As many of you may already know that I am very partial to coated cut resistant gloves. However, I wanted to substantiate my position on the matter from a technical and practical perspective.
First, I should emphasize and disclose that I also highly
endorse uncoated cut resistant gloves for special uses. One ideal example would
be cut resistant gloves used for safety purposes in the food services and food
handling sectors. These would be uncoated gloves like the extraordinary Wells
Lamont Whizard Stainless Steel Mesh Cut-Resistant Gloves and the PIP Kut Gard Seamless
Knit Dyneema Cut Resistant Gloves. Therefore, I will discuss these further in
another new Glove Guru Blog post.
Thinness
and Cut Resistance
As I have previously discussed in other posts, Coated
Cut Resistant Gloves have vastly improved in recent years. Not only have they
become exceptionally thin, the level of cut resistance has become remarkably
very high. These two advantages alone make an impressive case to support and
recommend their use in most applications requiring safe cut resistant
protection.
Gripping
The other main and very important advantage of the
coated versions is the superior grip over uncoated models. Gripping is a major
factor in safety gloves, especially when it includes cut resistance.
ANSI
Cut Resistance Levels
Since I often refer to the ANSI level of cut
resistance, for those of you not familiar with this EN388 standard, you can
refer to my post which explains this standard and the newer rating symbols.
EN388 link: ANSI STANDARD
You will need to familiarize yourself with the various
ratings in order to purchase cut resistant gloves for your particular
application. The new ratings refer to ANSI Cut Levels A1 to A9. The most
popular gloves are usually A2 to A4 (A4 being a higher cut resistance). When
you are looking to purchase a new pair of cut-resistant gloves, we make it easy
for you to locate a glove with the rating you prefer. Simply type in the rating
number in our site search box at the top of our Home page and we will display
all the gloves with that rating. It’s that easy. For example: Type in A4 in the search box and all of the
ANSI Cut Level A4 gloves will display for you.
Pricing
Regarding pricing, it should be obvious to everyone
that the higher the price, the higher the level of cut resistance. This is
largely due to the fiber being more expensive to make or with the blend of
other fibers such as stainless steel. The old axiom of “you get what you pay for”
applies here, too.
Coatings
Regarding coatings, Nitrile Coated Cut Resistant Gloves
are the most popular since Nitrile is a very durable latex rubber free polymer
and it is also resistance to most chemicals. Polyurethane is an excellent
coating like Nitrile but not as popular due to the complexities in
manufacturing the PU polymer. Plus PU coatings tend to be more expensive.
I personally like polyurethanes over nitrile coatings since they are also biocompatible and just as strong and resistant to chemicals.
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Some
Glove examples:
One of popular A4 models is the #WK-CC470 ATG Nitrile Coated Dyneema Maxicut Cut Resistant Gloves (19-D470).
The 470 model is very form-fitting and very durable. Most users purchase these since they have a long-life and the cut resistance is very respectable.
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Another popular A3 model is the #WK-CC3745 ATG MaxiCut Ultra, Cut Resistant Micro-Foam Nitrile Coated Gloves (44-3745)
The 3745 is another example of a nice form-fitting glove and they also comply with FDA food handling requirements 21 CFR, Part 177.
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An A3 model that we’ve sold since 2008 is the #WK-CC322 GREAT WHITE™ Dyneema®/Lycra® Polyurethane Coated Cut Resistant Gloves (19-D322)
This model has an A3 ANSI Cut Level. This glove is particularly unique since it has a Dyneema/Lycra blend with a polyurethane coating. The Lycra offers a bit more comfort in the fit and polyurethane coatings are as durable and chemical resistant as nitrile. They just aren’t as popular since the polyurethane coating is very difficult to make and manufacture.
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A popular A2 model is the #WK-CC8743 ATG Maxiflex Cut, Cut Resistant Micro-Foam Nitrile Coated Gloves (34-8743)
The 8743 is not as cut resistant as the above models but an A2 rating is fairly good for most applications and this model is less expensive. This model also complies with the FDA food handling requirements 21 CFR, Part 177.
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These are just a few
examples of our coated cut-resistant models. To see our entire line of cut
resistant gloves, go to this link:
Cut Resistant Gloves
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To see our entire line up
of Coated Work Gloves, go to this link:
Coated Work Gloves
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Thanks
for subscribing to my blog and thank you for your continued business.
Joe
McGarry
The
GLOVE GURU since 1989