Saucony Protection Glove review

Recently I was sent a killer pair of Saucony running gloves.  I haven't seen "real" winter weather in about 10 years, so my current status as a "totally unprepared winter running newbie" left me excited to do this review.  And, did I mention, the gloves were pink?

Note: Trail dirt on gloves not included.  Must be purchased separately for the cost of one hard fall during run. 

So here's what you need to know about the Saucony Protection Glove:

According to Saucony:  

The wind and water resistant soniclite shell keeps your hands warm while the removable USB_LED light and reflective elements provide visibility in low-light conditions.

• Drylete liner and cuffs

• USB-LED light holds 2 hours of charge, bulb lasts up to 100,000 hours

• 20 minutes of charge = 1 + hour of light

• Visible from up to 100 yards away

• Plush cloth wipes on thumb exterior

• Magnetic fasteners  (my kids get a kick out of me hanging them on the fridge)

What I like:

• ViZiPRO pink.  Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is an entire winter (spring, summer, and fall) running wardrobe in this shade. Heck, if they even made the Snuggie I've requested under the tree in ViZiPRO pink, I'll take that too.   OK seriously, if you haven't checked out Saucony's ViZiPRO line (men, if pink isn't your thing,  it also comes in Orange) I would highly recommend it, especially if you run before the sun comes up or after it goes down.  ViZiPRO isn't always the brightest at first glance during broad daylight, but at dawn, dusk or if you shine a light towards it (think, car headlights) it almost glows.  According to Saucony: "Independent testing by color experts showed ViZiPRO® Orange and ViZiPRO® Pink to have the highest reflectance factor of any color in the industry, including neon yellow and green."

• Plush Cloth "wipes" on thumb exterior.  Alright Saucony, I'm not sure what you are getting at with the "wipes" part. But I'm going to go ahead and assume...that's for my nose. Because, let's face it, gross or not, if it's cold enough to run with gloves, chances are your nose is running too.  And you'd all be lying if you said you have never used your gloves to wipe your nose on a run, even if you are stellar at the "snot rocket" (or, if you are in the upper mid west, I hear it's referred to as a "farmer blow".  Tomatoes/tomahtoes.)

• Comfort.  The gloves are extra light weight and WARM.   The only slight problem I experienced was that the size Medium womens gloves are way too large for my baby hands, and thus my hands got sweaty, since the wicking fabric wasn't really getting a close fit on my hands.  However, as this cold weather chicken will tell you, I'd take sweaty-jacuzzi hands over frozen finger-cicles ANY day! If you 

• the LED light is BRIGHT.  I found it a little more "bouncy" to run with compared to a headlamp, so I'm not sure i would use that ALONE if I were somewhere that I needed a large beam of light (such as a trail).  But for a well lit road or a road that I was very familiar with, the LED light would be perfect form a safety point of view, to alert cars and other pedestrians of my presence.   (If you run with steady arms, this may not be such a problem for you)

Overall I would highly recommend these gloves. As you can tell by the dirt stains from my epic fall(s), they have become a staple in my New England winter running gear rotation, and have not been sent to the "drawer of reviews" in my closet, which is certainly saying something.   If you are in the market for some gloves, ESPECIALLY if you are one of the aforementioned dawn/dusk/night time runners, check the Saucony Protection gloves (or mittens!) out

Discussion time:  What features do YOU look for in a pair of running gloves?

*FTC note: These gloves were provided to me free of charge, however, the opinions on the product are exclusively that of my own.