**Note: As of Summer 2012, Sierra Designs is discontinuing it’s glove line. These gloves are currently on closeout for $79 at SierraDesigns.com**

Excellent dexterity
Even though 99 percent of ski glove buyers are just looking to hold a ski pole, the Enforcer was an excellent glove for working owing to outstanding dexterity and flexibility, due in large part to welded seams on the fabric. The welded seams also helped keep the gloves weight down. When I was working or hiking on rocks I really appreciated the protection the gel pad provided to the carpal bones on the heel of my hand – I’d like to see this feature on more gloves.  

Warmth
The 150g Thinsulate insulation kept me warm in normal winter temperatures and most resort conditions, but they started to feel cold down in single digit temperatures.

Grip
Even when caked with snow the deerskin palms and finger fronts gave a great grip on poles and tools.

Durability issues
These gloves showed a lot of premature wear. (See photo below.) Another problem during the test was that the fingers twisted somewhat as the gloves broke in, causing the leather on the front of the fingers to go off center and exposing the relatively vulnerable nylon on the sides to wear. There were some holes and fraying in the fabric by the end of the test.  Wrapping the leather farther around the sides of the fingers would have helped to mitigate this problem.

Waterproofing: Adequate
A nice fitting and pleasant feeling polyester lining rounded out the features. The lining was smooth and stayed put in the glove when putting them on and taking them off with wet hands.  We didn’t test the handwarmer packet pocket, but there wasn’t any leakage there – or anywhere else – during the test or when the gloves were immersed in water.