3 factors to help you understand and select firefighter gloves

Of all the clothing items worn by firefighters, perhaps the most misunderstood items are the gloves. Among garments, footwear and helmets, they are considered the throwaway item of the protective ensemble and are often given little consideration in their purchase.  

But hand protection during firefighting is so important! Burns and other injuries to the hand, though lessened over the years, still represent a significant proportion of all injuries. Where there are complaints about the different elements of the protective ensemble, often gloves top the list. Complaints include them being too bulky or too restrictive on hand movements. 

Hand protection challenge:

Protecting firefighters' hands from hazards is actually a relatively difficult challenge. This, combined with our reliance for working with our hands in a variety of tasks during firefighting, imposes tough trade-offs for permitting hand function while providing insulation from heat and protection from physical hazards.

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In contrast, protecting the other parts of the body — such as torso, arms, legs and feet — with other items of clothing is significantly easier. To gain good protection, hand function and hand comfort is often reduced. This challenge has focused the glove industry to be creative with its selection of materials and development of designs.

Material selection:

Gloves use the same principles of layering materials as applied to garments. Firefighting gloves employ the same functional three-layer construction as turnout gear. For gloves, there is a shell, which may be either leather or textile. Inside the shell is a moisture barrier or barrier layer that may be separate or combined with a thermal lining.

All layers must work together to provide protection to the hands. However, in the selection of these layers there are trade-offs that dictate the use of certain materials to limit the reduction of firefighter dexterity, grip, and tactility.

Design considerations:

As great an impact as the selection of materials might be for glove function, glove design cannot be overlooked. There are several different ways that gloves can be constructed that relate to the way the fingers and thumb are set in the glove pattern. Seam location is critical in affecting hand function because inappropriately placed seams can cause poor fit and hand function.

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