Most gloves are designed with the extended, flat hand in mind. Idaho based Bear Knuckles make gloves with a double wedge design, built to fit the natural curve of the fingers. This allows their gloves to provide less resistance and fatigue when using your hands outdoors, along with better grip and a longer lifespan than flat gloves.
Bear Knuckles kindly sent me a pair of their signature Double Wedge gloves (the D351 model) all the way from the US to help keep my hands warm this winter.
I’ve never had a pair of gloves like this before. The double wedge design, providing very curved fingers and winged thumb so you have excellent movement and grip, is a bit odd looking if you’re used to thin material gloves. But they are genuinely very comfortable to wear, especially when putting your hands to good use.
Let’s face it, spending time in my garden and garage is probably as close as I’m going to get to the “work” side of things other Bear Knuckles wearers get up to, but for that they are simply perfect. I’m no bare back rider, which is where these gloves started life, or welder, and I don’t need to chop wood when at home. But I still appreciate good comfortable grip and warm hands when I’m outdoors.
I might not be a metal worker or ranch hand, but Bear Knuckles also say their gloves are ideal for more “normal” outdoor pursuits, which is where I come in. As a keen hiker and camper, I am always after a pair of gloves that work well for me, and that is what these offer me in my everyday adventures.
These will be ideal for making and breaking camp, chopping wood for a campfire, and for scrambling up rocky paths, anything where good grip and comfort make the activity much easier or more enjoyable. I mean, the number of times I’ve caught my thin cotton or polyester gloves on jagged rocks or tent pegs is shameful.
I’ve been wearing them on hikes up my local hills in all kinds of weather, as well as when gardening and moving stuff around in the garage, and while I’ve probably not been putting them through the level of activity they are designed for just yet, I am reaching for them all the time, and already trust them. I can’t wait to get up some bigger hills and more technical terrain to test these out where I think they belong – in the wilds. Helvellyn here I come!!
The double wedge gloves are made from a good quality cowhide, with minimal seams to lengthen the life of the gloves and make them as comfortable as possible – no scratchy insides here. Leather just gets softer and more comfortable with age, too.
Those leather properties also mean they are good at keeping the hands warm as they act as a wind blocker, even without any lining inside. They aren’t completely waterproof, but they are much better at keeping the rain out than a standard pair of material gloves as water won’t soak in straight away, and have the added benefit that they don’t lose their grip when wet.
And being bright yellow, if (when) I drop these they are very easy indeed to find. No more lost gloves for me! Hooray!! I’m sure the yellow isn’t for everyone, but I really like it, and they do offer more ordinary colours if you prefer…
As with leather shoes, if you’re buying wholly leather gloves you should buy tight and break them in properly. Mine are not as tight as they probably should be, I could get a pair of thin glove liners underneath if I wanted to, which isn’t what Bear Knuckles recommend… but they are super comfortable and I have no issues with the sizing myself.
I’ve noticed that Bear Knuckles make a fleece lined water-resistant version of these gloves (the D409 model) for winter use, which after the winter we’ve had here this year I’m very tempted by.
Bear Knuckles are based in the US and there is currently no UK based site, but I received my gloves in good time to my UK address with no additional charges.
Bear Knuckles kindly sent me a pair of these comfy bright yellow gloves as a gift. This is not a sponsored post.
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