Last autumn I was looking for a new pair of winter gloves; my first pair of winter gloves from Fieldsheer were showing some wear and were not the most compatible with heated grips. After doing some online research, I decided to order the Scorpion Tempest Gloves. These are my observations from riding in them over the last year.
Fit and Finish
The materials and build quality of these gloves compete in a class above their $80 price point. They are mostly made from a stretch textile fabric but have goat leather palms and an extra layer of goat leather covering the seam on the pinky side of each hand where the textile and leather meet. The double cuff is a feature that not many gloves incorporate, and those that do are usually well over $100. When new, they had no loose threads, all seams were cleanly stitched and the gloves were fairly snug. The fit on these gloves is what Revzilla describes as an European fit, which jives with my experiences trying on Alpinestars as well. A large fits me well, but I am usually a Medium in other gloves. The finger fit is a small nitpick of mine with these gloves, with all winter gloves I expect there to be a little bit of space between the inside and outside at the tips to allow for insulation. However, the space on these seems a little excessive; all of the tips have at least a half inch, some nearing an inch. This is not just short fingers either, my fingertips are at the end of the liner. Speaking of liners, you can feel the layers move separately from each other at times. Even with the movement, the liners are very secure; I have not experienced the inner liner pull out when removing the gloves if they’re a little sweaty like some other gloves, including my Fieldsheers.
Protection and Durability
These gloves are not short on protection; they have a hard knuckle, the aforementioned outseam protection, and additional padding at the base of the palms. Additionally, they have reflective piping at the wrist and first three fingers; additional visibility never hurts.
Durability on these gloves has been great as well, I’ve put them through several thousand miles of wear and one crash; these are still my go to gloves below 50°f. They wear so far is minimal, a few scuffs from the crash, a few loose thread ends, and the silicone grip areas on the palms and fingertips show some wear. I have also had to perform one repair, the seam of the lining on the outer cuff of one glove came unstitched and required a few stitches to close back up. This was neither a seam in the waterproof membrane, nor is it a seam that would need to be strong in the event of a crash but it is stressed when putting the gloves on. Overall I’m very happy with how these gloves have held up and I think they’ve raised my expectations for any future purchases at or above this price.
Warmth and Function
Scorpion designed these gloves with heated grips in mind, there is no insulation in the palms, just on the back of the hands. I’m thinking their temperature range for me would at best be 40-60°f if I did not have heated grips. With the heated grips I’ve ridden as low as 30°f without much discomfort. Below 30°f I pair them up with some thin merino wool glove liners and they’re ok into the 20’s. I should also mention I do not suffer from cold hands, as other riders may. They have proven to be completely sufficient for the average Maryland winter.
Waterproofing is excellent, the double cuff and Hypora membrane have yet to fail on me, even in torrential rain. Breathability is good, but not great, I have had sweaty hands a few times in these gloves. The squeegees on the index fingers work well but I do occasionally feel them on my levers, which can be weird.
There is only one thing with these gloves that I would highly consider as a possible dealbreaker, is also one of it’s strongest selling points – the double cuff. These things are a real pain in the ass to put on and there are days where I have worn different gloves, and probably been less comfortable just because I didn’t want to deal with them. I’ve found the best way to put them on is to flip the outer cuff up, put a glove most of the way on, tuck the inner cuff into your jacket and secure your jacket sleeve as tightly as comfortable, then flip the outer cuff down over your jacket sleeve as you pull the glove the rest of the way on. Then you can tighten down the glove velcro. Repeat with the other hand, but add 30% difficulty because of the roomy fingertips. This order of operations means that these are not quick gloves to pull on, you can either end up with cold hands or pretty sweaty while trying to put them on. Once they’re on, they are warm and dry.
After the past year, I’ve come to the conclusion that these are excellent gloves for the money. I won’t be replacing them unless they are severely damaged or begin to leak. If you are considering these gloves I would highly recommend putting some thought into if the double cuff is for you or not. If you can live with it, they are supremely waterproof.
Maryland Moto 