Hestra Army Leather Gore-Tex Review

The Hestra Army should be a consideration for any skier or snowboarder who rides in colder climates, where their local mountain has ancient and slow double chairs, or for people whose hands get cold easily. This cozy feeling model offers decent dexterity overall but pretty good dexterity when compared to models that feature similar levels of warmth that were both included in our review and considered for our testing. The Gore-Tex insert means it's ready to handle most storms, especially if you re-treat its leather exterior quasi-regularly.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

The Army Leather GTX is warm. It's warmer than most gloves out there and only bested by a small few. We felt comfortable skiing in most conditions to around 0F, as long as it wasn't too stormy. Our testers noted that the Army had a cozy fleece lining that feels spectacular when you slip them on. Not only does it warm your hand up quickly, but we found that it added to the sensation of warmth and it was something we preferred over both of the previously mentioned gloves, earning the Leather Gore-Tex a high place overall scoring among the gloves. Mittens were, as expected, noticeably warmer.

Dexterity

The Army Leather GTX offers better-than-expected dexterity, especially considering the amount of warmth and leather that the wearer is provided. When performing fine motor skills, such as manually unlocking a car door and writing our name, this contender scored about average. We found we could manually unlock a car door but only very sloppily write our name.

Water Resistance

As you might expect from the name, the Army Leather GTX uses a Gore-Tex insert inside a water-resistant leather. This glove was one of the most water-resistant in our fleet, offering optimal protection. It excelled in our bucket of water comparisons, as well as in real-world use.

Durability

This glove is tough! Like other Hestra Gloves, the leather is best served when a leather conditioner is applied. This helps keep the exterior leather water resistant. Applied one or two times per year, the conditions will extend the life of this (and all) contenders. Throughout our testing, we found that this glove did not have any durability issues whatsoever.

Features

This glove has a solid number of extra features that make it easier to use, like one of our favorite wrist-leash/keeper straps; these straps were removable and low profile. It also has a hanging loop on the pinky to facilitate faster drying, along with a wrist strap, which is positioned under the wrist. The wrist strap is low profile and stays out of the way, all while doing a fantastic job of keeping the glove snug and increasing dexterity.

We did like the included carabiner (not for climbing) to keep the gloves attached when not in use. Unfortunately, it was so big that we didn't like it dangling while skiing or snowboarding, but we felt that if we took it off, we were just asking to lose it. The Leather Gore-Tex scored above average in this metric, ensuring that the wearer is getting decent features for the buck.

Value

This is one of the more expensive gloves in our review (excluding the heated models). If you're prepared to spend this much on your next pair of gloves, you'll be rewarded in their longevity.

Conclusion