Motorcycle gloves are an important piece of protective gear, and the various features of the gloves matter quite a bit when it comes to safety and comfort. Since the rider has to steer and operate the majority of the motorcycle’s controls using their hands, comfort becomes especially important. I was preparing to write reviews of the motorcycle gloves I own (and I may still do this in the future), but now I will focus on the features that can be found in motorcycle gloves, and what these features mean for the rider.

Abrasion Protection
One of the most important properties a good motorcycle glove will have is abrasion protection, to protect the rider’s skin from being removed during a crash. Although a rider generally should not try to land on their hands after a crash, we humans tend to instinctively extend our hands out when we fall, and while this instinct might help us when we fall while walking at 2 MPH it is not helpful when we crash at 45 MPH. Gloves provide this protection through the uses of leather (from various animals), Kevlar, Cordura, or other synthetics. There is generally a trade off between how well a glove will allow air to flow to keep the rider’s hands cool, and how much abrasion protection the gloves will provide, as well as how much feedback from the motorcycle can be felt through more heavily armored gloves.

Impact Protection
Also very important, due to a riders’ propensity to extend their hands during a crash, combined with the delicate bones in the hand. Gloves provide abrasion protection through either hard protective layers designed to spread the impact energy over a larger part of the hand, soft padding to slow the delivery of energy, or both. Although I generally dislike hard motorcycle armor because I believe it often does more harm than good, gloves seem to be one area where a combination of hard outer layer and soft inner layer are a good combination. Again, there is a trade off between impact protection and air flow, as well as how much feedback from the motorcycle can be felt through more heavily armored gloves.

A Gauntlet
The gauntlet is the part of the glove that covers the wrist and extends a few inches up the arm.  This piece is vital, since without it the wrist area can be left exposed as the rider’s hands and arms move during a crash.  Gloves with a gauntlet generally offer less airflow and feel bulkier, but this is something that a rider will easy get used to.

Finger Dislocation Protection
Higher end gloves will sometimes have a web that connects the pinky and ring fingers together. This web helps prevent the fingers from rolling over each other and breaking during a crash. Since moving these fingers independently from each other is something I have never needed to do while riding my motorcycle, I like this feature.

Wrist Break Protection
When a rider lands on their hands, the hands tend to stop moving forward faster than the rest of the body which is still airborne, and the body’s inertia carries the rider forward over the wrists. The result is broken wrists. Higher end gloves will sometimes have low friction material placed over the heel of the hand to prevent the hands from slowing down faster than the rest of the body, in order to avoid broken wrists.

Seams
One of the most important comfort features, at least to me, is how the seams of the gloves are sewn. Some gloves have the seem on the inside of the fingers, and other gloves have the seams on the outsides. On gloves with seams on the inside, it is important to be sure whether this is comfortable for you or not. I keep my fingernails cut quite short, and the seams on my Icon Merc gloves would get between my fingernail and my finger, causing discomfort. This can become a safety issue if it distracts the rider or causes the rider to constantly readjust their grip on the handle bars and controls.
Seams are also important when it comes to all the other features discussed here. Although this should not be a problem with any respectable motorcycle glove, some poorly made gloves will have poorly made seams which burst on impact with the road, causing the glove to come apart at the worst possible time.

Closures
Sliding across pavement and colliding with objects can put a great deal of stress on gloves, and if the gloves are not firmly attached to the rider’s hands, they may come off. That is where good vlosures come in. Be they Velcro, zippered, etc., it is important that they hold the glove firmly to the rider’s hand. A good way to test whether the closure is sufficient is try to pull the glove off with one hand. If you can pull it off, then it will likely be able to come off in a crash too.

Fit
The fit of the gloves is important for safety and comfort reasons. On the safety side, gloves that fit properly will be less likely to come off during a crash, and are less likely to have folds in their material that weakens abrasion protection. Poor fitting gloves may not position the impact protection in the proper location, above the fragile bones in the hand. Comfort is also highly dependent upon the gloves fitting well, since gloves that are too tight or too lose may distract the rider or interfere with the rider’s operation of the motorcycle’s controls. For those reasons, the comfort and safety aspects of motorcycle gloves can be seen as intertwined.

Feedback
There is a trade off between gloves that provide maximal protection for the hands, and gloves that allow the rider to effectively operate the motorcycle. Thicker gloves would allow for greater protection, but would also mean less feedback from the motorcycle and its controls. Good motorcycle gloves balance this by selecting materials (or layers of material) that provide adequate feedback and still protect the most vulnerable parts of the hands with extra layers of material.

Temperature Control
Temperature control is an important aspect as well. The most protective gloves will offer less air flow than the less protective mesh gloves, but some trade off is needed in hotter environments since a rider whose hands are sweating uncontrollably will be unable to effectively control the motorcycle. Some manufactures try to balance these competing goals by using mesh sections, or ram-air vents designed to force air into the gloves, or “floating” knuckle protectors that have a mesh section to allow air flow (such as the Icon Merc gloves provide).
Gloves for colder environments have less of a problem, as adding additional material to keep the gloves warm will also help the gloves to provide more abrasion and impact protection. If you are selecting cold weather gloves, I would urge you to get gloves that are warmer than you think are necessary. I can say from first hand experience that having the wind blowing on your hands really chills them, and you can get frost bite in no time at all.

Visor Wiper
Some gloves have a visor wiper feature on the pinky finger, which serves a similar purpose to a car’s windshield wiper, for removing bugs and other debris from the helmet visor. This feature is not something I’ve found to be necessary, or even that useful, but it can’t hurt to have I suppose.

Retroreflective
A few gloves have retroreflective parts that will help make the motorcycle more visible at night. Although the few square inches of space on gloves will likely not make as big of a difference as putting retroreflective tape on the bike and helmet, every little bit can help. I wouldn’t buy gloves based upon this feature or lack there of, but if it is available I would go for it.

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