Winters in Oregon are crazy. One day it'll be ok outside...and the next, you'll wonder if we're experiencing another ice age. I finally decided to stop buying cheap cotton mittens [that never kept my hands warm] and searched for a good pair of gloves that was going to get the job done. These Extreme Winter gloves by Heritage seemed to fit the bill, so I checked the company's size chart and ordered a pair.

Despite measuring my hand just as the directions for the size chart showed, the size 8 was way too big for me. The pinky finger was at least an inch too long, and there was still some room in the tips of the other fingers. And when I'd go to adjust my coat or grab something, I couldn't do it. There was just too much "nothing" in my grip that prevented me from doing more than moving or shoving things out of the way. The thing was, even though I went by the size chart, my hands -are- on the small side. I've been told I have "piano player" hands over the years, and I guess pianists don't do much outside in the winter. I went ahead and ordered a size 7, even with the worry of the gloves being too small or tight.

Nope! These ones fit almost perfectly. The pinky still has a tiny bit of room at the end, but everything feels terrific on the inside. These gloves are a bit stiff right when you get them, so wear and use them a lot before they're really needed for any kind of work. The wrist portion is just as snug as the size 8, and there's a little bit of room to tuck your sleeves into it if needed.

And yet, as much of an improvement the smaller size was, I was still having the same issues with being able to grab anything that wasn't big. I can't pull my iPod out of the breast pocket of my Carhartt jacket, and zipping it up isn't any easier. When I'm on the go, I always have to take one glove off in order to do these easy things! The fingers are just too bulky. Yes, I get that these are riding gloves, and therefore need to have some extra protection, but good god, I think the only thing you CAN use these for is riding- holding onto something and nothing else. I also noticed that if your hands aren't warm as soon as you put them on, it takes a while before they start to warm up. For example, it was 35 degrees out the other day, and I put the gloves on as soon as I got outside. It's an hour long walk to where I needed to go, and it took about 25 minutes before my hands got warm.

They're not horrible, but I'm definitely going to look around for something better.

Edit: I DID find something better!&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Head-Men-leather-race-black-gloves-DuPont-ComforMax-Classic/dp/B007S7BA7U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Head Men leather race black gloves DuPont ComforMax Classic</a>&nbsp;is all you need!