What You Need to Know about Work Gloves

Work gloves can be the best piece of equipment that you use.  The proper pair of work gloves can save you from needless blisters and pain, increase your grip, and provide you with a bit of warmth on a cold day.  There’s almost no end to the number of tasks that gloves can be used for.  But there are a few important things to consider before purchasing your new pair of gloves.

Sizing

When choosing new work gloves, the first thing to determine is the correct size.  Unfortunately, most people wear the wrong size gloves and this can cause discomfort and fatigue.  Gloves that don’t fit properly can also restrict your motion, cause rubbing and chafing, and ultimately be more of a hindrance than a help. 

The first thing you need to know is the size of your hand and to correctly measure the size of your hand, you’ll need a tape measure.  On your dominate hand, measure the circumference of the palm by wrapping the tape measure from the palm out to your pinky, around to your thumb, and back to your palm.  This will give you your hand size in inches.  

Below are some “standard” gloves sizes from our friends at Kinco gloves but be advised that each manufacturer’s glove size varies slightly.

Adult Size	Men’s	Women’s	Children’s	Age	Measurement
XS	6”-7”	5”-6”	Kid’s	3 yrs-6yrs	5”-6”
S	7”-8”	7”-8”
M	8”-9”	8”-9”	Youth’s	6yrs-12yrs	6”-6 1/2”
L	9”-10”	9”-10”
XL	10”-10 1/2”
XXL	10”-11 1/2”

The Right Glove for the Job

The next step is to pick the appropriate glove for the task at hand.  Sure you can wear a Rocky Thinsulated, waterproof glove to pull the weeds from your yard but there are better choices.  For this project consider a Forney Economy Work Glove or a Carhartt suede work glove, both designed to handle the rigors of daily yard work.  

Here are a few glove material types and their potential uses:

·         Canvas – Yard work, concrete projects

·         Cotton – light yard work, gardening, painting, handling insulation

·         Leather – Heavy yard work, construction, electrical projects, woodworking

·         Rubber/Latex – painting, working with spills and chemicals

Some gloves offer various features such as rubber dots for increased grip, gel inserts for shock absorption, and protective lining for working with high heat or electrical applications.

As you know, we here at Bridgeport Equipment pride ourselves on offering you the finest premium products on the market.  We carry a variety of glove manufacturers including Carhartt, Rocky, Bob Dale, & Boss.  We are proud to announce that we will soon begin carrying Kinco gloves.  Kinco gloves are known for their meticulous design and great ergonomic hand comfort.  You may have recognized the Kinco gloves that have appeared on multiple episodes of Gold Rush on Discovery Channel or Railroad Alaska on Destination America.