My first problem is I have large hands and most stores don't carry XL it seems. Then, I seem to wear them out quite quickly. Deer skin: forget it; they are soft for sure but they don't last a month before I put a hole in them. Cowhide, pigskin, and goat are all better but it seems like I'll find a good one that will last a while and when I try to buy the same brand I either can't find it or if I do the next pair doesn't seem to last. So what do you think? Anyone else have this problem too?
I sure do. I'm 6'4 and weigh 210 and my hands look like a ham, so gloves don't fit me well. I found out a few years back that if I get a new pair of pigskin gloves and put them on then wash my gloved hands till the gloves are soaked and keep them on till dry they fit great, coarse it doesn't bother me to do that but would drive most people crazy. I also wear deck, or boat shoes all the time and I walk down into the pool with them on and wear till dry, it makes them custom fitted.
The split cowhide gloves that Northern/ TSC/ Lowes, ect sell won't nearly fit my hands and that is a shame as the price is good on them. Later, Nat
Have not found anything bigger than XL work gloves. Most are WAY to small for me. XL's used to fit ok, but not any more. I think sizing has changed a bit over the years...
I contacted a couple of glove companies about this. Interestingly, they are making more small gloves than larger ones. Some offer XS gloves. They claimed many folks of Latino or Asiatic heritage have smaller hands, and that is a growing market segment. One company, West County , makes some really nice gloves. But, they would not even entertain making a few pair of custom size gloves for me.
Gary over on TBN found XXL gloves at TSC sometime back. I would have to look through my PM's to find the info if interested...
I take that back... Just checked West County's web page; they now offer XXL gloves. I'm going to order some!
I too find precious few size XL gloves that fit well and even fewer XXL gloves that are decent. I see a lot of younger folks my size and larger (I haven't shrunk but there are a lot of LARGE people now.) I'm only 6'2" and 240lbs but see lots of bigger folks nowdays. I don't know where they get their gloves. It must be a well guarded secret or they have unusually small hands for their body size. Talking to sales folk and managers at various stores HAS NEVER HELPED. The closest to help I got was, "sometimes they send us some XXL." W H O O P E E maybe some time I will be there soon enough after their arrival to buy some. They keep pretty well. I'd buy a dozen to make life simpler.
Don't you really hate gloves with the fingers too short? Several of so called XXL gloves are huge and way too lose fitting (think tents by Omar) but the fingers are short. Do they think large folks are proportioned weird? My hands are just larger than most folks NOT STRANGELY PROPORTIONED. If anyone scores a lead to decent XXL gloves, share the info. There are lots of us out here with larger than average mits.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Nat's trick with the water is a time-tested method of getting leather things to fit well. Back in da sixties when military combat boots were still made of leather I got this word of advice from a Gunny Sgt. that was a lifer: "When you get new boots, you put them on with two pair of socks and wear them in a hot shower till they are soft and squishy. Then you wear them that way....even to bed.....until they are completely dry." He claims he never raised a blister in his twenty years in The Corps. I do that with new leather boots even today, although I just soak them real good in H.W. and wear them that day....not to bed like Gunny did. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] And it IS TRUE about Mexicans having small hands. We had guys whose hands were too small to grasp the outside diameter of 4" aluminum pipe like they use for moveable sprinkler systems. We had to provide a clamp so they could hold the pipe, otherwise the sprinkler and riser would roll to the bottom and drag on the ground, damaging the sprinkler. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
CJDave
Ahh -- you guys with ham sized hands complaining all the time - ehh! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Well just to be fair there is us little short fat people with small hands, small feet and short arms and legs. Just try and cover those with stuff that fits and looks good! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
CJDave, Leather combat boots in the 60's??? I never really liked the VN jungle boots. I fould the drain holes let in more than they let out but the anti-punji stik steel layer was good for nails and such aroud construction.
I still have a pair of leather "jump boots" that I bought at the BX during basic training in 1963. They are still not worn out. I had the tread (what little they had) ground off the soles and a second sole with heel installed over the original sole. It is a Vibram Montagna lugged hiking/climbing sole. the boots are too heavy for hiking but were just the ticket for dirt biking. They realy support your ankles and the double soles offer great protection from rocks and such. Having boots older than most of my contractors gives certain bragging rights when they start bragging aboiut their years of experience.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Well I used to buy my leather gloves from Green Mountain after hearing about them in a Yankee Magazine article. I used to cut and burn my own wood (6-8 cord/year) and I used them. They probably lasted longer than any I have found, but they are pricey. The fit is right though; I used to send them an actual tracing of my hand. The last time I bought them I was splitting a chunk of wood and somehow got the finger of one of my brand-new gloves caught between the wood and the wedge and it sheared a neat slice out of the glove. I was so mad at myself! It wasn't the glove's fault, but after that I decided to buy the cheap gloves as I found them; I wouldn't feel so bad wrecking a brand-new $8 pair of gloves, but slicing that brand new pair of $30+ gloves killed me!
http://www.greenmountainglove.com/
DMF and rest -
You guys have been talking about the first part of the question, big hands. I need to know about the 2nd part: long lasting gloves.
I'm sick and tired of my $8 gloves lasting 2 weeks. And I even bought some of those Ironman gloves that lasted all of 2 1/2 weeks!
Any more ideas on top of the greenmountainglove site?
Thanks,
Martin
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