I have seen a huge up-tick in Impact Resistant Glove sales over the last two years as more companies and users purchase these gloves. This is primarily due to the high costs associated with hand and finger injuries in heavy duty work conditions. Therefore, preventing injuries from any type of hand impact is paramount in hand protection. The hand injury statistics are out there but I prefer to address that issue in another post soon.
This would also include cut resistance which should be considered when purchasing a pair of impact resistant gloves. We feel that the combination of hand and finger impact resistance along with cut resistant to be very vital features in your selection of Impact Resistant Gloves.
The other additional and critical feature is superior grip for the obvious work-related functions.
Another important element is to make sure that an Impact Resistant Glove has double stitching on all the seams throughout the whole glove. This stitching feature is often overlooked and is important to extend the life of the gloves since they will take a fair amount of abuse. Once a seam fails, the gloves are no longer usable and become nonfunctional. However, this feature does not apply to a “seamless” constructed glove shell like the Maximum TuffMax 5 Safety Gloves and the G-Tek Polykor Impact Resistant Gloves.
Lastly, make sure that the gloves have a reinforced thumb crotch for extra durability and extended life of the glove in an area known for high wear.
As a result, the five features that include impact resistant, cut resistance, outstanding grip, double stitching on the seams throughout the glove, and a reinforced thumb crotch were the main criteria for the models that we stock and sell.
Understanding the Impact Resistant Glove Standard – ANSI-ISEA 138-2019
It is important to note that any glove claiming impact resistance must be certified and comply with the new ANSI/ISEA 138 – 2019 Impact Resistant Glove Standard.
As I was preparing this post, I was going to detail the impact standard but since it is very technical with engineering stats and technical terminology, so I decided to discuss it in simple lay terms to keep things straightforward for the normal user. If someone wants or needs a more detailed description of the standard, I am providing a link below this paragraph that was prepared by PIP (Protective Industrial Products). It is a well done and thorough presentation with some images which was created by one of their glove product managers that covers the standard, the testing, and the markings.
Link: ANSI-ISEA 138 – 2019 Standard
In simple terms, the glove impact standard includes three levels of impact protection. They are Level 1 which is low force, Level 2 which is medium force, and level 3 which is high force.
I tested the Level 2 and 3 protective models since we wanted to only carry the better models which also provided cut resistance. Additionally, the price points between a Level 1 Impact Resistant Glove and a Level 2 & 3 Impact Resistant Glove were comparable, so we only selected the higher performing glove models. Personally, I could not feel the difference between the 2 and 3 rated gloves when testing them against a brick surface and the only difference that I could determine was a small increase in the thickness of the TPR (Thermal Plastic Rubber) which is the protective coating on the back of the fingers, the knuckles, and back of the hand.
Since it is my job to provide you with some sound advice, I would not waste my money on a Level 1 Impact Resistant Glove unless you want that particular glove for other reasons beyond impact protection.
The Impact Resistant Gloves
Finally, let me get to the point on this topic and talk about the various Impact Resistant Gloves that we feature and sell. I have previously covered a few of these gloves in a previous post about our Mining Gloves. That category is broad with many glove options but our offerings in the Impact Resistant Gloves is very narrow and limited to only impact resistant glove models due to our high criteria and selection process.
As usual, I will refrain from listing each glove in this category that we offer at GO GLOVES for brevity and repetition since you can clearly see each of the Impact Resistant Glove models on our web site with very detailed glove descriptions and images.
I will also emphasize that I also apply my personal criteria with my 3 F’s as it applies to gloves: Fit, Feel, and Function. The combination of these three vital aspects has always worked when evaluating gloves in the past. It can seem personal, but after 30 years in designing, manufacturing, and selling gloves, I think I get it.
Presently, we narrowed our line down to the Boss and Maximum Glove models due to their high performance. Over time, we have reviewed many Impact Resistant Glove models from many of our manufacturers and concluded that the models we offer are the very best for our customers. As you may already know, we can offer every model available to us, but we don’t just wish to sell gloves, we only wish to sell the best glove models with price considerations and high performance.
I anticipate that we will continue to add more Impact Resistant Gloves to our inventory as new models are developed and introduced. If you wish for us to inform you about any new listings of new glove models, please let me know by responding to this email or the post.
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My very best to all of you in 2022 and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need any assistance.
Thank you for subscribing,
Joe McGarry
The Glove Guru
Great advise and help with your post.