Best Leather Gloves?

[Jack_Knife_Ben]

What are the favorite leather gloves around here? I've been looking for a good pair for a while and figured you all would be the right group to ask. Let's see em!

 

[Observe]

I kind of cheap out on my gloves. I wear leather gloves in the winter but they're usually from the mall or some other local store, nothing exciting. I beat the crap out of my gloves so having a "nice" pair is not really something that interests me right now. I'm sure someone around here knows about good gloves, though.

 

[Jack_Knife_Ben]

I kind of cheap out on my gloves. I wear leather gloves in the winter but they're usually from the mall or some other local store, nothing exciting. I beat the crap out of my gloves so having a "nice" pair is not really something that interests me right now. I'm sure someone around here knows about good gloves, though.

That's been my approach as well but have ruined a few cheaply made pairs. So looking for something durable and warm that will last ages, figured someone here must know!

 

[Observe]

That's been my approach as well but have ruined a few cheaply made pairs. So looking for something durable and warm that will last ages, figured someone here must know!

I hope to glean some information here myself.

 

[Al 916]

Have a read through this one.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gloves.106023/

 

[Jack_Knife_Ben]

Have a read through this one.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/gloves.106023/

Thank you!

 

[sal]

Not sure what your use would be.
I like Crud for work. I also like Hestra and Givr.

 

[Damon141]

Maybe look for a well reviewed pair of goatskin gloves.

I can’t attest but goat seems to be a tough but thin leather, lots of work gloves are made from it.

Langlitz makes goatskin jackets directly for motorcycle use and also make the claim, you also have many of the Navy jackets of old were made from chrome tanned goatskin due to these properties and it’s known to be better resilient to water.

 

[Jack_Knife_Ben]

Not sure what your use would be.

Mostly just driving and generally keeping warm in winter! I'll look into those, thanks for the reccomendation!

 

[Daniel Veit]

I was looking myself and settled for sullivan gloves. I believe that they can be nice, but I recieved two defective pairs.
QC is pretty much nonexistant or so it seems.
Customer care pretty awful too: I emailed them on Dec. 30 - no reaction so far. I had to call Paypal for help and am hoping to get my money back.

Beware!

 

[Jack_Knife_Ben]

Beware

Thanks for the heads up. I saw them mentioned a few times in the thread linked above, so good to know.

 

[jglf]

Legendary USA sells nice made in USA goatskin and deerskin gloves. I find them to fit very well unlike some other makers who make the thumb too long and pinky too short.

 

[Observe]

I was looking myself and settled for sullivan gloves. I believe that they can be nice, but I recieved two defective pairs.
QC is pretty much nonexistant or so it seems.
Customer care pretty awful too: I emailed them on Dec. 30 - no reaction so far. I had to call Paypal for help and am hoping to get my money back.

Beware!

Damn, I was actually checking out their site earlier. I'll hold off for now.

 

[willyto]

Riding goatskin Dainese gloves. Nothing special about them as they were cheap. Still holding up after more than a decade. I have conditioned only once and it was a few months ago after I got caught up in a downpour.

Talk about patina! I wish I could do the same with jackets, stick to one or maybe a couple.

 

[Aloysius]

I can’t attest

Why are you recommending then, Florida Man? Lol

But as someone who does and has lived in harsh climates, I'd second that goat and deer make for good work gloves. I use them in hot and cold alike, actually, for things like yard work.

When it comes to staying warm though, nothing has served me better than a pair of rabbit fur lined sheepskin gloves, though when it comes to cold, mittens are almost always better than gloves.

As wools go, one of the most overlooked options is buffalo down. Think of it almost like a hardier cashmere. Extremely warm, warm even if wet, impossibly soft.

 

[Damon141]

Why are you recommending then, Florida Man? Lol
.

hey I almost had to put the heat on last night, it dropped to 72 degrees

‍this is why my wife thinks I’m crazy buying such an expensive jacket, it would kill her to know I have 3 more on the way, she’s from upstate New York and not long ago was removing ice from her windshield

 

[Aloysius]

hey I almost had to put the heat on last night, it dropped to 72 degrees

‍ this is why my wife thinks I’m crazy buying such an expensive jacket, it would kill her to know I have 3 more on the way, she’s from upstate New York and not long ago was removing ice from her windshield

She’s a wise woman!

 

[mendelboaz]

If you are looking for the absolute best, in terms of style, fit, materials, craftsmanship & durability, look no further than Churchill gloves. Their "Maverick' glove is IMO the quintessential leather glove in terms of design, and they offer it in 3 different lengths (regular, short 'police-style' and gauntlet) with a variety of lining options, as well as the option to add padding for further protection and a velcro strap for tighter fit at the wrist. The color selection is great, too. These come in at about 60 USD for the regular and short-wristed versions, with added costs as you customize them, up to over 160 USD for the padded gauntlets.

https://www.jrcglove.com/product-category/motorcycle-gloves/classic-motorcycle-gloves/

Here you can see the tan, short-wristed gloves with padding in action:

Geier is a great option as well, best to order those through TexasGoodGloves if you're from the States. I used to be all over these, until I discovered the Red Wings & Churchills, which I think are even better. The leather on Geier is thinner and less sturdy in comparison. These come in at about 60-70 USD. Here are my black unlined elkskin ropers & brown pile lined deerskin driving gloves:

Red Wing also offers both lined and unlined gloves, which I would almost expect to be made by Churchill due to the striking similarity in both style and color. These gloves are a great option for European customers, as Red Wing stores across Europe keep these stocked. The other brands I mentioned are primarily US-based. They come in at 100 EUR/100 USD.

Same pair of Red Wing 9230 lined Nutmeg gloves, new vs 5 months of use (not mine):

My personal pair:

Hestra gloves are nice as well. I have two pairs of them, but they feel much more fashion-oriented than the Red Wings or Churchills. If I had to go for a motorcycle ride or a week of camping in the forest, I'd take the Red Wings or Churchills over the Hestra's in a heartbeat. The deerskin is much softer on the Hestra's, which makes them feel more luxurious but also more like a flimsy fashion product instead of true outerwear. I don't think they would hold up to rain very well. They are hella nice and superbly comfy, though. The top ones in the pic below are 110 EUR, and the bottom ones are 170 EUR. Considering you can have the Red Wings for 100 EUR, these are not worth the price IMO. But what can I say, I just had to have them.

Here are mine:

The deerskin on the Red Wings is chrome tanned, so you'll know they will stand up very well to abuse and the elements. The Thinsulate lining on them is also super nice, soft & warm with a nice, hefty feel added to the glove yet without becoming too bulky.

If you're in Europe, the short-wristed gloves by Café Leather from Spain are also really nice. They are on the pricey side, coming in at 120-140 euros, depending on whether or not you go with the deerskin with/without the superb Kevlar lining, or the thick and supple elkskin. They do offer 15% off on your first purchase, however. Craftsmanship is outstanding, and the elkskin pair might just be my bestfitting pair of leather gloves. Here are mine in black deerskin & cream elkskin:

 

[Carlos840]

I own a few pairs from these guys and they are great:

https://sullivanglove.com/

I use the deer and goat ropers to work with, also own a pair of elk ropers and gauntlets to ride with.
Great fit, well made, no problems whatsoever.

 

[Edward]

Maybe look for a well reviewed pair of goatskin gloves.

I can’t attest but goat seems to be a tough but thin leather, lots of work gloves are made from it.

Langlitz makes goatskin jackets directly for motorcycle use and also make the claim, you also have many of the Navy jackets of old were made from chrome tanned goatskin due to these properties and it’s known to be better resilient to water.

Goat is very popular for bike gloves owing to being light and flexible yet also having significant abrasion resistance (second only to roo, as memory serves).

What gloves I would recommend depends mainly on variables of price and intended usage.

For casual wear when it's not especially cold, I have a pair of USAAF A10 pilot gloves, like these - https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/ww2-usaaf-a10-pilots-gloves.html Milspec 'officer' level leather gloves can be decent for dresswear, though not always the warmest. A warmer alternative in a similar style would be the so-called "Northern Ireland Glove" :

Not an official name, but they're popularly known as such because they were widely issued to British army troops involved in Operation Banner. Some (earlier) variations also had padded fingers. I'm old enough to remember squaddies on Belfast streets wearing these (particularly the earlier versions). Later on, via various surplus stores, they became a common sight as workwear for all sorts. Generally fairly warm for all but the harshest conditions; I wore a pair on holiday in a freezing NYC in February 2004, and they did the job well. You'll find these on eBay and in just about any UK-based surplus place of which you can think. They're the MA1 of gloves: the military design still being made years after they stopped issuing them (1995), made and sold for a civilian market.

I have a pair of work-style leather gloves from Bobhead that are very good (equally as good as lot of similar, much more expensive gloves I've had) - though I wish they'd not put the big logo on the back of them - or even, at a minimum, just embossed it without adding the black ink. Fine for casual wear, but not good with much above denim.

Helston's (a French brand) make very nice motorcycle gloves; I have a pair somewhere that are very plain, no knuckle armouting or such, so they pass as 'regular' gloves short of close inspection.

Warmest - and some of the most durable - gloves I've ever had were cheap sheekskin / sueded outer gloves that I picked up for buttons on ebay. Not the most graceful, but they did the job right across my wardrobe. This style of thing (though these are a more expensive option):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/YISEVEN-Sh...+gloves+mens&qid=1673529143&sr=8-9&th=1&psc=1

I don't have direct experience of that psrticular provider (but have bookmarked them now, I quite like the look of the forest green ones...). Those have a great look if something more formal but still very warm is desired - though I wouldn't use them for dirty work, given the roughout nature of the exterior. Cheap alternatives - which will almost always be a dark brown, if that matters - will be all over ebay. I wore gloves like these on two separate trips to Beijing in December 2010 & 2011 (along with, respectively, an ELC Irvin and a LW B3), and they performed really well when it was so cold out it would have taken your head off. Wouldn't have liked to have driven in them, but....

The ultimate, if you want class and warmth, are Dent's - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dents-Luml...ed+leather+gloves+mens&qid=1673529143&sr=8-14

I'd love a couple of pairs of these myself in due course - but very much not cheap. Ideal for daily, office wear, but pricey.

On the whole, I think the big question for @Jack_Knife_Ben is going to be the trade off between warmth and dexterity. In my experience, the warmer the glove, the more likely it is to limit fine motor skills. This might be worth thinking about in the context of wanting to wear them driving - it'll be a very personal decision what suits best there. Obviously, the enhanced fit of much more expensive gloves like the Dents will mitigate that somewhat and make the compromise easier to achieve - which again brings it back to how much you want to spend.