gear review: atlas fit gloves

no, the atlas glove company hasn't paid me to say this.  they don't know i exist.

but i have a lot of gear for various activities, and some of it i put to hard use. if i find gear that's especially good or especially bad or just plain interesting, i think it's worth telling you about.

five or six years ago i bought a pair of these things at a hardware store somewhere in central new york because i'd lost the gloves i LIKED and i needed gloves to protect my hands while i was poking into dark icy nasty crevices to look for geocaches.

once again, they were not the gloves i wanted.

but wow. they were grippy and kept my hands clean and mostly dry and could be worn with liners underneath for additional warmth and they were thin enough to be able to feel around with them.

because the back of the hand is a breathable fabric, they manage to breathe despite being waterproof on the palms and fingertips. and they're light enough to roll up small to stick in your pocket. you can also toss 'em in the washing machine when they're dirty.

i started using them for all my hand protection needs. pulling wooden stakes? splinter proof. i bought a second pair for when the first pair either wore out or to have a clean pair handy.

but that first pair? i've been using them rough for tree climbing and rock scrambling, for paddling and for bushwhacking and all manner of task for which i need hand protection but not a full on leather glove. and they're thin enough for knot tying, so not so many rope burns.

i used that first pair hard, and five or six years later they are only JUST starting to wear out. seriously. and i also wear then for wood carving and they are surprisingly puncture resistant. i'm not saying they're full on carving gloves, but they've saved me from some slices and you'd never know it, looking at the glove.

so yeah. they're good stuff.

i'm going to be buying some more of them because as i said, that first pair is starting to wear out.