Home on the Range #059: Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove – Tan

We are getting into the colder months of the year making it more frigid to be out in the field hiking, scouting, working, and hunting. Nothing will send you packing quicker than if you begin to freeze your toes, head, or fingers. That is why solid clothing to keep you warm is paramount. As someone who ranches Angus beef cattle, Mangalitsa pigs, and even egg-laying chickens, I always have good gloves and hats at my disposal. Whether there are several extra pairs in the back of my truck or I simply pack them in with me while hunting in a Sitka pack. In fact, this week on “Home on the Range,” we will take a look at the Sitka Gunner Windstopper gloves with Gore-Tex Labs technology to see how they fare in some Minnesota weather. Let’s dive in!

“Home on the Range” Series Coverage on AllOutdoor

Welcome to our reoccurring series of “Home on the Range.” Here, we would like to share all of our experiences for those who may be homesteading, living off the land, hunting, farming, ranching, and truly investing in nature and the great outdoors. The ability to provide for yourself and your family can be tremendously rewarding and simultaneously difficult at times. So, in “Home on the Range” we want to share our different exploits so you can learn and hopefully we can receive your feedback along the way as well.

Specifications – Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove

The Sitka Gunner Windstopper glove is offered in three sizes of Medium, Large, and X-Large in the one colorway of Tan at an MSRP of $109.99. These gloves boast a bevy of features, but the most prominent is the collaboration of Gore-Tex Labs Technology to incorporate Windstopper attributes. The full listing of specs can be read below as presented by Sitka:

Fabric: WINDSTOPPER® by Gore-Tex Labs Technology, Water-Resistant Goat Leather with Knit Liner
Adjustable Closure: The quiet velcro closure offers a custom fit and further seals out the elements.
WINDSTOPPER® by Gore-Tex Labs: Offers complete windproof protection through a durable, lightweight, and breathable membrane.
Weight: 5.3 Oz

We built the Gunner Glove to maximize trigger feel while keeping your fingers from going numb late into the season. Durable, supple and dexterous, the goatskin leather outer is fixed to a super smooth, seamless WINDSTOPPER® by Gore-Tex Labs liner. The stretch-woven forefinger gives you precise trigger control, while the reinforced Pusher Thumb withstands pushing thousands of rounds into the chamber.

Field Use – Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove

When it comes to any glove it is a fairly rudimentary piece of equipment even if you’re so kind as to refer to it as ‘equipment.’ It slips over your hand, makes it less likely that you’ll scrape and cut your hand, and hopefully it keeps you warm. Easy peasy, right? Well, whenever Sitka makes a piece of clothing, they attack it like mad scientists, pour all of their creative juices across it, and distill their ideas down to only the best. That is the launching point of the Sitka Gunner Windstopper glove.

Simple in appearance, but thoughtful in design. While these gloves are sizes for different statures of people, I appreciated that it had a Velcro closure strap on the back of the wrist. So, I can cinch it tight when its cold and to keep brush/debris out as well. Then, I always have a proper fit no matter what I am doing.

On the palm/wrist side of your glove, there is a thicker tabbed area with the Sitka logo imprinted on it to assist you in getting the glove on. If your hands are frozen or barely fit the size you have chosen, you can grip that reinforced-tabbed area to help yank and pull the glove onto your hands.

You can also see on the thumb of each glove that there is a double-layering of the Water-Resistant Goat Leather similar to a double-sleeved knee you might see on pants. Since the thumb is typically the highest used area of any glove, Sitka ensured you get as many miles as possible out of there gloves by reinforcing that part.

The rest of the fingers have tiny pin-prick ventilation holes just in case your hands happen to get too hot wearing them and you need to regulate a bit of heat. The bulk of the time I have spent wearing these was whitetail deer hunting in Minnesota as well as ranching at my family’s ranch. I never found them to be too hot, but they have always kept me warm in temps from 10 – 50 degrees Fahrenheit, thus far.

Final Thoughts – Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove

So, what are my final thoughts on the Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove with Gore-Tex Labs technology?… Overall, I like them a lot for the purposes of hunting and ranching/farming. They keep you warm, provide ample dexterity, can be secured tightly with the Velcro straps, and a neutral colorway of tan leather matches most any camouflage clothing I may be wearing. The only couple negatives I could comment are the price and I wish the fingertips were tighter to your fingers for better proprioception while working. I understand why Sitka did what they did, and I’ll play devil’s advocate to myself for the readers.

With these gloves costing $109.99 they are a bit spendy, but not too spendy. It is one of those “buy once, cry once” scenarios. If you want something of actual quality, you are going to have to pay for it. As far as the fingertips, Sitka could have made them tighter to your fingers which would have required less material; making you more prone to becoming cold and inevitably wearing them out. In sum, these are a pair of very well made gloves coming from Sitka. If you are in need of a pair similar to these, don’t hesitate to buy them. We highly recommend them.

In closing, I want to say thank you to Sitka for allowing AllOutdoor and myself the opportunity to try out their Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove with Gore-Tex Labs technology. That is greatly appreciated. Also, we would like to know what all of you guys and gals think? Do you believe that the Sitka Gunner Windstopper Glove with Gore-Tex Labs technology is something worth spending your money on? Would you deploy them for hunting this fall? Take them with you camping? Use them tending cattle on a ranch? As always, let us know all of your thoughts about Sitka in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

Adam Scepaniak