Patagonia R1 Daily Gloves

This is a lightweight shoulder season glove, or it’s also useful as a liner glove. I like the larger-than-normal "grab loops" because they’re easy to snap into a light carabiner. The swirlies on the palm look funky, but don’t expect them to provide much grippiness. The pointer fingers are touchscreen compatible. Pricy, but very useful.

 BACKGROUND

Sized from XS to XL, the R1 Daily gloves are a successor to gloves Patagonia used to sell as capilene liner gloves. The polyester fabric feels like relatively substantial stretch fleece. It’s smooth on the inside, no grid like some of Patagonia’s other R1-named products. 

Some basic features/upgrades from basic liners: large loops are easy to clip to a small carabiner. The gloves clip together. The face of the thumb and first finger are a different fabric, darker color, that works (to some degree) with touchscreens on mobile phones. The palms have some sort of poly substance applied in a pattern that theoretically provides some grip.

Most of these features are pretty useful. Gloves have a bad habit of getting lost or blowing away in the wind, so I like being able to take them off and put them on a small S carabiner. In a pinch, I can use my phone mapping programs (gloves in general provide imperfect screen functionality, but these do work).

The applied material on the palm is very smooth and doesn’t provide much grip, particularly compared to something like Outdoor Research’s Gripper wind stopper gloves….but it’s modestly useful with trekking pole grips.

WARMTH/MOISTURE

This is a liner-weight glove. They don’t provide much protection from wind, and as a standalone glove they’re a shoulder season item for me—they cut the chill when the temps are in the 40s or into the 30s, Fahrenheit, when I’m out and active. I have also worn them as liners under some of my more modestly-insulated gloves.

The fabric is excellent for transporting sweat and moisture away from your hands. if they get wet, wring them out, and they basically function fine, so long as you’re generating enough heat to ‘wear them dry.’ 

DURABILITY

I have only worn these for a few months. However, previous Patagonia liner gloves I have used proved to be very durable. Stitching never failed, and the fabric never lost its stretch, even after many years. Long-term wear and tear usually means the fabric thins out on the tips of fingers…and I have melted a few fingertips when not being careful around gas stoves. (I now have a pair of wool fingerless gloves for cooking in cold weather). Those big loops are very well-anchored with what look like bar tacks (Thick back and forth stitching). 

HOW I HAVE WORN THEM

These were my primary glove as the temperatures cooled off this fall, and I have worn them under a pair of lightly-insulated leather gloves into December and January. 

PRICE, THE ONLY DOWNSIDE

$55 is pretty steep for a pair of liners. Assuming they last as long as previous Patagonia liners, I’m OK with that. I have worn less expensive liners from Black Diamond and Mountain Hardwear lately—both of which had stitching fails in the fingers after a few years. I’m willing to pay a little more for something that lasts. (The Black Diamond gloves, which I think they discontinued, had a nice leather palm patch. These would benefit from that, but it would probably drive the price even higher.)

Background

3-4 months of wear on hikes, walks, and cool weather yard work and home repairs.