I use gloves daily. Sometimes I get a little grief for it, but when I’m handling boxes and tripods and light stands and all kinds of thing that have been who knows where, the gloves protect my hands, keep them clean, and keep them from drying out. When I’m shooting outdoors, they also help me keep a good grip on my tripod and stay warm when it’s cool and wet. I love gloves, and you’ll always find a lightweight pair in my pocket or bag. B&H carries a big selection of set gloves, so I’m not alone in using gloves on a photo/cinema set. When I say that I like these new Glovax gloves, it comes from a lot of experience with this style of glove and these are pretty cool.

What Glovax Does Well

These are a knit glove with a grippy substance printed on the palm and fingers. You can get knit gloves at Walmart or the gas station and they are very cheap and don’t last a very long time, and those are the kind I usually use. Glovax is different because the grippy substance is special. It provides a better grip than any others I’ve seen, and it keeps the grip even when wet or oily, which is very special. Also, and this is remarkable, the palm and fingers are cut proof. You can’t puncture them with a knife or scissors. That means my fingers hands are protected from thorns and the surface is much longer lasting than usual, too.

I prefer gloves with high dexterity, and these provide it. I can work my camera’s dials and buttons with the gloves on.

Glovax also does an exceptional job of insulating from cold surfaces. They don’t keep the whole hand super warm in cold weather, but they do stop your tripod from freezing your fingers, which easily happens on even mild summer mornings. Combined with their superb grip, I think these are terrific gloves for photographers, as well as many other outdoor applications.

What Glovax Doesn’t Do Well

The IndieGoGo campaign video for Glovax claims they are waterproof, and I take issue with that. The palms are waterproof, but the back of the glove is quite absorbant and doesn’t shed water at all. This is also common to this kind of glove. I’m glad the backs are not waterproof because hands would become pruney with sweat if they were. They do have a very nice feel to the inside, and I hope that feeling continues with age.

Glovax also doesn’t go with your outfit very well. Unfortunately, at this time they only come in blaze orange, which is great if you’re hunting in the fall, but I do wish they were a muted gray so I don’t scare away birds I’m trying to photograph with my bright orange hands. My photograph above really doesn’t do justice to how bright these are (though they do go well with the Photofocus orange ;) )

Conclusion

Overall, these new Glovax gloves are pretty cool and very useful for photographers. They’ll keep your hands holding tight to tripods even in cold and inclement weather, and they show signs of lasting a very long time–and that’s good because they cost a lot more than the cheap gloves from the gas station. So, if you can get past the bright orange color, I suggest you check them out on their IndieGoGo page right here.