Helping you find the right vegan gloves for winter or summer, from cycling and running to hiking and mountaineering

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Keeping your hands away from the cold and harsh conditions is essential while skiing, hiking, cycling, or just spending time in nature. If you want to enjoy some quality time outdoors, you will need a pair of trustworthy vegan gloves.

Therefore, we’ve got in touch with all the outdoor brands to find out what they have to offer us outdoor plant-munchers. And there are lots!

Keep reading to find a detailed buyer’s guide, as well as vegan gloves for winter and warmer weather, running, hiking, skiing and cycling. All topped up with some tips on keeping your hands toasty whilst using zero animal products.

Jump ahead to find:

• What’s not vegan in gloves
• What vegan gloves use instead
• Types of outdoor winter gloves for vegans
  • Hardshell vs. softshell
  • Mittens
  • 3 or 4 finger gloves (lobster gloves)
  • Thermal insulated gloves
  • Waterproof/ GTX gloves
  • Touch-screen gloves
  • Guantlet style gloves
  • Glove Liners
  • Vegan work gloves
  • Men’s vs. women’s gloves
• Our selection of the best outdoor vegan gloves
• Tips for picking the best gloves

“Helping you find the best vegan winter gloves for outdoor pursuits!”

1. What’s Not Vegan In Gloves

Outdoor winter gloves can often contain leather. This can sometimes be across the whole glove but more often than not, it’s on the palm.

Some insulated winter gloves can also contain down, or more traditional softshell gloves might use wool.

On top of these materials, some gloves use beeswax or animal materials in the glues and dyes.

None of these materials are cruelty-free and are easily avoided nowadays. Heavy, smelly and environmentally-harmful leather winter gloves are a thing of the past with the options below.

2. What Vegan Glove Alternatives Use Instead

Luckily, many outdoor brands have developed a way to offer vegans cruelty-free gloves for their adventures. Instead of using leather, vegan winter gloves use synthetic outer layers with a membrane that lets water out but not in.

Down and wool are also often used in the insulating layers of non-vegan gloves. Instead of down, you’ll find lots of synthetic thermal insulation like Polarloft and Thinsulate. They mimic down but still insulate when wet and avoid the cruelty to birds. Wool is often replaced by fleece or polyester.

Last but not least, are animal fat and wax-based natural sealants used for gloves. Vegan gloves are cheaper since they use glues with wholly artificial ingredients. 

3. Types Of Vegan Winter Gloves 

Start by thinking about what type of activity you will use your gloves for and what the conditions will be like. Do you need protection from the cold? Wind? Rain? All three? Will you be moving hard and working up a sweat or going at a relaxed pace? How cold will it be?

The best vegan hiking gloves will be very different to vegan skiing gloves and running gloves etc. Also, depending on the weather conditions you’ll want to look out for different things. These pointers below can help you pick.

4. Hardshell Vs. Softshell Gloves

If you’re looking for gloves to take hiking, you will first need to consider whether you need hardshell or softshell gloves.

Softshell Gloves

Softshell gloves are better in drier and warmer conditions as they are lighter and more breathable. These are good for higher-intensity activities like trail running, cycling and hiking in shoulder seasons.

Hardshell Gloves

Hardshell gloves are used in winter conditions that require touching snow and being in the wind, rain or low temperatures. They are better for things like winter hiking, cycling, mountaineering, skiing etc.  

5. Mitts (Mittens)

Mittens are always warmer than gloves, and if staying warm is your priority, we recommend buying a pair of vegan winter mitts. They are not as dextrous as gloves but guarantee warmth since your fingers share warmth inside the mitten. Mittens are used in seriously temperatures for hiking, skiing, mountaineering.

They’re also good for less active adventures in cold regions when your body will not be generating as much warmth.

6. 3 Or 4 Finger Gloves

Another option if you wish to stay warm but still use your hand are three-finger gloves or lobster gloves. These gloves are a mix between gloves and mittens.

Typically, you might have a mitt-style glove where your index finger is separate. Sometimes your index and middle finger are together, apart from your ring and little fingers. You might find other alternatives, but they all aim to maintain the highest warmth possible without sacrificing practicality.

These are useful gloves for winter cycling or MTB, so you can pull the breaks. They’re also useful for mountaineering or skiing when you might need better use of outdoor equipment in freezing temperatures.

7. Thermal-Lined Gloves 

For the most warmth, go for gloves with thermal lining. The lining makes the gloves slightly heavier and bulkier, so they’re suited to real winter outdoor pursuits where warmth is the priority.

Nowadays there are plenty of vegan down alternatives and wool replacements, with some of the most popular ones being:

• Primaloft
• Thinsulate
• Thermolite

8. Waterproof Gloves or Gore-Tex Gloves

First things first: like virtually all outdoor gear, it’s very difficult for gloves to be completely waterproof. Anything which has seams or porous materials leaves room to let water in.

But, better quality gloves will do a better job.

For skiing or mountaineering, conditions are too cold for that much moisture and most decent waterproof gloves will hold up. If it is very rainy and very nearly freezing, like it often is in English winter, then it’s slightly harder. For this, we’d recommend looking at some of the work gloves below.

Waterproof vegan gloves are mostly used for winter hiking and skiing, while they can be crucial in winter cycling as well. Look for vegan gloves with a waterproof membrane that will let heat and sweat evaporate from the inside, but not allow any water to enter. 

These membranes can be of different types. The most popular one is Gore-Tex, while there are other membranes that different manufacturers use. With Gore-Tex and other DWR-treated gloves, your hands should not be clammy as the membrane stops water from coming in but allows heat to escape. You need to keep in mind that these membranes need renewal or re-waterproofing every few years. 

9. Touch Screen Gloves

Today, everything is on our phones, bike computer, GPS etc. and no matter the altitude or activity we are taking part in, they can be crucial. This is why touch screen fingertips on outdoor gloves were invented.

Conductive fingertips on our gloves allow us to navigate our phones and GPS without taking them off in bad conditions. They’re mostly found on thinner gloves, but some warmer models also have them.

10. Long Wrists/Gauntlet Style

Many vegan winter hiking gloves and mittens for snow activities have longer wrists or gauntlets. The gauntlets are designed to cover your sleeves and allow better insulation by keep the wind away from your wrists. They often have fastening methods or closures like leashes and drawcords on the ends of the gauntlets. 

11. Glove liners

Thermal glove liners give an extra inner layer of warmth, to go underneath hardshell and softshell gloves on the outside. They are made mostly out of synthetic materials like fleece and quite often have touch-screen fingers/thumbs.

You need to make sure the glove liner is a good fit and not too baggy. The outer glove also needs to be big enough to fit your hand and the liner too.

12. Vegan work gloves

Winter gloves from outdoor brands can be very expensive. It can also be hard to decipher all the marketing hype to tell what is a good product that will last.

Winter work gear is often overlooked by the outdoor community but it shouldn’t be. Often it’s more durable, practical and half the price. This is definitely the case for winter gloves.

There are many jobs, like working in construction, forestry, industrial freezers, at sea, on farms etc. that involve working in cold, wet conditions. Gloves designed for these can often work a treat outdoors too.

They can also be the solution to waterproofing too

Cycling in the UK winter, when it’s wet and cold, requires some tough gloves. We’ve got through heaps of high-end waterproof gloves and, eventually, when it’s raining hard enough, the moisture comes through.

Our solution has been to wear thermal liners underneath for warmth and industrial freezer gloves on the outside, which are dip-sealed and completely waterproof. It’s not glamorous but it’s cheap and it works. More info with the gloves at the bottom.

13. Men’s Vs. Women’s Gloves

It is possible to get specifically designed vegan winter gloves for men and women. But, the differences are small. Women’s gloves have slightly smaller palms and thinner fingers but you shouldn’t let gender sway your choice. Go with what fits.

Of course, there is a difference in size between men’s and women’s vegan gloves. Mostly, female models are smaller in size, while male models are bigger. 

If you’re not sure, when it comes to fit, you should always try out your pair of gloves before purchasing. This will allow you to check if the palm and wrist sizes fit you, as well as the fingers, whether they are too long or short. 

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14. The Best Vegan Gloves for Hiking, Cycling, Skiing, Running and Mountain Adventures

As with all of our vegan outdoor gear articles, we specifically contact brands to check products are vegan-friendly (unless it’s clearly stated on their website).

Below we’ve listed all the gloves which are completely free of wool, leather and down.

Some brands were able to guarantee the products were completely free of animal materials. But, like most items of clothing, other brands were not able to confirm the source of their glues and dyes. These gloves have been listed with a star by their name*.

At the bottom, you’ll also find the outdoor companies that didn’t have any gloves for vegans i.e all of their gloves contain wool, leather or down. This is not listed to smear the companies, rather to save you time looking.

• Best vegan hiking gloves: Mountain Equipment Mountain Glove
• Best vegan hiking mitts for cold weather: Rab Storm Glove
• Best vegan skiing gloves: Dakine Titan GTX
• Best vegan cycling gloves: Sealskinz All Weather MTB
• Best vegan glove for harsh winter: REI Switchback GTX Mittens
• Best vegan glove for trail running: Inov-8 All Terrain Pro Running Mitt
• Best vegan glove for rainy weather: Skytec Argon Xtra

Mountain Equipment Mountain Glove

Sealskinz Waterproof All-Weather Glove*

Sealskinz All Weather MTB Glove*

Enlightened Equipment Torrid Mitts

Brands that don’t have any vegan-friendly winter gloves

Once again, this is not to smear the companies, more to save you guys time looking.

• Leki – Said that their non-leather gloves are vegan, however we couldn’t find any leather-free gloves
• Burton – No response
• Black Diamond – No response
• North Face – “After a quick search I can see that there are no gloves listed as vegan so sadly I cannot recommend any to you.”
• Hestra – no leather or wool free gloves

If you know any other awesome vegan gloves for cycling, hiking, running, skiing etc. it would be great if you could share them with others in the comments below – thanks!

15. Tips On Picking The Best Vegan Gloves For You

Once you know what glove type you need and if they’re really vegan, check out some of our tips on how to pick the right vegan winter gloves for you:

• Check the size of your winter gloves before buying them online. It’s best if you can check out a few different pairs and sizes in the nearest store before making a purchase. 
• Zippers or pockets on the inside or outside of your glove wrist are there to store heating packets or hand warmers if it gets too cold for your hands. 
• If possible, buy vegan gloves with wrist leashes that will stop your gloves or mittens getting blown away or dropped off a mountain.
• If your hands fit two sizes of gloves, opt for the bigger size. This way, your hands will be warmer. 
• Even though it is less durable, check for faux leather gloves. Winter alpinism and ice climbing often use thin leather gloves for a more authentic feeling of the rope or ice axe. 
• Loops on the fingers and sides of your gloves are carabiner loops designed to allow you easier access and carrying, as well as easier drying of your gloves. 
• Always have at least two pairs of gloves with you when hiking, cycling and skiing in serious winter. One pair should be thinner and the other thicker. For instance, the thin gloves can be softshell, and the other pair can be waterproof hardshell mitts.