Gloves

[WVBill]

I haven't seen a discussion of this important piece of safety equipment but I can attest to it's value.

About a month ago I had rented a post hole digger and was in the process of returning it, late on Saturday, by myself, tired and in a hurry. I was dragging it off the back of my pickup myself and as it came off the tail gate the boom and gear housing did a perfect nut cracker imitation on my left index finger. Fortunately, I was wearing my gloves. As it was, the x-ray showed the tip of my finger smushed out to about dime-size with about a 3/8" laceration that, fortunately did not require stitches. I'm quite sure that my glove saved my finger tip and had I not been wearing them you might be calling me "Stumpy" now.

Anyway, that was a lead-in to ask what kind of gloves people use. Mine are fairly inexpensive Wells Lamont kidskin. I find them comfortable, flexible and not too hot.

 

[Soundguy]

I usually us something that has leather palms and padded backs, with a gauntlet cuff, and leather fingertips.

Saved my but..err. hand many a time.

I will also occasionally wear a very tight fitting rayon? weave that has a rubber coating over the palm, and fingers. Very conforming, and leaves you 98% of your normal dexterity, whereas the larger leather gloves make me feel like I'm working inmittens.

Both have good laceration and some puncture protection.

Soundguy

 

[TerryinMD]

Yes, gloves are a must.

Depending on the types of work that I'm doing throughout the year, I can typically wear out two pairs of leather gloves. I prefer the Wells-Lamont leather gloves with either a pull strap or elastic gather at the wrist. Helps keep out the debris from the inside of the glove.

Many a splinter, burr, barb, or otherwise has been kept from my hands. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Not to mention, keeping the blisters from forming!! /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

Terry

 

[BKColeman]

I bought two pairs of Wells Lamont washable gloves at Sam's. I have never washed them but they are the most comfortable I've ever worn. Very soft and seem to hold up as well as any other leather glove I've ever owned.

I went back to Sam's a week ago to buy more and they didn't carry them anymore. That's the problem with those warehouse places, they just up and quit carrying stuff.

These had the elastic at the wrist, I prefer that to the gauntlet, which I usually end up using as a big scoop when dealing with dirt. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

--Brad

 

[Mrwurm]

Interesting comments on laceration protection. A few years ago I got my hand caught in a rope that was also caught up in my moving tractor. I ended up with broken fingers and I had to have my ring finger reattched between the nail and the nuckle. I also needed to have what they refer to as "nail beds' rebuilt and lost a few finger nails. I had never thought of it before but if I had been wearing gloves I probably would have only suffered the fractures.

Jerry

 

[RobS]

I use leather/fabric gauntlet gloves I buy by the dozen. They seem to get trashed pretty quickly, depending on what I'm doing so I just toss them when they're shot. As someone else mentioned, they do fill up with dirt which gets pretty uncomfortable.

For those in the area, ever been to B & G glove in Schoolcraft? We call it the "junk tool store" but there good deals on gloves and tarps /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[BB_TX]

The first thing I do before getting on my tractor is put on my gloves. I wear out 2 pair of leather gloves a year. Even if I only plan to mow part of the pasture, I know that I will most likely be fooling with the 3PT or dragging fallen branches, or something else which can hurt.

 

[EdKing]

I have used several different kinds of gloves. I even have a few pairs of Wells Lamont that I cut the fingers off of. Protects my palms when using tools, but leaves my fingers free for manipulating small objects. They are especially nice for roofing on a hot day, lets you lean on the hot roof and still have use of your fingers.

 

[GSS]

Sounds exactly like what I did when I was hooking up the PTO shaft from the tiller to the tractor. I rested the tiller end on the tiller frame and then tried to get the other end on the tractor. When I pulled it to line it up, the one end slid off the tiller and fell to the ground. I was holding the other end near the u-joint and got the end of my pinky good and smashed. Had to lift it off the ground with my other hand to get my finger out. No stiches or broken bones (unbelieveably), but it hurt pretty good for a few days. Probably will have a mangled nail grow back too. Anyway, the gloves definitely saved my finger. Probably would've chopped it right off. No special gloves here, just leather fingers and palms with little reinforcing.

- G

 

[centex]

I did the same trick with a PHD the first time I removed it for the tractor only I smashed three fingers and one of them was still stiff from stitches from where I smashed in a trailer hitch without gloves. I had gloves on when I smashed my hand with the PHD so I did not get any lacerations. I always try to wear gloves now. I have been buying the best all leather gloves I can find but I go through a pair or more a week so I think I will start getting the cloth ones with the leather fingers and palms. I recently tried a pair made from goat leather with padded fingers ($8 at Home Depot) but the padding was just a wadded up mess after one day and the leather still tore very quickly. I find that I quickly wear the leather out on the fingers so I mix and match gloves to get more use out of them. The $15-$20 gloves are more comfortable than the cheap gloves but I find that they don't seem to last any longer.

Years ago I went into my garage to check out a metal storage cabinet I bought on my lunch break. I had just gotten in from work an put on a pair of sandals. I am sure you can guess the rest. The doors unbeknownst me just lifted off of pin hinges and one fell off and the point of a corner landed squarely in the center of my left big toe nail. The toe nail split from side to side and bood went everywhere. The nail still give me trouble 15 years later. I now wear steel toed shoes anytime I go near tools or the garage/barn/workshop. I hate to think what a 500# tractor implement would do if it dropped on an unprotected toe.

 

[billfires]

WVBill, there are 3 pieces of eqiupment I use every time I get on the NH. Gloves, a hard hat (hit my head on roll bar when operating the BH, and wrap around safety glasses (usually dark sun glass type). The glasses have saved my eyes from branches as well as dirt (especially when pulling roots with BH). Just my thoughts on safety items.

Bill C

 

[fishman]

I generally use thinner gloves, like pigskin or split-leather, for most tasks. They are indispensible. I just purchased a pair of chainsaw gloves from Baileys.com that are very comfortable. They have cut-resistent backs and thick leather palms. I believe they were about $15.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds similar to a game my horse used to play.. It was called, "Guess my weight". While grooming the horse, this particular one would look you in the eye, and then ease his front hoof onto the corner of your foot.. Many a time I have snatched my foot out leaving the shoe, an/or sock still firmly wedged under hoof. My wife use to wear sandals out to the barn, but since playing 'guess my weight' with the horse, she wears boots or at minimum, garden clogs...

Soundguy

<font color=blue>" I hate to think what a 500# tractor implement would do if it dropped on an unprotected toe. "

 

[crawdad]

i keep many different gloves around for specific chores, surgical for changing oils or gassing up 2-strokes,comfortable leathers for mowing or BH work,cheap brown cottons for messy jobs then toss them out, i am a volunteer fireman and have begun wearing my extra set of extrication gloves lately around the shop and wonder why i had not thought about that a long time ago. just my thoughts

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>i keep many different gloves around for specific chores</font color=blue>

How many is many? I think I'm down to only 5 now./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Redfisher]

You have to be Carefull around rotating stuff with gloves on.
A guy at work got his glove caught in the big drill press and it ripped most of the meat off his hand.Now they have a picture of his hand on the wall saying Don't wear gloves at the drill press. It was one hell of a mess.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I don't wear gloves much at all. I used to never wear them except for hot things like grabbing stuff I'd just welded.

But after losing the pad on my right thumb when it gets below forty degrees the right hand gets a glove. It doesn't like the cold much.

The work I do puts my hands in places where lots of times an extra eighth of an inch is the difference between "OW!!!" and "Whew! that was close." The cuts and nicks are just part and parcel of life. My kids all learned to count by touching the owies on dad's hands.

By the same token I wear metatarsal protection boots. They cost me a hundred and seventy five a couple to three times a year but I feel naked without them. I haven't smashed a foot since I started wearing them. When folks ask about them I proudly tell them I haven't lost a foot stomping contest since I started wearing them. And I've worked around some pretty big horses too.

Welding and working mean lots of sparks flying. You learn to ignore the tingle they give you. Many has been the time when a dingleberry (little red BB of steel) has landed on exposed skin and there wasn't time or space to do anything but ignore it. Even when the smell of burning flesh almost turned the stomach. It isn't about macho. It's about work.

 

[TerryinMD]

Are extrication gloves what I think they are? /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

To be nice, cleaning up the mess from an accident.

Terry

 

[crawdad]

extrication gloves are basically gloves i wear when you dont need protection from heat or flame.
we dont see alot of structure fires but we do get loads of car wrecks.
extrication gloves are like a heavy duty "mechanix gloves" made by (ringer) i think?
very comfortable,and wear pretty well too ..........and they provide great dexterity w/the fingetips
IMO
any other volunteer fireman out there?
take care,
scott

 

[Soundguy]

I don't weld or cut much, but what always gets me is when milling or using the drill press, without fail, a piece of hot metal will always fly to my arm, etc. I don't wear loose clothes around the milling maching, usually not gloves either, and i dont like to take my eyes off the maching while it is running, so like you, Sometimes you just have to smell the burnt skin cause it may be more dangerous to react to it than to ignore it.

Soundguy

<font color=blue>"Welding and working mean lots of sparks flying. You learn to ignore the tingle they give you. Many has been the time when a dingleberry (little red BB of steel) has landed on exposed skin and there wasn't time or space to do anything but ignore it. Even when the smell of burning flesh almost turned the stomach. It isn't about macho. It's about work. "