Kombi always reminds me of an old ad that appeared in ski magazines during my high school years in the 90’s. The image was from the viewpoint of someone riding a chairlift looking down at a lone glove laying in the snow far below. The caption read, “there’s a broken heart behind every lost Kombi.” That magazine ad stuck with me, and I’ve been a fan of their gloves ever since. So I was thrilled when Kombi sent out the Outland glove for testing.
The Kombi Outland is a very warm glove made from stretch polyester softshell and leather, and is filled with Primaloft insulation. Plus, it has Kombi’s waterproof/breathable system to keep hands dry. The glove is also teched out with Microban’s anti-microbial protection.
I’ve been loving leather gloves for skiing lately. There’s something about the durability and flexibility of leather that’s really nice when weather gets wet. The Kombi Outland has leather in the palms for good grip on ski poles, as well as on the finger tips for added durability. Accenting the leather is black softshell material, with some sections sporting a hunter-style camo pattern. I’m not sure if that means this glove is meant for killing deer, or if it’s meant to be ironic, like hipsters wearing trucker hats. Either way, the camo made me feel like I should be skiing a landfill in Wisconsin instead of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah.
I mostly used the Outland gloves while skiing in bounds, because these suckers are really warm. I generally get frozen fingers when riding ski lifts on cold days, so the Outland gloves were a blessing. Wearing thin, wool glove liners inside also upped the hotness and kept my digits even warmer when temperatures dipped into the single digits. So for warmth, these gloves are top notch.
Other nice features include a leather pull-tab that makes putting the gloves on a lot easier (with your other gloved hand.) Plus an adjustable wrist strap locks warm air in the glove where it’s needed. I only wish that the gauntlet was larger and had a drawstring close to keep out snow. I had trouble closing the gap between jacket sleeve and glove, resulting in powder and cold air getting onto my forearm.
While I like the supple leather and softshell construction, I’m not too thrilled with Kombi’s Waterguard+ insert. When I put the glove on, I could feel the membrane sliding around in there. Also, the glove came with a warning to be careful when taking them off, because sweaty fingers will pull out the interior lining. And we all know how it’s impossible to fix an inside-out glove. I can’t help but wonder why glove companies haven’t figured out a way to correct this annoyance.
To test the Waterguard+, I wore the glove under running water. After about a minute, I could feel water leaking between the fingers of the glove. So although it took a while for water to get inside, I wouldn’t recommend wearing the Outland while recreating in wet weather. But if it’s a dry, cold day in the mountains, then the Kombi Outland glove is the ticket, especially for the reasonable price tag of just $60 MSRP.
For more, or to find a dealer, visit www.kombisports.com
Hopefully they’ll convert to OutDry for the waterproof insert so it doesn’t float around. Though, love the old school leather look.