If you have ever shot an arrow before, you already know how dangerous it can be for your fingers and hands. You have callouses, finger pinches and blisters that will pop up out of nowhere and become the most annoying part of your day (unless you have been using your fingers to shoot for the past few years). But have no fear as there is a way to keep your fingers and hand safe. The answer is of course, archery gloves! But you may be wondering how to find the best archery gloves?
Here is everything that you need to know about these special gloves, including which ones will be the best for you and all of your archery needs.
Are Archery Gloves Absolutely Necessary?
To answer this question in a single word, no, these gloves are not a necessary piece of equipment required to shoot your bow. However, they are one of the best ways that you will be able to protect your fingers while you are shooting. When you shoot your bow on a regular basis, there is always the potential to cause some type of damage to your fingers. This is going to be why using these gloves is a very important part of archery.
Some of the more common types of injuries that can occur to your fingers while shooting include:
Any of the above-mentioned symptoms can easily prevent you from shooting archery, but they also have the power to keep you from doing other daily activities as well. So even though these gloves are not a requirement for shooting, it is important that you know about them and consider adding them to your archery arsenal.
Benefits of Archery Gloves
Gloves are simply great when it comes to archery. While they are not ideal for every shooting situation (more on that momentarily), they will give your fingers some great protection. On top of that, they also give you the confidence that you can draw your bow and not have to worry about it hurting due to the thickness of the gloves.
What this means is that you can literally go out and shoot archery for hours without having to worry about feeling any kind of small pains or tiredness within your fingers. The thickness of the gloves will be providing you all of the extra protection that your fingers need to stay safe.
Some of the other main benefits of using gloves to shoot are:
Help You Feel Safe
You will not only feel safe while using gloves, but you will also have more confidence as well. Not only in your level of safety, but with your shot also.
Don’t Get in the Way
When you are wearing your gloves, you will still be able to get other tasks and activities done without having to take the gloves off. This means you will have no problem picking up your next arrow, making marks on your targets, or any other tasks that you may need to do while shooting or hunting.
They Are Comfortable
Who doesn’t love a good pair of comfortable gloves? Gloves allow you to shoot archery and keep your hands and fingers nice and comfortable.
They Provide You with Protection
Shooting archery is something that is supposed to make you feel happy and excited. Gloves allow you to experience these feelings without having to worry about hurting your fingers or feeling any pain. This is because they provide you with a whole lot of durability and protection.
Now that you are familiar with all the benefits that gloves for archery are able to provide you with while shooting, you may be wondering if there are any alternatives to gloves? The answer is yes and here is everything that you need to know.
What About Archery Tabs?
The biggest competitor to gloves while shooting is what is known as ‘finger tabs.’ Finger tabs, which are more commonly referred to as tabs, are not going to be great for every situation that you may come across in archery, but they are really good for a few certain things. This is because tabs are much thinner, allowing you to actually feel your bow string like you would if you were not wearing anything on your fingers. What this means is that you will have less friction when you are shooting, making your shots much more accurate.
If you are more of a recreational shooting enthusiast, you will more than likely never need to use these. Or if you are shooting in a tournament or competition though, your shots will need to be as accurate as you can possibly get them. If that is the case, you may want to use tabs to protect your fingers and keep any excess friction from occurring.
As for the actual protection that tabs are able to provide your fingers with, it is nowhere near as much as a pair of gloves. The material that tabs are made out of is typically going to be much thinner and not do much as far as protecting your fingers while shooting. There are some tabs out there that do come in multiple layers and some other features that are considered to be on the more advanced side. However, the vast majority of tabs will not provide you with any type of good protection for your fingers while shooting.
To sum up tabs, they will protect your fingers better than using nothing at all and will allow you to have less friction while you are shooting. This helps to keep your shots accurate. On top of that, they are easier to take on and off when compared to gloves. However, tabs will also not provide you as much protection for your fingers as gloves, will need to be removed in order to do anything other than shooting your bow, and are extremely easy to misplace and lose.
Archery Gloves vs Tabs
Now that you know about the benefits of both gloves and tabs for shooting, which one should you use?
While this is definitely something that will be up to you and your personal preference, most people will typically use gloves or tabs when:
Gloves
These are typically going to be better for archery if you are hunting, doing shooting practice or are just looking for a way to protect your fingers whenever you are using your bow.
Tabs
Normally used for those participating in shooting competitions, they are also used when people are practicing for competitions as well.
To sum it up, unless you are practicing for or are in a shooting competition, shooting gloves are definitely the better option for you.
How to Choose the Right Glove for Archery?
When it comes to finding the best shooting glove for yourself, you will quickly find that there are many different options available to you. In fact, some of the decisions you will need to make in order to find your best archery glove include:
While it may seem overwhelming, don’t worry. Here is what you will need to know in order to choose the best archery glove for all of your shooting needs!
What Style Glove is Best for You?
The regular style of archery glove will look just like any other ordinary glove. The only visual difference will appear to be that the little finger and thumb have been removed (so only the three middle fingers will be covered by the glove). A shooting glove is designed this way in order to protect the three fingers that come in contact with the string when you are shooting. They will typically have some type of reinforced fingertips if they are designed for heavier bows, the opposite being true in regard to lighter bows.
On a side note, if you are wondering why the little finger and thumb have been removed from the typical shooting glove, it is to allow you to use them for feeling in case they are part of your anchor.
Traditional archery gloves will leave even more of your hand exposed, allowing more of your hand to feel the elements. They will normally be 3 finger tip covers that are attached to an adjustable wrist strap by 3 strands of some type of material. This is the absolute minimal amount of glove you will need in order to properly secure and protect your 3 finger tips, but while keeping the other parts of your hand exposed.
Regular shooting gloves have the same idea, but much more material involved. Considered to be the more protective 3 finger archery gloves, they also come with reinforced fingertips. The main difference though, is that you have an actual glove that connects the fingers to the adjustable wrist strap. This protects more of your hand from the elements while you are shooting.
What is the Best Material for Your Shooting Glove?
Leather is more than likely the first thing that pops into your mind in regard to shooting glove material, and you would be right. Leather is the preferred material for protecting your fingers from heavier bows. However, leather archery gloves do not breathe well when compared to some of the more modern materials that have been created for shooting. On top of that, a leather glove will also wear and crease as well.
It is for this reason that the very best shooters will use gloves that have been made out of cordovan leather. And in case you didn’t know, cordovan leather is one of the most expensive leathers that you can find in the entire world.
Moving away from leather, you will have glove options that include canvas, nylon, and suede. Each of these materials will allow you to feel your bowstring while wearing the glove, as well as offer you some much better breathability.
The one cost for having these better breathing gloves is that they are not going to provide you with as much finger protection as the leather ones. Something to take into consideration when deciding upon the right glove material for you.
Seamless or Not?
Now keep in mind that an archery glove is not going to be completely seamless, the better-quality ones will not have any kind of seam on the front or sides of your finger. What this does is make sure there is no material in between your fingers that can accidentally be pinched whenever you have applied weight onto your bowstring.
Sizing Your Shooting Gloves
Before you decide to commit to any glove, be sure that you double check the sizing. Some gloves come only in ‘one size fits all.’ For all the other ones, the manufacturer will more than likely have some type of sizing chart for you to check the fit.
But so you know to find the correct fitting glove, you must know the measurement between your wrist and the tip of your middle finger. Knowing your fingertip diameter size will also help you to find the best fitting glove as well.
The Best Archery Shooting Gloves
Trying to find the right glove for your particular shooting needs is something that has the potential to take much longer than you would think. With the different materials and styles out there, it can take you a few attempts to find the glove that is right for you.
But today is your lucky day! All of the tough work of sorting out the best gloves from the rest has already been done for you.
Here are some of the best options out there when it comes to finding the best archery glove on the market today.
1. Neet Suede Shooting Glove
While the name may mislead you a bit, this is one traditional style glove that you need to check out. While the Neet Suede glove is made out of suede, all of the fingertips are made out of a very smooth leather. The velcro strap, as well as the material connecting the fingers, is designed out of an elasticated material. This means that the glove will be held firmly in place whenever you are shooting.
Considered to be a very reputable brand among the archery community, the Neet Suede glove is able to provide you with everything that you could ask for from a suede glove.
Pros
While there are many pros with this glove, the one downside is that the sizing chart can be very confusing to use. Aside from that, this is one glove that packs a ton of potential.
2. ArcheryMax Handmade Leather Three Finger
The ArcheryMax Handmade Leather Three Finger glove was specifically designed with feel and sensitivity for feeling the bow string. This leather glove has reinforced fingers and a velcro strap that can easily be adjusted. As with every type of glove, you must remember that you get the correct size for your hand or you may have some fitment issues.
Overall, this is leather glove is considered to be one of the best gloves for archery. Not only is this glove well-made and designed to last, but it is also quite stylish at the very same time.
Pros
As with everything, this glove is not perfect. The one downside is going to be the design. Since this glove was designed to be more sensitive to allow you to feel the string better, it is not an ideal glove for any bow that is over 50 lbs. But for any bows under 50 lbs., this may be the perfect glove for you.
In fact, some even say that ArcheryMax has the best youth archery gloves on the market.
3. Damascus Doeskin Archery Shooting Glove
The Damascus Company actually has a very unique backstory, as they have been helping to supply law enforcement and the military with high-quality hand protective gear since back in 1955. This alone speaks for the quality of glove you can expect with the Damascus Doeskin Archery Shooting Glove.
Another leather glove that has quickly been able to get the archery community to like and use it, this particular one is designed with softer leather, meaning that it is also going to be supple enough for you to feel your string while shooting. Keep in mind that this means you may not like how it feels if you are using a bow that is over 50 lbs.
The velcro wrist strap allows for easy adjustment while the reinforced fingertips have an additional layer of leather for even more protection. Even with this extra layer of leather on the fingers, you are still able to get a good feel for your bowstring.
And with the accurate sizing guide that the company uses, these are the perfect women’s archery gloves (but they are equally as amazing as a glove for men as well).
Pros
While there are no real downsides to this glove, the only one that you will find is if you are shooting bows that are over 50 lbs. This is not an ideal glove for protection purposes if you are.
4. Jker Tech Archery Gloves
Considered to be a finger glove for archery that you will like after you have tried it, the Jker Tech is designed out of soft polyester and a high elastic material. What makes this so exciting, is that the material helps to reduce the amount of friction created while shooting but increases the flexibility of your hand at the very same time.
While this glove does tend to run a little large as far as sizing is concerned, the special protective material, combined with the velcro strap gives you one of the best cold weather archery gloves you can ask for. In fact, some won’t use anything but these as their winter archery gloves.
Pros
As was previously mentioned, the one downside to this glove is that they do tend to run slightly large. An easy fix though, is to simply get a size smaller and you should have no problems whatsoever.
5. KESHES Archery Glove for Recurve and Compound Bows
Considered to be one of the better pair of recurve and compound bow shooting gloves available, the cow and faux leather design makes this glove perfect for any type shooting.
Essentially, this is one glove that can help you enhance your shooting experience and do so in any type of weather conditions. The extra secure grip makes the KESHES some of the best waterproof archery gloves that you will find.
Pros
While this is a glove that most people will like a lot, there is one thing that they may not like. That being how the leather fingers do have the potential to be a little stiff when you are first using them.
However, as soon as you are able to break this glove in, you will undoubtedly like it more than any other glove you have ever used before (except for maybe the others mentioned on this list).
Final Thoughts – Which Glove is the Best?
Finding the perfect glove to shoot archery can very easily become an overwhelming task that has the potential to make you not want to shoot anymore. Once your fingers start to feel the pain from the repetitive motion of shooting an arrow, it can take a really big toll on you. But with the right glove, you will be able to avoid this scenario from ever happening.
If you are searching for the best archery gloves on the market today, you will definitely need to check out the Neet Suede Shooting Glove. From the protection that it provides you with, the durability, and the overall comfort of wearing it, this is the glove you should definitely be starting your search with!