Outdoor Research Sureshot Heated Softshell Review

The main reason to buy the Sureshot Heated Softshell gloves is to work with your fingers in cold weather. These specialty gloves let us tie the laces on our winter boots, buckle our ski boots, and root through our jacket pockets. We enjoyed a better grip on our ski poles, could easily swap out new lenses in our goggles, and were even able to tap out texts on our phones, all without taking our gloves off. We didn't think we would appreciate this level of dexterity out in the wild, but we were wrong.

Warmth

The Sureshot gloves easily outperformed the warmest non-heated gloves we tested. We could feel the heat pouring onto our hands as we rode the chairlift, which, we must admit, is pretty luxurious. Even at the end of the day, as temperatures dropped into the teens, our hands stayed warm as we cruised shady, gladed runs.

If you run them on High, you'll deplete batteries in a little over two hours. (OR claims up to 2.5 hours of battery life on High.) The Medium setting will extend the runtime to around five hours, and you might be able to squeeze out eight hours on Low. The best way to use these gloves, in our experience, is to briefly turn them to High to warm them, then drop them back to Medium or Low to conserve battery. Recharging the removable lithium-ion batteries is a slow process – from depletion to full takes at least six hours, so don't plan to fully recharge them while eating lunch.

Previous Next

These gloves have very little insulation, so managing battery life is the key to success. And you don't want to run out of battery far away from a backup pair of gloves. When the batteries died on the last run of the day, our tester's hands froze on the way back down to the parking lot. Outdoor Research sells individual replacement battery packs that you could purchase separately and carry as backups to ensure a full day of warmth.

Dexterity

If you can't stand mittens or bulky gloves, the Sureshot Heated Softshell gloves are perfect for you. The dexterity is not quite as good as that of a thin liner glove, but we were still able to dig car keys out of jacket pockets and push buttons to unlock doors. Better yet, we could easily use our phones. Thanks to the touchscreen-compatible index-finger and thumb patches, we could even perform tasks requiring fine motor skills, like navigating apps and websites, and typing out texts.

These gloves are perfect for parents who need to help young skiers and snowboarders manage their gear while out on the slopes. Imagine adjusting goggles and tucking hair under helmets without needing to remove your gloves. If you're in the thick of parenting young skiers and riders, this might be one way to help keep everyone happy and sane.

Water Resistance

The Sureshot Heated Softshell gloves are not waterproof – in fact, they're barely water-resistant. Designers seemed to understand the limitations of their fabric choice and didn't even bother to add a durable water repellent (DWR) coating to the softshell. During our dunk test, water gushed through the softshell, as if every gap in the fabric simultaneously let water in. They can shed a bit of snow, but don't expect much resistance to liquid water.

To be fair, this glove is obviously designed for use when the temperature is below freezing and the water is frozen. We were worried that a heated glove would simply melt snow and that these gloves would wet out immediately, but that wasn't a problem during our tests. We wore these gloves during a snowstorm, and they shed water reasonably well for a few hours of skiing. Still, the lack of waterproofing and insulation means we won't trust these gloves to keep our hands warm far off the beaten path (at least, not without a backup).

Construction Quality

Outdoor Research has a reputation for designing high-quality outdoor apparel, and the Sureshot Heated Softshell Gloves are certainly well-made. Even though this glove is built with slightly less durable single-row stitches, the stitching is precise, and the fingers are well-constructed.

The batteries and included charger are simple and solid, with secure connections. The heating elements inside the glove are protected between the layers, so they are unlikely to fray or wear over time. The 2-way stretch woven nylon-spandex blend shell fabric is abrasion-resistant. There is a small grip overlay on the palm, but it's likely not enough to prevent wear and tear from heavy use.

Features

The most obvious feature is the rechargeable, battery-operated heating unit. The control button lights up in three different colors to indicate the heating level: Low, Medium, or High. And it's easy to change the settings with a gloved finger – simply push the button. The cuff is designed to slide under coat sleeves, and even with the battery pack on the wrist, we were able to slide it under most ski jacket sleeves without much trouble.

Other features include touchscreen-compatible finger and thumb tips, a cuff pull, and a storage clip to keep the gloves together. While it's normally a non-negotiable, we can forgive the lack of a wrist leash. These gloves are so dexterous that you shouldn't have to take them off nearly as much as you might with bulkier gloves. For truly cold weather, we would have appreciated a nose wipe, but that's more of a preference than a problem.

Should You Buy the Outdoor Research Sureshot Heated Softshell?

If the price tag isn't an issue, these gloves offer a whole new experience for anyone who spends time outside in the coldest winter months. We loved how the softshell hugged our hands, and the dexterity is incomparable to all other heated gloves we've tested – and, arguably, many non-heated gloves we tested, too. With proper expectations and battery management, the Sureshot Heated Softshell is quickly becoming one of our new favorite ski gloves for the resort. However, because of the lack of insulation and limited battery life, we wouldn't recommend them for backcountry use, at least without carrying a backup pair of gloves.

What Other Ski Gloves Should You Consider?