# Best gloves to split wood with



## damato333 (Oct 8, 2013)

I have a hard time finding gloves that I like to use when I split wood. I am looking for waterproof, warm, high dexterity, and very very durable work gloves. Anybody have any suggestions?


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## farmboss45 (Oct 8, 2013)

I have found that those cheap rubber dipped palm gloves from menards last longer than any leather glove, and only cost 2-3 dollars a pair. The only problem is, when its warm, they soak up the sweat. I can get a good weekend, sometimes two out of them though.


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## damato333 (Oct 8, 2013)

I need ones for the winter. I rarely ever split wood when its warm out. I don't think I take being next to a hot engine when its 90 degrees out.


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## Whitespider (Oct 8, 2013)

damato333 said:


> *I am looking for waterproof, warm, high dexterity, and very very durable work gloves.*



Good luck with that!!

I gave-up on waterproof... unless you like rubber trappers gloves.
Warm _and_ high dexterity... yeah, right, warm means insulated, and insulated don't mean high dexterity.
Durable... Kevlar and Ballistic Nylon gloves are highly durable, but they're lousy for handling firewood 'cause they're too damn slippery.

I just buy 6-packs of uninsulated leather work gloves when I see them on sale cheap... and a roll of duct tape.


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## damato333 (Oct 8, 2013)

I found a few from Duluth trading company. There supposedly good but who knows from looking at a picture on a computer.
http:// http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/mens/mens-outerwear/work-gloves/winter-gloves.aspx


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## CTYank (Oct 9, 2013)

damato333 said:


> I have a hard time finding gloves that I like to use when I split wood. I am looking for waterproof, warm, high dexterity, and very very durable work gloves. Anybody have any suggestions?



"Atlas Fit" knit with latex palms are the most durable I've found yet. Excellent grip and feel with maul, axe, or chainsaw. In a few months, I'll try some "Atlas Thermal Fit" for winter. Others here recommend them highly. They cost less than a few bucks each, by the dozen, at Amazon. When they get really filthy, I just toss them in the washer- can't do that with leather.

The waterproof part would make them fungus incubators.


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## slowp (Oct 9, 2013)

The best pair? One that fits the left hand and one that fits the right hand. That is a problem once they come home and are dispersed or have ridden around in the pickup a while. Gloves go to the same place that socks go to, I guess.


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## dwasifar (Oct 9, 2013)

I use these:

Kinco® Insulated Gloves with Knit Wrist, Reflective

How did I choose them? Funny you should ask. Some random utility contractor left them in my yard. But they're great, and when these wear out I'll buy the same ones to replace them.


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## srb08 (Oct 9, 2013)

dwasifar said:


> I use these:
> 
> Kinco® Insulated Gloves with Knit Wrist, Reflective
> 
> How did I choose them? Funny you should ask. Some random utility contractor left them in my yard. But they're great, and when these wear out I'll buy the same ones to replace them.



I've used those. For firewood, they last me about a day, the leather is much too thin and fragile. The palms are fine but the fingers wear through quickly.


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## woodchuck357 (Oct 9, 2013)

Calloused hands!


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## zogger (Oct 9, 2013)

Home Despot 5 pair for five bucks, cotton with rubber palms/fingers. I use them for everything except fencing. Great grip on wood and axe and chainsaw handle bar. for a buck a pair they last amazingly long. 

I haven't tried the atlas thermal fit, similar built, more for colder weather. but still cheap.

Several times mentioned here are "hulkster" gloves, but I haven't tried those yet either. google search will find those.


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## Streblerm (Oct 10, 2013)

Atlas Fit for summer and Atlas Thermal Fit for winter time. I find the Atlas brand holds up best. The rubber on the atlas gloves will wear through eventually. Most of the other dipped gloves I find the rubber separates once they get wet.


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## bigbluram (Oct 10, 2013)

I agree with the atlas gloves being the best available. I get weeks of everyday use doing tree work out of a pair, great dexterity and grip. The thermal fit atlas gloves are plenty warm for working in the winter I'm all but the coldest weather. Check out wesspur , they have atlas fit gloves for $30 a dozen and thermal fit for $48 a dozen. A dozen lasts me a year or more and I wear them every day.


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## artbaldoni (Oct 10, 2013)

For splitting and handling:

Ninja Flex Coated Gloves in Stock - ULINE 2 pair per year.

For sawing:

Forester High Vis Yellow Chainsaw Gloves 1 pair has lasted 2 years. Don't touch the hot muffler like I did on the first outing, doh!


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## slowp (Oct 10, 2013)

If you use the solar pickup glove drying system too many times, the Atlas gloves get brittle. If you throw them in the metal box in the back of the pickup, they seem to liquidize a bit and will stick to the box. The box had a mixture of tree marking paint, oil, sawgas, and spilled Pepsi along with unknown things coating it.


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## ponyexpress976 (Oct 10, 2013)

I've tried just about everything out there. The latex dipped gloves are the best gloves for the $ spent on them. Out of that category, Atlas are the cream of the crop. Can usually get a few weeks daily use (landscaping/tree work/firewood production) before the holes get to big/they get to brittle/smell so bad the dog won't go near them.


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## ray benson (Oct 10, 2013)

I use latex covered knit gloves like Atlas when felling, bucking or climbing. Handling firewood or splitting, a leather pair with a 4" gauntlet for more wrist arm protection.
CONDOR Leather Gloves, Gaunlet Cuff, L, PR - Leather Palm Gloves - 5JH03|5JH03 - Grainger Industrial Supply


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## bigbluram (Oct 10, 2013)

My experience has been leather glove fingertips wear thru in a day of hard work handling firewood where the atlas gloves last weeks ! And of all the latex dipped gloves I've tried the atlas r the highest quality, last s lot longer n fit way better than the others I've tried. Try some and u wont b disapointed


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## bigbluram (Oct 10, 2013)

My experience has been leather glove fingertips wear thru in a day of hard work handling firewood where the atlas gloves last weeks ! And of all the latex dipped gloves I've tried the atlas r the highest quality, last s lot longer n fit way better than the others I've tried. Try some and u wont b disapointed


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## deepsouth (Oct 11, 2013)

I really like the Youngstown gloves I've got from baileys. 

I have the Kevlar, the antivibe, and a pair of insulated waterproof for winter. 

And the antivibe does help. 
And the insulated waterproof are excellent too, used them one day when it was about 4 degrees c, sleeting and an icy highland wind blowing. 

But I was warm in a combo of drizabone, nylon Stihl zip chaps and gloves plus husky helmet.


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## Preston (Oct 11, 2013)

The latex type gloves do work well. But when I don't have those my next choice is the mechanics wear gloves. But I have found where you are handling the tough bark type trees, like red oak, leather grips well but the bark is as bad as it's bite. Even at that I can get two or three sessions with a pair.


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## philoshop (Oct 11, 2013)

Gotta give the Atlas Fit another +++++. Cheap enough to carry a dozen in the truck. When they get wet, swap 'em out. When they get really grimey, wash 'em. They wear like iron for the price and the rubber is sticky enough to grab and hold onto things that leather won't.
After 36+ years in construction in the northeast, I haven't found anything better for an all-around glove.


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## Whiskey_Bravo (Oct 11, 2013)

Valeo makes a good pair of leather work gloves with a nylon back and Velcro wrist strap. I get them pretty cheaply at our local Colony Hardware. Last time I was there I got 4 pairs for $27.00. I used to buy only the Ironclad or Youngstown gloves, but they were $31.00 for the heavy duty ones around here and I would almost cry every time I blew out a pair on a job site.


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## farmer steve (Oct 11, 2013)

tried some wells lamont work 2500 last wood season but only 'cause they were $5.00 a pair at wally world(reg.$10).reinforced palm and fingertips and thinsulated. wore pretty good. also use the nobby jersey gloves.$2.00 a pair but not that warm on real cold days. doing firewood will wear out gloves and thats a fact jack.


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## artbaldoni (Oct 11, 2013)

Just picked up a 3 pack of these...we shall see...$1.67 a pair!

Shop Blue Hawk 3-Pack Large Men's Rubber Work Gloves at Lowes.com


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## Firewood maker (Oct 11, 2013)

*Gloves*

I buy cheap leather cow hide gloves $ 3.00 they all wear out fast so cheap is good


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## Preston (Oct 12, 2013)

My problem with cheap is they don't fit. I have to have a glove that fits or I end up with an injury.


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## RCBS (Oct 12, 2013)

Ironclad Ranchworks. Fairly durable, dexterous, and offer good protection. A little pricey though. I use these as all around tractor, atv, splitting, general chores. Love em.


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## artbaldoni (Oct 12, 2013)

artbaldoni said:


> Just picked up a 3 pack of these...we shall see...$1.67 a pair!
> 
> Shop Blue Hawk 3-Pack Large Men's Rubber Work Gloves at Lowes.com



Just stacked a cord and they work great. Nice tight fit, don't slip around on the hands or the wood. Seem like they will be fairly durable. Win! :msp_thumbsup:


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## zogger (Oct 12, 2013)

artbaldoni said:


> Just stacked a cord and they work great. Nice tight fit, don't slip around on the hands or the wood. Seem like they will be fairly durable. Win! :msp_thumbsup:



win! I like the home despot cheap cotton and rubber gloves, I will try those from slowes next.


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## rarefish383 (Oct 12, 2013)

bigbluram said:


> I agree with the atlas gloves being the best available. I get weeks of everyday use doing tree work out of a pair, great dexterity and grip. The thermal fit atlas gloves are plenty warm for working in the winter I'm all but the coldest weather. Check out wesspur , they have atlas fit gloves for $30 a dozen and thermal fit for $48 a dozen. A dozen lasts me a year or more and I wear them every day.



Hey Big Blue. Welcome to the site. I used to hang out at Tidewatermopar, haven't been there in a long while, Joe.


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## wampum (Oct 13, 2013)

damato333 said:


> I have a hard time finding gloves that I like to use when I split wood. I am looking for waterproof, warm, high dexterity, and very very durable work gloves. Anybody have any suggestions?



I used a sledge many years often hitting a bar to drive stuck bolts out.When we opened a door on the mill it was pulled tight with large bars and bolts and had to be beat with a sledge to get it to fall in.We turned the 12 foot diameter ball mill until the door was on top,removed the bars and bolts and drove it in.I also hit slugging wrenches with a sledge,most of the time someone held the wrench on the bolt.We basically used 10 pounders for the bolts and 20 pounders for the doors.Most of the time the doors went in in a few minutes.But we have had them bind and spent hours beating them.The bars we hit also had a person holding them.We had a tool we used to strap on the bar so that our hands were away from the bar.But many times we used a spud bar and just held it while it was hit. 

The reason I brought this up is because anyone that used a sledge often, knows enough to never wear gloves while using it.Gloves are a hazard in my opinion and all of the guys I worked with.I would definitely recommend them for holding the bar but not the sledge.I have seen sledges fly over 20 feet,when a guy lost his grip with gloves on.On a mill you are 15 feet in the air,that sledge really takes off when you slip. 

I recommend no gloves if you are using a splitting mall.And the cheapest rubber coated glove you can buy to handle the wood.Just my 2 cents,but you lose a grip on a mall someone can get hurt bad.When I was young I never used gloves even for handling wood.But times change,I am on blood thinner and I tend to bleed like a pig when I get a scratch. 

If you want to disagree thats fine,but please do not let using a striking tool of 10 pounds or over a couple of times a year as an example.I used a sledge so much in my early days on maintenance that I earned the nick name of sledge.In all my years of I never lost a tool when I used just my hands.Using gloves I was not so lucky.


By the way I was hit a couple of times but I have yet to hit anyone else.You just plain have better control bare handed.Of course some of that control could have been from those calluses I earned over time.


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## Preston (Oct 13, 2013)

In regards the the sledge post, it was much the same on iron work. Anybody that's hung red iron know too much of the time you have to use a bull pins and a 6 lb hammer to align a hole. I've seen many time where the raising gang used gloved to drive the pin and they too would lose the hammer. When you're up it the air, who know what will happen. I used to take friction tape and wrap a layer on my handle to help it stick to my hand. I agree, for swing a large hammer, gloves are a hindrance.


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## muddstopper (Oct 13, 2013)

Like the last two poster, I cant hold anything with a pair of gloves on. I will wear those thin rubber mechanic gloves just to keep my hands clean working on greasy stuff, and maybe a rubber coated cloth gloves for handling metal, Cable I use leather. For fire wood, I go bare hand or those soft jersey cotton gloves. Hammers and axes, are all barehand.


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## Whitespider (Oct 13, 2013)

I've tried the latex/rubber dipped knit gloves a few times... and I don't care for them. They don't "breath", get soaked with sweat, and don't offer much protection at the knuckles (which is what I tend to tear-up the most often). I prefer an all-leather glove, rather than the classic leather and canvas work glove. The last "6-pack" I bought was at Sam's Club; they were an all-cowhide leather with rubber patches over the fingertips... those rubber patches really increased the grip (until they wore through) and extended the "life" of the fingertips. Before those I had some with a second layer of leather reinforcement over the fingertips (also from Sam's) and I actually wore a hole in the palm of the the right glove before a fingertip gave-out in the left.

I don't use insulated gloves, even in sub-zero temperatures... never really noticed they were any warmer during "activity". The exception is when handling a lot of bare steel in cold weather, and I have a single pair of insulated gloves just for that purpose. I'm in need of glove replacement right now; there's 9 individual gloves on my shop bench right now (5 left-hand, only 4 right-hand??), all in various stages of disintegration... I'm mixing/matching the "best-of-the-bunch" each time I put gloves on. (L-O-L)


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## 4x4American (Oct 13, 2013)

woodchuck357 said:


> Calloused hands!



yup ^^^ also try out youngstown gloves they're real heavy duty, but you pay for them..I have a pair of the winter chainsaw AV gloves in reflective green, they are pretty tough. The palms are extra tough and cut resistant


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## zogger (Oct 13, 2013)

Preston said:


> In regards the the sledge post, it was much the same on iron work. Anybody that's hung red iron know too much of the time you have to use a bull pins and a 6 lb hammer to align a hole. I've seen many time where the raising gang used gloved to drive the pin and they too would lose the hammer. When you're up it the air, who know what will happen. I used to take friction tape and wrap a layer on my handle to help it stick to my hand. I agree, for swing a large hammer, gloves are a hindrance.



You guys didn't "safe" your tools?


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## Preston (Oct 13, 2013)

I did some, but on occasions you would find it necessary to find another hammer after breaking a handle. By safe I mean I looped a lead through the handle around my wrist. I think some of the men or wimps, threw theirs to take a bread going down to get it. All this was going on before all this safety stuff came in vogue. We just walk the iron and would climb columns. Or slide down to get to the ground. None of that anymore. I mean none.


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