All posts tagged Tactical Gloves

Frisk gloves, are their any new options?

Turtleskin glovesWe started out selling tactical apparel and tactical gear about 9yrs ago and much has changed since we first started.  Their were XENON bulbs in just about all of  our Streamlight Flashlights and now there are LED lights everywhere and XENON is a thing of the past.  The technology has so dramatically improved in the flashlight industry but now body armor and protective clothing has also.   Turtleskin gloves are made by a company called Warwick mills, they have a long history working for the Space Program and making Astronaut suits, so dealing with protective clothing and puncture resistant materials.  They make all sorts of gloves and not all of them are big and clunky like lab gloves or things that Apollo 11 had on.

Many working in the EMS world are very much aware of Hepatitis C and HIV, and sadly there have been a lot of Police and Ambulance personnel that have lost their lives or had life altering things happen when contracting these.    There are 2 styles of Turtleskin gloves that we are selling and they have quickly outsold the Hatch gloves that we were selling a few years ago.  The Alpha and Bravo gloves do feel very different and they are almost a 2 type of season glove.   We realize nobody is going to wear these all  year long but it’s nice to know that the Bravo Turtleskin gloves have a much more comfortable feel in hot weather and Alpha is better suited for colder weather.  See our online store for sale, discounts and promos on these items.

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Great Deals for combat or paintball gloves

I’m amazed at how many operators and military persons do not use any kind of fancy tactical gloves.   What amazed me was the number of people that are using gloves that you get in a sports store.  The truth of the tactical glove market is nobody wants to wear something where they can barely feel there hands.  For products where a cop has to worry about needles sticking them with hepatitis C or HIV, they they need frisk gloves like the turtleskin Alpha or Bravo gloves.  Sure you can shoot firearm with frisk gloves on but nobody is going to like that.   Many snipers do not want gloves to cover their trigger fingers  and most of the time those areas of the gloves get cut off.

We don’t know the real story on why Eotac disappeared but one of the casualties to the Eotac and Woolrich Elite history were the Vickers tactical gloves.   The Vickers duty gloves were barely on the market, but now word has gotten out and people are using  them as paintball gloves as well as what their intended purpose was.  These gloves were very well received and once Eotac acquired these gloves and then went out of business they are starting to disappear.   We have a large selection of the duty gloves but the OD green colors are dry up quickly.  Who knows if anyone will make them in the future but your best bet is to get them while you can.

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Adding tactical gear you can really use

When people talk about tactical gear, it usually pertains to the stuff they are hanging off of their M4.  One of my biggest pet peeves in the  tactical accessory market is something I refer to as the tactical gear snag.   I have torn tactical pants in the kitchen of my home because the pockets get caught on everything that a kitchen has to offer, and slings, pressure switches ect are all extra things that get caught on the same things, I’m definitely not a fan of pressure switches because if you have the right size flashlight and mount it in the right position, you should  be able to turn it off and on with your finger without the need for running wires.

One thing that I have found to not be a drawback are gloves, having a good set of tactical gloves like the Larry Vickers tactical gloves from Eotac, will not be as heavy and hard to feel like Kevlar gloves and the Vickers tactical gloves can be customized to what you want with your trigger finger.   If you do not like the idea of  having your trigger finger wrapped in a glove, you can cut these down to where you want your trigger finger to be exposed and the glove will not fray or fall apart.  This will work for left or right handed shooters.

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Matching guns to gun cases

I am a strong believer in marking all of your gear, not just because you need to have your name on it, but it’s a good to keep your stuff well organized so you don’t run into an “aw shit” moment when you didn’t pack up something vital for your daily events.  I just spent a weekend hanging out with someone that locked up all of his guns, but didn’t keep all of the keys together and couldn’t open up one of the gun cases.   I suggest people have a range bag to keep tools and range magazines in and then a good tactical vest.   The reason I suggest these is it’s best to really keep putting everything in the same place and know that every time you go to the range, items A and B are always with you, and then bring whichever gun or ammunition you need.

I always match the rifle case to the gun and leave the magazines or the bare minimum of 3-5 of them inside the case pockets.   Sight in tools are always in my tactical vest along with ear plugs, shooting glasses and even a small bottle of bug spray.   I wear my Eotac Style 101 vest under some of my hunting jackets just because it’s a little bit of an overkill for hunting, but it has everything I need in it.   I keep field dressing gloves, tactical gloves and elbow pads in this, also.

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Breaking down doors may mean it’s time to wear gloves

My favorite part of these competitions is see who packed there gear the best.   I remember all of the arguing about which gun was better and which calibers were better in a firefight, but in reality, the guy that can supress his enemy will eventually be able to overcome them.  There’s always the 6’5″ 220lb guy that shows up with a battle rifle and is able to pull off the task, but he’s rarely in the top scorers in the close quarters fights.  Nobody want to get hit with any caliber bullet and putting more bullets in a target is better than the mythological one shot stopper rounds.

Last weekend we attended a Zombie shoot here in New York State where competitors from around the Country showed up for this fun event.   I enjoy going to these events because not only do we get a more diverse crowd of people there, it’s basically a live fire gun show and I got to use my tactical gloves on the firing line.   You can witness just about any type of optic for long range shooting or close quarters combat and get to watch the competitors challenge there skills and weaponry. At some of the faster paced or group competitions, another issue arose. Every other guy had an issue with hot brass flying down his shirt or burned his hand on hot brass or a hot firearm.  Now we’re getting to another realty of why it’s a good idea to pack the right gear and inlude a good pair of tactical gloves.

 

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Watch out for some of those hunting gloves

Now is the time  of year when most of us that go hunting will walk into our favorite sporting goods store and see an entire section devoted to us.   After having the fortunate experience of seeing some of the new A-Tacs camoflauge from Eotac at the New Jersey Police and Security Expo, I wasn’t impressed with most of the camflauge I saw at Cabelas and Dick’s Sporting Goods.   The hard thing about chosing camo is that up here in the Northeast, we have serious changes in patterns and colors from year to year.  There are times when the Fall leaves don’t change and you still have to keep your green camo on.   Other times you need your light brown and possible white mixture to fit in with a snowy background.

Every year I am in the hunting section trying to see if anything new an appealing is out, I see the same fingerless gloves that I wore almost 20yrs ago.   These are sold as hunting gloves but they aren’t tactical gloves.   I have personally seen people jam firearms because frayed strings and materian got jammed up in an AR15 magazine from the thumb area of the glove.   Fingerless gloves are very practical for hunting because they give you some level of warmth, but do not interfere with your feel of a firearm.   Are they hunting gloves or tactical gloves? Much of the padding on the thumb areas are meant for gripping a firearm, but if you use it to load bullets into a magazine, you have to make sure that you aren’t potentially wearing on the actual woven fabric and not pressing on the the padding.   I ruined a pair of fingerless gloves that I had after 5yrs of hunting with them,  by just using them for 2 range sessions with semi-auto handguns and rifles.

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Some range observations about tactical gloves

I always had issues with using gloves with firearms which stems from my young adult hunting experiences.   The gloves you thought you needed for a hunting trip wouldn’t fit in the trigger guard.  Not only was this a safety issue, it was uncomfortableto hold the firearm because you actually had to squeeze harder just to get through the fluffy texture of the gloves.  The tactical gloves have different applications.  Some are full length which goes up the forearm, mid-lengths are a little shorter, and then there are shorter gloves that basically just cover the hand.   The thing you have to think about is these slight differences are about as relevant as wearing long pants, lightweight pants, and wearing shorts.

The only real difference that I find relevant to what type of tactical gloves to wear are fingerless or full coverage gloves.   Actually, there is one more thing to consider.   Many of the guys that work in tactical operations want the trigger finger glove cut off and this is something else to think about when selecting your gloves.  The Vickers tactical gloves have various cut off points for trigger fingers and will not split or tear beyond that point.   The A106 Duty gloves are only available in black, but the A107 are much a little heavier and give you more wrist coverage.  These will elimnate the need for changing out the trigger guard on your AR15 or M4 variant.

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Operator Gloves and others

Vickers GlovesI still remember the days when I thought that fingerless gloves were tactical gloves, well they kinda sorta are in some ways.     It’s good to always know why you really need gloves because there is no such thing as a do it all glove.   Some gloves are going to be big and bulky because if they aren’t your fingers are going to freeze up and fall off when its reall cold out.   If you’ve ever noticed, most of the Com-bloc firearms have larger trigger guards for this very purpose.

Hunting gloves are not very descriptive because they can pretty much mean anything.   Loading a shotgun with just about any winter glove is possible, but try loading .223 bullets in a magpul P-mag and you’ll wish you could just use your bare hands.  Vickers Gloves are designed by the well known firearms instructor and these are hands down the best full coverage tactical glove we’ve tried.   Tactical gloves like this will protect you from a level of debris and heat and yet you’ll still be able to feel every millimeter of your trigger pull as well as every button and lever on your AR15.

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Serving a purpose

Vickers GlovesReasons for wearing gloves are as numerous as reasons people wear a shirt, pants, vests or jacket.   We have jeans and sneakers for one situation and a suit and tie for others.    A citizen carrying a gun won’t want to look like a Cop and everyone knows that Police wear uniforms most of the time.   Gloves can be used to keep hands warm in the Fall, and other gloves are heavier for Winter weather.   Tactical gloves can mean fingerless gloves, but fingerless gloves might be hunting gloves.

Well here’s one more stick in the fire.   What kind of glove do you need to be able to load bullets in a magazine and still be able to pick up a quarter, open doors and not get your finger caught in the trigger guard on your AR15? How many of your regular hunting gloves or winter gloves will hold up?  Larry Vickers Gloves are known in the firearm industry and the new Duty gloves are not as long as the Vickers Mid-length gloves, but they have the same durability and feel.    I think it takes some time to get use to wearing gloves while operating a firearm, but for $30 these are a great option to have in your range bag or tactical vest.

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Combat Gloves while at work

Vickers Duty GloveDesigned by Larry Vickers, a retired career special operations soldier and firearms expert, Vickers gloves are true operator grade gear. The Vickers Duty glove is a shorter companion to the Mid-Length combat glove that has been on the market.

When you are feel the need to use glove while using a firearm, you may not want something just to keep your hands warm. The new Vickers Duty Glove will be want you need. The glove offers protection of your hands while your on duty. The palm of the Vickers Duty Glove is artesian table cut from a selected grade of water repellent Goatskin. The construction of the palm and fourchettes (sides of the fingers) is functionally curved and fully adjustable for an enhanced grip and tactility. The back of the hand is 100% precision stretch polyester. This highly breathable soft-shell is enhanced with a durable water repellant finish; Tricot lined.

 

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