HURRICANE 2 Windproof Spring-Autumn Gloves

GripGrab’s HURRICANE 2 Windproof Spring-Autumn gloves will keep your digits toasty.

According to the GripGrab website, the Hurricane 2 gloves are made “for all but the very coldest conditions – offering comfort, warmth and breathability across many months of the year and a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions.” And I’ve got to say, I agree with them.

An evolution of a previous GripGrab product, they say the HURRICANE 2 gloves are best suited to spring and autumn. Remember GripGrab’s test base is the frigid, near artic, Scandanavian terrain. So their idea of spring/autumn temperatures are similar to my winter temps! I used them during our much milder UK winter and found them to be perfect.

Features

The HURRICANE 2 uses a windproof stretch fabric on the back of the gloves, which has a 15K (15,000 g/m²/24h) rating. A brief explanation of the those figures; Grammes of water-vapour that passed through a square Meter of the material in a 24 Hour period. A 15K rating puts it in the range of fabrics designed for use in high-output activities such as hiking, ski touring, and mountaineering. And as your hands are far from being the sweatiest part of your body, that makes it a good choice for gloves.

GripGrab have added a PFC-free durable water repellent treatment to the gloves. This can handle some light showers or road-spray during your ride. There’s a decent sized “sweat” wipe on the thumb to keep you “sweat” free on those chilly rides. The thumb is reinforced where you grip the bars and there’s a gel pad underneath the heel of your palm. The palm and first two fingers have silicone stripes to add a bit more grip on damp bars. And of course the thumb and forefinger are touch-screen compatible.

The glove’s cuff is a simple elasticated opening, no faffing with zips or velcro, which is nice. The HURRICANE 2 comes in two colours, black or Hi-Vis yellow and have reflective details to help in low-light. And they are made from 45% recycled material, helping deal with that mountain of plastic we all contribute to.

How were they?

As I’ve already mentioned GripGrab’s ideas of what’s cold are quite different from mine. This is due to the fact that the UK – up to now – benefits from the Gulf Stream and other natural phenomena that keep our winters fairly mild. The last is especially true down here on the south coast. So I have been using the HURRICANE 2 all winter and haven’t felt the need to reach for anything warmer. If you do live somewhere that does suffer proper winter, or you just get cold hands, you could add a liner. Or check our previous look at GripGrab’s range of new for ’22 winter gloves.

Checking back on this winter’s rides, I found that the coldest it got on my rides was four degrees. Any lower and I ride indoors as I’ve come off on black-ice too many times. So while that doesn’t sound that cold, weather sites for the day put the “feels like” temperature at minus three. I figure that’s probably suitably spring-like for our readers that reside in colder regions.

On three to four hour rides in really cold weather I found that the HURRICANE 2 gloves kept my hands at a perfect temperature. I’m not keen on having thick gloves, they feel too hot and cumbersome. These HURRICANE 2 gloves have got the combination right. They’re thin enough that you can feel the handlebars and make gear changes. Or feel for that honey and banana sandwich that’s hiding behind the pump in your jersey pocket.

And the breathability actually seems to work. No more sweaty hands at the café stop and they don’t have an annoying inner that sticks to your hands. So you don’t have to go through the annoying stuff-the-liner back in the glove moment.

Any negatives?

The touch-screen capability was the one area that I could say was less than perfect. While I could get the thumb to work fine, the fore finger was a bit hit and miss. This is probably the only negative that I could come up with and it’s not a big issue. Although I mainly use my thumb, so it really is nit-picking to bring it up.

Sizing

The HURRICANE 2 comes in six sizes, I chose medium. This gave me a good fit, with room for a liner if needed. To give you an idea my hand measures 85mm wide and 180mm long.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an all-winter glove for the UK, you can’t go wrong with theses gloves. They’re light, and warm, without being so thick that you lose your sense of feel on the ‘bars. Another great product from GripGrab.

Check out the HURRICANE 2 gloves on the GripGrab site.