Dakine Camino Review

An all-around well-performing glove with a stellar price tag. This earns our Best Buy Award for its low cost and good performance on the ski hill.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

This isn't the warmest glove option out there, but it's done pretty well when we tested it in temperatures that hover around freezing. It is built with 100% polyester insulation, packing in 350-grams at the back of the glove, and 150-grams in the front. It comes with a removable liner, which is essentially a very thin glove, that offers a little extra insulation when the temperatures get cold.

While Dakine claims this is one of their warmest, it lands about mid-range among the models we tested. It'll keep you warm for the majority of days on the ski hill, but is far from the warmth of several gloves and pretty much any mitten.

The lofty insulation is surely warm enough to keep you mostly toasty at the resort (assuming you've dressed appropriately), while the breathable design moves moisture from, particularly sweaty hands, out of the glove.

While it's not the warmest glove on the market, it'll keep you warm on most days in the winter, whether you're sitting on a chairlift or skinning up your favorite track, working for your turns.

Water Resistance

In our field tests, this glove did just fine in wet weather at keeping our hands nice and dry, even when hiking up mountains on our skis. While these gloves, at first glance, seem to offer great water resistance, they didn't do as well in our water tests. While the glove exterior is constructed of a Nylon shell that offers good water resistance and a leather palm, the seams at which these materials come together are not well constructed and allowed water into the glove.

Our water tests consist of putting the glove on and dunking our hand in the water, squeezing 100 times to see if any water goes through the glove. During this test, after just 15 squeezes, we felt water seeping into the seam between the Nylon shell and leather palm. While the material itself offers great weather resistance against snow and light rain, it's important to know that these seams did fail. As a result, it's not a waterproof glove.

In addition, it absorbed a whopping 8.25-grams of water, which is the most of any glove or mitt tested. By the end of the test, the liners were completely soaked. With this in mind, this test is on the extreme end of the spectrum. The information it gives us is that this glove is far less waterproof than other gloves. However, in the field, it performed just fine with the water beading on the material and wicking away the rain. While it's not the highest performer, it certainly does the job on the ski hill. It's just not our first choice to buy for super wet climates, but for dry ones like we see in Colorado, it's a great choice.

Dexterity

We are pleased with the dexterity of this glove.

It offers a thinner construction, with most of the insulative material being packed towards the back of the glove. We normally wear a size medium, and with the liner added, the glove feels a touch smaller, but without, it's just perfect.

With the included liner, dexterity goes down as it becomes a little thicker. While it doesn't offer the same gravy mobility that super high performing options offer, we are surprised that we can still do everything we need to with our gloves on. Overall, a good fit with the ability to do things like transition your skis, zip up your jacket, and buckle your boots. Consider sizing up if you're unsure about sizing and plan on using the liners.

Durability

The construction of this glove seems to be at the lower end of the spectrum, which isn't surprising given the price.

The stitching on the seams is solid, but given its performance in our water tests, there is evidence to suggest that the construction isn't as a bomber as other gloves tested. That said, the goatskin leather is a highly durable material, as is the nylon.

We haven't noticed any serious problems in our testing period, and after a couple of months' use, the warmth hasn't deteriorated either. All online reviews seem to be positive, so we suspect that the durability of this glove is about average in the glove world, but on the lower end when it comes to the best of the budget world. Be sure to treat the goatskin at least once a year, and don't be surprised with the DWR treatment wears off from the nylon over time.

Features

Not fully loaded, but the Camino has everything you need in a resort glove. It has a double-glove construction which gives you the option of using the liner that it comes with, or not. The liner itself is just a very thin glove, that we like to use for running in cold weather, and while skinning up the ski resort. It's not waterproof, nor very insulative.

The thumb comes loaded with a goggle wipe that resembles a miniature windshield wiper to get that freshy white goodness off your goggles when the winds are blowing hard.

We also appreciate the single pull gauntlet closures that articulate well with the other glove. It also has removable leashes that any resort skier or snowboarder will appreciate.

We also love that the liners are smartphone compatible! We simply took off the shells of the gloves to text and communicate without a problem. This is huge so our bare hands aren't exposed to the cold while hanging out on lifts and communicating with friends and family. More gloves would benefit from this feature.

Should You Buy the Dakine Camino?

The Dakine Camino is a versatile ski glove built for the resort that is sold at a very reasonable price. Its breathable design offers good performance and warmth through most conditions, making it suitable for other winter activities, and even backcountry skiing. The fit, with the liner in, is a little small, so be sure to size up, especially if your fingers are long. While this glove isn't the best performing compared to the higher-rated models, it is super affordable comparatively.

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