Outdoor Research

BitterBlaze Aerogel Glove - Men's

Decent

Comfortable but not for the coldest of days. I look elsewhere when the temps really drop, but I love them in the right conditions.

would not purchase again

Gloves claim to be rated to -20F, but my hands froze in 10 degree weather. not a fan of Aerogel after this. only article of clothing I've ever worn that got me nowhere near what it is rated for. OR makes great stuff, these gloves however missed the mark. Two stars only because of build quality of gloves. 0 for performance

Very warm, not durable

I love these gloves from ice climbing. On long multi-pitch, hikes in, and belaying they never let me down. The only downside is their durability. The fingertips always wear down prematurely compared to the rest of the glove. That being said, even with this flaw, I still wear them all the time, and will always recommend them to others. But OR has to do something about the durability issue...

Extremely annoyed they stopped making these

Best gloves ever. I can literally handle dry ice in them. They hold up well and they fit perfectly. I just wish OR would keep making these. I have two pairs that I bought 2 years apart. The black pair is older and the tan is newer. The black ones are still kicking after 4 years and I wear them every day, ice fishing, snow machining, shoveling or cutting trail while in alaska. I'm a bit picky with gloves and own at least 25 pairs across brands and these are my absolute go-to gloves for weather between 10*F to -30*F. I'm shocked with the dexterity/fit to warmth ratio on these.

good but not great

I have used these gloves for 2 winters now and appreciate their sturdy construction and waterproof abilities however, I do not find them warm enough in temps below 15f/ -9c

Great while they remain intact

Kept my hands warm and offered great flexibility of the fingers while providing ample grip. Wore out somewhat quickly sadly, I got ~2 months of daily use out my set before the seam on one of the fingers came apart.

Another OR Home Run

OR does gloves and other accessories better than just about any other company and these gloves just confirm that. Warm, great fit, solid build. There's a reason I have a box full of OR gear.

Didn't end up liking the red OR logo. They are warm though. Also they have like a leatherish palm I wasn't a big fan of. But they are extremely warm.

Great gloves with a few things to get used to.

Don't let your first impression be your last. These gloves are awesome however, a lil different than a normal glove. First off take the time to break them in. My first impressions were that thses gloves didn't offer much dexterity for my hands. After 2 months of steadily shoveling snow, using digging bars and picks to break ice on an almost daily basis these gloves just kept giving. I'm known to wear out general leather work gloves pretty quickly. These gloves don't show any signs of wear on them after lots of abuse in the palm and finger areas. These gloves have an aerogel thermal barrier not insulation. What does this mean? If your fingers are cold and you put them into cold gloves these gloves will not reflect your body heat and warm up like a traditional glove might. However, if you put warm hands into warm gloves these suckers stay warm. Even after hours of using solid steel digging bars and hauling frozen chains around I never felt that cold seep into my hands. I had no issues with moisture penetration or sweat buildup. The aerogel kinda works like a memory foam. When I initially put them on I flex my fingers in them and work them in for a minute before the glove conforms to my hand. I've found this to be helpful when doing projects that require more dexterity. To be honest I really thought I would have busted a stitch or punctured the palms of these gloves given the consistent abuse I've given them. The only reason I'm not giving them 5 stars is because I would like more leather to wrap around the fingers on the next version. This would help avoid tears and stress points on stitches when using the middle ring and pinky fingers on hand tools.

Warm but Sloppy

I got these gloves primarily for vertical ice climbing. Picked the men's small, which is my usual size in OR gloves, but found them a bit on the bigger end; they fit a liner comfortably for me, but for ice climbing I prefer a snugger fit and might have been better off with one of the women's sizes. For a little context, I am very picky about my gloves. I love to ice climb but suffer from problems with blood circulation in my fingers (my hands are always cold), so I am constantly trying to dial in just the right balance between warmth and dexterity in ice climbing gloves. Being able to handle your gear without fumbling and maintaining a secure grip on your tools can literally be the difference that keeps you from taking a fall and suffering serious injuries. I've tried many, many brands and varieties of climbing gloves, and expect a lot out of the gloves I choose. On top of that, very few gloves fit me well because I have thick palms and fingers, but my fingers are relatively short. So, I would rate these gloves highly for warmth, waterproofness, and durability. However, they are lacking in dexterity and grip. As far as warmth, they are some of the warmer climbing gloves you can get, and the warmth-to-bulk ratio is actually pretty good. Even with my cold hands, I can't use these on days in the high 20's F or if the sun is really strong because my hands get sweaty. And they never let in any water, even when a shower is coming off the ice or I'm belaying with a soaked rope. I've used these a fair bit, for climbing and other general winter and cold-weather stuff (skiing, shoveling, biking in cold rain...), and they're still in great shape. But as far as grip and dexterity, these gloves let me down. First, they are still bulky; less bulky than some equally warm options I've tried, but my preferred gloves sacrifice just a bit of warmth and are much slimmer and more dexterous. The fingers on these are fat and it can be hard to manipulate ropes and carabiners. Part of this might be a sizing issue - they seem to run a little big compared to other OR gloves, the fingers are too long on me, and I might be better off in a women's size. My biggest complaint is that the waterproof liner is not well bonded to the rest of the glove, so the whole thing feels "sloshy". You can feel the liner moving and slipping around inside the gloves. This causes you to grip your tools harder, because it feels less secure in hand, which then causes greater forearm pump. They at least attempted to secure the waterproof liner to the glove shell, but I've had that detach at a couple of the fingertips in each glove, so now when I pull my hands out about 2/3's of the WP liner tries to come out with it. Some brands make ice climbing gloves that have the WP liner entirely bonded to the glove shell (e.g. Gore-Grip products). For me at least, that makes a huge difference when you're hanging off a tool, and the sloshy sensation in these is a non-starter for climbing near your limit. Overall, these are mostly fine gloves, and if you just want a general robust and warm glove for cold and wet conditions they would be fine (although I'm sure you could also find cheaper, equally good options for that). However, I've been disappointed with their performance while ice climbing. I still use them from time-to-time on very cold days, but certainly don't feel like I can push myself if I'm using them; they feel sloppy and sloshy and don't inspire a ton of confidence on the ice. I think if OR shortened the fingers just a touch (about 1/4 of an inch) and incorporated Gore-Grip, they'd have a real winner on their hands (pun intended).