Outdoor Research  Prevail Heated GORE-TEX Gloves

While the heat system seems to work ok, the fit of these gloves is absolutely terrible. The linings are made of some very grabby material and seems to be oversized for the size of the shell, so much so that it is very difficult to get your fingers into their individual holes, especially the little fingers. Unless you can find something thin to push against the gaps between your fingers (like the edge of a chair back) you will never get these gloves fully on. And forget it if you need to quickly remove your gloves briefly and then put them back on, since it is always a struggle to get them fully on. I am a ski instructor and his is my third pair of heated gloves. These are by far the worst.

I’ve worn these gloves for 2 ski trips a couple cross country skiing days and a few cold days. They work great so far! The gloves themselves are very warm. I found I was using either the low setting a lot or only turning them on for a while to warm my hands up after having to take the gloves off for a bit. I can’t attest to the long term durability yet because they’re still fairly new. They definitely seem well made though. The batteries come out very easy so they don’t have to be with the gloves when charging. The tethers are strong & come in handy while messing with goggles or grabbing the phone for an epic pic! I found the fit to be good.

These mittens are very poorly designed and built. 1. Defective Right Thumb Design: Even from the product photos, you can see an odd narrowing in the thumb area. Unfortunately, this is not an illusion — every right mitten has this defect. I’ve ordered and tried five pairs from both REI and Outdoor Research directly, and every single one had the same problem. When other reviewers mention that “the thumbs are too tight,” they may not realize this only affects one hand. It’s a long-standing issue that Outdoor Research has failed to fix or even acknowledge, showing a clear lack of quality control and attention to customer feedback. 2. Cuff Too Narrow: The gauntlet cuff (the cinchable part meant to go over your jacket sleeve) is far too tight. It’s difficult to put the mitts on, and completely impossible to fit them over most jacket sleeves. This makes them frustrating to use in cold conditions when quick on/off is important. 3. Flimsy Connectors: The battery-to-mitt connection is also poorly made. After only a few dozen uses, it becomes unreliable and hard to keep clean or tight. This same issue existed in the previous Lucent model, but at least that version used better materials. The Prevail mittens not only inherit the flaws of the Lucent, but add new ones while using cheaper materials. For these reasons, I cannot recommend them.

Maybe I got a dud, maybe they aren’t that great. Trying them in my house, they seemed to perform well and I was excited to use them. However, using them on the ski hill with only -2 degrees Celsius weather, the tips of my fingers felt cold. Disappointing, as I suffer from a hand condition where I easily lose circulation and was really hoping that these would be the magic bullet to keep my hands warm as I enjoy the slopes. Other than the heating aspect, the gloves made with quality materials. Not worth the money. Too bad, as I have been purely using OR mitts for over 2 decades.

Sizing is WAY off. Two years ago this model glove in XL from OR fit perfectly. Now the fit for XL is too small to use. The circumference is not correct for an XL hand. A smaller hand circumference fits, but then the glove fingers are too long. And just to be fair, STIO has the same problem. I had hoped that this glove would help me stay warm all day in -10 temps but I'm going back to mittens. (Note, I'm outside for long periods without being able to take a break. 43 years NSP, 23 years PSIA.) I bought these because two years ago I was impressed. No so now.

so want to LOVE this glove... but, they are so thick that I can't get a decent hold on a ski pole (cant make a fist), let alone a zipper pull. At first thought ordered a size too big, but with more attempts, discovered they are hard/tight to get on and off, and they are in general/overall heavy! understand the battery pack is a lot of it, but even with out they are a stout glove. maybe they haven't been worn enough to be packed out. thinking the other "low profile" ones would have been a better option. unfortunately, they are just good for being a hockey spectator, and not a ski bum... they kept the digits warm outside at single digits and 30 mph winds. again, really want to love them, but the lack of dexterity is unfortunate.

I purchased these for the really cold days snowboarding and winter camping. I purchased an XS - I probably could have gotten a small and it would have fit better when making a fist. 7" is around my knuckles. Fingers are pretty snug. For snowboarding they are great. I ran on low the other day at 3 * outside and was perfectly fine all day. I am looking forward to testing out the finger dexterity when setting up winter tent, and swapping out binding/ skins when split boarding - the main driver of this purchase.

So many other brands have failed to meet the standards that the Prevail has set. I am amazed at the functionality of this glove, I had had so many past failures, that I had set the bar very low. I can only state this is the first time I have slied all day and still had left-over battery charge. This maybe the best glove on the market, for me it has made the difference between enjoying the day skiing, and having to end the day early due to painfully cold fingers.

I bought these as a Christmas gift for my wife, who frequently deals with cold hands while skiing in Colorado. After getting used to the fit of the gloves (mostly the gauntlet, which is understandably bulky because of the batteries), she now raves about how comfortably warm her hands are all the time. She has mostly just used the lowest setting while skiing, but the intermediate and max settings have been effective when needing to warm up quickly. On a particularly cold day, she also used the gloves to warm her toes during a short break in a warming hut. She has been very pleased with these gloves and I have won her appreciation: a win-win. I bought these gloves based upon a favorable review from Outdoor Gear Lab. I can see how the Hestra heated gloves may provide more dexterity, but the fit and design of these OR gloves is very good.

Overall the gloves are nice. They are very large and a bit clunky, however I expected that. The warmth you get is very nice, but they don't get extremely hot. Battery life is good and work as advertised. As this is my first pair of heated gloves I would say they are good for both beginners and experts. If you curious about how heated gloves might work for you, these are a good place to start.