Waterproof winter digit defenders
NAMING your gloves after another type of clothing seems a bit confusing but Furygan is a French brand, so maybe ‘blazer’ means ‘comfy, warm waterproof winter glove’ in French...
The Blazers are thick winter gloves, with a plush, soft, Thinsulate fleece-lined interior that feels like a sanctuary for hands on those days when the cold is really biting hard.
Winter gloves have a tough job to do and without help from handguards and heated grips and in my experience, the constant rush of oncoming cold air will always manage to cool down extremities such as fingers.
The Blazers the only gloves I’ve been wearing recently and they do a good job of insulating against low temperatures. But although they do a decent job of clinging on to warmth, they’re not invincible against the worst of winter. On a motorway ride from the midlands back down to London in 6 degrees, my fingers started to become chilly after I’d been riding for about an hour. At the moment, on my one-hour mostly-urban commute, it’s been about 3 degrees when I leave the house and they’re enough to keep my fingers from getting so chilly they go numb.
Protection from rain and wind is excellent and comes from the Sympatex membrane. I’ve worn these gloves in two torrential downpours – the kind of rain that makes it hard to see clearly, and my hands were kept completely dry.
The rain clearing visor wipe on the left thumb isn’t very useful – it’s too hard and inflexible, so it never makes particularly good contact with the visor and I end up have to use the the outside of my hand to clear rain off my visor.
Comfortable is excellent – they feel luxuriously soft against my hands and although they’re a plump pair of gloves, they don’t feel overly bulky or imprecise.
The exterior is made of goat leather and the knuckle protection feels reassuring and sturdy. The stitching all looks precise and many areas are double stitched. After a couple of months’ use, they’re showing no signs of undue wear of fatigue, so get top marks from me when it comes to quality.
The double closure means they feel nice and secure, but Velcro cuff tab could do with being a bit longer to make it easier to fit over a bulky winter jacket.
Overall, these are a comfortable pair of winter gloves and some of the warmest I’ve worn, with excellent rain protection and they aren’t so bulky and clumsy that they rob hands of fine movement and control.
Tested: Furygan Blazer Sympatex gloves
Price: £109.99
Sizes: S – 3XL
