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OFF-ROAD & WINCHING GLOVES
Luckily for us 4x4 enthusiasts there is a wealth of information about off road driving and the use of recovery equipment such as winches. On this site alone we have a whole host of articles on this very subject (click here) by some of the best names in the business.
Also, when it comes to buying and trying off road gear, there are hundreds of retailers, clubs and off road centres out there that can advise you and supply your needs.
Most of us too understand the need to act responsibly and carefully when off roading, especially when it comes to looking after the safety of ourselves and others. While many paragraphs have been devoted elsewhere to off road safety, the advice can be summarised quite simply as:
- Understand what difficulties and dangers you are trying to overcome and don’t attempt the impossible or foolhardy
- Use the right tools and equipment, correctly rated and in good condition for the job at hand
- Plan and learn in advance how to use your equipment correctly
- Don’t take shortcuts and unnecessary risks
- Always have a backup plan to summon help straight away if things go wrong
Perhaps its human nature to overlook the little things that can make a big difference, but there are some areas of offroad equipment that are almost always overlooked and yet could protect us from the most likely causes of injury.
Top of this list must be Gloves. Not a very exciting subject I’m sure you’ll agree but ask yourself which part of your body is constantly at risk when using offroad equipment? It has to be your hands and fingers! Just take a glance at a few of the hazards below and you’ll soon see what we mean:
- Rusty barbed wire hidden in undergrowth or temporary fences
- Muck, Stings, Barbs and Bites from your local flora and fauna!
- Skin punctures and tears from stray strands on steel wire rope
- Cuts and bruises from knives and hand tools
- Fingers and flesh nipped in pulley blocks and rollers
- Fingers ripped off (especially if wearing rings)
- Burns from hot exhausts and overheating equipment
- Friction burns especially from winch ropes
Not a very nice list but surprisingly common injuries that more often than not could result in a trip to your local casualty, if only for a Tetanus Booster.
Good gloves are essential when handling wire rope
Simple solution then, off you go down the local DIY shop and buy a pair of gardening gloves – problem sorted. Well not quite actually, garden gloves offer limited protection and are certainly better than nothing but lets translate that list of hazards into a list of desirable glove properties and see how they shape up.
Firstly, look at the first three hazards above. These are mostly caused by a puncturing action, allowing the sharp point to penetrate both glove and flesh.
The fourth hazard derives from the slicing and cutting action of very sharp blades, saws or shears such as those that might be used for trimming, chopping and shaping. Even Machetes, Billhooks and Sickles find their way into an offroader’s kit for tackling dense undergrowth and overgrown tree branches.
Bruises of course can originate from a variety of causes but typically the culprit is a poorly aimed hammer or a slipped spanner causing a severe blow to the hand (usually the knuckles – ouch!)
Snagging and pinching hazards listed are usually the result of getting hands and fingers too close to moving parts or caught on a snag. Rings on fingers are particularly dangerous for this and can rip off fingers at worst. Occasionally, a rope, gear or other piece of machinery will move unexpectedly and again flesh and fingers can get caught.
Burn injuries can stem not just from hot parts, but also from moving ropes. Generally speaking, if you are getting a friction burn from a rope, the damage is already done by the time your reactions tell you to let go!
Summarising these, good gloves need to give excellent protection against:
- Punctures
- Cuts
- Blows
- Rips and Tears and Snags
- Burns
- Cold and freezing surfaces
On top of this, gloves need to be
- Hardwearing
- Strong
- Flexible
- Close but not a tight fit
- Good at gripping
As you can see, this is quite a shopping list for a simple pair of gloves to handle!
The very best gloves can match all these requirements and do so by combining clever design with carefully selected materials.
Surprisingly, Leather is still one of the best materials around to give good; first line protection on a glove. Its bulk and tenacity make it excellent at resisting punctures and blows and properly treated and preserved it maintains its suppleness and flexibility. It is hardwearing and resists abrasion as well as mild heat or freezing cold surfaces. In this applications Leather far outperforms rubber (natural and synthetic), PVC and Cotton gloves
However, Leather alone offers only limited protection against cuts, tears, rips and high temperatures. If you want to tackle these head on you have to go to the opposite end of the technological spectrum and use Kevlar, the space age stuff that stab and bullet proof vest are made of!
Kevlar is an amazing man made material. It is incredibly strong and can resist even a surgical scalpel. We were astonished when we found for ourselves that only repeated cuts in exactly the same place with a new Stanley knife could produce frayed fibres. Its incredible tenacity means it is often used for stitching where high strength and long lasting seams are required. Added to this, it can resist temperatures of hundreds of degrees.
As you can imagine, combining leather and Kevlar in a safety glove can produce an outstanding combination of just the right properties needed for an Off Roader.
But as we mentioned, finding the right materials is only half the solution. They have to be combined in the right way and with the right design to offer full protection.
Firstly, Kevlar should be used throughout the glove, preferably as an internal liner to give 100% coverage of the entire hand. Stitching too should be Kevlar to guarantee rot proof, long lasting and very strong seams.
Leather should cover the entire palm, thumb and fingers to give complete protection to the working area of the hand without any gaps. The leather should be reasonably supple but not too thin. If you can push the point of a nail through without too much effort the Leather is just not tough enough.
Equally the leather should extend around the back of the thumb and first finger (the digits that give you your pinching action and the first to be in the line of fire) to completely enclose them. The other fingers should be protected by leather all the way round the tips to at least the first joint of the finger. To allow maximum flexibility and comfort leather does not have to be present across the entire back of the glove but the knuckles must definitely be protected across their width. Omitting small areas of leather from low risk areas on the back of the hand also allows for some elastication to be built in, thus improving fit.
When you choose your gloves you must pay particular attention to the fit as well. Too loose and they will fall or pull off, give poor grip and be uncomfortable to wear. Too tight and you will not be able to pull your hand out in an emergency if the gloves gets drawn, pinched or trapped by moving parts.
Kevlar gloves are also useful for handling other materials such as sheet steel
Having all this information to hand, we set out to find a glove that met all these requirements. We sampled many types of glove from several specialist manufacturers. Anyone visiting our offices would have found the sight of so many gloves strewn around as very odd, especially since we were trying them on indoors in a heat wave!
It will be no surprise to know that gloves such as those we wanted were not available on the High Street or even the largest DIY warehouses. Equally, you can’t buy them for under £5 unlike cheap but inferior gardening or rigging gloves. In fact, some specialist industrial safety gloves can cost upwards of £40. Whilst these are undoubtedly the best that money can buy, at these prices many will be deterred from purchasing. The gloves we finally selected for our new online store can be purchased for less than £20 a pair, not cheap but then again neither are new hands and fingers! Here’s a brief specification you can use to compare them with others:
- Medium weight 100% Kevlar lined
- Kevlar stitching
- High Quality Leather protection to fingers, palms, thumbs and knuckles
- Elasticated for good fit
- Excellent cut and puncture resistance
- Safety cuff finish
- High levels of thermal protection
- Heat resistant up to 250 degrees C
- Industrial grade and construction
The Difflock Off-Road and Winching Glove is available at £19.99 (including VAT) + £1.50 P&P
AVAILABLE NOW! from the Difflock 4x4 Multi Store
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