Truck M1 Glove

Truck M1 Glove

Price: $29.95

Features:

• Water-Resistant Goat Leather
• Anti-Wicking Continuous Filament Nylon Thread
• 250 g Polar Fleece
• Breathable 4-Way Stretch Nylon
• 40 g Polyfil on Back of Hand
• Reinforced Palm and Thumb
• Touchscreen-Compatible Pinky
• Suede Nose Wipe

Days Worn: 30+

Test Locations: Canterbury, NZ; Arapahoe Basin, Vail, and Breckenridge, CO; Colorado Backcountry

Intro

Inexpensive, leather work gloves have long been a staple of skiers and ski patrollers everywhere. And Truck, a company based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, aimed to create an even better affordable glove last year when they introduced the M1 and M2 gloves. The M1 glove is the everyday workhorse from their lineup, and at $29.95, has a price tag that won’t make you wince.

Fit

Like Hestra gloves, Truck uses a numerical system for sizing, and the size 8 M1 fits, well, like a glove. (FWIW, I’m also a size 8 in Hestra gloves.)

The Truck M1 has shorter fingers than POW gloves (e.g., the POW Stealth, Tantos, and Zero), and the M1 actually fits my fingers better.

The space inside the hand of the M1 is definitely roomier than those POW gloves, too. On colder days, I can easily pull my fingers out of the M1 and curl them into the palm of my hand to keep them warmer on the lift. Using this technique is far easier with the M1 than any other glove I’ve owned.

This roomier fit across the palm has two benefits: (1) your hands sweat less when working hard (e.g., skinning or bootpacking, and (2) a less-insulated glove is generally more dexterous. And on the coldest of days, the roominess of the M1 also allows for thick glove liners to be used. In comparison, trying to add a liner to my POW Tanto and Stealth gloves is nearly impossible, although those gloves are warmer than the M1 to begin with.

Finally, with its knit cuff and the size of the wrist opening, the M1 is extremely easy and quick to put on and take off. I’ve come to much prefer this over the velcro cuffs of other gloves I’ve owned, because the knit cuff is both easier to use and more durable. Furthermore, I’ve taken several violent crashes this winter while wearing the M1, and I haven’t lost one yet.

Dexterity

The goatskin leather of the M1 is incredibly soft and supple, and the 4-way stretch nylon across the back of the knuckles and at the wrist allow for an incredible feel. Hestra gloves like the Vertical Cut Freeride are known as being quite dexterous, and the same can also be said about the Truck M1 glove. Bravo! And I’ve found the M1 to be a huge step above other simple leather work gloves (like the omnipresent Kincos) in terms of dexterity. Tasks such as manipulating the smallest of zipper pulls or putting a thin buff up over your face are relatively easy to perform. As mentioned earlier, the POW Tanto and Stealth gloves have longer fingers, which might be a good fit for you, but definitely impairs dexterity for me.

Warmth (Truck M1 and the Truck M2 glove)

The Truck M1 glove is minimally insulated, yet I’ve been able to wear it through the duration of a Colorado winter. While I certainly would have appreciated a warmer glove (like the POW Tanto) on a few days this winter when it’s been below 0° F, I’ve been able to make do with the M1’s fleece and polyfill insulation by using the make-a-fist technique on the lift.

To up the warmth of the M1 on those colder days, I recently picked up the Burton Powerstretch liner, and it works really well. When adding the liner, I can comfortably wear the M1 in temperatures that are 15 degrees colder — somewhere down around 10° F.

On the flip side, the M1 has been my go-to glove when bootpacking and skinning, and only on a couple of days this winter have I needed to remove my gloves on the skintrack. As we’ve moved deeper into spring this changed, but the M1’s overall versatility is pretty impressive.

And if the M1 glove isn’t warm enough for you and an aftermarket liner doesn’t cut it? You’re in luck — Truck also makes the M2, which is a gauntlet glove that has a level of insulation that’s comparable to the warmest gloves on the market.

One small suggestion / request: it would be cool to see Truck eventually offer an non-gauntlet version of the M2. Not everyone needs or wants a gauntlet, and non-gauntlet gloves are more packable.

Weatherproofing

We’ve had some unseasonably warm storms this winter, and on the really wet days, the M1 glove has not fared that well since it doesn’t have a waterproof insert. When performing tasks in wet snow (e.g., applying climbing skins to skis, digging pits, etc.) the M1’s insulation has eventually gotten damp toward the end of the day, leading to cold hands — though applying some waterproofing wax will have likely helped the cause. Conversely, I haven’t had this problem with the POW Tanto glove which has a waterproof insert. Ideally, there’d be a version of the M1 glove with the same waterproof insert as the Truck M2, but with less insulation than the M2. Such a glove would also do well on colder, stormier days, where high winds have cut through the M1 when shouldering skis on a bootpack.

Having said all that, the lack of a weather-proof insert allows the M1 to breathe at a level that has been much appreciated when working hard on a bootpack or skintrack. When the M1 leather wets out with snow and temperatures drop, it becomes stiff. All leather gloves I’ve owned have done this, but it’s worth a mention.

Durability

While 30 days in a pair of gloves isn’t all that much, the M1 has held up well so far, with no stray threads, cuts, or blowouts. And the supple leather seems to be holding up well, too. The M1’s insulation has packed out some, but I’ve experienced that in every glove I’ve ever owned. In contrast, I’ve had durability issues with all of the POW gloves that I’ve owned — either with the velcro wrist cuff failing, or the gloves blowing out in the fingers ( after just one season). I look forward to seeing how well the M1 holds up into the next season.

Bottom Line

Truck has created a versatile and stylish leather work glove that is almost as functional and dexterous as other options on the market that are much higher in price. While some will want a warmer glove, the M1 has enough space inside to allow for a liner to boost its temperature range. Having a waterproof glove might be a necessity on some days, but I’d still pick the M1 glove for the majority of my ski days in the relatively dry Rocky mountains, whether in the resort or in the backcountry, all at a killer price of 30 bucks.