SOLAG HD Gloves - ArniesAirsoft

Author

Ranger_Captain

Pissin' people off one post at a time

Registered: July 2005
Location: West Point, New York
Posts: 1,229

Review Date: 2/1/10

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �40.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	�Knuckles� and finger hardpoints, pending on your point of view, Robust design, Sturdy build, Long lasting materials, Secure fit and feel
Cons:	�Knuckles� and finger hardpoints, pending on your point of view, No longer have the over finger design

Blackhawk SOLAG HD Gloves

Introduction

More and more advanced tacticool gear is coming out every day, and more and more high end companies face the fact that their most advance gear, however unique for the moment, will quickly be cloned, copied, and resold on the market at a far lower price as well as a much lower quality level.

With this knowledge in hand, the famous high end gear companies such as Eagle, HSGI, Crye, and Blackhawk all need to find ways to set themselves above the Chinese copies to make themselves worthwhile investments.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves11.jpg

Blackhawk�s attempt at restimulating the market has come in may ways, but for now let�s focus on their revamped SOLAG HD glove design.

Based heavily off of their earlier SOLAG glove design

First Impressions

I picked these up for two reasons, 1) I needed a new pair of gloves not to replace, but to complement my older black SOLAG Kevlar gloves and 2) I was in the right place at the right time with the right amount of extra cash in my pocket.

I choose OD as opposed to black to break up my borderline gothic fascination with all black gloves and since I�m using ACU�s less and less at airsoft matches, I find OD works better than black with other patterns.

That said first impressions weren�t that impressive to me, not by any fault of Blackhawk, but I�ve had a pair of SOLAG�s before, I�ve worn them for years, and I�ve had and seen every type of gimmick made to make a pair of gloves more tacticool.

That said there were a few things that stood out to me, one is the �finish� on the gloves, which actually looks better than how my first SOLAG�s came, and the other is the most obvious fad of those damn knuckles, but more on that in the review.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves22.jpg

Appearance

Well they look like gloves. I know I start many of my gear appearance sections like this but there isn�t a whole lot to say on basic looks. It�s not a gun or even a repo piece of gear where you can compare it to the original, like Crye, Eagle, and 5.11, these are the original, others are going to copy them. Aside from that though, I personally do find some things about how they look that I do and don�t like.

Let�s start with the bads. Normally getting gloves in all black afforded me the luxury of not having different shades on my gloves, but with this OD pair I have to say Blackhawk could have done a better job of matching the shades of OD together. I hope that they intended to have the different layers be different colors, but then I have to ask, why? All black gloves look fine, with no color discrepancy between layers, why should OD and Tan as I�ve seen, be any different? I can�t really think of a reason and while it might, and probably doesn�t, bother others, to my OCD mind it does.

Additionally I hate the way the knuckles look. If you�re pro-knuckle I would stop reading because I�m heavily against their appearance and functionality and it�s only going to go down hill from here. To me it looks like you�ve already had a sever hand injury and it�s showing through the glove. Additionally the knuckles will likely become dirty and worn much faster than any other part of the glove due to the more stretched leather over them.

Still though, I love the SOLAG look. They leather does contrast well with the Kevlar and has all the great looks of the older SOLAG design. Personally I prefer the look of the SOLAG to any other glove design, both Blackhawk! and others (especially Oakley ) and there common enough to be recognizable but still not quite overpopulated enough to not be unique to the field.

Look Grade: 9/10

Feel/Aesthetic

Now I�ll take a brief moment (for more in depth see my older review of the standard SOLAG�s) to explain sizing. Buy big. If you�re a small in another brand, get medium, if you�re medium (like me) get large, and so on and so on. I do not know why but Blackhawk sizes their gloves way too small and not like any other company so always buy the sizes up you would normally expect. This was true years ago with my first pair of SOLAGs and it�s true now with the new version.

Now feel wise I can�t complain. Holding up the standards of the original SOLAG, the HD fit, when properly sized, perfectly. Even with the stupid knuckles, it still affords a perfect fit with no excess material on the finger tips. This is something I find surprisingly as gloves that have hard knuckles notoriously lose quite a bit of finger-tip dexterity as there needs to be excess material in the glove to fit the knuckles over the hand (The Oakley Factory Pilot series suffers from this, which is why I returned them to get these). On these there is no such issue and the finger tips are taught enough.

Although there is one great difference that I dislike about these HD�s. A key feature of the original SOLAG was the overwrap design of the fingertips. That is, the leather wrapped over the top of the finger and underneath, thereby reducing a visible seam that can easily weak as well as keeping the least amount of material on the tips of the finger, to increase dexterity. I don�t know if it�s just with this new line of HD gloves or they�ve changed all SOLAG lines, but this feature is no longer present and while it doesn�t make it unusable, it was a feature that greatly set Blackhawk apart from other gloves and I cannot fathom why it was dropped.

Still though, the build of these gloves is top notch. Almost every seem is double stitched and should last and outlast most any other glove you could get. And despite lacking the overfinger design, Blackhawk continues the good way of interlapping the various flaps of material so that seem likes are rarely exposed and thus reducing the likelihood of wearing down.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves7.jpg

The leather palm is microvented to allow good airflow to your hand so as to not suffer from sweaty glove syndrome. The leather used on the back of the hand is smooth and tough, feeling as though it should take quite a beating before giving up the ghost. In just doing some mild climbing in these already I can say that the palm holds up to the original standard as it will both protect your hand from cuts and bruises as well as holding up against said tortures while not giving up the necessary dexterity to make a fully closed fist or maneuver your hand as needed.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves2.jpg

And of course I have to come to the knuckles. It�s the primary design feature that separates it from the original SOLAG and seems to be part of the trend among glove designs in the past few months. I should note that the plastic piece in the knuckles are also present on the lower part of the fingers as well, and although they feel strong, in bending back and forth I can tell their not designed to really bend and it offered a slight crack when I folded over the glove. This is still better than the Pilots as they would bend at all and they started showing stress lines when forced.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves12.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves3.jpg

I�ll explain though why I hate knuckles. They serve no purpose. As someone that owns a pair of brass knuckles I can say their more dangerous to the user than one would think and while yes, your target won�t be happy, the likelihood of you breaking your pinky and index finger knuckles is fairly easy. With that in mind REAL knuckles are basically useless, and this extends to these plastic ones. For one I doubt these or any other glove�s knuckles I�ve encountered could handle a real hard punch (and I don�t intend to test this out) and would probably crack under such pressure, risking a good sliver of plastic into your knuckles (although I suppose the layer of Kevlar in the SOLAG�s might prevent this) and additionally, you don�t do a whole lot of punch in airsoft, or combat for that matter. Having taken CQC courses (Level II Instructor qualified) strikes aren�t a huge part of hand to hand combat so I�m not sure who these knuckles are being marketed to. My only guess is that they are there for protection, that is from objects brushing against the back of your hand. However the padding on the back of most gloves should provide more than enough protection.

But, if knuckles are your thing, then rest assured the Blackhawk�s are well designed. The materials underneath the knuckles is that of a layer of soft cloth and then Kevlar for added protection. Additionally they conform better to your hand than those of the Pilot series.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves17.jpg

Feel Grade: 9/10 Only loses because of the loss of the overfinger design but still few gloves feel anything as good as SOLAGs
Aesthetics: 9/10 and that�s as objective as I can be. Personally I think the Knuckles are a detraction but I do acknowledge many users will shop around specifically for this.

Use

Using these gloves is a pleasure as always. They are designed just for gripping the pistol grip of a rifle and does so very well. Your dexterity is enough that you can operate the controls of any gun seamlessly. Additionally you are able to pass the �dime test� meaning you should have no issues with using these gloves with items other than firearms.

Comfort is a non-issue as other than laytex gloves, you won�t find a glove that you can as quickly forget you�re wearing. Maneuvering around one�s vest, touching Velcro (some gloves get hooked up easily), operating zippers and everything else one might encounter happens with ease.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves14.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves10.jpg

There�s only one use that I can�t but gleefully mention; the beloved knuckles actually get in the way of shooting a pistol. If you use a high grip on a piston, your overlapping hand won�t fit right over the knuckles and you won�t feel as nature. I don�t have access to my pistol (USP .45 ACP, realsteel that is) so I can�t tell you how this will actually effect real shooting but I can say while shooting my KWA M9 it was something I noticed right away. This is of course a minor issue but it is something to consider not just with the SOLAG HD, but with all knuckle gloves.

Use Grade: 9/10 Because of the knuckles getting in the way of a high grip on a pistol

Conclusion

Pros:
�Knuckles� and finger hardpoints, pending on your point of view
Robust design
Sturdy build
Long lasting materials
Secure fit and feel

Cons:
�Knuckles� and finger hardpoints, pending on your point of view
No longer have the over finger design

Overall Grade: 9/10

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Ranger_Captain/knife/Gloves4.jpg

Overall I like the SOLAG HD�s, but they offer no real advantage in my eyes than the original SOLAG Kevlars. The only real discernable difference between the original SOLAGs and these are the knuckles and as I�ve said, they really don�t offer anything that an airsofter, or quite frankly, soldier is going to desperately need.

They are more than an above average glove. To me they set the standard of what a tactical glove should be. Both highly dexterous while offering protection against the inevitable dings and dents your hands can take in from moving around a combat zone. To a slight degree this is even more important in airsoft as everyone hates those stingers that hit your taught hand and leave nasty marks.

So despite the relatively few cons, these are still excellent gloves, and if you have a real lust for knuckles you get them along with all the great features offered by the Blackhawk SOLAG line.

Credits:

http://www.blackhawk.com/

http://www.blackhawk.com/product/SOLAG-HD-wKevlar,1054,1497.htm

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Cadet, United States Army
2012 "For More Than Ourselves"