Nylon Shell (black part), Hoxton (75% nylon, 25% polyester) DWR treatment, Leather palm (water-resistant) | Leather outer |
| Insulation Type | HeatKeep Thermal Lining (polyester) | EnduraLoft 100% Polyester 100g, removable merion wool liner glove | ThermaCore Synthetic Insulation | 110/350g high loft synthetic | Polyester |
| Palm Material | Grain pigskin leather | Water resistant goat leather | Leather, Sticky Icy Grip Palm | Goat Leather | Goat leather |
| Inner Glove Material (if applicable) | n/a | Merino wool | Fleece | 150g tricot, 100% polyester | Polyester shearling fleece |
| Double or Single Construction? | Single | Double | Double | Double | Double |
| Gauntlet or Cuff? | Gauntlet | Gauntlet | Gauntlet | Gauntlet | Cuff |
| Special features | None | Touchscreen compatible liner glove, nose wipe, removable leash, glove clip, carabiner loop, cinchable gauntlet | Nose wipe, leashes, warmer pockets, wrist cinch | Google wipe on thumb, touch screen compatible liners, removable wrist leash | Nose wipe |
| Fit | Fits large (unisex sizing) | True to size | True to size | A little smaller, size up if you're unsure | True to size |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Pigskin Leather Glove by Kinco is a great option for those seeking a glove that will perform well on warm, dry days. In addition, it's very affordable.
Performance Comparison
Simple, great materials, and super affordable. What else could a penny pincher ask for?
Credit: Amber King
Warmth
As one of the colder contenders tested, this glove is best used in warm weather or aerobic endeavors on cold days. Many of our friends and family members love this glove because it breathes incredibly well, especially while skinning uphill in the backcountry. The polyester insulation, in addition to its 'Heatkeep' thermal lining, is actually pretty warm itself and does a great job of wicking away moisture from the skin.
The Heatkeep insulation is soft, fuzzy, and warm. However, the cloth exterior allows heat to escape way too fast, making this one of the coldest gloves tested.
Credit: Amber King
The cloth material on the back of the hand, however, is what makes this glove cold when the wind is ripping, or when the mercury dips into the double negatives. The cotton is porous and doesn't provide much in the way of wind resistance. That's why it's best for more aerobic endeavors. There are many types of Kinco gloves online, like the Pigskin Leather Gloves, that do not have the breathable cloth back but are instead completely leather. Based on feedback from friends and online, this type of glove is far warmer, but not as breathable. It also has a similar low, low price.
Water Resistance
To be quite blunt, this glove is not very water-resistant. It does wonders on warm, dry days, but in cold, wet climates, it's not the best option. In our at-home dunk tests, this glove was instantly flooded in just two squeezes. In addition, the glove held 14 oz of water after the 100 squeeze test, which is a lot!
Here we see the water draining from the Kinco glove after the squeeze test. This was the most absorbent glove tested and the least water resistant. Water seeped in through the cloth fabric on top, not through the actual leather textile.
Credit: Amber King
In the field, we noticed that when sweating, the cloth held moisture, and when the snow started falling, the glove eventually became saturated. The big reason this glove failed in this metric is because of the absorbent cotton knit cloth on the back of the hand. The pigskin leather, on the other hand, always did a great job of keeping the water out.
The cloth exterior fully absorbed water after just a squeeze or two, completely soaking the glove. No other product performed this poorly.
Credit: Amber King
Dexterity
Since this glove has a unisex fit, make sure to order it in a smaller size. For example, if you normally fit a women's medium, be sure to order a Kinco small.
Providing better dexterity than most of the mitten options in this review, this is a great glove if you want something that performs simple tasks — like zipping up a jacket or taking off a pair of skins. Ensuring that you have the proper fit really impacts the dexterity of the glove. It features thick insulation in both the fingers and palm. As a result, it's not as dexterous as other contenders that are built with less insulation in the palm with a female-specific fit. We found it did the job when we had to switch our ski & splitboard set-ups from touring mode. As a result, we'd recommend it for both resort and backcountry skiing.
Amber on a cold day, putting skins away before descending down Browns Gulch. The Kinco Pigskin gloves provide good dexterity, but at this point Amber can't feel her fingers due to the cold, windy conditions (despite her smile).
Credit: Amber King
Features
As one of the most featureless gloves, this contender really is no-frills. It only features an under the coat cuff and an incredibly small glove clasp that we were unable to use.
This glove has a no-frills design. We do appreciate that the cuff fits nicely under jacket sleeves, but we found the glove connectors (pictured on the right) too small to be of use.
Credit: Amber King
The single glove construction doesn't integrate a detached liner, adding to its minimalist design. That said, if you buy a larger size, you could probably fit an additional liner underneath as the cuff is quite elastic. If you're in the market for something with bells and whistles, this is not the glove for you. But, if you're all about simplicity and don't have a ton of cash to drop, you may have found your match.
Durability and Construction
To ensure this glove maintains its water resistance and durability, be sure to treat it a few times a season with a leather sealant.
When kept properly maintained, we've seen this glove last for years. The pigskin leather in the palm and fingers provides great durability over the years, as long as the gloves are kept moisturized with the proper treatment. This is a big reason it's a top choice among penny-pinching guides, patrollers, and mountain people. It's a workhorse that can really stand up to tumultuous and consistent abrasion.
The pigskin leather is fairly durable, providing good protection from the elements at the palms. Be sure to treat the leather consistently to avoid the leather from cracking and losing its water-resistant properties.
Credit: Amber King
Even though it has a track record of glorified resilience, this glove earns a fairly low score in this category because of its lesser craftsmanship. When looking closely, we see thread fly-aways and widely spaced stitching. The cloth material on the back of the hand showed some abrasion and wear after our three month testing period. While it doesn't have the best craftsmanship, we have seen these hold up over the years.
Here we note a widely-spaced stitching pattern with a couple of fly-aways.
Credit: Amber King
Should You Buy the Kinco Pigskin Leather?
This glove isn't the highest performer and doesn't compete with other gloves in specific categories, but it is a favorite amongst ski guides and ski bums. It is cheap, offers okay performance, and is easy to replace. There are many options out there, but none with a durable outer like this, for such a low price. Those that will find the most value will appreciate a single-glove design that is breathable and dexterous.
What Other Women's Ski Gloves Should You Consider?
The Kinco's are about as basic and affordable as ski gloves get, but there are higher performance options. For not too much more money, the Dakine Camino provides more warmth, weather resistance, and features in a nice-looking package. If you want the best of the best, the Arc'teryx Fission SV offers the best blend of warmth, breathability, and dexterity, though at a much higher price.
—
Amber King
You Might Also Like
Ad-free. Influence-free. Powered by Testing.
GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. No sponsored content. No ads. Just real, honest, side-by-side testing and comparison.
Learn More