Exum Guide Glove Men's vs Better Sweater Gloves Patagonia Women's: which is safer?

Better Sweater Gloves Patagonia Women's is the clear pick. Marmot Exum Guide Glove Men's carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Marmot Exum Guide Glove Men's

Marmot

Exum Guide Glove Men's

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

synthetic leather/textile blend with water-repellent coating treatment

Confidence

45%

Likelywater-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) coating, fluorine-based or unknown chemistry

PossibleSynthetic leather degradation and leaching

PossibleMicrofiber shedding from synthetic textile

Our pick

Better Sweater Gloves Patagonia Women's

Patagonia

Better Sweater Gloves Patagonia Women's

PFAS grade

Excellent 90/100

Overall grade

Excellent 82/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 2

Material

Polyester fleece (recycled)

Confidence

72%

PossibleAzo dyes and heavy metal pigments

PossibleMicroplastic shedding during wash

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag DWR (durable water-repellent) coating, fluorine-based or unknown chemistry, Synthetic leather degradation and leaching and Microfiber shedding from synthetic textile on the Marmot and not on the Patagonia.
  • We flag Azo dyes and heavy metal pigments and Microplastic shedding during wash on the Patagonia and not on the Marmot.
  • The Marmot is synthetic leather/textile blend with DWR treatment where the Patagonia is Polyester fleece (recycled), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 70 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Patagonia is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Marmot grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More waterproof winter gloves, see the full ranking