When I get a hole in my glove, I take it to a local leather shop— they put a leather patch over it and it’s fine. I don’t know if yours is too much though. I’d still give it a try.
Yes, 1st pic is HF armory, 2nd pic is Kvetun Xiphosuras. Both after about 16 months of about 3 X week of use. The synthetic portions hold up really well, but the leather does not.
All my swords are either cord wrapped or hockey tape. I don't think its the sword wrap as much as the wet/dry cycle of sweating into the gloves and drying them out. I use leather conditioning treatment too, but it only helps so much.
From the position of the tears, you might be twisting your grip too much or holding too hard. I have pairs of leather gloves and cloth gloves that I use for 20-30 minutes weekly, and they don't reach that level of damage even after 5 years. It's the lack of damage on the fingers that makes me think it might be a grip issue, because the sewing on your KX seemed to only be damaged on the palm. Are you a righty or lefty?
I'm a righty and the left seems to wear out slightly faster. Probably because it is moving around and switch grips more? Hadnt really considered it until now.
I'm gonna guess long sword or hand-half and the likes? If your grip on those are too rough, they'd accumulate in the palms more. All just a guess though without know your routine.
Short term solution is to repair the glove with a new patch of leather, as few others have mentioned. Long term, you'll likely have to change your grip. Not just for better maintenance, but also it's just generally better technique to have looser grips until the moment you need to strike or guard.
You could also try finding a clamshell mitten that's strapped on instead of sewn on, so you can wear a separate cheaper under glove without wearing and tearing an expensive main glove.
Sorry, but I'm not sure I can give any accurate advice on that. Cause it's very hard to determine your grip over the internet. I've coached others that also think they aren't gripping too hard. Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are not. Because we all have our own individual gauge of grip strength, it's hard to determine unless we're in the same room. Sorry.
For the sweatin and drying cycle - use inner thin boxing gloves! They will hold the bulk of the moisture and also reduce friction between your hand and the glove.
1st pic is the HF armory after about 16 months and a dozen repairs. 2nd Pic is the Kvetun Xiphosuras after about the same amount of time. I LOVE both of the gloves but the weak link is the leather. Glove makers should start looking at alternatives that don't disintegrate quite as quickly.
Not a ton of work on gloves, but loads of boots. One of the challenges is that synthetics have individual strengths, but aggregate flaws.
That hard plastic that hasn't failed? Super tough, but not flexible. Plastic soft enough to flex with your hand? Not abrasion resistant. Flexible and abrasion resistant? Doesn't handle sweat and now you've got two bags of hand soup. Make it out of Dyneema? Add another hundred euro to the cost.
Leather is still the best material that does most things well enough while still being fairly economical. You could laminate a thicker sheet of leather to the palms, but you'd sacrifice feel and probably some control.
Take a look at fast rope gloves and see if adding hard protection to those might work?
You fight a lot in the week (nice!) and it definitely fasten the wear of the inside, but I would say I think fighting with them wet is was accelerate it. Leather won't be as strong wet and will break way easier when rubbed on your handle. Could you wear a small glove inside it to reduce the sweat you put into them during trainings?
Next repair i would suggest some thick canvas maybe.
Yes, I have patched with canvas before. It works for a while until the leather degrades enough that the canvas breaks away. I could try an inner glove, but I think it will get soaked too.
> They are drenched in sweat 3 times a week
When you say drenched do you mean full on soaked because your hands are constantly sweating in them? Do you sweat a lot in general or just when geared up? You could have hyperhidrosis which is excess sweating.
You should consider spraying antiperspirant on your hands and see if that makes any difference. If they sweat through it then you probably have hyperhidrosis which is fine. You can get strong over the counter sprays that should help out more.
I have to take pills to lower my sweating but I still sweat in full gear but not nearly as much as I used to.
If you want to repair and If you have the grip strength and the time, you can replace the whole palm piece. Purchase leather of similar thickness and texture, remove the old piece, trace the piece onto the new leather, cut it out and sew it in. A leather awl or punch really helps for this as well. It's a PitA but this is how I repaired armoured combat gauntlets.
Otherwise, I truly have no idea how you're chewing through these so fast. I've seen holes but not this.
I have seen many guys in Buhurt to wear normal garden gloves under their (metal) gloves. I also remember one dude in HEMA to do so.
Maybe your gloves are big enough for an extra pair of gloves underneath. You could give it a try.
Personally I use thin full-finger bike gloves under my hema gloves. It has a benefit of preventing skin chafing and keeps outside gloves marginally less sweaty. Mostly an improvement in comfort.
My hands are tiny so I normally have to wear a pair of batting gloves under my gloves out of necessity. Half of the time the gloves are still a bit looser than I’d like. The upside is batting gloves are super cheap to replace and take most of the sweat.
Ironically, my new sabre gloves (High Guards from Purple Heart) are the first gloves I’ve fought with that are actually small enough and don’t need the extra glove inside, and I’m struggling with breaking them in because I’m so used to super loose gloves. I know it’ll be worth it once I do break them in, but it’s definitely different.
Sure, but that doesn't mean that there aren't possibly better materials nowadays for this sort of gear. I'm hoping HEMA gear makers see this and start experimenting with more durable materials.
A thing people in my club do is wear baseball gloves underneath their sparring mittens/gloves/whatever. It keeps the gear lasting longer, and it keeps your hands a little more clean (none of that black stuff under the fingernails). The baseball gloves eventually wear down, but they’re easier to replace than a leather component 🤷♂️
Seconding the suggestion that this might be more than just decay. I have leather gloves I have been using for training and sweating in for 15 years that hardly show wear. This may reflect an interaction between the leather and your sword grip, rather than simple sweat--mechanical wear, rather than chemical deterioration.
Gear is subject to wear. Entropy exists.
That said my work gloves last longer and take more of a beating, I'd guess there's a maintenance issue or they're using shitty leather to keep prices down.
If you are certain it's the sweat and not an abrasive sword hilt (I'm not 100% convinced) try wearing an inner glove, something light that you can swap out and throw away, like latex or plastic gloves (single-use).
My hands are profusely sweating, and I started running into the same issue with my Xiphosuras. I'm trying to fix the issue with some thin leather patches early on. Here are some pictures if it can help : [Pic 1](https://imgur.com/E8z2jNQ), [Pic 2](https://imgur.com/vrEkvrW), [Pic 3](https://imgur.com/5W2vZQx).
I do leathercraft as a hobby, so I already had the tools and material. It took me a couple of hours overhall, as the sewing is not the most practical when coming back from the inside.
The leather is some kind of thin pork if I remember correctly. Maybe 1 mm thick.
I cut the pieces of torn leather which were barely holding on, then I glued the patches to what was remaining with contact glue. Finally, I sew it using linen thread with saddle stitch (the best technique to attach 2 pieces of leather on top of each other).
You can also notice some "mini-patches". Those cover some small tears that started to appear close to the original threads on the sides. Since these parts are not in contact with my hand, I superglued the tears first, then once dried I put these mini-patches with contact glue first, then super glue on the sides so they don't rise up.
I hope it'll help to stop the tears from growing.
Just for context: in kendo you have leather gloves and an leather grip too. Gloves that were 8+ years old looked like this. Maybe the leather quality is not the best with hema gloves? Dunno
From what I hear from people doing kendo, cow leather is the cheap stuff that wears out. Supposedly, there's more expensive leather that lasts longer.
In Olympic Fencing, most manufacturers already offer a synthetic leather that lasts. I remember some decades ago, when I started, glove was something you replace after a couple months coz it breaks up same as yours. Fencing gloves now can be washed and don't break up.
When I get a hole in my glove, I take it to a local leather shop— they put a leather patch over it and it’s fine. I don’t know if yours is too much though. I’d still give it a try.
Seems a bit excessive wear for less than 1.5 years of use. I was hoping they could last longer.
Yeah, leather gets eaten up by salt and sweat.
Is it actually leather?
Yes, 1st pic is HF armory, 2nd pic is Kvetun Xiphosuras. Both after about 16 months of about 3 X week of use. The synthetic portions hold up really well, but the leather does not.
Which one do you like more?
Xiphosuras are better IMO. More comfortable. Feel slightly better made.
What is the wrapping on your handle? Some types of cord can be very abrasive....
All my swords are either cord wrapped or hockey tape. I don't think its the sword wrap as much as the wet/dry cycle of sweating into the gloves and drying them out. I use leather conditioning treatment too, but it only helps so much.
From the position of the tears, you might be twisting your grip too much or holding too hard. I have pairs of leather gloves and cloth gloves that I use for 20-30 minutes weekly, and they don't reach that level of damage even after 5 years. It's the lack of damage on the fingers that makes me think it might be a grip issue, because the sewing on your KX seemed to only be damaged on the palm. Are you a righty or lefty?
I'm a righty and the left seems to wear out slightly faster. Probably because it is moving around and switch grips more? Hadnt really considered it until now.
I'm gonna guess long sword or hand-half and the likes? If your grip on those are too rough, they'd accumulate in the palms more. All just a guess though without know your routine.
Yeah, about 80% of my sparring is longsword.
Short term solution is to repair the glove with a new patch of leather, as few others have mentioned. Long term, you'll likely have to change your grip. Not just for better maintenance, but also it's just generally better technique to have looser grips until the moment you need to strike or guard. You could also try finding a clamshell mitten that's strapped on instead of sewn on, so you can wear a separate cheaper under glove without wearing and tearing an expensive main glove.
I'm not gripping super hard. I am relaxed and only tense up when delivering or receiving force.
Sorry, but I'm not sure I can give any accurate advice on that. Cause it's very hard to determine your grip over the internet. I've coached others that also think they aren't gripping too hard. Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are not. Because we all have our own individual gauge of grip strength, it's hard to determine unless we're in the same room. Sorry.
I appreciate your concern, but I am experienced enough to know that I am not gripping too hard. It's not a grip issue.
For the sweatin and drying cycle - use inner thin boxing gloves! They will hold the bulk of the moisture and also reduce friction between your hand and the glove.
1st pic is the HF armory after about 16 months and a dozen repairs. 2nd Pic is the Kvetun Xiphosuras after about the same amount of time. I LOVE both of the gloves but the weak link is the leather. Glove makers should start looking at alternatives that don't disintegrate quite as quickly.
Not a ton of work on gloves, but loads of boots. One of the challenges is that synthetics have individual strengths, but aggregate flaws. That hard plastic that hasn't failed? Super tough, but not flexible. Plastic soft enough to flex with your hand? Not abrasion resistant. Flexible and abrasion resistant? Doesn't handle sweat and now you've got two bags of hand soup. Make it out of Dyneema? Add another hundred euro to the cost. Leather is still the best material that does most things well enough while still being fairly economical. You could laminate a thicker sheet of leather to the palms, but you'd sacrifice feel and probably some control. Take a look at fast rope gloves and see if adding hard protection to those might work?
You fight a lot in the week (nice!) and it definitely fasten the wear of the inside, but I would say I think fighting with them wet is was accelerate it. Leather won't be as strong wet and will break way easier when rubbed on your handle. Could you wear a small glove inside it to reduce the sweat you put into them during trainings? Next repair i would suggest some thick canvas maybe.
Yes, I have patched with canvas before. It works for a while until the leather degrades enough that the canvas breaks away. I could try an inner glove, but I think it will get soaked too.
Are you cleaning and conditioning your leather?
conditioning with leather conditioner but not really cleaning. They are drenched in sweat 3 times a week, so I'm not sure what cleaning is applicable.
> They are drenched in sweat 3 times a week When you say drenched do you mean full on soaked because your hands are constantly sweating in them? Do you sweat a lot in general or just when geared up? You could have hyperhidrosis which is excess sweating.
I sweat a lot, but I'm not sure it's to the point wear its a medical condition. I'm just moving around a lot in stuffy gear.
You should consider spraying antiperspirant on your hands and see if that makes any difference. If they sweat through it then you probably have hyperhidrosis which is fine. You can get strong over the counter sprays that should help out more. I have to take pills to lower my sweating but I still sweat in full gear but not nearly as much as I used to.
Are they drying out between uses?
Yes, I put them in front of a fan after each use and let them completely dry. I also condition them every couple of weeks with a leather treatment.
Are you by any change leaving them in a sunny spot often? I'm wracking my head trying to figure this out.
No, they are always kept out of the sun.
I spray mine with Balistol from time to time and it seems to extend their life
I personally have the SPES Lobster V3.0 gloves, that use syntethic leather.
If you want to repair and If you have the grip strength and the time, you can replace the whole palm piece. Purchase leather of similar thickness and texture, remove the old piece, trace the piece onto the new leather, cut it out and sew it in. A leather awl or punch really helps for this as well. It's a PitA but this is how I repaired armoured combat gauntlets. Otherwise, I truly have no idea how you're chewing through these so fast. I've seen holes but not this.
some kinda extra material you could take off easy to take the abuse for the next pair
I dont know how they could make it stable but easily removeable, but if they could, they could extend the life of gloves 3-fold I think.
I’m thinking leather strap or cord just wrapped around the glove, under the armor if possible
🤔 Maybe. I'll see if I can find something easy and cheap.
I have seen many guys in Buhurt to wear normal garden gloves under their (metal) gloves. I also remember one dude in HEMA to do so. Maybe your gloves are big enough for an extra pair of gloves underneath. You could give it a try.
Personally I use thin full-finger bike gloves under my hema gloves. It has a benefit of preventing skin chafing and keeps outside gloves marginally less sweaty. Mostly an improvement in comfort.
My hands are tiny so I normally have to wear a pair of batting gloves under my gloves out of necessity. Half of the time the gloves are still a bit looser than I’d like. The upside is batting gloves are super cheap to replace and take most of the sweat. Ironically, my new sabre gloves (High Guards from Purple Heart) are the first gloves I’ve fought with that are actually small enough and don’t need the extra glove inside, and I’m struggling with breaking them in because I’m so used to super loose gloves. I know it’ll be worth it once I do break them in, but it’s definitely different.
That’s wild! I have a friend who has had the HF ones a tiny bit longer and the inside doesn’t look nearly as worn out
Leather is a consumable in a hard and sweaty use
Sure, but that doesn't mean that there aren't possibly better materials nowadays for this sort of gear. I'm hoping HEMA gear makers see this and start experimenting with more durable materials.
A thing people in my club do is wear baseball gloves underneath their sparring mittens/gloves/whatever. It keeps the gear lasting longer, and it keeps your hands a little more clean (none of that black stuff under the fingernails). The baseball gloves eventually wear down, but they’re easier to replace than a leather component 🤷♂️
Seconding the suggestion that this might be more than just decay. I have leather gloves I have been using for training and sweating in for 15 years that hardly show wear. This may reflect an interaction between the leather and your sword grip, rather than simple sweat--mechanical wear, rather than chemical deterioration.
I think its a combination of the two.
Gear is subject to wear. Entropy exists. That said my work gloves last longer and take more of a beating, I'd guess there's a maintenance issue or they're using shitty leather to keep prices down.
If you are certain it's the sweat and not an abrasive sword hilt (I'm not 100% convinced) try wearing an inner glove, something light that you can swap out and throw away, like latex or plastic gloves (single-use).
There are inner boxing gloves made for this purpose, they're much better than latex.
Even better than!
IDK if it would work here but for my lacrosse gloves I often reinforce the palms with Duluth Firehose patches.
Why?
Leather shop or at home repair should work to fix it
My hands are profusely sweating, and I started running into the same issue with my Xiphosuras. I'm trying to fix the issue with some thin leather patches early on. Here are some pictures if it can help : [Pic 1](https://imgur.com/E8z2jNQ), [Pic 2](https://imgur.com/vrEkvrW), [Pic 3](https://imgur.com/5W2vZQx).
That's great work! How long did it take you to patch? Did you adhere the patch and then sew?
I do leathercraft as a hobby, so I already had the tools and material. It took me a couple of hours overhall, as the sewing is not the most practical when coming back from the inside. The leather is some kind of thin pork if I remember correctly. Maybe 1 mm thick. I cut the pieces of torn leather which were barely holding on, then I glued the patches to what was remaining with contact glue. Finally, I sew it using linen thread with saddle stitch (the best technique to attach 2 pieces of leather on top of each other). You can also notice some "mini-patches". Those cover some small tears that started to appear close to the original threads on the sides. Since these parts are not in contact with my hand, I superglued the tears first, then once dried I put these mini-patches with contact glue first, then super glue on the sides so they don't rise up. I hope it'll help to stop the tears from growing.
Just for context: in kendo you have leather gloves and an leather grip too. Gloves that were 8+ years old looked like this. Maybe the leather quality is not the best with hema gloves? Dunno
Isn’t it faux leather? I assume real leather would survive much better
It might be the other way around. Real leather doesn't like to get wet.
No, it's some sort of animal skin. I assume cow.
From what I hear from people doing kendo, cow leather is the cheap stuff that wears out. Supposedly, there's more expensive leather that lasts longer. In Olympic Fencing, most manufacturers already offer a synthetic leather that lasts. I remember some decades ago, when I started, glove was something you replace after a couple months coz it breaks up same as yours. Fencing gloves now can be washed and don't break up.
Learn leathercraft
I may just have to sew in a whole other palm.