Blackhawk S.O.L.A.G Full Finger Gloves(Size Large)
Website
-Typical price ~$30-45
I've had these for awhile now and they've served me well. There has been much speculation about the quality of BHI's products due to the fact that a large majority of, if not all, of their products are manufactured in China as far as I know. From the experience with the few BHI products I own, I honestly think this is some pretty high quality stuff considering it came from China. These gloves are no exception.
The thing I like the most about these gloves is the manner in which they ergonomically "cut" the glove at the proper flex points to provide improved tactility. If there is one thing I've always disliked about gloves for any outdoors activities, it's the loss of tactility and relatively unergonomic, uncomfortable fit so many gloves have. These SOLAG gloves on the other hand fit....well....like a glove! In all seriousness though, they feel great and are extremely ergonomic. Another nice feature is all of the protective padding on the back of the glove and fingers for some added security. A nice feature is the option of a Kevlar and Nomex version of these gloves, however I have no personal experience with those so this review is focused purely on the Non-Nomex Non-Kevlar plain jane version. Both gloves feature a strap/loop on the bottom, which is a nice feature so they can quickly be attached to a carabiner or similar item for quick and easy storage. The gloves also feature a velcro wrist strap as well as a velcro backhand strap, so it offers a bit of adaptivity to various hand sizes. Mine are a size Large, and honestly it seems that my hands are probably close to the limits for a size Large (at least the limit of comfort), however BHI also has XL and XXL so no issue there. Just for reference, my hand measurements are ~7.5" from the base of my wrist to the tip of my middle finger and the width of my hand (including the thumb) is approximately 5". I'm not sure if those measurements will be of any help, but hopefully they will put things in perspective.
So far I have put these things through a decent amount of abuse, from hauling various heavy objects around the house, to using at the shooting range, carrying abrasive items like rocks or tree trunks, and various other strenuous outdoors activities. The gloves really don't show much in the way of wear, and I haven't noticed any loose threads or other issues to suggest otherwise so they have proven to be durable so far. While I have no experience and no authority to state whether these are capable of handling actual combat environments, I can honestly say they are more than sufficient for typical outdoors activities, range usage, etc or any other normal around the house type activities. They are a bit more expensive than the typical Nomex flight gloves or other more inexpensive items on the market, however in my opinion these are worth every penny for the added comfort and tactility alone. I can honestly say I don't feel I ever need to buy another pair of gloves again until these wear out.
As far as downsides go, I honestly can't think of any real issues. Price is a negative for some people however in my opinion they aren't too much more expensive from typical Nomex flight gloves. One other slight downside I noticed is the velcro wrist strap seems a bit short. My wrist measures 8" in circumference, and I find that I only have approximately ~1cm of velcro to use while still maintaining a certain amount of comfort. I personally would prefer a bit more velcro contact to insure they don't come loose, however I have yet to see this actually become an issue. For someone so inclined, it would be relatively easy to simply sew an additional length of velcro on or simply replace the whole velcro strap with a longer piece. This isn't so much a function issue as much as personal preference. Though now I'm just looking for things to nitpick about. All that really needs to be said is the gloves are comfortable, maintain tactility, and appear to be fairly durable plus they look tacti-cool which has to count for something!
Please excuse the crappy pictures. All I had was a camera phone at the time:
Website
-Typical price ~$30-45
I've had these for awhile now and they've served me well. There has been much speculation about the quality of BHI's products due to the fact that a large majority of, if not all, of their products are manufactured in China as far as I know. From the experience with the few BHI products I own, I honestly think this is some pretty high quality stuff considering it came from China. These gloves are no exception.
The thing I like the most about these gloves is the manner in which they ergonomically "cut" the glove at the proper flex points to provide improved tactility. If there is one thing I've always disliked about gloves for any outdoors activities, it's the loss of tactility and relatively unergonomic, uncomfortable fit so many gloves have. These SOLAG gloves on the other hand fit....well....like a glove! In all seriousness though, they feel great and are extremely ergonomic. Another nice feature is all of the protective padding on the back of the glove and fingers for some added security. A nice feature is the option of a Kevlar and Nomex version of these gloves, however I have no personal experience with those so this review is focused purely on the Non-Nomex Non-Kevlar plain jane version. Both gloves feature a strap/loop on the bottom, which is a nice feature so they can quickly be attached to a carabiner or similar item for quick and easy storage. The gloves also feature a velcro wrist strap as well as a velcro backhand strap, so it offers a bit of adaptivity to various hand sizes. Mine are a size Large, and honestly it seems that my hands are probably close to the limits for a size Large (at least the limit of comfort), however BHI also has XL and XXL so no issue there. Just for reference, my hand measurements are ~7.5" from the base of my wrist to the tip of my middle finger and the width of my hand (including the thumb) is approximately 5". I'm not sure if those measurements will be of any help, but hopefully they will put things in perspective.
So far I have put these things through a decent amount of abuse, from hauling various heavy objects around the house, to using at the shooting range, carrying abrasive items like rocks or tree trunks, and various other strenuous outdoors activities. The gloves really don't show much in the way of wear, and I haven't noticed any loose threads or other issues to suggest otherwise so they have proven to be durable so far. While I have no experience and no authority to state whether these are capable of handling actual combat environments, I can honestly say they are more than sufficient for typical outdoors activities, range usage, etc or any other normal around the house type activities. They are a bit more expensive than the typical Nomex flight gloves or other more inexpensive items on the market, however in my opinion these are worth every penny for the added comfort and tactility alone. I can honestly say I don't feel I ever need to buy another pair of gloves again until these wear out.
As far as downsides go, I honestly can't think of any real issues. Price is a negative for some people however in my opinion they aren't too much more expensive from typical Nomex flight gloves. One other slight downside I noticed is the velcro wrist strap seems a bit short. My wrist measures 8" in circumference, and I find that I only have approximately ~1cm of velcro to use while still maintaining a certain amount of comfort. I personally would prefer a bit more velcro contact to insure they don't come loose, however I have yet to see this actually become an issue. For someone so inclined, it would be relatively easy to simply sew an additional length of velcro on or simply replace the whole velcro strap with a longer piece. This isn't so much a function issue as much as personal preference. Though now I'm just looking for things to nitpick about. All that really needs to be said is the gloves are comfortable, maintain tactility, and appear to be fairly durable plus they look tacti-cool which has to count for something!
Please excuse the crappy pictures. All I had was a camera phone at the time:
