Black Diamond Trail Gloves

Great lightweight way to protect your hands from the sun and other pokey things outside.

Because I use poles on most hikes, my hands take a beating. Either from the sun, or shrubs, or cactus, or rocks...my hands take a beating. 

The Black Diamond Trail Glove offers great half finger protection when I don't need insulation. The gloves are very basic; there is no velcro wrist adjustment, just a stretchy back fabric that adjusts to your hand. 

There are pull tabs at the wrist side and in between the middle fingers—like webbing. I initially wasn't sure what the webbing thing was about, but the first time I went to take them off, I got it.

I got a size large and they are tight. Without that pull tab in between the fingers, it would be difficult to remove them. Likely because they do not have a tightening/loosening strap at the wrist like biking gloves.

Unlike bike gloves, there is no padding on the palm, just fabric. There is a small spot of 2-ply fabric right at the palm and I did find this comfy with my cork grips. The fabric is a little "grippy", and I did not find they made the grips any more or less slick to hold. 

I've used the gloves for probably 100 miles over several trips and they are holding up well, with the exception of the edge stitching on the fingers getting a little frayed.

Most recently I used the gloves backpacking the Grand Canyon. It was chilly in the morning and they gloves gave a little bit of desired warmth. But, it was hot and sunny at the bottom and again I was happy to have them to keep the sun away. I also dipped them in creek at the bottom and got a mild cooling effect that was great in the 80-degree temps. The palm fabric has numerous small holes to aid in breathing and the stretch fabric on top also breathes and dries quickly.

Overall, I am happy with the gloves. They are simple and do what they need without extra bulk. I may try to burn the fraying stitching a little to see if that stops the problem. But other than that, I have no complaints.

Background

I wear fingerless gloves all the time for biking, but I have just started to wear them for sun protection while hiking.