[arobwk]

 Topic inspired by the Equipment/Barbed Wire thread: 

I go through absolutely loads of gloves each year as a gardener and on my land.  I thought I'd see what you all use as well and see if there are any definite recommends.

I use or have used various fabric gloves, for dexterity, with rubbery/plastic coating to palms and fingers, fabric gloves with faux leather palms/fingers for much the same reason, rigger gloves (I'm sure we've all bought a pair of these along the way) for extra protection, as well as all-leather light/medium/heavy weight gloves/gauntlets.
I have yet to buy any advertised as hypodermic needle proof (or whatever they call them).
 
I do also use disposable vinyl gloves for equipment greasing operations and the like (leaving aside Cv-19 issues), but they are not what I’m interested in hearing about here.

I've stopped buying rigger gloves as they tend to fall apart all too easily at their many seams (no matter where I've bought them from) and the quality of leather parts is variable (vis a vis handling thorns and the like).

If the rubbery/plastic coating to fabric glove palms/fingers is even slightly tacky to the touch I don't buy those any more:  they are very likely to stick to themselves in storage than not.

I’m not a great fan of the premium price ‘Briers’ brand:  their quite pricey gauntlets I bought were ripped apart in short shrift by some brambles, BUT they do actually do some really good grey/yellow fabric/rubber-plasticy gloves for lighter work that I bought at Trago Mills discount store.
I also have some Acegrip Lite fabric/rubbery/plasticy (textured) gloves that are pretty good and, I would say, even more comfortable to wear for long periods for light weeding and the like.

Re light-weight leather (sorry veggie/vegan TAS members):  they can be pretty much used all-round apart from pruning nasty plants.  However, weeding wears out finger tips quite soon and they are relatively expensive compared to fabric/rubber for that use.  I’ve been buying mine (goat-skin) from Mole Valley Farmers @ £10-£12 I think.  Not any more though:  I plonked a pair on top of car roof and forgot they were there and they are now history.  So, I’ve just ordered 3x pairs at some £17 total ont' web for Vgo brand pig-skin gloves.  I’ll report on those idc.

Re medium-weight leather:  well, the Stanley drivers’ gloves via Screwfix are, I would say, hard to beat at £6 a pair.  Nuff said.

Really tough leather gloves tend to be gauntlets:  not sure of branding of my welders’ gloves, but they are well-thick and can cope with pretty much anything - except that they do not allow easy hand/finger manipulation of anything!

What are you using & can recommend for various degrees of gloved protection at a decent price?

[Buttermilk]

I buy leather work gloves from Costco, not sure of the brand and welding gauntlets from the local ag store, again I do not know the brand name.

[arobwk]

Never heard of Costco:  checked online and find they haven't got down here yet.  Website search didn't produce useful results and, as I didn't much like their website, probably won't try again.  Thanks anyway Buttermilk.

My new Ygo pigskin gloves arrived today via Amazon:  well enough put together, pliant and comfortable. Their XL (Size 10) is a bit roomier than other's Size 10s that I use, but I can live with.  Of course their durability has yet to be tested.  They say they are washable!  I don't envisage a need and I'm not sure I would risk anyway.   

[YorkshireLass]

I have leather / suede gauntlets for hoiking out nettles, but for anything where I need fingers that work, I've got some Wilkinsons / Wilko gardening gloves. Mainly because they came down to my size, but they've been surprisingly durable. https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-professional-garden-glove-medium/p/0486898  but I found them in Small. They have been used for farm work / pitch forking / general abuse.


I also liked that they didn't split gloves in to BIG MACHO TOUGH RAR and "dainty little princess flowers made of tissue paper" types 

[Dan]

I like Towa gloves, they tend to have the rubberised palm / fingers, but I haven't had the problems with them fusing in storage that I've had with other brands.

Good value too, got 5 pairs of their lighter landscape gloves for spring/summer for £10.99 from eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Towa-Landscape-Premium-Soft-n-Care-Outdoor-Gardening-Glove-595/233461813963

Their Powergrab Thermo gloves did me well last winter, warm and while not completely waterproof they provided enough protection for most jobs.

[Gornoeth]

I'd been pondering something similar recently. Bought some Donkey Works gloves at the start of lockdown and already worn through on the fingers. Used them on a variety of tasks as you do on a smallholding but hoped they'd last longer than that.
Seems a pain to have a variety gloves but I guess the only option. Doing things like fencing are the tricky ones, needs more than a weeding glove but you still need some dexterity.

[arobwk]

Different gloves for different jobs is the only cost effective way to go I would say Gornoeth: ground level weeding, in particular, will wear out finger tips of most types in quick time.

For plain wire & mesh fencing, soft to medium leather (or non-leather equivalents) are fine unless you're "knotting off" high-tensile wire in traditional fashion when, I found, thinnish gloves suffered rather quickly.
(However, while I was becoming reasonably adept at tying a traditional knot in H-T wire, I soon adopted Gripples and crimp sleeves - aah, way to go unless you've really acquired the knack and hand strength for knotting from doing mile after mile, day after day.)[size=78%]

Feedback on my Ygo pig-skin gloves (3x pairs for £17):  the stitching thread around palm-seam areas (subject to most wear) is too thin.  One of the threads on right-hand thumb to palm seam is already worn after some petrol hedge trimmer use and a bit of raking:  not impressed with that!
I'll try waxing the seam threads to see if that helps because they are quite comfortable and easier to remove when hands are sweaty than the Mole Valley goat-skin offerings (? "Cutters"/"Cotters" brand ? - I still have a 2nd pair of the latter and their stitching thread is noticeably thicker).
  [/size]

[Wanabe farmer]

I just buy the ones for a, quid from home bargains. They do the job and for the price get thrown away when they start to wear.  Always lasted long enough for whatever task I've needed to do.