FIVE + FIVE fiery fingers

Winter is definitely upon us and if you are over that numb feeling from your wrists down, when it’s time to grab that clutch or break lever, or it takes half an hour to defrost your fingertips after a ride, then these gloves are definitely worth a look.

A little background about the FIVE Brand… they make motorcycle gloves! That’s all they do and they are very passionate about it. In my personal collection of gloves, for various seasons and riding genres, all are FIVE branded, except one. I’d only noticed that, after purchasing these heated gloves last winter, from Richardson’s Harley Davidson, while in Tasmania… the land of the frozen.

Any product that can withstand the cold there is worth its weight in gold. Riding one morning in -4° C not only could I move my hands easily, but I could also feel my fingertips… my toes however, no and when I got off the bike after 1½ hours, I nearly face-planted when I tried to walk; my toes and top half of my feet were completely numb. Will have to work on the bottom half by next winter.

When I choose any motorcycle product, I go by purpose, safety, comfort/feel/fit, appearance at the very bottom of my list… so when I try on gloves, I’ll look in the section for purpose, check the quality of protection it offers and how well they are made… how well they fit, including to the end of my fingers, the opening and closing of my hands and lastly, appearance. If there is a choice of colours, great, if not and they are the best, for me, then I buy them. I always take them out to my bike, pre purchase to see how they reach out for the clutch and brake levers… is there smooth action and room to move between handgrips and levers?

Far from being a brand person, for anything I buy, but over the years, not surprisingly, FIVE is the glove winner for me. They have terrific styles for women, so a greater chance of finding gloves to fit the daintiest of hands. I have large hands for a lady and although these HG1 gloves are generic sizing, they fit to the length of my fingers and hand width perfectly. FIVE does make a women’s version of a heated glove model, HG3, however this is more suited to commuting, rather than lengthy road trippin’ so I have not reviewed them yet.

The HG1 WP Heated Glove, especially for those long-distance rides, won me over, as they ticked all the important boxes. Even with the soft, furry lining and the slimline battery, that’s slips easily into a pocket at the wrist, they look rather stylish, which for a serious winter glove, is not that common. I did try another very comparable brand and it was a close call, but what tipped the scales for FIVE was the better movement of my fingers with them on, when I sat on the bike and went through the motions of clutch and brake over a period of a few minutes.

Get a load of this soft furry lining…

There’s been such a great improvement over the years with the options in the protective, heated, motorcycle gear category. I have a Venture 12V heated jacket insert, which I purchased prior to these gloves, also reviewed in this edition, but chose to go battery instead of extending the 12V to the gloves, purely as a personal choice. One less thing to unplug and the quality of the HG1 FIVE gloves, the weatherproof, general overall comfort and warmth of them, without heat turned on, is superior to any of the other gloves I’ve tried, which means if you run out of battery power, you still have a great benchmark warmth with just the glove.

There are three heat levels and apart from the -4° C ride, I’ve only needed to use the 1^st and 2^nd levels. The amount of time, the batteries last, depend on the heat settings you use. As I do regular, lengthy road trips, I purchased an extra set of batteries in case I needed to continually use the high setting, for an all-day ride. The levels are different colours so you can easily see what power you’re using and super easy to push to change:

• Blue, the lowest heat setting gives you about four hours at 45° C
• White about two and a half to three hours at 55° C
• Red at about 60° C for about two hours

Charging time is super quick, so stopping for a decent lunch break would have the batteries recharged, if required.

As someone who is terribly geographically challenged and too old-school-stubborn to put Bluetooth into my helmet, I use written directions in a plastic sleeve, attached on my handlebars. Then, if I need finer details, like inner-city kind of directions, I will attach my phone to the bars… so having the Touch Screen™ on the index finger is an absolute godsend, coz who wants to remove a glove in sub-zero conditions to fart-arse about with Google Maps on some random roadside.

They’re superior at keeping the rain out and the reflectors an added bonus, if caught out at night. I’ve found opening the top zip makes for easier pulling over jacket sleeves, then it feels nice and snug when they’re zipped up.

The only downside is the tag that you’re meant to use, to pull the glove on, it’s too small to grab with a gloved hand. It’s not recommended to use the top of the glove to pull it on as there is element wiring, that can be damaged with rough handling. Adjusting your technique to get that second glove on is all that’s required… I’ve attached an extra length of grip onto the one glove I put on last, does the trick sweet as.

This little tag a bit fiddly when other glove on, but an easy fix

This is a premium product and into my second winter, they still look like new… reckon I’ll definitely get my money’s worth out of these. Take a look at the YouTube video and see for yourself the quality features of this terrific must-have winter riding accessory.

Specifications:

• Mixed Stretch Cordura™ and full-grain goatskin construction (upper) / Full-grain goatskin for suppleness (palm).
• PU metacarpal-phalangeal protective shells under leather.
• Hypothenar protective shell (palm slider) in TPR.
• Heating through a separate battery, knob with three levels of heat.
• Weatherproof Hipora® internal membrane.
• Bemberg™ internal comfort lining.
• Thinsulate™ thermal insulation.
• Digital Pittards® leather palm reinforcement for optimal grip.
• Dual closure system with a Velcro tab and waterproof zipper.
• ClearVision pad to wipe off the helmet’s visor while you ride, on the left-hand side only.
• Reflective strips for improved nighttime visibility.
• Over Size Cuff System™ sleeve.
• Touch Screen™ system (on index finger) for handling Touch Screens with glove on.

Definitely a winner this product… 5 STARS ♥

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