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What are Kevlar® Gloves?

Jennifer Fenn
Jennifer Fenn

Kevlar® gloves are used in industrial and manufacturing environments. Lumber jacks, chefs, fisherman, landscapers, butchers and builders commonly wear Kevlar® gloves as well. Kevlar® itself is a material patented by DuPont in 1965. These fibers are both strong and lightweight, making this material ideal for safety gear. Kevlar® gloves are also heat and cut resistant, and will not melt, catch fire, or conduct electricity. The fibers used in these gloves can also be as strong, if not stronger than, steel.

Worn in many hazardous working environments, Kevlar® gloves are comfortable but protect the wearer from the dangers of glass, abrasives, assembly-line blades and sheet metal. Also, scuba divers sometimes wear this material to prevent cuts from sharp coral and rocks. One drawback to Kevlar® is that it can be broken down by ultraviolet light, so it cannot be used in areas where there would be constant, long-term exposure to the sun.

Professional fishermen often use gloves made of Kevlar to protect their hands.
Professional fishermen often use gloves made of Kevlar to protect their hands.

Kevlar® gloves come in several varieties. Some of these working gloves are designed to enhance the wearer's grip despite heavy oil or other lubricants. Other types of Kevlar® gloves are designed to prevent contamination in food manufacturing environments, as Kevlar® fibers are constructed in such a way that prevents fuzz, dust and lint. One type of Kevlar® glove, the Ove Glove®, is designed to withstand heat up to 540 degrees Fahrenheit (282 degrees Celsius) and be used as an oven mitt.

Kevlar® gloves are often worn for sheet metal work.
Kevlar® gloves are often worn for sheet metal work.

Kevlar® gloves can be washed and dried numerous times without wearing out. Since Kevlar® gloves are often reversible, they can be worn a long time. Kevlar® gloves may also be worn beneath other gloves as a protective liner. Dishwasher-safe varieties provide an added convenience to chefs and other food service professionals.

Body armor used by the military, correctional facility employees and police often utilizes Kevlar®, as the material is also bulletproof. Attire for motorcyclists also might contain Kevlar®. In addition, Kevlar® is used in special pants created solely to protect chain saw operators, as well as aprons, jackets, sleeves and leggings. Besides being used in clothing and gloves, Kevlar® can also be found in suspension bridge cables, bicycle tires, racing sails, fiber optics, brake linings, ropes and airplane parts. Scotland's famous Aberfeldy Bridge uses ropes containing Kevlar®.

Scuba divers sometimes wear Kevlar gloves to prevent cuts from sharp coral and rocks.
Scuba divers sometimes wear Kevlar gloves to prevent cuts from sharp coral and rocks.

Composite materials using Kevlar® and other compounds are useful in the construction of sports equipment, including lacrosse, ice hockey and field hockey sticks, cricket bats, kayaks, and badminton, squash and table tennis rackets. Air packs used by some firefighters and fire resistant mattresses also contain this amazing material. Kevlar® also offers some acoustical benefits, and can be utilized in drum heads, reeds for woodwind instruments and speakers.

Discussion Comments

anon236650

@googlefanz: You can get Kevlar tactical gloves relatively inexpensively at different sites. My favorite site is Dydrostorm. They have many different types of Kevlar tactical gloves at some really good prices.

googlefanz

So how expensive are these things? Because after reading about all the different things that you can do with Kevlar gloves, they seem like they might make some nice boat driving gloves, provided that they're waterproof, of course.

Where exactly can you get Kevlar gloves, or are they even available for regular consumer consumption? I right now I just use a pair of long rubber gauntlet gloves when driving my boat for long distances, but I think that the Kevlar ones sound a lot better.

So do you know if they make waterproof Kevlar gloves, and if so, where I could get some? Thanks for the information!

CopperPipe

One thing that's really cool about Kevlar gloves is that they just look really normal. My buddy works in a factory where they wear Kevlar gloves, and the first time he showed them to me I thought he was joking -- they just look like the regular cotton gloves you can get anywhere, or like those gardening gloves that old ladies wear.

I guess it didn't help that his gloves were bright yellow -- that really played up the gardening glove vibe for me.

But I have to tell you, those gloves totally work! He showed me how you can even pull a sharp knife across the glove and nothing happens -- it doesn't even make a dent. I know that if I had a job in a hazardous work environment, I would definitely invest in a good pair of Kevlar gloves like that -- gardening glove look or no.

yournamehere

Cool! I had no idea that they made gloves out of Kevlar. That's the same stuff they use to make bulletproof vests, right?

I have no idea what I would use a pair of Kevlar gloves for -- I'm not a lumberjack, nor do I work in a factory -- but it would be cool to have a pair of Kevlar ski gloves, I suppose. And maybe even useful too, if you were falling and had to grab onto a tree or something; that way your hand wouldn't get hurt.

Do they make insulated Kevlar gloves that you could use in a situation like that, I wonder?

Can you tell me some more about this?

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    • Professional fishermen often use gloves made of Kevlar to protect their hands.
      By: B. Wylezich
      Professional fishermen often use gloves made of Kevlar to protect their hands.
    • Kevlar® gloves are often worn for sheet metal work.
      By: Kybele
      Kevlar® gloves are often worn for sheet metal work.
    • Scuba divers sometimes wear Kevlar gloves to prevent cuts from sharp coral and rocks.
      By: lilithlita
      Scuba divers sometimes wear Kevlar gloves to prevent cuts from sharp coral and rocks.
    • Kevlar is used in the construction of field hockey sticks and other types of sports equipment.
      By: Eric Gevaert
      Kevlar is used in the construction of field hockey sticks and other types of sports equipment.
    • Kevlar may be used in the suspension cables on suspension bridges.
      By: stockelements
      Kevlar may be used in the suspension cables on suspension bridges.
    • Composite materials containing Kevlar are used to make tennis rackets.
      By: Andrey Kiselev
      Composite materials containing Kevlar are used to make tennis rackets.