Five HG Prime Heated Glove
It has been wickedly cold down here in Victoria this year at times. Many days I’ve stepped out the door for the morning commute to be greeted by temperatures either near, at, or below zero. Even with heated grips, those temps can get old after 30 or 40 minutes on the highway. When I’m testing bikes that don’t have heated grips, it gets painful pretty quickly.
So when I noticed that Five did a heated glove or two, I had to give them a crack. I’ve come to be a big fan of their gloves and have several pairs. In particular I rate my favourite TFX2 waterproof Adventure gloves really highly, and also wear an older GT3 (now called TFX3 I believe), in the heat when out getting rowdy off-road too. They are my go-to adventure gloves.
As a rule I tend to prefer thinner gloves that give me maximum lever and instrument control where possible (like the TFX2). But when you’re doing big kays at near freezing temp, you need to do whatever you can to keep those pinkys from going numb. Trivia time, wind chill at 0 degrees celsius while travelling at 100 kmh puts the effective temp at -11 C. And it doesn’t take that long at those temps for extremities to lose feeling and control.
So what are they like? Excellent quality. Great material and build quality as I’ve come to expect. These jiggers are Goretex and have the expected waterproofing that comes with that material. I’ve spent almost an hour in solid heavy rain in these with zero sign of any water absorbing through. The joy of arriving with warm dry hands after an hour or two in the cold and rain can’t be understated.
They’re really well padded. The further into the glove, the more padding there is. So by the time you slide your fingers into place they’re more than well cosseted. Which if you’re not used to really padded gloves, as I am not, will take a bit of time to get used to, but you do. It’s a trade off you have to pay for keeping warm I’m afraid.
The heat element itself runs across the top of the hand and down the top of each finger – basically the areas that are going to be exposed to the elements the most. Which also means that when you are on a bike that does have heated grips, your hand can be warmed from both sides… luxury!
The gloves are controlled by a simple push and hold of a button on the right glove, with three heat settings adjusted by simple presses of the same button. LEDs on both gloves go green when on and are used to indicate how much battery you have left, with another row of LEDs on the left glove indicating what heat setting you’re on. Red being high, white medium and blue low.
I found myself getting around four hours worth of heating from the battery using the medium level and more than six hours just using low. Cranking them right up to high for a few minutes when I first put them on and then turning them back down seemed to work well, and keep the heat in while extending battery range. They do also have a connection kit you can attach to the bike for longer rides or when you need to recharge on the go. That’ll set you back 80 bucks.
Speaking of the batteries, each glove has a small zip to access the battery pocket located on the inside of the palm side of the glove. Open that zip and you’ll find a plug ready to slip into the charge cable, so charging is a simple affair and doesn’t take long – although I found myself just plugging them in and unplugging the next morning.
They aren’t cheap, but both the quality and functionality are reflected in that price of nigh on 500 dollars they’re going for. Entirely justifiable. I’ve found myself wearing them even when its cold, but not so cold that I need the heat from them.
So, do I recommend them? Hell yes. Another win from the team at Five. I liked them so much that I’ve also bought myself a pair of both their RFX3 sports gloves and X-Rider waterproof street gloves to wear this year as the weather warms up.
