Here you’ll find the best hiking gloves for any conditions
The weather forecast dictates which are the best hiking gloves, and we’ve got recommendations for all types and conditions. Here you’ll find the best hiking gloves for cold, rain, sun, sleet, snow, wind, and some all-purpose gloves too.
This buyers guide to the best hiking gloves is grounded in obsessive product info comparisons, backcountry testing, outdoor industry tenure, and decades of ultralight backpacking experience. We’ve worn all types and are glad to share our experience to help keep your hands safe and comfortable on the trail.
Keep scrolling to grok the best hiking gloves, or jump ahead to view the buyer considerations. Learn how to build a cold weather backpacking glove system. And while you’re here, don’t miss our dedicated guides to flip mitts, fingerless gloves, sun gloves, rain mitts, rain jackets, puffy jackets, fleece jackets, and hiking shirts.
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Best Hiking Gloves Quick Picks
- Editor’s Choice, Most Versatile: Trailheads Convertible Running Gloves
- Best Full Finger, Classic Glove: DEFEET Duraglove
- Best UPF Gloves: Glacier Gloves Ascension Bay
- Best Ultralight Warmth: SkyGOAT Camp Mittens
- Best Rain Mitts: Enlightened Equipment Visp
- Best for Cold Rain, Sleet, Wet Snow: SHOWA Temres 02 Winter
- Best Ultralight Puffy Mitts: Enlightened Equipment Torrid Mitts
Best Hiking Gloves Comparison Table
| Make/Model | Price ($) | Weight (oz) | Warmth (1-5) | Dexterity (1-5) |
| Trailheads Convertible | 38 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
| DEFEET Duragloves | 22 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| Glacier Gloves Ascension Bay | 27 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
| SkyGOAT Camp Mittens | 25 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| EE Visp Mitts | 60 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| SHOWA Temres 282 | 27 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| EE Torrid Mitts | 70 | 1.9 | 5.0 | 2.5 |
Editor’s Choice Hiking Gloves
Trailheads Convertible Running Gloves
3.0 oz | $38
TrailHeads Convertible Running Mitts flawlessly execute the flip top and flip thumb concept, without any floppiness or excess fabric bulk. They are comfy, warm dexterous, soft, stretchy, and one of the versatile items in our kit. Flip the mitt and thumb down to pitch your tent or operate a stove. Flip them back up when temperatures drop.
Best Full Finger
Defeet Duraglove
Defeet Duraglove
2.1 oz | $22
More durable and more tactile than fleece liners, DEFEET Duragloves are our go-to, all-purpose hiking gloves, even though they may technically be cycling gloves. They are warm, and have very grippy fingers and palms. Silver in the fingertips makes them touchscreen compatible. Alan has been raving about these for years and our overall pick for best hiking gloves.
Best Sun Protection
Glacier Gloves Ascension Bay
1.7 oz | $27
The Glacier Gloves Ascension Bay are our pick for UPF-rated gloves thanks to their better-than-average durability for handling trekking poles. The entire Adventure Alan & Co team prefers this model for all day, everyday sun protection, and we recommend them very highly. They comes in a basic, light gray colorway, as well as a cool water camo print with thru-hiker fashion appeal and fisherman functionality.
Best Ultralight Warmth
SkyGOAT Camp Mittens
1.0 oz | $25
For a superbly soft, cozy, breathable, ultralight, sustainable, and quick-drying pair of grid fleece flip tops, choose the SkyGOAT Camp Mittens. Go mitten-mode when it’s cold, but pull back the flip top and tuck it over the knuckles when dexterity is needed. The thumb itself is non-convertible, but for maximum dexterity, you can push your whole hand through the finger area.
Best Ultralight Rain Mitts
Enlightened Equipment Visp Mitts
0.7 oz | $60
The Enlightened Equipment Visp mitts check more desirable feature boxes than any other model – waterproof, hyper-breathable, ultralight, long gauntlet, adjustable wrist and cuff. This the same material as is used in our all-time favorite ultralight rain shell jacket, and it’s great for gloves too. Biggest drawbacks are the fact that the 7d fabric is not the most durable, and they require an hour of at-home seam sealing work (but come with a complimentary seam sealer tube).
Best For Cold Rain, Sleet, & Wet Snow
SHOWA TEMRES 02winter Gloves
4.8 oz | $35
For sleet and cold rain, we recommend the SHOWA Gloves TEMRES series, originally designed for winter-use in the Japanese maritime industry, and now modified with a guantlet closure specific to winter sports. These gloves are at home in truly nasty weather, are 100% waterproof, and never wet out from the exterior.
As out-of-place as they look in the backcountry, their performance is simply superior to alternatives from traditional outdoor brands (lookin’ at you Gore-Tex), and they’re plenty warm enough for temps that dip below freezing. Dexterity and breathability are both lackluster, but functional enough for non-technical use. They run small so size up.
Enlightened Equipment Torrid Mitts
1.9 oz | $70
The sub-two-ounce Enlightened Equipment Torrid Mitts provide four season hand warmth in an ultralight puffy mitten package. What’s more, the flip tops pull off and secure with a shock cord when dexterous handwork is required. They are filled with a high warmth-to-weight synthetic loft batting called CLIMASHIELD APEX. It’s quick drying and warm when wet. They are weather resistant on their own, but wear them under shell mitts or over liners in really gnarly conditions.
The Complete Hiking Glove Quiver
Our perfect quiver is as-follows: One pair of midweight fleece liner/fingerless gloves/flip mittens. One pair of UPF-rated sun gloves. One pair of waterproof rain mitts. One pair of puffy mitts. Having access to this combination of four hiking gloves will protect your hands on 95% of trips without the need for anything else. Layering rain mitts over puffy mitts over liners is warm enough for use in temps well-below freezing. Note, you are unlikely to need all four of these hiking gloves on any one trip.
A Basic Fleece Liner or flip mitten Does 80% Of The Work
When it comes down it, a basic fleece liner style hiking glove or flip mitt covers you for about 80% of backcountry scenarios. If we are packing for just about any 3-season trip, we recommend including a pair of lightweight gloves. This is the first base you should cover when building out a glove quiver. They should be dexterous and breathable enough to use hiking uphill in the cold.
Where To Store Your Hiking Gloves On Trail
Of course, where we store our hiking gloves depends on the weather and conditions we expect to face. If we expect to be frequently putting gloves on, we might store them in a hip belt, fanny pack, or pants pocket. If we think we will only use gloves while approaching a windy summit or taking a cold break, we may keep them in an exterior pocket, but not in prime real estate pockets described above. You may also choose to store the gloves in your fleece jacket pocket, as you will likely the use them simultaneously. For backpackers who don’t expect to use their gloves until they get to camp, you may wish to store them inside your puffy jacket pockets.
How Much Better Are The Best Hiking Gloves?
To be honest, most hiking gloves are fairly interchangeable. The best fleece liners might only be marginally better than the average fleece liners. Thus, most of our picks are based on personal experience. We have not, of course, tested every single glove.
Thoughts On Touch Screen Compatibility
This is a fairly unimportant feature to us. Even if gloves are conductive and touch screen compatible, they are likely still to clumsy to use to manipulate an iPhone. For uses where touchscreen dexterity is paramount, we prefer fingerless hiking gloves.
Top L to Bottom R: Fox River Ragg, Glacier Gloves Cold River (discontinued), Glacier Gloves Alaska River, Glacier Gloves Ascension Bay
Best Hiking Gloves Conclusion
We hope this guide to the best hiking gloves has been helpful and informative. These gloves have served us well on the trail, and we know they’ll do the same for you! Drop us a comment if you have any questions! Happy hiking and happy trails!
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