Glove Station Hard Knuckles – Are Fake Oakley Gloves Any Good?
Travis Olander 10.18.23
The Oakley Pilot 2.0 Gloves are some of the best combat gloves you can buy. They’re certainly better than the USGI Nomex gloves that get issued. Those tend to fall apart the moment they catch a whiff of JP-8 or CLP. For years, the $75 Oakley Pilots saved my knuckles and hands from endless breaks and stitches while working on trucks, setting up big, dumb antennas and radios, and pulling range duty. Even if you’re just a civilian who wants quality kit, Oakley’s digit mittens are tough to beat. So, if you don’t want to pony up for the high-quality Oakley Pilot 2.0 gloves, we take a look at some knock-offs in the Glove Station Hard Knuckles here today.
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But every O.G. has its imposter, and Oakley stuff tends to suffer this often. When I went looking to replace my old, busted up pair of gloves for a fresh set, I found them – and some shameless replicas that cost about 66% less. Enter the Amazon special: The “Glove Station Tactical Shooting Hard Knuckle Gloves and Woman with Touchscreen Fingers Durable and Comfortable Hand Gear for Outdoor Work Shooting and Hunting.” Gee-whizz.
I’ve got long, gangly fingers and wide palms. But, surprisingly, the medium pair fit true to size. Usually, imported goods on Amazon run small. But that wasn’t the case, here.
Overall, the Chinese not-Oakleys (Glove Station Hard Knuckles) fit well. This isn’t the first pair of knuckle gloves I’ve bought from an overseas maker. And it’s not difficult to make a glove that fits well – but, quite often, the knuckle protectors on cheap gloves are just terrible. They’re usually too small, or they’re not molded correctly, causing the lip on the protector to dig into your hand. That’s not the case here, though. In fact, the Glove Station Hard Knuckles actually seem to fit about as well as a genuine pair of Pilot 2.0’s. The knuckles sit in the right spot and they provide adequate protection when your hand’s gripping something, or otherwise balled in a fist.
Props for the double stitching on the protector, too. This tends to be the area where knuckle gloves fail. Over time, the flex and bending of the protector wears away at the stitching holding it to the glove, causing it to separate. Time will tell if the stitching on these fails after some months. But out of the bag, they seem buttoned up well enough.
One detractor that ruins any glove is a poorly fit wrist that opens up when you articulate. Since they tend to use various layers (or just thicker layers) of fabric, tactical gloves often have thick, inflexible wrists that just suck to wear. This is troublesome if you have skinny wrists, which typically results in dirt, grime, water, and other muck you’re working with seeping in, if not causing your gloves to simply slide off.
The Glove Stations separate the cuffed wrist from the doubled up layers making up the rest of the, with a simple but effective hook-and-loop closure. The material around the wrist is soft and comfortable. The rolled, piped edge of the wrist prevents chaffing and pinching and does a fine job keeping debris out.
Articulation in the palm and digits is fine. No issues with stiff joints or fabric that bunches up. The synthetic leatherette material covering most of the palm and the underside of the fingers feels solid.
I’ve had other tactical gloves that use this same material wind up flaking and cracking, and I imagine over time, that’ll be the case with these. Glove Station says this is actual PU (bonded) leather, though, so perhaps it’ll hold up better to oils and chemicals.
Glove Station obviously took cues from Oakley and other decent glove makers, having rolled one of the leatherette layers over the webbing between the index finger and thumb. This is a common wear point, so it’s nice to see it reinforced. The stitching is solid, too – no wonky, loose bits or poor spacing. I found no frayed ends that needed to be burned off, either.
The Glove Station’s digits actually seem to be more rugged than the Pilot 2.0’s digits. Yet more leatherette is rolled up the sides of each finger, then tucked and stitched from the inside. Pleasantly surprising build quality, here. This should add some lifespan to the joints and prevent stitching from becoming loose.
Unsurprisingly, the vent holes – an easily recognizable component of Oakley’s Pilots – are carbon copied by the Glove Stations. But they’re functional, solid, and stitched up well enough, too. The plastic on these vents is a tad stiffer than those on the Pilots. This could afford a bit of extra protection, but I prefer more flexibility.
Glove Station Hard Knuckles – So, Are They Good Enough?
You are getting a pretty decent tactical glove for $25, here, in the Glove Station Hard Knuckles. Fitment and sizing are true, and the overall build quality and stitch work could be found on a much more expensive pair of gloves – like some Oakleys or 5.11s. Of course, the adage that you get what you pay for has a strong track record. It remains to be seen whether these will last two years, or just two months. Some have reported torn stitching around the Velcro wrist cuff, while others have said the fingertips can separate. I’ll give these cheap tactical gloves a run for their money. But even if they last, say, a year, I’ll be happy.
