Sealskinz Waterproof All Weather Head Gaitor

The Sealskinz Waterproof All Weather Head Gaitor is totally waterproof, fleece-lined and adjustable, and will keep you warm and dry.

Designed in the UK and coming with a lifetime guarantee, the Gaitor is a multifunction item of headwear designed to keep you both warm and dry across a multitude of outdoor pursuits.

Coming in two sizes, small-medium and large-extra large, and four colour options, it's surprisingly technical. Aside from the triple-layer breathable fabric, the other standout features are the face mask and the elasticated drawstrings.

The mask comes up to cover your nose and mouth – something Sealskinz designers couldn't have foreseen as being of huge benefit to all cyclists a year ago. Having a mask built in means you'll never be caught short popping to the shops, or on a long ride where you need to procure food or use the conveniences.

The mask is perforated with tiny holes to aid airflow, but you'll still most likely need to use anti-fog treatment on glasses. Whether these holes render it COVID-legislation-incompatible is a different matter, but then seeing how anything from a Buff to a pulled-up sweater seems to pass, I don't think anyone's going to be stopping you. Emergency use only, perhaps.

If it gets warm, or you remove your helmet and don't want to look like a medieval peasant, the hood slips easily off the back and the Gaitor then resembles a hefty neck draught stopper.

The overlap is guaranteed to keep every drop of rain, front or back, away from your inners. It's designed to go over the collar of a jacket, but if it's dry and you have quite a loose neck fit it could go under, if you don't fancy the executioner-mask look.

The elasticated side pulls are good for snugging down around the arms of your glasses, minimising any nasty draughts even at high speeds. They can be loosened one-handed, but not tightened one-handed unless you involve teeth somehow.

The facemask-chin covering can be either completely down, just over your chin, or the whole over-the-nose shebang. This can lead to fogging your glasses if you are breathing hard, mind.

Worn under a helmet, after a few minutes there's no sensation anything's unusual. You do have to loosen your chinstrap a bit, and it buckles up nicely under the jaw while still allowing movement of the head left and right.

If you are sweating hard it will saturate – it's breathable, but not a miracle fabric. Fortunately, the fleece pile inside does a good job of keeping things comfortable.

In extremely cold weather you don't want to be sweating hard, as when you stop the chill induced in damp skin and clothing can be debilitating. This makes the Gaitor an unlikely go-hard-out item of clothing for the UK in that case, where a simple Buff or similar will probably do the job. Unless it's pouring wet at the same time, in which case you're going to get soaked inside and out alike if banging out the watts.

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Over New Year we had a break of fabulous weather, sub-zero mornings with brisk winds making for windchills in the -5 to -10°C range. In these conditions the Gaitor was extremely welcome – keeping my face, neck and head warm and happy for multi-hour studded-tyre hilltop ice rides. Several times I stopped to speak to friends (properly distanced, obvs) and forgot I was wearing the Gaitor until they mentioned it. I was wearing a jacket with a removable hood of its own, but as that was focused just on water protection, I was very glad to be wearing the Gaitor for the warmth and wind blocking it afforded.

Oddly for Scotland, I had few opportunites to test its waterproofness, but when I did it worked perfectly. Under the road.cc freezing garden hose of doom it fared perfectly well, not a drip or drop after a persistent soaking. All Sealskinz kit has a lifetime warranty so should it spring a leak, you're covered.

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The Gaitor cleaned and dried quickly in a normal wash – ready the next morning for another ride. Weighing only 100g and rolling up small, it could easily be carried in a pocket ready for a long descent, or in case the heavens opened and you were wearing a hoodless jacket.

There are many head-neck warmer products we've reviewed over the years, but none that combine all the features of the Gaitor. This makes comparison hard, but on price for features and functionality it's clearly a winner.

All in all, for £25 it's a great bit of winter kit I never knew I needed until I tried it. If you're lacking a really good hooded jacket, or go out in penguin-friendly conditions, this could be the thing to uprate your cold-weather protection to 'Full-On Minging'.

Verdict

Great way to get protection from the cold and wet, with built-in facemask included