11
Leather gauntlets vs Kevlar sleeves, picked wrong and paid for it
Started a big header replacement job near Pittsburgh last month and had to decide on arm protection for all the grinding and slag. I grabbed a pair of thick leather gauntlets from the supply house, figured they'd handle the heat and sparks fine. Two days in, a glob of molten metal landed right on the cuff seam and melted straight through to my wrist, took a chunk of skin with it. The Kevlar sleeves the older guys swear by would've shed that same spark easy, and I'm kicking myself for being cheap. Has anyone else burned through leather on vertical welds or is it just me? I'm leaning toward switching over but wonder if they run too hot for summer work.
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
lisas7811h ago
Leather's fine for most stuff, but that cuff seam is a trap. I've seen guys lose skin exactly like that, one bad glob in the wrong spot and it's over. Kevlar sleeves do run warmer, yeah, but you can get vented ones that aren't too bad. For overhead or vertical work, I'd take the sweat over a burn scar any day. You're not the only one who learned that lesson the hard way.
5