Gloves for patrol and pistol work

[ffhounddog]

My wife and I went to the range last night and it was cold in the indoor range. She was always afraid she was going to get the fabric caught in between the slide and frame but it only happened when she was loading the weapon not while shooting. Still bulk is an issue. She could not feel the trigger well with the padding on the gloves and it was difficult to get her trigger finger inside. Are there good insulated gloves that are good for below 32 degrees and shooting a pistol? She liked my wiley-x gloves but they do not make them in Black or Navy so it is a no go for her job. Any good suggestions would be great for LE work and according to her a lot of standing around in the cold as well.

[1slow]

Some of this is trigger type (sliding, pivoting) and trigger guard size dependent. Best I have been able to do is thin gloves so I have a layer between hand and gun.
An exposed carry gun gets much colder than CCW pistol.

[David Armstrong]

Hatch used to make a model that was mostly neoprene that worked well for me. I also like batting gloves. The coloring may need a bit of work, but for me they provided just enough protection to keep the fingers from freezing up unless I was actually digging in the snow, moving cold metal, etc.

[philpac33]

My wife thinks I'm a weirdo for a variety of reasons, one being my affinity for gloves. I've been working on a comparison between 3 of the most popular pairs of gloves commonly used for shooting. I've been running handgun and rifle drills with plain no padding Mechanix, the newest PIG FDT-Alpha, and Outdoor Research Ironsight gloves. In short, the PIG FDT-Alpha gloves from SKD are easily the finest glove I've ever worn for handgun manipulation. The Outdoor Research Ironsights are certainly the coolest looking and Mechanix are inexpensive and easy to find. None of them are particularly well suited for extreme cold temperatures and all are fine for running an AR but for tasks requiring fine motor skills like hitting the slide release while reloading a G17, the PIGs can't be beat.

[Nephrology]

Hatch used to make a model that was mostly neoprene that worked well for me. I also like batting gloves. The coloring may need a bit of work, but for me they provided just enough protection to keep the fingers from freezing up unless I was actually digging in the snow, moving cold metal, etc.

I have a pair of those hatch gloves. They're great.

[TheTrevor]

I'm also a fan of the PIG FDT-Alpha gloves. I'm comfortable wearing them by themselves in cool conditions, or under a pair of XL mittens when we venture to places with sub-32F temperatures.

They're easily the best fitting practical gloves I've ever owned. I have the large and they fit like they were custom made for me.

[psalms144.1]

I also have both "summer" and standard Hatch Professional gloves. I find them pretty ideal for shooting; not as warm as I'd like sometimes, but I'm willing to sacrifice that little bit of comfort for better trigger control. I also use Blackhawk SOLAG gloves when it gets VERY cold - nice and warm for the most part and still good enough to work the trigger on my G19 well enough to shoot a clean qualification a couple of weeks ago...

Regards,

Kevin

[Eli]

Not very tacticool, but my favorite gloves for shooting in cold weather is winter/cold weather golf gloves.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_target_audience__1?rh=n%3A3375251%2C k%3Awinter+golf+gloves%2Cp_72%3A2661618011%2Cp_n_t arget_audience_browse-bin%3A384777011&keywords=winter+golf+gloves&ie=UTF8&qid=1389247511&rnid=384760011



They are thin enough to be extremely flexible, but warm enough to play a full 18 holes (or go through a couple hour range session), on caveat, they are definitely not as durable as the "tactical" gloves, so you'll probably have to replace them each year.

[JBP55]

I bought a pair of the Foot Joy gloves but I have not been out to shoot on a cold day yet.

[Alaskapopo]

I usually don't wear gloves unless I absolutely have to due to the temperatures and for me that means below 0. When I do I wear loose fitting warm gloves that I can flick off as I draw. I have tried other gloves and if they are thin enough to allow reasonable shooting and weapon manipulations they are not really that warm. And if they are warm they don't allow good feeling. 32 degrees is pretty warm and I would not worry about gloves unless your going to be out for a long time in the cold.
Pat

[JBP55]

I do not normally wear gloves to shoot either but I thought I would try something different this year. Like Alaskapopo I wear gloves on the line in cold weather and remove them prior to shooting.

[wilco423]

I'll second (third?) the praise of the SKD Alpha gloves. Excellent fit and dexterity. The new ones with silver thread in the forefinger and thumb are handy if you need to use touchscreens with them on. My first pair popped some seams on the back of the hand, but the finger stitching is still fine 18+ months later. As has been mentioned, they are cold - barely better than exposed skin. They are always with me at work.

For colder weather, I have a pair of 5.11 leather gloves that are lightly insulated. They might technically just be lined with wooly fabric. No bulk, and they do a good job of keeping the fingers warmer longer. Always in my work jacket pockets.

I also use a pair of Cabelas insulated camo gloves, not sure if they're still made. Thin, stretchy exterior material, so still low bulk. Worked well on a recent call out in 0*F temps, where I was able to use a vehicle for warm-ups. Have to get some big mittens to wear over them for extended durations outside in that kind of weather.

[ffhounddog]

Thank you for the suggestions. Might have to the some Alpha gloves for both of us anyway. Sounds pretty much the in thing for an all around glove.

I had not thought of golfing gloves. Those might be pretty good and we are going to run by a sporting good place tomorrow for something else. Have to hit the golf section while we are there.