Dainese Funes GTX gloves in black

The Dainese Funes is more than just a winter glove that will keep your hands warm. It is supremely comfortable, it comes with lots of bells and whistles and, to top it all, it's a Gore-Tex laminated glove, so you're not going to get wet in them.

 

Now the best construction for a glove that is intended to be used in the wet is to have a textile back, with a leather palm.

 

You always want a leather palm for feel on the bars and for abrasion resistance if you go sliding down the road. But you want a textile back, because it will absorb less rain if you're riding in the wet.

 

Well that's what you get with the Funes. The back of the glove is made from some kind of 4-way stretch material. And it's this that contributes to the gloves exceptional comfort. Concertina stretch banding in the fingers and on the cuff also play their part in this regard.

 

The palm is actually not real leather, but rather a synthetic suede. But this is then supplemented with areas of goatskin. There's some at the base of the fingers for added grip on the bars. There's leather along the inside of the thumb. There's more leather that runs down the outside of the hand. And there's leather at the ends of the fingers.

 

For protection there's a foam-backed, hard knuckle protector. There are then smaller pads on the minor knuckles. You get a soft pad as a scaphoid protector and a gel-filled palm slider. From a protection perspective, the Funes wants for little.

 

Now the two inextricably linked and indispensable elements in a winter glove are a waterproof membrane and an amount of insulation.

 

The membrane does two things. All the time you've got the gloves on the membrane will serve to keep your hands warmer, because it will lessen the effects of the wind chill. A membrane will also act as an isulator. Obviously, when it rains a membrane will also keep your hands dry. And in cold weather that's crucial, because we lose heat 20 times faster through a wet environment than through a dry one.

 

Well the good news here is that the waterproof membrane on the Funes comes courtesy of Gore. Now Gore's Gore-Tex membranes are the best, with the highest waterproofing and breathability scores. Which means your hands will stay dryer in the wet and be less sweaty in the heat. But crucially, what having a product with a Gore-Tex membrane means is that the waterproofing is guaranteed for life. If the membrane fails, Gore will send you a new pair. The proposition is that simple. And it's a promise that isn't reneged on. 

 

Furthermore, the membrane in the Funes is a 'Gore grip' membrane, meaning that it is laminated to the inside of the glove. Now this can have a slightly negative effect on comfort, but the trade off is a glove that won't ever 'wet out'.

 

All this is high-tech stuff, but it doesn't end there. And that's because the Funes also incorporates the highest level insulation. The insulation material is Primaloft's top Primaloft Gold. But the insulation in the Funes is also what is known as 'Cross Core', and what that means is that the Primaloft is fused with other fibres; in this case something known as Aerogel that was developed by NASA. Aerogel is the lightest, solid material known to man, and one of the world's most efficient insulators.

 

Bottom line? This should be a very warm glove.

 

Truth be told everything else is just detail. 

 

The index fingers are touchscreen sensitive. The thumbs aren't.

 

You get a visor wiper on the left hand.

 

There's a Velcro strap to secure the glove at the wrist. There's then a broad flap to close the cuff. This also relies on Velcro to secure it in place, but what's nice is that there's lots of stretch in this flap. It will enable you to cinch the cuff down to allow it to be worn inside the sleeve of a textile jacket. But on dry days the flap's adjustability means that the glove's cuff could also be worn over a jacket's sleeve. 

 

Lastly, you get some reflective inserts for better nighttime visibility.