Firefighter Knives Glove Test

While researching various firefighter knives that are on the market, I have found that often times some of the advertising can be misleading.

One that readily comes to mind is when a fire fighter knife is supposed to be what I call "glove friendly." That is, it can be opened and closed while wearing fire department gloves.

Whether intentional or not, some of the firefighter knives that claim to be glove friendly are actually rather difficult to use while wearing turn out gloves.

The purpose of this test is to determine if a particular knife can easily be operated while wearing fire department gloves.

Obviously there are many types of firefighting gloves in use and each firefighter has their own preference. It would be difficult to test a knife using all the gloves that are on the market today.(See Fire Gloves at CHIEF)

However, my choice of gloves was rather easy. I just happened to have a brand new pair in my locker.

The reason that I chose the new pair of gloves is that my old gloves have already been "broken in."

Everyone knows that once you get the gloves broken in they are more flexible.

Keeping that in mind, I chose to use the brand new pair of gloves for the very reason that they are still stiff and bulky.

I figured that if I could open and close a firefighter pocketknife with these gloves, then the knife could be opened using any gloves.

Obviously, the more worn the gloves, the easier it will be to use the knife.

So, when you read that a knife can or can not be opened with one hand while wearing gloves, just remember that the gloves being used in the test were brand new. Very stiff and bulky.

Note: Each firefighter pocketknife that I have reviewed has gone through a series of tests. The reason for these inspections is to make sure that you have all the information you need regarding firefighter knives.

The Glove Test is just one more bit of information that I can provide for you that will help you in deciding on the right firefighter knife.

To find more information on Firefighter knives, click here.

Click here to go to the Firefighter Information home page.