Not surprising, but these weren’t the most impressive gloves of those we tested. The liner is quite soft but can get very hot; it does not wick moisture but instead seems to trap it in the glove. The cinch strap on the back of the wrist and at the bottom of the cuff worked very well to keep the mittens strapped onto our hands during testing; this helped with the slightly off-fit of the mitten. The “leash” worked fine; it is not as secure as we would like it to be but it did the job. For $20 mittens off of Amazon, they were warm and comfortable, but just lacked the performance that we have found in other mittens on the test. This would be an excellent mitten for a recreational skier who has a tendency to lose mittens or for your teenager who also loses mitts all the time.

Compare to Similar Products

See Our Best Winter Ski Mitten Review 2021 Article HERE!

When a pair of $20 mittens claim to be waterproof… I’m cautious. On first inspection of the mitten, they seem well constructed and really soft on the interior. All of the tabs and pulls for fitting the mitten are present and functioning, so out of the bag it was so far so good. I also love the titles on the Amazon item lists. The title becomes the description, obviously as a method to generate the greatest chance of appearing on vague searches. So without further adieu here is the “Winter Snow & Ski Mittens with Wrist Leashes – Mitts Designed for Skiing, Snowboarding, Shoveling – Waterproof Nylon Shell, Thermal Insulation & Synthetic Leather Palm – Fits Men & Women” Review. Say that five times fast. These will hereby be referred to as the Amazon Mittens.

Material

As mentioned on the Amazon listing, the mittens are made of nylon with a Faux Leather, so you can feel fancy. The faux leather covers the palm, inside of the thumb and wraps over the top of the fingers. We haven’t had enough time to give them a full durability test, but after the first day of riding there were already stitches fraying on the left thumb. It doesn’t seem major, but certainly worth mentioning.

Inside of the Amazon Mitten is a soft tricot fabric that goes right down to the bottom of the cuff. It’s soft on the hand and works well all day at keeping your hand warm. The liner is not removable, so if it were to get wet the mittens would struggle to dry quickly, but none of the mittens in the test have removable liners. The liner is also not secured to the shell of the mitten. At the end of a short ride, my hands had become hot and sweaty and there was really no moisture transfer throughout the mitten, so there was clamminess inside the mitten. Upon removing the mitten at the end of the day, my moist hands stuck to the liner and pulled most of it out of the shell. From there it was pretty tricky to get everything lined up again inside the mitten.

Insulation

The information on the Amazon item description makes a Games of Thrones reference, so you know they know what winter is, and that it may or may not be on its way. To defend against the eternal winter brought from the North, the Amazon Mittens use SummitLoft insulation. It covers the hand well and isn’t too bulky. There does seem to be a zone right at the top of the fingers where the liner is stitched together and is lacking in the insulation department, and you can feel the cold sneaking into that area of the mitten. The Amazon Mittens are not the warmest in the test; they are slightly warmer than the Kinco Mitts mainly because the cotton backing of the Kincos lets a lot of wind into the mitten and heat out of the mitten. Near the top of my local mountain they were warm enough while riding the chair, but near our midstation they got quite warm. If you’re in a moderate climate winter area they would suit those temperatures well, but if your local area is quite cold, I would look for something warmer.

Dexterity and Fit

Accessories

Each of the Amazon Mittens have a “wrist leash,” which is an elastic loop that comes out from the bottom of the cuff. There is no adjustment on the leash and it is quite large, so I never fully trusted them on the hill. Along the back of the wrist is a softer section that could be used as a nose wipe in dire situations. Basically, they have all of the same accessories as the Outdoor Research Carbide Sensor Mitts, just executed a little less effectively.

The Bottom Line

For a “mass market” mitten, they are not as bad as expected. With a $20 price tag, it does help to know that if they go missing it isn’t a huge loss. The durability is a little questionable. The synthetic leather palm seems sturdy, but the stitching is lacking. Although I keep bringing attention to the price, I feel it’s important to note that you are only paying $20 for a warm, soft mitten that simply is not manufactured as well as the Black Diamond or Outdoor Research mittens we tested. The accessories are fine; the wrist strap did its job when we took the mittens off to check our phones, and the cinches are both excellent.

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