Mountain Laurel Designs eVENT Rain Mitt Review

My testing in Minnesota confirms Will's findings. They are great, but must be worn under your jacket sleeves.

My brother also used them over last winter, laying over some Powerstretch gloves. He used it mostly for wind-breaking purposes, but also do dig out snow shelters and other wet winter activities. He loves them.

I have them aswell. Awesome pair of mitts. I actually have never used mine in rain yet, only as an overmitt in winter. They work great so far.

I also have the MLD mitts, and I agree with Will. My experience with the MLD Mitts: very light and very good.

I often do not see waterproof mitts such as these mentioned on gear lists. I have used them in spring rains in GA and wet fall snows in New England. My hands would have become numb and useless without them. OR used to make a pair similar, but with a shorter length and tight elastic cuff. ($40 gortex). Less expensive models of silnylon are also around, and simple patterns are found for sewing your own. The thumb of the MLD pair is a somehow funny, awkward fit, but they work well….a very important piece of gear.

I have some of the first round and I like them. I bring them along and use them as a stuff sack for my rain knickers most of the time. When it's pouring they keep my leather biking gloves from wetting out immediately and keep my hands pretty dry.

For an ounce they are worth it for sure.

I've worn these mitts quite a bit, but, like Will, I've carried them for many more miles than I've actually used them. I want to point out three things:

1- I can't emphasize enough the importance of sealing the seams with SilNet. This is not easily done, but it needs to be done perfectly in order to make them waterproof. Without sealed seams, they are not waterproof, and your hands will get wet. And having cold and wet hands is miserable.

2- In addition to using them for backpacking, I run with them often in the winter in order to add warmth to my standard running gloves (DeFeet Duraglove) and to shed any precip that may be coming down. I've worn them in temps between 15 and 35.

3- When backpacking the mitts are part of my 3-season handwear system, the other part of which is usually the DeFeet Duragloves. When morning/evening temps are regularly less than 30 degrees, I prefer bringing the BPL Vapor Mitts made by RBH Designs, which are much warmer (in both dry and wet conditions) and only slightly heavier than the Mitts/Duragloves combo.

Agree with Andy on the seam sealing. Also I don't like to wear merino wool inside them, as the mitts are "slippery." I normally use a Burton Outlast Soft-shell Glove Liner.

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Cold frosty morning, wet tent from previous night, poles frozen into sleeves. I tried extracting the poles with bare hands, but soon gave that up as a seriously bad idea! I was wearing both mitts and liner gloves here!

Cheers

I searched high and low for simply a simple UltraLite shell glove or mit. Impossible to find. Except for the MLD eVENT Rain Mitt. The design and craftmanship and materials used are excellent. I've done over 1000 miles of the Appalachian Trail with these baby's to say that they STILL get 2 thumbs up. Seem to be waterproof, they do actually breath and they are very light. Why can't I get a simple jacket and pant made like this?
NOTE: A very light and cheap mitten option is: when you wear out your DriDucks or FrogTogs Jacket, put the sleeve on backwards. Then cut it off just beyond your outstretched finger tips and glue/sew this open end
closed.

I agree sealing the seams isn't easily done. My don't seem to have 'stuck' that well, after a wet weekend they're peeling around the thumb. I dread having to do them again.

Also I find they tend to slowly slip down my wrist, because there isn't actually anything holding them on your hand. Cinching down a rain jacket over the top helps, but over time as your hands move about they work themselves down. I think a simple bit of elastic just around the wrist (below the wide bit of the hand) would help here (in a similar position to the webbing straps on the much beefier OR Endeavor Mitts).

Update: The current 2013 model uses the latest 15d full 3-Layer eVENT throughout. The wrist draw cord sleeve is designed for long term durability and servicibility and the robust 1/8" bungee cord can be easily user replaced by a simple small flat elastic cord if you want a lower profile cuff to wear under a jacket sleeve. This quick change will save about .5 oz from the pair.. More info on the product page plus a video link for fast and simple seam sealing. Sized for layering and large hands, avialble in two sizes.

Ron writes "The wrist draw cord sleeve [munch]".

That seems deceptive: there is no wrist draw cord sleeve. If there were, the gloves wouldn't keep sliding off. I guess Ron is referring to the forearm draw cord, which keeps the gauntlet closed, but which does nothing to prevent the mitt from sliding up the forearm because it's, well, not at the wrist where a wrist draw cord would be.

If you always have something (e.g. hiking poles) in your hands, then the mitts stay on.

Any pointers for keeping them on? I'd think that just wrapping a rubber band outside the glove at the wrist would do it, if one of the right size could be found. But it can't.

If they had a wrist drawcord, they'd be a really great item. As it is, they frustrate me the whole way down the trail.

you can make any size "rubber band" you need with some elastic or shock cord. It's also very easy to sew in a wrist elastic if you have a sewing machine with free arm. I've made several pairs of mitten shells, and for the wrist elastic I just take some elastic, play around with sizing by experimentation, then once I have the size I want, with the ends of the elastic sewn together, I turn the shell inside out, slip it over the free arm of the machine, with the elastic over it, and with the shell stretched out fully, just sew a line down the middle of the elastic all the way around with the biggest stitch size I have. The only downside is now you have more seam sealing to do.

When wearing a jacket with the shells, just put the sleeve over the shells and the jacket cuff can help keep the mitts in place.

"I'd think that just wrapping a rubber band outside the glove at the wrist would do it, if one of the right size could be found. But it can't."

I end up wearing several standard # 64 rubber bands on my wrist when hiking. When I take the rubber band off my pot/lid, it goes on my wrist. If I have a 1/8" CCF pad, and take the rubber band off of it goes around my wrist. I often carry a couple spares there. 0.04 oz each.

Might depend on the person, but seems it would work for me. Dont have any MLD mitts to try it on though.

"standard # 64 rubber bands"

Oh? You can't get by with a standard # 68 ?

I store them on my wrist the same way.

–B.G.–