The Best Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards - Top Models Compared

Originally Published: August 24, 2018, Last Updated: September 02, 2020

You know that snowboarding puts you at risk and can cause injuries. Potential injuries include head impacts, tailbone bruises, and wrist injuries. This is why we recommend you wear a helmet, padded shorts, and wrist protection.  The most frequent snowboard injury - around 40% of all snowboard injuries - are wrist related. It therefore makes sense that wearing good wrist protection is a smart decision and significantly reduces your risk of harm.

For some background on snowboard wrist injuries, check out a few of our other blog posts:

• Who is most at risk for snowboard wrist injury?
• Why wear snowboard wrist guards?
• Different snowboard wrist guard designs, and which is best for you

We recommend wearing snowboarding gloves with wrist protection built in. They offer the best protection, ease of use, and a high level of integration and comfort. 

The Bottom Line?

Snowboard gloves with wrist guards are an important piece of safety gear and will help protect you from the most common snowboard injury

How do you know which gloves are best? We tested 6 top selling models of snowboard wrist guard gloves and ran them through a series of evaluations to determine the best ones.

How We Judged Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards

Everyone has an opinion on what gloves they think are the best. Most brands describe their own gloves as "the best this" and "the best that", typically with lot's of fluffy superlatives. But what criteria really matter? And how do different gloves compare to each other along these criteria?

We evaluated 6 top selling snowboard gloves with wrist guards using these performance criteria:

• Protection. This is clearly the single most important feature of the gloves. There is no injury data broken down by each of these glove models. But there is data regarding the best types of wrist protection designs, and their effectiveness in preventing injuries. This comparison data was key.
• Warmth. It's important to keep your hands warm while on the mountain. Insulation technologies have advanced a long way, and we feel having warm hands while being protected is a basic expectation now - not a luxury - even in lower price gloves.
• Dry. To stay warm, your hands have to stay dry. Like warmth, dry technology has come a long way and there are many excellent options available. Each brand has different trademarked technologies. We tested the gloves in cold and wet weather to see how they performed in the real world.
• Durability. Inexpensive gloves with wrist guards are great, but not if they only last a season (or less). Good durability leads to lower total cost, by avoiding having to replace the gloves as often. Unfortunately, durability issues are not limited to lower end models, as we found out.
• Material Quality / Finish. This refers to the overall feel and craftsmanship of the gloves while on your hand. Is the material kind to the touch? Are the seams stitched well? Does the palm material feel like "rich Corinthian leather"? (Deadpool reference)
• Additional Features. This includes things like cushy nose wipe material, google cleaners, storm leashes, small pockets, etc. 
• Smartphone Touch Capability. If you simply can't be "in the moment" while on the mountain, some gloves have smartphone touch screen capability. You can Snap your crew while riding the lift or post a selfie to Instagram while mid-air.
• Retail Price. We all gotta pay our bills. So, price has to be part of the evaluation. A little bit better criteria is - do you get what you pay for?

What models of snowboard gloves with wrist guards did we compare?

1. Demon Cinch Gloves
2. Dakine Wristguard Gloves
3. Seirus Skeleton Gloves
4. Burton Support Gloves
5. LEVEL Fly Gloves
6. LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves

What are the Best Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards?

Using the 7 different criteria to judge the 6 different models of gloves, the leading contenders quickly emerged - the Burton Support gloves and the LEVEL Fly and LEVEL Half Pipe gloves. A key deciding factor was the level of protection offered by the BioMex wrist guards inside the 2 different LEVEL glove models.

Not only did LEVEL win on durability, quality, and additional features, but it won on the most important criteria - proven ability to protect your wrists. If you want to match the warmth and dry of Burton's gloves, with the best wrist protection, then go straight to the LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves.

Although they carry the highest retail price of the group, the LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves (or Mittens) are the best snowboard gloves with wrist guards - and worth the investment to protect your wrists through multiple seasons of wear and tear.

Scroll down below this table to see full evaluations for each of the 6 gloves.

	Demon Cinch	Dakine Wristguard	Seirus Skeleton	Burton Support	LEVEL Fly	LEVEL Half Pipe	THE BEST
Protection	OK	GOOD	BETTER	OK	BEST	BEST	LEVEL
Warmth	OK	GOOD	GOOD	BEST	BETTER	BEST	BURTON / LEVEL
Dry	GOOD	GOOD	BETTER	BEST	BETTER	BEST	BURTON / LEVEL
Durability	OK	OK	BETTER	GOOD	GOOD	GOOD	Toss Up
Material Quality/Finish	OK	GOOD	BETTER	BETTER	BEST	BEST	LEVEL
Additional Features	OK	OK	OK	BETTER	BEST	BEST	LEVEL
Smartphone Capability	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	BURTON
Normal Retail Price	$49.95	$49.95	$59.95	$79.95	$114.95	$134.95

 

Evaluations of 6 Top Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards

• Demon Cinch Gloves. These gloves don't try to be something they're not. What they are is basic, down and dirty, park gloves with wrist splints on the top of your palm. Although there is a TPU pad on the palm side, we're not sure what protection it offers other than some abraision resistance if you drag your hands. Demon claims the gloves are "water proof", but our experience on the snow didn't bear this out. Of all the gloves we compared, these were the coldest and wettest. But, to be clear, you can grab a pair of Cinch gloves for under $50. That's hard to beat. (Shop the Demon Cinch Gloves on Amazon)

• Dakine Wristguard Gloves. Substantially similar to the Demon Cinch gloves, the Dakine felt a bit nicer on the hand. The Dakine gloves have two splints - one on top and one on the palm - both being removable if so desired. The "DK DRY" technology did an ok job keeping the wet out, but moisture from our hands didn't vent as well as we'd like and the interiors got damp after a while. Our larger concern with Dakine was durability. The palm material began to tear fairly quickly on the gloves, so it's unlikely these would survive a full season in one piece. Again, you can grab a pair of the Dakine's for under $50. That's crazy cheap. (Shop the Dakine Wristguard Gloves on Amazon)

• Seirus Skeleton Gloves. With the Seirus gloves, you see the introduction of the multiple flexible wrist support design - which appear on the top of the hand. On the palm side, there is a removable flexible plastic splint. Together, these two wrist guards/supports give you a feeling of tightness and support that is better than a single or double splint design. The dry technology "Dry Hand" worked well keeping our hands dry, warmer, and moisture free. The glove material held up well, too, suggesting the Seirus Skeletons will take some abuse and survive over multiple seasons. At just under $60, the Seirus are still relatively "no frills" gloves. But, they offer good value at the lower price point. Shop the Seirus Skelton Gloves on Amazon)

• Burton Support Gloves. Recently redesigned, the Burton Support gloves lost one of the wrist guards and now has only a flexible wrist support on the back side of your hand. The support isn't super comfortable, but the quality of the gloves is definitely very nice. The materials and details are squarely in the "better" category, and Burton's DRYRIDE membrane technology did a great job keeping our hands both warm and dry. Burton claims the Support gloves are good for "Ice Cold" conditions, and we believe it. A unique feature of the Burton gloves is their smartphone capability. It works perfectly with our iPhones and all upper end gloves should get this capability. But, we do like the peace and tranquility of NOT being able to access our phones so easily....  The Burton Support gloves come in at a normal retail of $79.95 - which is a good value for good quality gloves with built in wrist support. (Shop the Burton Support Gloves on Amazon)

• LEVEL Fly Gloves. The entry level model in LEVEL's line, the Fly gloves still ranked "best" across many criteria, including most importantly "Protection".  This is due to the BioMex wrist guard technology that is inside all LEVEL gloves. LEVEL has proven the effectiveness of BioMex in reducing snowboard wrist injuries vs other designs. This alone would likely put the Fly on the top of our list. But, in addition to the BEST Protection, the Fly scored BEST in Durability (a beefy Kevlar palm and finger tips), Material Quality (of glove and liner materials), and Additional Features (Nose Wipe, Goggle Cleaner, and Air Vent). In addition, the Fly offers a completely removable liner, so you can wash and dry both the shell and liner if desired. And finally, the Fly is sized in 1/2 inch increments. This allows you to really tailor the fit exactly to your hand size. This is important, as it helps set the BioMex wrist guard properly next to your hand. The two areas we considered the Flys to only be "Better" instead of "Best" was Warmth and Dry. On our test, our hands got colder than we expected them to. Not as bad as some other models, but still we wanted more. At LEVEL's entry price point of $110, the Fly's offered the BEST protection and many high quality features versus the other models. But, to get the BEST gloves, there's one more step.

• LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves. (And Mittens. Both in Men's and Women's versions).  If you combine the BEST Protection of the LEVEL Fly and address the Warmth and Dry complaints by using GoreTex and an upgrade liner, and then add on the additional BioMex Plus padding, you get the LEVEL Half Pipe. Our hands stayed toasty warm for hours, the gloves were comfortable on our hands, the materials are nice, the Kevlar didn't rip or tear, and we were able to wipe our noses all day with the plus material on our thumb. (Editor's Note/Disclosure: I have worn - and my sons wear - Half Pipes for 10 seasons. I can personally attest to their effectiveness in actual crashes, having literally saved my own wrists a half dozen times.)

Why we rated the LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves as The Best Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards:

• Proven BioMex wrist protection system fully integrated inside the glove
• GoreTex industry leading technology that keeps your hands dry
• Upgraded liner in the "Plus" version that meets LEVEL's ThermoPlus 4000 warmth standard
• Thoughtfully applied features and craftsmanship
• Removable liner and wrist guards for care and cleaning
• Rugged Kevlar material on the palm and fingertips

We understand the Half Pipe price point (around $140) may be a barrier for some. But if you want the Best Snowboard Gloves with wrist guards, then the LEVEL Half Pipe series is a great choice. And, if you amortize the cost over 2-3 seasons of heavy use, versus having to buy less durable gloves two or three times over the same period, the "Total Cost of Ownership" will be lower with the higher priced gloves. Now if LEVEL would implement smartphone capability with these gloves, look out...

How to Buy the Best Snowboard Gloves with Wrist Guards

The four different versions of the LEVEL Half Pipe gloves and mittens are available to SHIP TODAY, and you can choose FREE SHIPPING. Click through to your preferred version below to order now:

• LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves for Men/Boys
• LEVEL Half Pipe Mittens for Men/Boys
• LEVEL Half Pipe Gloves for Women/Girls
• LEVEL Half Pipe Mittens for Women/Girls

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