Sorry for the title. I won’t quit my day job.
In all my not-so many years out here, I have yet to find a decent glove - and I’ve tried many types. In almost all of them the seam either on the pinky finger, or below the thumb rips in no time. I was reading another forum where someone mentioned aviator gloves.
I’m curious - has anyone here found a decent glove that actually holds up to daily abuse?
Around this area I have seen guys use Mechanix gloves frequently.
I would think that Mechanix gloves would work fairly well. I work in the automotive industry and while I know that its not quite as demanding as the railroad world, you are working with your hands all day. I can usually get a “fair” pair of Mechanix gloves to last about a year, year and a half in my job before the fingers start to wear off. I unforunately haven’t heard of “aviators” gloves. Unless they’re talking about the nomex flight gloves that military aviators wear…
With each new pair of Company issued pigskin (?) gloves, we would turn them INSIDE/OUT before wearing them for the first time. They were more comfortable that way, and they lasted noticably longer.
My Walmart True Grip Utility Work Gloves hold up to daily abuse…and I just bought 6 pairs for $73.92 total. On average they last me 3 months a pair…
http://www.walmart.com/ip/True-Grip-Utility-Work-Gloves-Medium/14145819
Zugs:
Kinda depends on what level of manual dexterity you need plus are you looking for warmth or just hand protection. Wolverine (the boot people) make a really tough leather glove (the cloth & elastic innards die well before the leather hide does)
Around here, where we have to do pencilwork in detail outside (i.e. -fieldnotes & sketches), us mudchickens and signalmen (who deal with small nuts, screws and bolts) use surgical latex gloves under kevlar fingermittens this time of year.
I’m assuming that you’re a ground monkey and most of the glove damage comes from rungs, handrails, ladders and switchstands…
I like the $1.29 brown felt gloves sold by the dozen at Wal-Mart and in virtually every truck stop. Good finger feel, and if I get one covered with Crater Lube or lose one, so what. I carry a couple pair in my grip so if one pair gets wet I can change to dry ones.
RWM
Yep, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of handbrakes. Good handbrakes too; not wussy brakes. Lots of cutlevers, grab irons, switches, etc since I am a yard/local bird. Dexterity isn’t that important as I usually take off the gloves to make any notes.
I like gloves with padding for the brakes that are (for lack of a better word) “sharp”. I’m actually using a pair of leather driving type gloves that are doing pretty well, except the stitching is now giving up. Hence my dilemma.
And I guess the person was talking about nomex flight glove. I’m a train guy, not a plane guy, so pardon my ignorance. [:-^]
I’m looking for both heavier ones and lighter ones for both seasons. When I was on the road, any glove would last all season. But now, I go through them like a remote crew goes through switches!
My current pair of gloves that I use for fueling and doing any kind of work on a trailer have a second layer of leather in the palm and thumb, they are nice for landing gear handles that are “sharp”. Think I got them at Farm and Fleet, you may also want to look in a Tractor Supply Company for heavy duty options…
I had a decent set of firefighting gloves I used on the railroad - sort of like mechanic’s gloves, only heavier and all leather. Loved 'em, but I left them on a brake cylinder as I was detraining passengers one day and they either grew legs or are laying alongside the ROW somewhere…
Nomex aviators gloves are decent for light use - driving, etc, but aren’t really made for heavy work. I’ve had to stitch up the ends of several fingers as well as the leather facing on the palm and fingers.
I’ve got a pair of Duluth Trading’s “spare pair” gloves that I absolutely love. Not sure they’d stand up to heavy use, but moderate use they’ll handle, and they aren’t expensive. They’re warm, too, and have a deerskin palm.
I carry lined and unlined “Kinco” gloves in my grip - inexpensive, and they have reflective material and visibility coloring. Of course, I don’t beat them up like someone who is pulling brakes daily, but they seem to be OK.