Hesitant Handyman Reviews - Firm Grip Glove Roundup
Gloves are sometimes the unsung heroes of the shop environment. You don’t really realize how much they do until the day you grab a rough piece of cedar with your bare hands and wind up with a sliver in your finger. Yes, you think to yourself, if I’d been wearing gloves I wouldn’t have to be trying to track down this stupid sliver in my finger with tweezers, or worse, having to stab myself with a sewing needles trying to dig the little bugger out.
I’ve used Firm Grip Gloves for a while now–the last two pairs of gloves I’ve purchased were the General Purpose Gloves, which I’ve always been pretty happy with as far as fit and function. The folks over at Firm Grip sent me a couple of pairs of their newer gloves to review, and after getting to spend some time with them, I’m going to review them, using my experience with my current glove of choice as the bar by which I judge the others.
Disclosure: Glove links listed below are affiliate links. Additionally, the Trade Master and Pro Grip gloves included in this review were provided by the fine folks at Firm Grip for me to review. Aside from receiving the gloves for free, I was not compensated for my review and my opinions are my own. Learn more about how we utilize affiliate links to keep our content free on our Disclosures page under “Affiliate Links,” and our tool review policy under the “Free Product” section of the same page. We appreciate your support!
The Defending Champion – Firm Grip General Purpose Glove
I can’t really get into how I feel about the new gloves without giving you the rundown of what I like about my current pair.
From the manufacturer:
Firm Grip General Purpose Gloves are made with durable synthetic leather and spandex. They are designed with comfort and high performance in mind. Stretch spandex on the front of the hand and in between fingers means a perfect fit and breathable comfort on the job site or at home.
- Touchscreen compatible, save time without having to remove your glove
- Terry cloth thumb strip for quick sweat wipes
- Reinforced high wear points: Fingertip, thumb saddle for durability and strength
- Machine washable for multi-use
- Ergonomic natural pull tab makes it easy to pull gloves on and off; adjustable wrist
- Machine washable
My thoughts
These gloves had a really nice fit–they contoured my hand and fight snugly enough that I don’t notice them in most situations. The touchscreen compatible fingertip is okay; it seems to work fine for a while, then gets sketchy, but I don’t use my phone while I have my gloves on enough to really care. One of my only gripes is the wrist band interferes with how I wear my Apple Watch (This is a common complaint with basically any work glove. The issue is I wear my watch on my left hand, with the crown pointed towards my hand. By default, anything that sticks up nearby will inevitably hit the crown and/or button.
Challenger # 1 – The Trade Master Duck Canvas Glove
From the manufacturer:
Firm Grip Trademaster gloves are constructed from natural, breathable, heavy-duty cotton duck canvas for all day comfort. The durable cotton duck canvas breaks in with wear, forming to the hand. Glove material dries
quickly without stiffness when wet.
- Heavy-duty duck canvas
- Impact protection
- Quick dry
- Machine washable
- Touchscreen compatible
My thoughts
The gloves have a nice feel, though they feel like they fit a little bit looser than the gloves I’m used to. While the wrist band can still interfere with my Apple Watch buttons, the wristband is slightly longer, to the point where I can actually tuck my watch mostly inside of it. As with the General Purpose glove, it has a touchscreen compatible fingertip, which seems to work about the same. I prefer the feel of the material used in these gloves over the material used in my current gloves, however I don’t like how loose they feel comparatively.
Challenger #2 – Pro Grip Black Synthetic Leather High Performance Glove
From the manufacturer:
Firm Grip Gel Pro Grip gloves feature a sticky silicone textured palm for maximum grip. The gel padded impact zone protects without sacrificing comfort. The highly breathable stretch panel design provides excellent fit.
- Gel pro grip
- Silicone grip
- Gel impact zone
- Breathable stretch panels
- Athletic fit
My thoughts:
The fit on these were much nicer than I was expecting–where the Trade Master felt loose, the Pro Grips fit like a… well.. glove. I felt like I had less struggle with things that required manual dexterity because of the fit (picking up screws, etc). The silicone palm grip allowed me to get a better hold on objects than the other two gloves, though the wristband on these falls into the same trap as the general purpose gloves, as they don’t reach over my watch like the Trade Master does. As with both of the others, the gloves had touch screen compatible fingertips, and they work about the same as the others–the only advantage is, because of the snugger fit, it didn’t require as much effort to utilize.
The winner
While I’d been a pretty happy user of the general purpose gloves up to this point, I can safely say that going forward I will be utilizing the Pro Grips. The superior fit to my hand and increased grip in the fingers and palms made them much better for my use around the shop, and make it more likely that I’ll actually use them instead of tucking them in my back pocket while trying to pull screws out of a box.
What’s your favorite unsung hero of the shop? Do you have a favorite pair of gloves you use? Leave me a comment below!
