On our never-ending quest to improve this place by listening to feedback from the B&B, we are taking a new tack with these product posts, choosing instead to focus on items we use and have purchased with our own meagre income. After all, if we’re giving you the truth about cars, we ought to give you the truth about car accessories.
One of the great common threads which helps hold this place together is the fact that both our writers and readers tend to work on their own cars. With that in mind, we’ll be revisiting one of the very first topics covered in our Stuff We Use series – work gloves.
Even new readers or those just getting into the arena of car repair can benefit from a sturdy set of gloves. These are items which will be useful around just about every area of the house, by the way, not just out in the garage. Whilst there are plenty of people who scoff at donning a set of gloves, the reality is that the things can save a lot of hassle and be helpful in some situations.
Given the marketing machine behind the Mechanix brand, a type of glove which shows up everywhere from NASCAR pits to NHRA drag strips, it should surprise exactly no one that this author has a set of them on his workbench out in the garage – and has so done for more than a decade. These are the ‘original’ line of gloves, doing a decent job of keeping grime at bay thanks to a synthetic construction which is breathable. A skiff of extra reinforcement at the index finger and thumb is helpful since those two digits generally receive the brunt of abuse during the spinning of fasteners or torquing of breaker bars.
Range of motion with these gloves is fine, though extra materials for finger protection and knuckle padding is exchanged for a slimmer design. This is a trade-off one needs to make in order to still be able to slide a hand into that vanishingly small space where that friggin’ bolt is hiding. Mechanix offers different styles of its gloves with rubber-like material on high-impact locations like knuckles and the back of fingers.
These gloves always have a small Velcro strap on the cuff which helps keep the glove in place instead of sliding off at the most inopportune time. In my experience, it’s a good idea to buy one size up from what you think you’ll need, as a set of size L gloves from this brand barely cover the bottom of my palm. Most of us with decent sized gams will need at least an XL.
Speaking of cuffs, a pair of gloves from Kong found their way onto my garage a few years ago, thanks to the Christmas season. Unlike the original-style Mechanix gloves, these chunky brutes have huge finger and knuckle guards which is great impact absorption. Hewn from a cut-resistant material, the palm has four layers of material and is treated for liquid resistance. This makes sense since these gloves are targeted at workers in the oil patch. A rough and sandpaper-esque surface make them great for gripping oil filters and other slippery surfaces.
Cuffs are worth talking about because the ones on Kong gloves are high and fitted, meaning they go well up over my wrist and stay in place without complaint. Even though most gloves from the Kong brand are intended for riggers on oil platforms and not mechanics in the garage, I still feel they have a place at that task in a great number of situations. All the stout finger and knuckle protection does preclude them from practical use in tight spots. They’re also my go-to when driving a side-by-side or riding an ATV. Perhaps that’s just out of habit.
As planned, this series of posts will continue to focus on items we actually use and have bought with our own money. We hope you found this one helpful.
[Images: eBay]
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