Arc'teryx Fission SV Glove Review

Warm, comfortable, and dexterous, this lightweight glove has a breathable construction that offers warmth all day long. Whether you're skiing at the resort, hiking for lines in the backcountry, or doing virtually any other winter activity, this glove has it all. However, you'll have to be able to justify the price and make sure the fit works for you.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

Rated for “severe weather,” the Fission SV is Arc'teryx's warmest glove in their line. Built for skiing and snowboarding in cold Canadian winters, this glove's warmth comes in the form of high-quality insulation that has the ability to breathe and vent. We have tested it down to zero degrees Fahrenheit, where it fared just fine. Ladies who run a little bit cold might want to add an additional thin glove to use as a liner for a little extra insulation. It's not built for winter in the Arctic Circle but rather for active warmth while you're adventuring in the winter wonderland.

We made sure we tested this glove in a wide variety of situations, including backcountry skiing, shoveling snow, and riding chairlifts at our favorite resorts. On the coldest day of testing in the high altitudes of Colorado, temps dropped down to about zero degrees Fahrenheit. One of the first things you'll notice about this glove is its super lush liner. The material in the liner is quite breathable and loaded with insulation, making it feel a lot like a down-filled glove. When flipping it inside out, we noticed that the interior palm of the glove is fleece-lined to help wick away sweat. This feature is huge as damp, sweaty hands can lead to cold hands when standing still.

Sometimes, though, there is a little too much warmth, especially if you're producing a lot of body heat through movement. “While hiking uphill on a warm-ish winter day, I immediately had to take this glove off,” noted one member of our test team. It is much warmer than the previous version of the Fission glove. That said, we are impressed with its wicking ability, which exceeds that of other gloves, and even more impressed that the material offers sufficient breathability right through the thickness of the fabric. Loaded with 200 grams of PrimaLoft Silver insulation and 133 grams of PrimaLoft Gold, it offers plenty of warmth for its surprisingly lightweight design.

If you're a lady that runs warm and needs a glove that both breathes and offers great warmth, this is our top recommendation. For the vast majority of North America, this glove is suitable for skiing at resorts or in the backcountry. Despite having a poor fit, our main tester still recognized the advantages of this glove, saying, “I wish this one fit me better because it's clear that it's very warm, protective, and high quality.”

Water Resistance

Built with a waterproof exterior, this glove is incredibly water—and weather-resistant. It absorbed only a tiny bit of water during our submersion tests and offered exceptional performance while skiing in wet weather.

The exterior shell (the colored part) is made from a material that Arc'teryx has dubbed Fortius 1.0. This is a 160 g/cubic meter of Nylon (84%) and elastane (16%) that stretches and protects. The exterior is treated with a DWR treatment, which promotes the beading of water upon contact. However, this type of treatment often wears off after extensive use, and given that nylon is absorptive, we imagine the material may be prone to saturation without additional treatment. Luckily, Arc'teryx's products tend to bead water longer than many other brands, but an at-home DWR treatment at the beginning of each season isn't a terrible idea.

The palm and high abrasion areas are built with a pliable double layer of goat leather that offers great weather protection. During our water tests, we submerged the glove and squeezed our hand 100 times, trying to agitate the glove to see if water leaked at the seams. After this test, the water was absorbed a little bit into the nylon material but never penetrated the liner. In fact, it only absorbed about 2.2 oz of water in this test, showing its ability to resist water.

We further validated this observation when we took the gloves outside. When shoveling snow, skiing, and doing chores around our house, they protected our hands, keeping them dry and warm. If you live in wet climates or need a glove that is very water-resistant, we'd recommend the Fission SV. Just be sure to regularly treat the leather and reapply the DWR treatment to retain performance.

Dexterity

The Fission SV's performance in this metric is truly a class of its own. This glove is extremely dexterous! We were able to zip up zippers, unclip boots, put skins on, take them off, and all the rest (that is, if they fit). We attribute this mainly to its thinner design that strategically places the lofty yet compressive insulation in specific parts of the glove. The digits don't feel over-stuffed, giving the fingers a huge range of motion and mobility. If you need a glove that you won't have to take off while digging snowpits, making transitions in the backcountry, or adjusting your helmet, this is one of our favorites. It would function well as a belay glove while climbing as well.

As a unisex glove, it's not built specifically for women's hands, and the fit of a glove can affect dexterity significantly. If you simply need to grasp your ski pole, adjust your helmet, or put your boots on, then it's not a big deal if the sizing of the glove isn't perfect, and this still might be an easy choice to make. Just be sure to expect that the fingers of the gloves are longer and have a wider profile around the width of the hand. If you need to perform more delicate tasks, like pulling your keys out of your pocket, the extra bulk may be a problem. Make sure to consult the sizing chart on Arc'teryx's website before buying these gloves. If anything, be sure to measure your hand and possibly size down to ensure the proper fit and, thus, the dexterity that you need. Our lead tester lamented the lack of inclusive sizing, “I'd love to see these in a women's specific version, or at least smaller sizes in the coming years. I couldn't perform many field tests because they were far too large. I had 10 women try them on, and only two of them found a good fit in the smallest size available.”

Construction Quality

After extensive testing both at the resort and in the backcountry, we can say the Fission SV has impressed us with its durability, quality construction, and materials. Just like the previous version, we've found the latest version of these gloves to be bomber.

Looking at the craftsmanship alone, these gloves are absolutely beautiful. The shell is constructed of materials that look quite durable and have flawless seam construction. The glove is constructed with Kevlar seams throughout the palm and in high-wear areas. The location between the thumb and pointer finger (where you'd hold a ski pole) offers reinforced materials that add an extra layer of protection in this high-abrasion zone.

After some heavy use, the materials still look new, and the interior insulation hasn't packed down. In fact, PrimaLoft is a highly durable synthetic insulation, with the Gold and Silver offering some of the best durability on the market. We imagine that the warmth of this material will last.

Features

This glove is fairly streamlined yet has all the bells and whistles you'd want for resort skiing.

It has a single-glove construction, meaning that you can't remove the liner, but there is enough room inside the glove to add a thinner liner if you'd like a little extra insulation. It comes with a carabiner loop on the finger, meaning you can clip it to a harness, making it an excellent belay glove option. If you prefer hanging out at crystallized water walls in the winter, these gloves would also work very well for ice climbing.

We also appreciate the one-pull cinches around the medium-length gauntlet cuff and the simple and removable leashes that any resort skier can appreciate when they save you from dropping your gloves off the chairlift. These gloves are not smartphone-adapted, so be prepared to take off your gloves if you need to text on the chair. They are also unisex in sizing, so you can share them with your partner if you have the same size hands! Score? Maybe not.

Should You Buy the Arc'teryx Fission SV Glove?

It's not too much of a surprise that this high-performing glove is also quite expensive. These have been a longstanding favorite for their impressive combination of warmth, breathability, and dexterity, making them a top-scoring glove in both our men's and women's reviews. With excellent craftsmanship, we suspect this glove will last you for many years when treated with care and occasional maintenance, helping to justify the high price tag. If you have small or even average female-sized hands, it's likely that the fit won't work for you, even if you go with an extra small, so consider ordering from a retailer with a good return policy or trying the gloves on in-store before buying.

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