After the surprisingly controversial Gore-Tex vs Outdry article last week, I figured it was time to test out the new Hydra gloves from Mountain Hardwear.
Billed as waterproof soft shell gloves, the Mountain Hardwear Hydra gloves intrigued me. I had yet to try a pair of soft shell gloves that wouldn’t suck up water like a paper towel. Hopefully, Mountain Hardwear would prove me wrong.
The construction of the Hydra gloves is par for the course from Mountain Hardwear. High quality materials are used throughout and there’s an obvious attention to detail. The calfskin leather on the palms is supple and appears that it will be able to stand up to long term abuse. There’s the usual nose wipe built into the thumb. The gauntlet of the glove isn’t quite as long as you would see on a full mountaineering glove, but still keeps the snow out quite well. Mountain Hardwear used a heavier lining on the top of the glove for added insulation and a thinner lining on the bottom for added dexterity. While this is a relatively minor point that not many people would notice, it’s a nice touch that shows the attention to detail the company has.
As I showed in the previous article about Gore-Tex vs Outdry, these gloves retain less water than similar Gore-Tex gloves. That doesn’t really give you an idea of the comfort level though. So, I decided to take the Hydras out for a day of spring skiing. It seems Mother Nature had other plans. Winter decided to come back with a vengeance that week.
Since these are soft shell gloves, they’re really made for milder weather. Twenty degree (F) temperatures and a couple feet of powder (with more on the way) isn’t exactly the typical spring skiing these were designed for. Either way, these gloves were going to get tested.
I was pretty surprised by the results. In the morning they kept my hands very comfortable and this didn’t change throughout the day. Breathability was easily just as good as any pair of Gore-tex gloves I’ve tried (if not better). Dexterity was noticeably better than the standard Gore-tex glove too. Arc’teryx’s new Alpha SV glove is still a bit better in the dexterity department, but the Hydra gloves weren’t that far behind.
I did get a chance to field test Mountain Hardwear’s claim that the Hydra is a waterproof glove. At one point that morning, the person I was skiing with took a nose dive into a couple feet of powder and her skis were nowhere to be found. After 20 minutes of searching in the snow the skis were located and amazingly my gloves were bone dry. Say what you want about the theoretical performance of Gore-tex vs OutDry, but these are easily the best soft shell gloves I’ve ever worn.
With an MSRP of $100, the Hydra gloves aren’t exactly cheap. However, they’re well priced against the competition. While I wouldn’t be taking these gloves to any extreme locations, they work fantastic for skiing and snowboarding at your local mountain. Considering how good the Hydra is, I’m really looking forward to trying out some of Mountain Hardwear’s full mountaineering gloves with OutDry.
Product sample provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.
Very good & useful review, thinks. I think about buying these gloves when the go on the market.
robin
BackpackBaseCamp Blog
[...] with Mountain Hardwear’s new line of gloves using OutDry. Last year, I’d tried the Hydra glove and loved it. The only thing it was really missing was a shell glove with a full gauntlet. [...]