Which archery gloves are best?
Archery gloves can help protect your hands from the possible damage and strain that comes from shooting an arrow regularly, and it’s super important to protect your hands and fingers, whether you are shooting for competition or playing for fun. The ArcheryMax Handmade Brown Leather Three-Finger Archery Gloves is a stellar pair of archery gloves.
What to know before you buy a pair of archery gloves
Learn about the drawing hand
There are two primary kinds of protective items for your drawing hand, including the archery glove and the tab. The protective gloves can either be a full glove or a glove that just covers three of your fingers. Full gloves provide additional protection, but the additional layers might be too much for some people.
The tab is a tiny piece of durable fabric, typically either cloth or leather, that protects your fingers without covering the back or palm of your hand. It’s usually attached to a single finger with a retaining loop and covers the upper interior while you pull back the bow.
Consider your bow hand
Archers usually wear arm bracers or guards on their bow arm, but some people choose to wear archery gloves as well, particularly if they’re using a drawstring bow where they draw back their arrow along their hand. These archery gloves cover your thumb and index finger and enable you to draw your bow safely along the space between the two fingers.
Think about the material for the archery gloves
There are a few materials you can select for archery gloves, including leather, polyester and hybrid fabrics. Leather gloves are the most common option, since they’re long-lasting and durable, but polyester gloves are lighter and more elastic.
Hybrid options give you the best of both of these fabrics. Leather is typically used on the fingertips, and the remainder of the archery glove is polyester.
What to look for in a quality pair of archery gloves
Size
Finding the right size glove is crucial for proper dexterity and protection. You should measure the distance from the top of the wrist to the middle finger for length, as well as the width of your ring, middle and index fingers when they’re pressed together for three-finger gloves.
Color
The most common colors for archery gloves are dark green, brown, tan and black, but you can find some red, yellow and camouflage gloves.
Breathability
Some archery gloves have a mesh coating around the palm of your hand to prevent moisture accumulation. But you probably don’t want to wear mesh gloves in colder temperatures.
How much you can expect to spend on a pair of archery gloves
Archery gloves vary in price from $10-$20 or more. The most inexpensive archery gloves cost about $10 per pair, while midrange archery gloves vary in price from about $10-$20 and high-end archery gloves go for about $20 or more.
Archery gloves FAQ
What other protective gear should you wear while you’re shooting?
A. You should guard your bow arm and protect your fingers, particularly when you are a beginner to archery. You can use forearm guards to protect your arm from the bowstring whipping back and sticking it. You should also buy a chest guard, which prevents abrasions and keeps your loose clothing from getting in the way of the release of the arrow.
Why do you need to break in your leather gloves?
A. The leather will be stiff if you don’t break in the gloves, and you won’t have the control and feel you need. That’s why you need to avoid any competition or serious archery outings before you break in your gloves. Polyester-leather and polyester archery gloves don’t need as much breaking in as leather gloves.
Can you use any outdoor gloves during archery?
A. Some gloves meant for keeping your hands dry and warm and working outside can offer a little protection during archery, but true archery gloves provide the long-term and short-term safety features you need if you regularly use a bow and arrow.
Archery gloves protect your fingers and provide control when you’re wielding your bow and arrow. These two qualities are essential in archery gloves and won’t likely be provided in other gloves.
What are the best archery gloves to buy?
Top archery gloves
ArcheryMax Handmade Brown Leather Three-Finger Archery Gloves
What you need to know: These archery gloves are an excellent choice for beginners and provide a great combo of protection and comfort.
What you’ll love: These gloves have mesh backing that comfortably wraps around the hand, as well as double-layered leather that protects your fingers. The adjustable hook-and-latch cuff securely holds the glove on during releases.
What you should consider: These tend to run a little small, so you should check the measurements from the manufacturer carefully.
Top archery gloves for the money
What you need to know: This pair of archery gloves is affordable and stylish and works well with light draws.
What you’ll love: These polyester gloves include an interior elastic loop that helps tug your gloves back into place fairly quickly when necessary. The cow leather padding on the gloves also helps protect your fingers.
What you should consider: This pair of archery gloves are not quite as comfortable for heavy draws.
Worth checking out
Damascus Protective Gear Doeskin Shooting Glove
What you need to know: This full-palm archery glove looks great and protects your fingers at lighter draw weights.
What you’ll love: This full-palm protective glove uses thin doeskin for a better bowstring feel and works well at draw weights under 50 pounds. The leather of the archery glove quickly breaks in within a couple of archery sessions.
What you should consider: This archery glove tends to run a little big, so you should order a size down.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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