Tactical Glove Comparison

Editor's Note: While this is a competition among tactical glove manufacturers, it cannot go without saying that all of the gloves rated in this wear test are far superior to a standard work glove. These are all designed for law enforcement tactical operators and, as such, will far outperform any work glove on the market today.

Today's tactical officers have many different choices when it comes to what brand of glove to wear. Deciding which glove is the best often depends on personal preference. LAW and ORDER magazine sought 12 of its readers to wear / test four different pairs of gloves. The reviewers were all current or former tactical or special operations group operators or supervisors from agencies throughout the United States.

The tactical officers came from a wide cross-section of law enforcement, including both rural and urban departments, as well as large and small departments. They came from California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The officers were evenly split between police departments and sheriff's departments. Each reviewer received the size of glove he specified, so each glove was correctly sized to that officer.

LAW and ORDER then asked four of the top tactical glove makers in the United States to submit gloves for testing and review. To be sure we were comparing the same type of glove, each company was asked to submit its standard tactical operator glove. All the companies knew this was going to be a direct, head-to-head comparison, and that the gloves would be rated and ranked. In addition, to keep the evaluation as fair and direct as possible, each company knew what the other companies were submitting.

The following standard tactical operator gloves were tested: the Tac-AK from 5.11 Tactical Series; the Hellstorm S.O.L.A.G from BlackHawk Products: the Triton from Damascus Protective Gear; and the Operator SOG-600 from Hatch Corporation.

The gloves were worn during SWAT training exercises, with weapons practice on the range, and on patrol. After the 60-day test period, the officers were asked to evaluate the gloves. The gloves were each specifically rated for comfort, durability, fit, and function dexterity using a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = Poor, 5 = Very Good).

Other categories included puncture and cut resistance,...