Indestructible Mitts

The Indestructible Mitts are made from Dyneema which is the single strongest fibre known to man today. On a weight for weight basis Dyneema is up to 15x stronger than steel. It’s so tough it was originally used in body armour, anti-ballistic vehicle armour, and ropes used to tie down oil rigs in violent, icy seas. While it’s often used as a composite – an ingredient added to other materials to make them exceptionally strong – the outer shell of these mitts is made from 100% Dyneema.

Palm materials on gloves and mitts are typically made from materials like silicon, which do their job for a while before peeling off. But we needed to create a grip material for the palm that could match Dyneema’s strength. So you’ll find the palm of the mitts covered in a cutting-edge combination of polyacrylate resin dots, a polyurethane film and adhesive hot melt. It’s so durable that it outperforms some of our hardest-wearing fabrics on abrasion resistance tests, while remaining grippy and highly flexible.

The second type of insulation on the back of the hand is also made by PrimaLoft®. Engineered out of recycled plastic, it’s designed to trap pockets of warm air around your hands while remaining breathable when you work up a sweat. Constructed with two-way stretch it lets you comfortably move your hands around without feeling resistance.

The entire inside of the mitts is lined with an ultra soft brushed fleece to keep your hands warm and comfortable. We’ve made it not too thick so that you don’t overheat, and it’s made from an innovative biodegradable Nylon that insulates at the same time as being breathable.

You can cinch the mitts tightly around your wrists to keep cold air out with the heavy-duty Velcro belt. We’ve used a smooth Velcro with low profile hooks that are more resistant to wear and tear over time.

The colder Dyneema gets the stronger it gets, which is why it’s used to make the mooring lines on giant ships and deep-water oil rigs that have to perform in freezing seas. A mooring line on a winch buried under heavy ice on a ship sailing in extreme conditions can’t afford to fail. As the temperature drops down to -50°C the Dyneema ropes gain 5-10% strength. Projections show that the rope would gain even more strength if it dropped to -150°C. And it doesn’t just get stronger, it also loses no strength in relation to abrasion resistance or cutting.

We wanted to create mitts that could withstand the toughest places on Earth. Nature claws at you, hits you and freezes you. So in our testing we exposed the Dyneema to the shearing, tearing, and blunt-force traumas that you’ll get in the real world from rocks, ice, trees, and falls. Dyneema is so strong the outside of the mitts is almost impossible to rip. And blunt-force trauma will have almost no impact on them other than marking them.

To understand just how tough Dyneema is, you have to look at how it’s being deployed in the world. It’s used to make bullet resistant vests, armour and helmets. It’s used in panels on tanks to protect against stronger ballistic threats like anti-tank projectiles. And you’ll find it in bulletproof cockpit doors in most commercial planes in the US. Unlike other high-strength materials it’s so light it floats on water, and it’s resistant to the long-term effects of moisture, UV light and chemicals, which is why it’s now also being used in artificial limbs.