In search of the best fall gloves ever

I have a pair old, tattered REI Mistral gloves that are, in my opinion, the best all-around hiking/warm-weather ski-touring gloves that I've ever owned. I'd wear them scraping the car, shoveling the walk, backpacking in the Winds and RMNP, cross country skiing, walking around town. They are perfect... except that REI discontinued them, and mine are falling apart.

What made them good is that they had a membrane-less softshell (schoeller dynamic, maybe?), so I had to work a lot harder to sweat them out. They also only had a thin wicking liner, no insulation, so I could wear them between about 20F to 50F, comfortably, and sacrifice no dexterity. They had real leather palms which go all the way to the finger tips.

Who makes a glove like this today?

I have a pair of REI softshell gloves that I got somewhat later, that were in the same category, but the synthetic grip material sucked, and the fleece lining really interferes with dexterity.

BD Midweight softshell gloves sound similar, except they have light insulation. Very dextrous for my hands and full leather palms for rope work.

James C wrote:

BD Midweight softshell gloves sound similar, except they have light insulation. Very dextrous for my hands and full leather palms for rope work.

Second on these!  Have several pair.  Great all around glove.  Comfy, light, durable.

James C wrote:

BD Midweight softshell gloves sound similar, except they have light insulation. Very dextrous for my hands and full leather palms for rope work.

If only the lightweight version had full leather palms...

The BD Torque is about right, but also feels like overkill.

Petsfed 00 wrote:

If only the lightweight version had full leather palms...

The BD Torque is about right, but also feels like overkill.

Lightweight ones have slippery, sucky palms.  Heavyweight reportedly have issues with insulation bunching under palm.  Midweight - perfect.

Petsfed 00 wrote:

If only the lightweight version had full leather palms...

The BD Torque is about right, but also feels like overkill.

For something with less insulation but some durability, you might consider hardware store gloves like these Home Depot work gloves that I use for drytooling. I saw someone wearing them skiing though once on a warm day.