Mechanix Gloves - Opinions Sought

[Dangermouse]

I generally use the blue nitrile gloves for most of my auto work as well as some of those cheap cotton/leather sets.

I keep looking at those Mechanix brand work gloves and wondered if they are worth the $30-40 cost.

They look to be suited to heavier work rather than fiddly electrical work.

Anyone own a pair or can recommend an alternative?

[Mike F]

I have a pair, and like you said they are much more suited to the heavier jobs (and when it's cold out!). Anything that requires a lot of fine dexterity or tactile feeling, I tend to stick to the thin nitrile gloves.

[jackb]

I almost never (a handful of times in over 15yrs working on planes) used gloves at work- only when on top of a jet in the middle of the summer to prevent burns, or doing heavy work in extreme cold.

At home, no gloves ever. I just deal with it and scrub hard to clean them up after.

If you do end up using gloves, a regular pair of not-name-brand mechanics gloves for a couple bucks, like at Harbor Freight, is a better deal than $30 for the "real thing". Even the name brand ones get chewed up and don't hold up to what I would consider medium use.

[David T]

The gloves help to keep your hands clean and can protect from sharp edges. The nitrile is good when you are working with chemicals. Barrier cream is OK so dirt is easier to clean off. I prefer to also work without gloves when I can. All too often the gloves tear anyway and the nitrile (or latex) makes your hands sweat so much you wind up pouring the sweat out.

[DMC-81]

As an alternate, I just bought this pair yesterday at Harbor Freight during their January sale for $4. Protective gloves are a wear item in my opinion, so I don't invest a lot. I have bought the expensive ones and didn't feel that they were that much better or lasted any longer to justify the price difference. These ones seem very substantial even for the $10 regular price.

[DMCVegas]

Personally, I love Mechanix gloves. The thing is though when you buy them, you want to get the ones that have proper padding all around the palm of the hand like this:

http://popgun.ru/files/g/275/orig/5812528.jpg

I first bought them because I thought that it would help to keep my hands clean, but not have the problem with sweat like David T says with sweat inside of latex or nitrile gloves. What I didn't realize was how much better my hands felt afterwards. When you're working on seized, rusty bolts, you end up putting lots of pressure on your hands and you can bruise the tissue. Especially when you start leaning into ratchets or have to operate vibrating air tools. It may not be enough to break blood vessels where you see bruise marks, but it happens. Brake jobs where I have to swing a sledge to get the rotors off, and where I have the caliper bolts are the jobs where you'll feel the most obvious difference. No tingling and no soreness in my hands afterwards.

Don't use them around chemicals though. If you're working in the gas tank, spraying brake cleaner, or washing parts, bite the bullet and break out the nitrile gloves. Treat them right and they'll last you a long time, and help make repairs so much more comfortable. But you've got to get the ones with the padding. Otherwise, it's pointless.