The Armour Archive

Looking for pros and cons of using finger or clamshell gauntlets since up until now I have only used hockey gloves and I am finally looking to upgrade.

In my mind the finger gauntlets will offer less protection and since they have more moving parts may require a bit more maintenance over the long term but will/should have better mobility for grasping weapons etc.

Am I correct or out to lunch?

I think my biggest usuage will be in war using spear/polearms and then grabbing for my dagger or shortsword backup.

If it matters I have being going back and forth on Icefalcons aircraft aluminum milanese gauntlets and Shamrocks fingered stainless.

Any other issues or specifics I should consider or know about.

Thanks in advance.

I've heard that enclosed tip and sliding rivet on the thumb are especially good things to look for.
Enclosed thumb would affect your manual dexterity a little, but is preferable to that freak shot that catches the tip of your thumb.
The sliding rivet is especially good for spear, a shot that slides down the haft to hit your hand won't cause your thumb to bend backwards like it might if the thumb was mounted on leather.

Least, that's how I've interpreted it.

My opinion is finger gauntlets all the way! I purchased of AA a set from Leoric1958 and I cant stop saying good things about this Armourer and his product! Here's the link for the set I got from him:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... highlight=

As a matter of fact, these are mine! I came up with the concept and he decided to add them to his options of styles...
I sewed a pair of street hockey gloves into them and I couldn't ask for a better set! FULL dexterity and SOLID! Just tonight I fought Greatsword(Katana) and took several shots to the hands and fingers and kept on going! They didn't even phase me. The best part, the finger plates DO NOT GROUND OUT to the rattan...
Since I got mine, my Knight got a set immediately after I did and a few are thinking about getting a set... Just sayin'

aidanhroarsson wrote:The best part, the finger plates DO NOT GROUND OUT to the rattan...

I had always been taught that grounding to the rattan was a good thing: if the material of the gauntlet doesn't flex under the blow, a blow to the gauntlet is transferred to the wood instead of the fingers with no padding needed.

opinions vary

more protection vs greater manual dexterity

Thomas MacFinn wrote:

aidanhroarsson wrote:The best part, the finger plates DO NOT GROUND OUT to the rattan...

I had always been taught that grounding to the rattan was a good thing: if the material of the gauntlet doesn't flex under the blow, a blow to the gauntlet is transferred to the wood instead of the fingers with no padding needed.

it's really just a matter of preference.... with the finger gauntlets that the fingers grounds out on the rattan, you stand the possibility of losing dexterity. what I was getting at is that in the combination of gauntlets and hockey gloves, I have a set that are really solid and have all the dexterity of just wearing gloves. these are by far the best set I ever owned!

The pros and cons of fingered gauntlets have been discussed a million times here, so I would try using the search function of the archive to see what you might come up with.

What it really boils down to are some people love 'em, some people hate 'em, some people prefer the fingers to ground on the rattan, some people don't like the feeling of all that metal between the fingers and use "finger bucklers" instead for a tad bit of extra protection if needed. Some people think theres no better protection than clamshell.

Personally? I cant wait to get my own fingered gauntlets, and they sure as heck won't ground on the rattan.

I don't fight with a shield, but with spear, glaive, greatsword and bastardsword for 20+ years in both tourneys and wars. I only use grounding mitten style gauntlets. I have zero experience with finger gaunts, but have seen/felt the impacts my mitten gaunts have taken and would not trust my hands to anything less.

Amalric