Field Technician – Journeyman Mechanic work gloves. HWI Combat Glove review.

If your work involves a lot of nuts and bolts or cables and connectors or any other combination of things that you have to assemble or fit with your hands to make something work you might have thought of wearing some work gloves.

And if you have – you also have probably found that it’s quite hard to find decent pair of gloves that would provide high enough dexterity and would also last more than few weeks.

HWI Combat Glove (Tan version)

Features:

• 9oz Kevlar® Fire resistance and cut resistance on back of hand.
• .8mm high grade aniline goatskin.
• Dynamic knuckle and hand protection design – high density closed cell foam.
• Contour cut design – wrapped finger.

Price range: 45 – 60 USD / 30 – 40 GBP

If you have worked outdoors without gloves for a while you will understand why some people want to wear gloves when screwing, fixing, and doing any other tasks that Field Technicians working pretty much in any field might come across.

Why should Field Technician & Journeyman – Mechanics wear gloves?

• When you work outdoors all residue, oil lubricating materials, dust that have accumulated over time on parts that you are fixing sticks to your fingers – and it’s not only “nice” stuff like dust, most of the time it’s some sort of nasty chemical or oil ar residue from exhaust fumes. All that stuff is toxic and some of that stuff is hard to get off.
• Health, when you work as Field Technician you Travel and visit various sites, you meet different people – “rednecks”, “junkies”, “mad scientists”, “dirty …”. You are going in their territory and touching things that they were touching. If you don’t wear gloves you can easily get something nasty, or something as unnoticeable and regular as for example warts from touching something what might have human papilloma virus (HPV).
• Wind chill – Dry Cracked Skin on fingers. If you get this it’s painful, over time cracks get deeper and your wife will definitely not like your touches anymore. After you have got this your only solution is to use Neutrogena, Norwegian type or other moisturising creams for a week or more. And that means constantly being with oils greasy hands for all this time until your hands heal. Why would you like to eat Ice Cream and Chocolate with glycerine particles on it for so long…

So question is – why you don’t wear gloves, not why you should wear gloves.

Some people decide not to wear gloves because they think gloves are uncomfortable or decreases dexterity and makes work more difficult.

Yes, it is a problem to find the right gloves, but it’s possible to find something that helps you and in some situations work very well indeed.

We have tried Mechanix textile base technician gloves, and found they don’t last very long – textile disintegrates once you work with something sharp as connectors or screws. They have very competitive price and they will suite mechanics that don’t work with small and sharp parts.

Then we tried Blackhawks HOT OPS™ Ventilated hot weather gloves, and found that they have great dexterity and they are very well ventilated, but they are also almost entirely made of textile and it doesn’t last very long if you work with small and sometimes sharp parts. These are more suitable for shooting guns as they have high dexterity and keeps you comfortable in warm weather.

So after these tests we concluded:

• Rubber gloves are not an option.
• Textile gloves are not a long-term option.
• Thick leather gloves are not an option.
• We need to look at Goatskin leather and all round leather fingertips.

And after some research we came across company HWI and their Combat Glove that had all round leather fingertips.

How do these all round leather fingertips look after few month use?

When you will first get these gloves it will take a week or so to “wear in” as they are mostly made out of leather and straight out from factory it will be a bit stiff, so for first weeks you probably won’t enjoy much dexterity, but once they are softer you will be able to feel it.

Goatskin is quite thin, and you can feel very well through it after a while and it also don’t disintegrate upon scratches from cable end or sharp screw straight away.

Are these gloves warm?

No, you will feel thin leather / textile barrier and wind protection, but there is no extra padding or insulation. They are not for outdoor work in low temperatures, it could be comfortable down to -10 C, but probably at -15 C you will start to feel need for thicker gloves.

Are these gloves waterproof?

No, if you will work with wet pipes or in wet grass your hands will quickly get wet.

Will they protect my fingers from getting smashed?

No, if cardboard box with heavy metal parts (10+kg) will fall on your fingertip from low height(10 – 20cm) it will get smashed, but blood will stay inside the glove… guess how we found out that… 😦

These gloves will give you thin leather layer around your fingertips – like “second skin” that picks up all the nasty stuff, but no extra structural strength at all.

The only extra protection you have is around knuckles – it’s simply impossible to scratch, hit or in any other reasonable accidental way damage your knuckles with these gloves, after all these are designed for Military use.

How long they will last and what is their weakest point?

We don’t know how long they will last because ours are still operational though we know that first place where they will wear out will be leather at the fingertips – not the stitching, stitching is strong and high quality – we managed to wear out goatskin leather itself. So you can assume that depending on how and where you use them they will last as long as goatskin leather will last. (You can see sample of wear in photo above.)

Are they any good for driving?

These are leather gloves with tight fit – if you like to wear leather gloves with tight fit while driving then they will be fine – grip is great and feel is also great, but they are a bit too warm for indoor use. Also if you use these gloves as protective layer from all the nasty stuff you work with while driving all that nasty staff will be transferred to steering wheel and dashboard. But, Yes – they are comfortable while driving for short time and provides confidence of controls.

Are they good for Truck Driver – as for securing load?

No.. and Yes for some – maybe… They are relatively thin and provide very high dexterity so your fingers might feel more than you would like while tightening straps.

Are they good for climbing?

Haven’t tested on cliffs, but on metal structures in mild weather conditions – Yes, they are quite good. They have tight fit, quite tight wrist “loop-closure”, and high dexterity that allows you to reach and feel things you might be necessary while climbing some tower like structure. So might be as an alternative option for light work rigger or industrial climbers.

 

Conclusions.

Overall we found that these gloves are the best from the ones we tested – they seems to be comfortable, have high dexterity and last longer than others. They have great built quality and they are built with dexterity and quality in mind.

Even though they were designed to pull a trigger, you might find them comfortable and protective while stretching into engine compartment of gold digging machinery in Alaska and crawling though communication shafts in New York.

Where to buy them?

If you live in North America you can get them from HWI Gear directly.

If you live in Europe or UK you will need to Google for them and go through military gear suppliers, like for example UK Tactical.

Manufacturer: www.hwigear.com