Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain arm warmers review

The Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain arm warmers buyer are designed for cooler, drizzly late spring and early autumn days where you want to stay dry but don’t want to overheat. And that’s a job they do rather well, you’ve just got to consider whether you need a pair of arm warmers specifically for this task.

>>> Buyer's guide to spring and autumn clothing (video)

Probably the most impressive thing about the Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain arm warmers is their windproofing. The orange parts of the arm warmers pictured above feature Sportful’s Windshield technology, which does an amazing job of keeping any cold wind away from your skin.

This is matched by the impressive water resistance of these arm warmers, with their NoRain water-repellent finish. Now, “water-repellent” can sometimes mean that a piece of clothing will keep you dry for a good ten minutes in moderate rain, but I’ve found time and again that Sportful’s definition is better than most, and these arm warmers will keep you dry through some pretty serious and persistent rainfall.

Watch: buyer's guide to spring and autumn clothing

The main problem I had with the Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain arm warmers was that they offer no sort of insulation. This means that they do a great job of keeping your arms dry without overheating when it’s mild and raining, but when the temperature really drops you’re going to want something that will keep you warmer.

>>> Buyer's guide to arm warmers

Something, for example, like the standard Sportful NoRain arm warmers, which are a great piece of kit that I couldn't find fault with when I first tested them last April, and am still happily using them now. Surely by definition arm warmers should keep your arms warm, something which the Fiandre Light arm warmers don’t always do.

So if you’re going to buy one pair of arm warmers, then the normal NoRain arm warmers would be a much better choice (and £3 cheaper). They may not be as breathable as these arm warmers, but if you’re really overheating when you’re wearing arm warmers, then you’ll just take them off, even if it is raining.

I also wasn’t entirely convinced by the fit of the Sportful Fiandre Light NoRain arm warmers. While the silicon gripper around the arm is good, they come up a little short, and because there is not much stretch built into the orange area of the arm warmers, there’s not much flexibility.

For more details visit the Sportful website (opens in new tab).