Oakley 'assault' gloves - PPE or 'deadly weapon'?

[Wendell]

Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion is facing charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon, which were laid last week by Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit. A police source close to the investigation said the gloves are central to Montsion's assault with a weapon charge. Montsion's release conditions state he's prohibited from possessing weapons, and also prohibited from possessing "any gloves with hardened knuckle plating."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...abdi-1.4018998

[Wendell]

The Ottawa police officer has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in the death of Abdirahman Abdi in July 2016. The Crown alleges Abdi died as the result of repeated blows to his head administered by Montsion, who was wearing a pair of the Oakley assault gloves.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...form-1.5064376

[entropy]

Oh for the love of God......

We”re they black? Detachable fingers?

I love our North neighbors, but sometimes I think the long winters have some detrimental effects....

[the Schwartz]

Oh for the love of God......

We”re they black? Detachable fingers?

And that "thumb thing that goes up"?

[MistWolf]

And that "between the index & ring finger thing that goes up"

Fixed it for ya

[the Schwartz]

Fixed it for ya

Nicely done, sir. Nicely done...

😎

[TAZ]

So I’m confused. The Constable supposedly punched a handcuffed and compliant dude a few times abs they have issues with his gloves???

Sounds like the department is in CYA mode. The guy probably bought the gloves on his own and the dept will claim immunity or something like that fit the pending lottery the family is going after.

[RevolverRob]

I guess it depends on how you articulate what the "knuckle plating" is for.

To be honest, I've always thought the hardened knuckle plating in these types of gloves was precisely for punching people to be more damaging than a standard fist.

For starters, the origin of this design* is in motorcycle gloves, there it made sense, because the hardened polymer/rubber is highly abrasion resistant. Originally, they were found on dirt-bike/off-road type gloves and were really meant to protect your knuckles from falls and/or brush/tree branches/etc. The use of them in sport biking racing makes sense for the same reason full body suit leathers do. I'm not convinced they make much sense on the street. Especially, not in the context of kevlar reinforced leathers, with impact absorbing/dissipating foam.

The use as "assault" gloves, has always struck me as stupid. The first argument was that the plastic knuckles helped protect the hands in the event of a fight, reducing the damage of impact. But that's totally bunk - because impact force dissipating gloves use a multi-layered approach, which protection of the fingers and knuckles coming from layers or rubber and foam, not hard plastic sewn onto relatively soft and pliable nylon/leather. And what's more, they have used that approach for ~3 decades now. Where as the "assault glove" trend (as currently expressed) has only existed for < 20 years.

Simply put hardened knuckles on gloves have a very narrow practical, legitimate, use window. And in most cases, I don't get the impression they are being used within that window.

*Noted here, because yes I know, hardened knuckle gloves pre-date motorcycles or motorcycle versions. Spike/sap gloves are similar, but not the same. The Oakley "Assault" gloves are more in the vein of late 1980s/early 1990s gloves meant for motorcycling, BMX, and skateboarding.

[txdpd]

I can't say how they fit everyone, but my experience with those is that the knuckle "plating" is on top of the knuckles and not in front of them. If you want to bitch slap someone the guard will probably help break bones in your hand, but they won't contact anyone when punching.

[TGS]

I guess it depends on how you articulate what the "knuckle plating" is for.

To be honest, I've always thought the hardened knuckle plating in these types of gloves was precisely for punching people to be more damaging than a standard fist.

For starters, the origin of this design* is in motorcycle gloves, there it made sense, because the hardened polymer/rubber is highly abrasion resistant. Originally, they were found on dirt-bike/off-road type gloves and were really meant to protect your knuckles from falls and/or brush/tree branches/etc. The use of them in sport biking racing makes sense for the same reason full body suit leathers do. I'm not convinced they make much sense on the street. Especially, not in the context of kevlar reinforced leathers, with impact absorbing/dissipating foam.

The use as "assault" gloves, has always struck me as stupid. The first argument was that the plastic knuckles helped protect the hands in the event of a fight, reducing the damage of impact. But that's totally bunk - because impact force dissipating gloves use a multi-layered approach, which protection of the fingers and knuckles coming from layers or rubber and foam, not hard plastic sewn onto relatively soft and pliable nylon/leather. And what's more, they have used that approach for ~3 decades now. Where as the "assault glove" trend (as currently expressed) has only existed for < 20 years.

Simply put hardened knuckles on gloves have a very narrow practical, legitimate, use window. And in most cases, I don't get the impression they are being used within that window.

*Noted here, because yes I know, hardened knuckle gloves pre-date motorcycles or motorcycle versions. Spike/sap gloves are similar, but not the same. The Oakley "Assault" gloves are more in the vein of late 1980s/early 1990s gloves meant for motorcycling, BMX, and skateboarding.

Fighting work being different than industrial work, impact-resistance need not meet/be-modelled around ANSI-rated impact gloves for OSHA indemnification.

We need our hands to still be usable, so there's obviously going to need to be less impact resistance within the gloves for dexterity's sake. Even the little rubber "veins" running along the top of the hand serve a purpose, even if it doesn't meet ANSI specifications for working in a factory.