Summer gloves - is that padding necessary?

[Sailorlite]

I'm thinking of getting a pair of "hot weather" gloves and have looked at BMW's Airflow 2 and Held's Air gloves. Both have a lot of mesh fabric, which I understand, but both also have considerable "protective" padding on the top. My question is, what do I need protection from? Not branches, not bugs, and not really crashes, I don't think. I'm beginning to reconsider all padded gloves for RT use. Perhaps the best bet, as many have suggested, is a pair of fairly plain leather gloves, maybe with perforations. For RT riding, behind the fairing and mirrors, I think the only protection my hands need is for weather and possibly abrasion. Can I skip the padding?

[moshe_levy]

The Airflow 2s don't have much padding at all - certainly not on top of the hand. They are very thin and breathe quite well. They're about as minimal protection as I'd be comfortable with on a motorcycle. The Helds are a little more padded, but not much.

 

-MKL (...satisfied Airflow 2 user....)

[John Ranalletta]

Ask ShovelstrokeEd about the inherent value of glove padding:

 

"Many thanks to God for some fortunate decisions I made this morning and for letting me survive relatively unscathed. Decision 1 was to put on my Held Steves. They got beat up pretty bad but my hands didn't."

 

[Redbrick]

Ask ShovelstrokeEd about the inherent value of glove padding:

 

"Many thanks to God for some fortunate decisions I made this morning and for letting me survive relatively unscathed. Decision 1 was to put on my Held Steves. They got beat up pretty bad but my hands didn't."

 

I think you'll find a whole bunch of votes for the Held Steves.....Here's mine....

[Krakken]

Go outside and drag your knuckles across rough asphalt. When you go down it's much more painful than that.

 

I've left a fair amount of skin on the street and the healing process ain't fun.

 

I live in the SoCal desert, and even in the summer I'm ATGATT. Lots of good stuff out there that's relatively cool and has good armor. Wear the best stuff you can afford, cuz when the situation heads south, you don't want to rely on cheap garbage to protect your skin.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Go outside and drag your knuckles across rough asphalt. When you go down it's much more painful than that.

 

Dragging is what the leather is for; to deal with impact takes either armor or padding. If you go for a pavement tumble, your hands may smack into the pavement rightside-up, or upside-down. Your palm is sort of soft and fleshy, and so the bones of your hand are somewhat protected from impact if your hand hits the pavement palm-down. But if your hand slams into the pavement knuckle-side down, you're probably gonna damage some intricate, sensitive hardware (your knuckles) unless it's protected with padding and/or armor.

[Penforhire]

There is a spectrum of acceptible risk. For every rider wearing Held Steves there is a guy like me wearing their big brother Profis...

 

So wear what you're comfortable with. If you want, there are pure mesh gloves out there too. Good for... well I don't know what good they are.

[Kathy R]

I wear most of my gear in preparation for an accident.

 

I love my Held Steve's but when it's hot I wear the Held ...

 

Airstream

[RichEdwards]

I was wearing thin, perforated leather gloves with no top padding or protection when I had a crash in Baja. Busted the index finger knuckle when it made hard contact with the pavement. The rest of me (and the bike) was o.k. but riding 600 miles to the San Diego border was no fun with a bad knuckle. Hands are pretty vulnerable. I wear gloves with good protection all the time now.

[Selden]

With four broken bones (one shattered) in my right foot right now, I say wear all the gear you can stand. I was wearing lightweight "summer" riding boots when a bike landed on my foot. Had I been wearing sturdier footwear, I might be out riding today.

 

Even with knuckle armor, when a July hailstone caught my left pinkie at 70 mph, it hurt like hell. Undyed, natural color gloves are a lot cooler than black ones in hot weather.

 

I understand that sometimes it's just too hot; that's a safety trade off we all have to make -- heat stroke can also be a safety hazard.

[Peter Parts]

You need to have a rational approach to risk and simply saying "ALWAYS dress like an astronaut when you go out to buy a quart of milk" is the kind of advice that ultimately leads to unsound non-rational decisions, not good ones.

 

No doubt we'll have some holier-than-thou posts now. For sure, not much solid information on which to base decisions.

 

Funny thing, the exhaustive European manufacturers MAIDS study of bike injuries recently came out with protective gear values for different kinds of gear (gloves, jackets, etc.). Most interesting to me, for most kinds of gear they also had two levels of protection, say, "light gloves" and serious-stuff gloves. For some items, fairly little difference and for some, big benefit in going for the more evolved level.

 

Hard to do that kind of publication without lots of pitfalls but I think it was useful. I'll look for the link.

[Peter Parts]

Start here:

 

Introduction to the MAIDS study

[Selden]

I wear most of my gear in preparation for an accident.

 

I love my Held Steve's but when it's hot I wear the Held ...

 

Airstream

The Airstream, especially in gray, looks like it offers much more protection than most summer gloves. Nice.

[Kathy R]

I wear most of my gear in preparation for an accident.

 

I love my Held Steve's but when it's hot I wear the Held ...

 

Airstream

The Airstream, especially in gray, looks like it offers much more protection than most summer gloves. Nice.

 

When Airstream came out the grey was quickly out of stock. I reasoned that it wouldn't be long before those light colored gloves lost their shine. Still, they do look cool don't they

 

I saw that simple gloves can easily fly off the hand during the impact, therefore the gauntlet is ideal. The Airstream has a pretty good snugging just past the wrist, but the Steve model has that "won't come off" grip on your wrist and arm.

[Peter Parts]

Here's a point from the MAIDS-based report about gloves. "The "Protection Factor" indicates the percentage of MA IDS accidents, in which the protective gear has mitigated or even better prevented injuries."

 

Medium gloves = denim, light leather or nylon: 93%

 

Heavy gloves = Kevlar®, imitation or heavy leather: 95%

 

Does this raise almost as many questions as it answers? Does "mitigate" include minor scrapes in real minor get-offs? Will heavy gloves keep your bones intact in big spills? Does anybody know how many injuries resulted from using stiff klutzy gloves that impaired your ability to feel sensitively with your hands? Lot more to investigate. But research sure beats "peeing in the dark."

[moshe_levy]

"stiff klutzy gloves..."

 

Have you used any of the gloves discussed herein? Did you find them stiff or klutzy?

 

-MKL

[VinnyR11]

I think the MAIDS study, which I hadn't heard of until this post, is a good starting point for getting info to make these decisions. It turned me around a bit. I have a pair of summer gloves from Aerostich that are comfortable, have light pads on the knuckles, and are relatively cool, but I always thought I should go with even more padding (and most likely be less comfortable).

 

After reviewing the MAIDS study, I'm going to keep the gloves I have.

 

Also, after reading it, I'm glad I wear my boots every time I ride.

[Harry_Wilshusen]

But research sure beats "peeing in the dark."

 

I disagree. Peeing in the dark is a lot of fun.

 

 

Harry

[Peter Parts]

"stiff klutzy gloves..."

 

Have you used any of the gloves discussed herein? Did you find them stiff or klutzy?

 

-MKL

 

You'd know a lot more about it than I do.

 

Comfort and fatigue are important factors in safety in addition to direct-feel issues like stiffness and padding. Your helpful write-up on heated gear reflected that kind of a broad viewpoint.

 

A biker who allows themself to get fat, unfit, and otherwise ignores exercising and stretching is as derelict in looking after their riding safety as folks who ride in shorts. It is just more acceptable to get all hot and bothered about glove padding.

 

Everybody been to the eye doctor for a check-up?