New Glove Day!

Weather you are new to the business or have been at it for years, one of the most essential gear purchases you will make is a good pair of work gloves. From saving your hands from cuts and pinches while loading and unloading trucks, to keeping your hands free of the gummy residue that comes from coiling cables that have been on the ground for hours or days at a time, gloves are a smart and essential addition to your kit.

Personal style and preferences for features in a pair of gloves vary widely and there are a near limitless selection of gloves on the market for you to choose from. Over the years, I have tried a lot of different types and approaches, and I’ve found that for me, the mechanic style gloves work the best.

The main features I look for in a glove are:

• Quality stitching around the fingers and other stress points.
• Good padding on the knuckles to protect from flight case handle bite when tipping cases up and down.
• Easily washable
• Provides some heat resistance for occasional working on hot lamps / fixtures.
• Cheap enough to leave behind or have stolen on a job-site.

Currently I am using the ‘handyman’ work glove from CLC, which meet all of my requirements, are very comfortable and include a handy loop for attaching them to a clip when not in use. For me, I tend to set my gloves down momentarily on job-sites, only to lose track of them and eventually leave them behind. I typically go through two pairs of gloves or so per year, one of which I use until they are worn out, and one or two pairs that I typically lose or have walk-off on jobs. I’m hoping to avoid losing any this year!

This past year I picked up a pair of insulated winter work gloves to try, with mixed results. While standing still or doing light work out in the cold, these gloves were absolutely perfect and on one or two occasions I was really happy I had them with me. Every other time I put them on to load a truck or do any sort of real physical work, even on the coldest of days, I ended up with sweaty wet gloves within minutes. Regular work gloves are just fine for all but the most extreme conditions, assuming you are moving around and actively working.

A note on fingerless gloves… I went through two pairs of fingerless gloves over the course of a year some years back. Using both pairs heavily and somehow avoiding losing them, I finally came to the decision to stop using them after a noticeable uptick in the amount of cuts and splinters my fingers were taking.

While the added dexterity was very welcomed, I found myself being lulled into a false sense of glove security with these. Moving road cases or gear around, they give you the confidence of wearing a glove, allowing you to work quickly and more efficiently, only to end up having your fingers cut by sharp edges, or even worse getting wood or metal splinters from sliding your hand across a rough edge accidentally. Some folks I know swear by fingerless gloves, but for me, I’ll be keeping my fingers covered for the foreseeable future.

So that’s a few quick thoughts on gloves and how they’ve treated me over the years. Let me know in the comments below what gloves you like the most and why! I’ll be interested to hear what works for you and to try out your suggestions in the future.