Gloves, or no gloves...

paul

Member
I've been operating the rail for some time now, but can't seem to decide if I am comfortable with operating the line sets (all Multi-Line II) with gloves on. Most of the time I operate the lines bare-handed. But sometimes my hands just need a bit of a break, and I put on my gloves (usually SetWear EZ Fits) for the rest of the rehearsal or show. But I just can't get used to running rail with gloves on. So they usually come right back off.
So I'm wondering how do you all feel about operating line sets with gloves on?
Is it something that everyone does? Or nobody?
Just curious.
 
i know when i worked on the rail for load in/out on shows (we didnt have too many flys durring the show were i worked) i would use gloves when the lines were out of weight and we either taking something on or off (depending upon how far out of weight it was) but typicaly did not use gloves, i think i would have had i had a nicer pair of gloves...
 
I have the setwear leather gloves and I find that they really help when running lines. I will not wear them when pulling and out of weight line in/out because i have a stronger grip without them. If you have a pair of well fitting gloves your hands will thank you for it. When I'm throwing weight I do not wear gloves.
 
I agree with Footer I never wear gloves when I throw weight, learned that lesson the hard way. I did find a way to break in a pair of work glove s bit quicker though. I have a house and do a lot of gardening, ok my wife gardens I do yard work. I get a new pair of gloves, soak them in water, slip them on and spend a day working in the yard. by the end of the day they will snug up and conform to your natural grip. I don't know if this is a great thing or not But Personally I love the way my gloves fit after this.

Oh and to be Honest about agreeing with Footer, I agree with him in principle. I don't actually throw weight anymore, I have people that do that for me ! hehehehehehehhe:twisted:
 
I have a pair of Iron Clad Framers gloves which I pretty much won't touch the flyrail in a load in or show with out wearing them.
 
My favorite gloves are the "original" Mechanix gloves from my local auto parts store. I use them when I'm on-loading and off-loading weight from the load rail, and will probably use them for flying when I get that assignment.
 
I use SetWare EZ Fits, and I wear them all the time. But if the fly is really out of weight, and I need to put my full bodyweight on it, I need to take them off...the gloves don't seem to have as much traction as my bare hands sometimes. Then again, maybe that's 'cause they're a bit to big for me...

Also, I've noticed that wearing them for long periods of time can make my hands sweaty. Is there a way to fix that?
 
Simply, gloves. Most rails I work off of are hemp which as you know just chews up your hands. Even off the rail, I try and wear gloves all the time. I never know when I've got to jump on a ladder and grab a hot light, start loading up the truck, etc. I've gotton my hands cut up enough times to learn my lesson and wear them as much as possible. Generally, I'll wear a pair of standard leather gloves for focus but as soon as I'm off the lights, I switch over to a pair of "mechanix" gloves specifically made for rigging. They are lightweight, comfortable, and have extra padding in the tips and nuckles to keep your hands from getting mangeled.
 
i have gone through so many gloves, that i just opt for the cheap wal-mart gloves, so that when they start to get worn down, i dont feel bad about throwing away a cheap pair of gloves.
 
I have been using SetWear EZ Fits too. When i'm on the fly, it depends how much I've been doing during the day. If its through a rehersal, again and again and then the show that night, sometimes my hands just want a bit of a breat, so I slip the gloves on for some of the easier fly cues. Along with Footer, I never load weights with gloves, as I've learnt the hard way too!

It seems though that when I wear them, the moment I take them off I cut myself on something or burn my hand. Its times like then I wish I had them on! But you never know when you may need to refocus a light quickly, load a new piece of set, or quickly drop a fly at the drop of a hat! So thats just my opinion anyway
 
I've got a pair of SetWear HotHands ones that I got years ago, and I still wear them almost everyday and I rarely do any of this stuff in a theater anymore. I'm one to wear gloves whenever I do anything. I look at it as they're my hands, I only get one pair, and there's no sense screwing them up. It might be a little harder sometimes with gloves on, but I'd rather adapt than make a mess of my hands.
 
I where gloves during load-in. But, other than that, I never do. My hands are so calesed it doesn't make a difference. I just like to feel the line when I use the fly's. That doesn't happen when I where gloves.
 
Also, if it's dark and you can't see the spike, you can feel it as it goes flying by (rather than not-feeling it with gloves). Plus it gives a bit more control.
 
Since my school doesn't have a fly system we don't need to worry about flying but I have always heard that if you are flying something you should wear gloves. This summer a guy got terrible rope burn in the theatre I was interning in. He was trying to raise a big curtain and the rope was caught. He thought it was just really out of weight so he added another clamp and put on a bunch of sandbags. This got the rope unstuck but it was now robe heavy. He tried to stop it and couldn't but was able to slow it down a little. He of course wasn't wearing any gloves and got terrible rope burn. I saw it a week and a half later after he had taken the big bandage off and there was still a big area with no skin.
 
Ouch. I've seen my fair share of rope burns from rock climbing (if I haven't belayed in awhile and my callouses are gone), but that just sounds brutal.
 
I find while on the rail during a show gloves are a bad option they tend to get in the way. When loading and unloading as well as testing the weight on a batten I always wear gloves. After a dance show the idiots who were loadin out just clipped the cable that attached the scenery to the batten..My friend did not know this and when trying to bring in the empty batten in flew to the ground burning/cutting his hands to pieces. It was about 150 lbs arbor heavy come to find out. Thats my story
 

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