Mechanix gloves

Capi

Member
Hey all,

I didn't really know what was better: to resurrect a really dead thread - http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23, or to start a new one, so I chose the latter. There have been a couple general discussions about gloves on CB and I'm interested specifically about Mechanix brand gloves. What I would like to know is how heat resistant they are? I would use them for focusing. The hottest thing I focus is a 6" Fresnel at full, but we all know that these get really hot in a short time. Anybody used these? I know that there are better alternatives, like Setwear Hot Hands, but Mechanix are not as expensive and more easily accessible. Thanks for any input. Just to clarify, I am talking about the Original Mechanix glove. Thanks.
 
They are not welding gloves.
Trust me, I have a melted pair of gloves and a few nice scars to show.
 
I have a set of Mechanix and Set Wear Hot Hands. The Hot Hands are the best out there for focusing, I have used them to cook even. 450F cookie sheet and no problems. The Mechanix don't offer much in the way of heat protection. You will find it feels like they are melting to your skin. The reason I have both is because I use the Hot Hands strictly for focusing and handling of lamps. I don't want to wreck a $50 per of gloves pushing road cases. I have my $20 Mechanix for that.
 
You will find it feels like they are melting to your skin.

Melting to your skin would definitely be a bad thing. I'll look around for something else. Thanks.
 
I've destroyed many a pair of Mechanix brand gloves due to heat. The ones that get wrecked from focusing take longer but do blow out (or melt away). I've also lost a pair that I wore while grinding down welds on steel. Used my thumb to feel the weld after I ground it down to check for flush, after a week the thumb was gone on the glove.
I now have a pair of SetWear Hot Hands for the focusing. (and some welding gloves for the welding).
 
Mechanix are great gloves and I love them for general use in the shop, on load in/out, pushing stuff around etc... But they are not for heat. Go with the Set Ware Hot Hands, they were designed for use with hot lights.
 
Everybody here knows that Mechanix and Setwear are the same company, right? And that the nameplates are owned/operated by AXO motocross?

Okay, good.
 
Everybody here knows that Mechanix and Setwear are the same company, right? And that the nameplates are owned/operated by AXO motocross?
Okay, good.

He drops down from the sky, leaves his wisdom and returns to the great beyond...

Didn't know that Rigger, thanks. Makes sense as both lines of products have so many interesting variations for very special purposes.
 
I definitely 2nd (or 3rd) those hot hands. I have also done the 450 degree cookie sheet test!!!! I have also pushed around road cases and used them for pretty much everything (though they are noticeably meant only for extreme heat).

...which reminds me to get some impact resistant mechanix...
 
Now I'll admit that I got these gloves after I left my high school's inferno of a lighting rig, but I have a wonderful pair of Makita work gloves that I use. They weren't specifically designed for heat, but the fingers are padded with tire rubber which I can only assume has been formulated to undergo heat (whatwith breaking, friction, etc.). At any rate, they've been fine so far with S4's. Would majorly suck if they melted on me.
 
Now I'll admit that I got these gloves after I left my high school's inferno of a lighting rig, but I have a wonderful pair of Makita work gloves that I use. They weren't specifically designed for heat, but the fingers are padded with tire rubber which I can only assume has been formulated to undergo heat (whatwith breaking, friction, etc.). At any rate, they've been fine so far with S4's. Would majorly suck if they melted on me.

Are they the makita M Force or something like that? Like turquoise with black?
http://www.comosuperstore.com/enlar...omosuperstore.com/prodimages/400/088381940283

Yea, I had a pair start SMOKING on me. I think if I had kept them there, they would've actually got fire. Also, I went through 2 pairs because the stitching between the thumb and index always started failing...great for impact though...
 
I have MForce2's.
[URL='http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00081NHB0/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi"]Outside pic[/URL], and my own of the inside:

1127072214.jpg

The rubber on the tips I don't think is put there for heat resistance, more for dexterity, but it's worked for me so far :neutral: I wouldn't recommend if you're going to be extendedly dealing with really hot lights (say if your rig was pre-source 4, or if you're going to be dealing with a lot of hot pars), but they've been great in my uses.
 
Another concept in gloves to think about. I use leather work gloves for rigging, lumber and rope work, today it was about work gloves that are cut and puncture resistant. Perhaps different types of gloves for different applications.

Not of heat restistance but of cut resitance where I work - in shop staff de-looming cable and far too frequently cutting themselves, I just bought a bulk of kevlar gloves following a ten glove test sample of what's available and sold on the market. Amazing how training in how to use a knife, them trained in ability to learn insetead of hear, given mulitplie training classes and or in general people of various base IQ levels being hired at times to sling cable for a living can raise the costs of providing workmens comp. insurance to a company. Amazing how small than play testing safety knives and gloves in all forms thought of than can become well worth the price.

At first I introduced the hook blade utility knife blade to the company - like six years ago. (Only recently was such a knife blade a problem but still.) Amazing how pulling the blade as opposed to slitting with it saved man-hours in constantly getting cables returned to me to fix that had "accidential" slits in them. This much less cables with deep slits that had to be destroyed.

Rule in cutting that cable and at best making it into something smaller is that if copper shows, except on feeder cable of course, you cut it. No repair possible. Amazing how once we switched to hook blades for the knives, the repairs to slit cables dropped from my repair piles. Most these days come from over ambitious professionals in the field using utility knife blades instead of hook blades to remove tape looming from cables.

Back to the point... it would seem that a hook blade knife cuts deeper and more nasty than a normal utility knife blade when one cuts oneself with one. (Debate about me caring about the cable over some idiot's wrist...) Still they were for a time banned from the use of them while we play tested some special safety knives and forms of sewing seam rippers none of which had a blade exposed or worked sufficiently. Further instruction into how to use a knife was given and it still didn't work. Asst. shop manager even still de-looming cable on her lap just a few days ago in not thinking about what she was doing... Should have and still might yell at her in catching her doing so when not busy and trying to be helpful - she has hope and would not do so again. Even she it would seem while intelligent seems to have missed a general concept and could have become a stistic that day by accident.

Bought 30x pairs of special kevlar reinforced, Nitrate palm work gloves that are both cut and puncture resistant. Something like $4.25 a pair thru J&L Industrial Supply. Their MCX-96833J series Ultra-Tech series gloves seemed most comfortable and above all ten other styles from Grainger and McMaster we tested including my own leather work gloves. They resisted best both types of knife blade best and were not overly warm or uncomfortable to wear. Play testing which were best after the initial test was uncomfortable but necessary. How close that knife blade got to doing damage to a hand could only be tested with hand in the glove after the initial puncture and slit tests. This pair of gloves amongst a decently large test sample did best second only to a different pair that was like steel plate but not feasible to wear around the shop. They were more like thick chemical resistant gloves than work gloves unfortunately as nothing got thru or damaged them.

While I would not recommend nitrite coated gloves for lamp focus, for other uses, the above glove might be useful. Contact me by E-Mail and I will provide a list of specific part numbers and brands of gloves in the test, and why they did not work out so well. I would not recommend this pair of gloves unless amongst a decently large sampling, they were the best availble I found. This is now what the shop staff will wear when using knives as with wearing safety glasses, ear plugs, masks etc. about the shop and various departments.

This and for the same insurance reasons above, I just bought 36x more adding up to like 50x pairs of safety glasses all with lanyards I bought this year. Shop is going total safety due to injuries that constantly raise the costs of doing business. Explosive proof cabinets, ear protection and face masks etc. Even first aid training and up to paramedic level staff members in most department managers including me now first aid certified.
 
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Interesting about the hook knives, I always though those were just used as hunting knives for field dressing.
 
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Got roasted once using Mechanix gloves a 6x9 that had been up at full for close to 10 hrs. Might have been my fault as to how I grabbed it, but still, steered me clear of mechanix gloves for anything but pushing cases.

Hot Hands so far have been the only glove that has been foolproof for focusing -- especially like how they have a very snug, dexterous fit but also retain the large cuff to protect against wrist burns. Still, should always wear long-sleeves when focusing if at all possible.
 
Interesting about the hook knives, I always though those were just used as hunting knives for field dressing.

Stanley 11-961 hook blade. Fits in the standard utility kife/matt knife, different blade. Used them for years without a problem for cutting the tape off a loom of cable easily and without damage to the cable. Normal knife blades often "slip" and cut into the jacket of one of the cables.
 
Interesting about the hook knives, I always though those were just used as hunting knives for field dressing.

Hook knives were primarily popular among sailors for the ability to cut line, while using the curve and hook of the blade to hold the rope still/bring it toward them. I use a hook knife (spyderco tasman salt) for very precise cuts into cable.
 
I have MForce2's.
[URL='http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00081NHB0/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi"]Outside pic[/URL], and my own of the inside:
View attachment 690
The rubber on the tips I don't think is put there for heat resistance, more for dexterity, but it's worked for me so far :neutral: I wouldn't recommend if you're going to be extendedly dealing with really hot lights (say if your rig was pre-source 4, or if you're going to be dealing with a lot of hot pars), but they've been great in my uses.

Oh, I loved those gloves and used them very hard, I just don't think they last very long. They feel really good on the hands though. And no, the rubber doesn't really help too much with heat.

I think mechanix (minus some of their insane carbon line) are not as good for focusing as hothands. That being said I think hothands have a very limited scope as workgloves, and I would only reccomend them (because of pricetag) to lighting techs over mechanix, and even then, just barely.

Hothands can't be used in a wet climate (if you'd like to keep the stitches intact). Also hothands aren't that great for grip. They also don't breathe that well. But they do insulate from heat VERY well.
Phil
 

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