The name says it all. The Mad Max glove from Black Diamond is burly, arrogant and walks the walk. While this glove can handle whips and chains, it is best utilized dishing out that kind of treatment day in day out. Check out the comfiest and blurliest glove out there.
Okay, so the glove looks hardcore, and it is, but if that aesthetic isn’t necessarily your style, then does comfort, warmth and dexterity get your attention. Black Diamond has a reputation for designing functional and durable gloves and this time around they have added some attitude to the final product. Crafted from leather, and a 100% wool lining, these gloves are plush to pull on. Primaloft ensures they are warm into the negative mercury range which I can attest to. I have used them as my winter gloves through the Whistler cold snap over Christmas that brought –20 temps and throughout my time here in Japan.
A Goretex membrane keeps the water out, and you might not believe that possible with the huge amount of stitching in these gloves, but I have used them in the equally wet environs of both of the a-fore-mentioned locations.
What is particularly surprising about these gloves is how dexterous they are. I wasn’t looking forward to using them when shooting photos and handling cameras, but I very rarely have to take them off. Normally I find that a dexterous glove has little insulation in the tips of the fingers, but these gloves are as warm as any glove with a removable liner that I have ever used. As prehistoric as the amour of the molded knuckles look, these gloves are supple enough to adjust your boot buckles, whilst offering you protection from bashing your digits on a tree or rock.
Having not used these gloves in any real warm conditions, I shouldn't imagine a knuckle-padded, leather glove will breath particularly well, but I’m not asking that of this glove. This is a warm glove for charging hard and scaring that blow-in from dropping into your line.
One slightly annoying thing is the thin, velcro strap on the outer wrist that can catch on your pole straps making getting in and out of your poles a little fiddly. However, with my jacket cuffs pulled down like they should be, it isn’t an issue. If it is, you can quite easily just snip that strap off and the glove will still stay fast on your hands. I don’t cinch it tight as the glove fits snug without it.
These gloves are a flak jacket for your hands and come in black and tan. If you manage to wear-out these gloves in a single winter, consider it a compliment to your lifestyle because I expect these bad boys to go the distance for a few heavy seasons of shredding yet.
Check out the Black Diamond website for more info or the scope the rest of their freeride line.