Halvarssons ladies Flon WP gloves in black

There has been a non-waterproof version of the Halvarssons Flon glove for some years. It's a nice glove and, for us, it sold quite well.

 

It was an all-leather glove, and quite aggressive in its styling. And although it didn't have a membrane, so in our terms was a pure, summer glove, it was never a high-airflow glove either. It wasn't the kind of glove that you wanted to be wearing on the Spanish plains or in the south of France. But with its all-leather chassis and prominent, knuckle protector it looked very protective; and I suppose it was. 

 

I think a lot of people saw the Flon as a cut-price, slightly more comfortable, Brian Sansom Police glove. And I can see that.

 

But now we have the Halvarssons Flon WP which, not unsurprisingly is a Flon glove with a membrane! With larger areas of textile, some Outlast and a plusher lining it has somewhat softened the Flon.

 

It's not so 'in yer face'. In fact, the glove has been transformed. It's now a glove that anybody would be happy to wear. It's just as protective, but with a waterproof membrane and Outlast it's going to be a much warmer glove, even though it's in no way a winter glove. It is more comfortable, it is more pliable; it's just going to be easier to live with. And it will be easier to live with through a far wider array of conditions than its predecessor.

 

The old Flon was all leather. And so whilst over time the glove would have become more comfortable, it never was right out of the bag, so to speak. The new, waterproof version has a leather palm with a textile back. It's instantly nicer to wear, even though a membrane has been added.

 

To further aid comfort you get a large panel of concertina stretch beneath and behind the knuckle protector. You also get concertina banding on all four fingers and the thumb. To the same end, the glove has what is known as an 'open back' construction. And what this means is that as you wrap your hands around the bars you don't feel restricted by the large, knuckle protector. Halvarssons uses this construction on a lot of its gloves and it works. You also get elasticated cut outs in the fingers to further aid articulation.

 

Bottom line here? Halvarssons Flon Waterproof is a comfortable glove.

 

As for protection you get the same, prominent, knuckle protector. You get rubber bumpers on the minor knuckles. There are foam pads beneath the extra layer of leather that runs down the outside of the hand. On the palm you get a large, full-fat, SuperFabric slider.

 

The palm itself is goatskin, and we like goatskin; it's thinner and more supple than cow hide, but for its thickness it's stronger. The leather runs all the way down the side of the hand and along the upper part of the thumb. The yellow leather on the palm is to shield the hand from vibrations through the bars. Often a panel of digi-leather is used on gloves to increase grip, but that isn't really what's going on here, in my view.

 

The membrane in the Flon Waterproof is Halvarssons' own Dryway membrane. We know it well; it does what it's meant to do, and it's reliable. But the membrane is not laminated. Now this raises the spectre of some wetting out after, say, three hours in heavy rain. The truth, though, is that very few of us do experience heavy rain for that long. And even if the glove does wet out. You won't get wet. It might just take the glove a little longer to dry out.

 

But the upside of a drop-liner glove is greater comfort and greater warmth.

 

The glove also come with an Outlast lining. Now Outlast is a temperature regulating membrane. It's clever stuff, but operates in the margins a little. It doesn't cause a huge change in temperature, but Outlast will make you feel a little warmer in the cold, and a little cooler in the heat.

 

But what Outlast does make for is a glove that works well with heated grips. As the heat from the grips is absorbed by the palm, the membrane passes the heat round to the back of the hand. The Outlast doesn't make the Flon in any way a winter glove. It's still a summer-waterproof one, but you might well be able to ride it deeper into the autumn than you would normally be able to with a standard, summer-waterproof glove.

 

In truth, there's not much else to say. You get an elasticated, Velcro  strap at the wrist and a Velcro flap at the cuff. You get NUDUD's excellent, touchscreen sensitive technology on the right-hand forefinger.

 

The one thing you don't get is a visor wiper, and we don't really know why. It seems like a bit of an omission.

 

Visor wiper aside, the Flon really does have everything you're going to need in a waterproof glove.

 

And at just £129. 99 it's pretty good value too.