Choosing The Best ATV Gloves
ATV gloves are crucial riding gear, right there with your helmet. This means you absolutely must have gloves and they need to be up to the task. Read this post to learn how to choose ATV riding gloves.
Benefits of ATV Gloves
These gloves serve several purposes. Your hands get sweaty while riding, which is both uncomfortable and potentially dangerous as it could make it hard for you to hold onto the handlebars. Gloves help you maintain your grip. Gloves also prevent blisters and keep branches from banging up and scratching your hands. A particular benefit of quad riding gloves is protection against abrasion and minor impacts in the event of a crash.
Types of ATV Gloves
Full-fingered gloves
Full-fingered gloves cover your hand and your fingers to offer full hand protection and keep your hands warm in cooler temps.
Fingerless gloves
Fingerless gloves cover your hand and leave your fingers exposed. The main purpose of this is to protect your palm and the back of your hand while letting the most air in to keep you cool. These are only needed in the heat of summer.
Winter gloves
When temperatures get cold, you need more than your average quad gloves. Winter-weather gloves are designed to protect you from cold, wind, and usually water. They may or may not offer knuckle protection.
High, medium, to light protection
Depending on where and how you’re riding, you may need more or less protection.
If you’re doing some light trail riding, you could do with the lightest protection gloves. You’ll basically just need something to help you keep your grip and you may or may not feel the need for some padding or light knuckle protection.
For those who are off-roading in rough terrain, hitting high speeds, or engaging in any extreme ATV activities, you need the highest amount of protection there is: full-fingered, high-quality gloves with serious hand protection.
Those in between can get what they need for their riding style. You may just want something that will promote grip and protect your hand from branches. Knuckle protection can be optional or minimal, depending on your desires and your budget.
Still riding in bulky rubber gloves? We've got something more comfortable for you here.
Key Features of ATV Gloves
Breathability
Four-wheeler gloves should be made of breathable material. Whether you’re riding in the heat, the cold, or a moderate temperature, you want to keep sweat from building up in your gloves. Summer gloves will be designed with extra vents or mesh to allow more air flow.
Waterproof and Windproof
It is not uncommon to find ATV gloves that are waterproof and/or windproof. This feature is especially important for those riders who prefer riding in water, mud, and muskeg. Waterproof gloves will protect your hands from rain, water and mud droplets, snow, and of course the blast of wind you feel when going fast speeds.
Wrist closure
Many ATV gloves have elastic wrist with fasteners to secure them to your hand and keep dirt and debris out.
Material
Quad riding gloves can be made from a range of materials. You’ll want to make sure they’re durable, Polyester, PU Leather, rubber, leather, silicone, neoprene, cotton, polyamide, and polyvinyl could all be found in gloves ATV riders wear and they all serve either durability, breathability, or grip purposes.
Grip
ATV riding gloves provide grip. Rubberized, silicone, or other sturdier materials should be attached strategically to the gloves to serve the needs of the ATV rider specifically. Some gloves are also made with a natural, curved design that provides comfort and a natural grip.
Padding
A lot of ATV gloves will have some amount of padding to put material between you and the hazards of the outdoors. How much depends on whether they’re winter gloves, how much protection their offering, and whether padding is their main method of protection. The latter would serve light to medium protection needs.
Knuckle protection
Heavier duty ATV gloves will have knuckle protection built in. A moderate level may be light rubber built-in above the knuckles, then you might have gloves with a heavier duty rubber section above the knuckles. The toughest gloves have hard reinforcements built in above the knuckles. Some are even steel. When purchasing these, it is necessary to get the right size gloves to make sure the knuckles on the gloves line up with yours or you’ll have inferior protection and a lot of discomfort.
Choosing the Best Gloves for ATV Riding
Read the specifications on any gloves you consider. There is a lot of variety out there, so you can pick the gloves that suit your needs and your budget best. Look for durable fabrics and the amount of protection you need for your riding style. Unless you only ride in moderate weather, you’ll probably need to have at least two pairs of ATV gloves, one for moderate weather and one for either hot or cold weather, depending on your local climate. It’s also wise to have backups in case something happens to your gloves.
