Every now and then a bit of kit comes by that really stands out. These gloves fall into that category. So simple, yet so effective. They are a basic glove with a couple of very, very useful features. Firstly the thumb and forefinger of each glove has an e-tip – basically a different sort of material which works with touch screen devices. A few years ago when these first hit the market they seemed a bit og a gimmick, but I’d argue that they are now virtually essential as the vast majority of phones and tablets are touch screen. Regular material simply doesn’t work on touch screens because the method by which most screens work is capacitive. Probably best to give a proper explanation of this at this stage rather than me muddling through:

From Wikipedia: A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO).[19][20] As the human body is also an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing.

What the e-tip material does is to mimic the human body (skin).

The other feature feels somewhat like a trip down memory lane to primary school days. On the back of each hand is a pocket which is open on one side (facing the fingers). Inside the pocket lives a pull-out sleeve that turns the gloves into mitts temporarily. The sleeve is windproof and waterproof meaning that if you are out biking or running and the wind or rain would normally be getting to your fingers, pulling the sleeve over, which can be done one handed with deft use of your teeth, means you get warmer hands for longer. I genuinely have used them on every run and bike ride I have been on this winter and have extolled their virtues to whoever I have been with at the time.

The last feature I liked is a silicone pattern on the inside of the hands meaning extra grip when using ski poles, handle bars etc.

They retail at £24.95 or thereabouts, and represent very good value for money.

I’m only gutted that I lost one of them last week :-(