Intro

It was around the time my Mechanix gloves had faded and taken a good beating, and the velcro on the cuffs had almost ripped off, that I decided to find me new pair of all rounder gloves.

It did a lot of research and looked at different brands. Outdoor Research were high on my list, so were Oakley’s. But then I noticed Magpul’s Youtube channel and their product videos. They have some pretty awesome video material and then I noticed their gloves line. Suddenly I was a victim of advertisement!

Our local dealer had almost all of their gloves on stock, so it was only a matter of picking the right pair for me. I decided to go with the lightest of the line, and also the cheapest. But those were not the only reasons. I wanted a light glove without leather or hard knuckles.

Manufacturer

Magpul is a US based company, that was founded in 1999. The company was created to design a product that would help people load a magazine in a stressful situation, and so the legendary Magpul’s came to be.

These days they have expanded their product range really wide. They are still best known for their gun accessories and magazines, but they also have a lot of EDC items and gear, like high quality t-shirts, phone cases and, of course, gloves.

They say on that their products might not be the cheapest of all, but that everything high quality and high performance. And always made to ensure that the customer gets well their money’s worth. That is sounds like a sweet deal.

The Gloves

The Technical gloves are meant to be lightweight gloves for maximium dexterity and fine manipulation of mechanical work, and still giving protection to the user.

I am going to copy the explanation of the features from the Magpul website, so everything is as they say:

FEATURES

• Lightweight, durable glove without compromising dexterity
• Tough synthetic suede palm and inner finger construction for wet or dry grip on all firearms
• Narrow, minimalistic forefinger for easy access and better control of firearms triggers
• Terrycloth backed thumb area to quickly remove fogging on hunting optics and glasses
• Ambidextrous three-finger touchscreen capability
• Elastic wrist closure keeps out debris
• 100% synthetic
• Subdued branding for better camouflage and concealment

And here is the video, that convinced me to buy these gloves. There is just something about bikes like that…

They come in black, charcoal gray and coyote brown, and they cost only little over 24 US dollars straight from the Magpul website.

Personal Experience

I had never had any Magpul products on use before these gloves. I was well aware of them and really admired especially their gun parts. One day I will get that AK with the Zhukov front furniture! But anyway, since these gloves I have bought their wallet and phone case too, so I have now had something from Magpul on everyday use.

The gloves I have are the charcoal coloured ones in size medium. Magpul has a good guide on their website for choosing the right size for you.

First off I have to say these gloves are cool AF. I mean there are a lot of gloves out there that are nice looking, but there is just something about these gloves that hit my sense of cool. I really like the look of the knuckle neoprene and the details. The Magpul name and the Core logo on the the cuff are absolutely awesome details, elegant even! The whole package seems to be well thought through and designed with a good eye. That is something I appreciate immensely.

Lightweight performance

I have used the Technical gloves for many different applications. General adventuring stuff like light climbing and moving through forest these gloves tackle easily. They are not the most thickest or most protective gloves against scratches and bumps, but they do hold their own. The construction and fabric fend off wind well too, so they are good for EDC use to keep your hands warm on nippy weather too.

One really cool feature that I learned only quite late after getting the gloves is the Terrycloth. This fuzzy and soft wool-like fabric is probably brilliant for cleaning stuff like optics or and eyewear, like Magpul advertises. But to me it really popped up as the perfect brow wiper!

We were on our morning hike in the Yosemite on our US trip and even though it was morning in the mountains, it was quickly getting quite warm. Especially when you are going on a serpentine path on a steep hillside. I was sweating like pig in no time and it was getting to my eyes. The gloves were with me and rather unconsciously I swept across my brow and Lo and behold my struggles were gone. I do not know how did I miss that before, but it is an excellent feature in the Technical gloves.

Then again, it really is the fine work where the Technical gloves excel. I have used them on the range and operated both pistol and rifle with them and they have worked well. They also handle knives and axe well, when chopping wood for instance (not so fine work, I know, but still). It is like they are build for all sorts of technical repairs of bicycle and car that I have done with them. And well, they are build for just that.

But to all this there are some exceptions that I will tell about below.

The Fit

I measured my hand many times and I got medium as the fit, which is usually my fit so I went with that. Usually I like really snug fit with my gloves and I figured that these would be really snug considering the work they are meant for. I considered taking smalls anyway, but hesitated and went with the what the measurement indicated.

Well the fit of the gloves is ok, but it could be snugger. And as with all fabrics, the Technical gloves do stretch out a bit over time too. This means that these days the gloves fit nice, but tend to be a bit baggy. Especially when wet. Sweat and moisture make them somehow sag from the palm and I find myself tugging them from the cuff all the time to keep them from falling.

Then there is the thumb. While the Terrycloth is great, it apparently has to be cut bigger or something. Or my thumb is just “stuntier” than the average joes, but the thumb part is just too big. I have never been able to use the “three-finger” touch screen feature because my thumb does not reach the tip.

I guess if I had the small sized gloves this might change, as well as the overall fit situation. But I am afraid that the other fingers on the gloves might be too short and that my hand would not fit in at all.

The Fingertips

And then there are the touch screen finger tips. It is a great feature and something any 21st century man really needs in a pair of gloves. You can operate your phone, your gps’s and what not without taking your gloves off.

But. The synthetic leather on the tips is really sensitive to water. I think the few first times my Technical gloves got wet the tips bled out a little black colour to my fingers. This was not a problem, just a little annoying. But soon after that I noticed that the tips started to lose their touch screen sensitivity. Now the tips do not work with screens properly when they are dry. But when wet you can quite easily operate the screens.

And in any case you need to get your finger all the way to the end of the finger of the glove to get them to work. Again this might be a sizing issue for me, but the colour bleeding and issues with moisture are something Magpul might want to re-visit with the Technical gloves.

Slick and Mean

All in all I like the Technical gloves despite these shortcomings. They look amazing, work really well on most occasions and are quite multi-functional. They are a amiable middle ground between gloves that have very specific applications. I can see myself buying another pair but in small just to see if the problems I have with the fit would go away. Even though they are not the most prolific brand in the market in this category, Magpul gloves are still definitely something worth trying out.

Likes/ Dislikes

Likes

– Look (charcoal colour is awesome!)

-Lightweight

– The subdued logos

– Terrycloth

– The flatcord loops on the cuff are handy

Dislikes

-The touch screen fingertips

-Fit, especially thumb part.

Material Disclosure

I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal experience with the product.

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This article was first published in the Noble & Blue. Noble & Blue is a small Finnish outdoor and tactical gear reviewing blog, that also shares stories of learning and adventure. Click here to know more about Noble & Blue and to read more articles like this.