Bates Summer Gloves

BATES SUMMER GLOVES

EVALUATION

SO YOU WON'T GET CAUGHT RED-HOT-HANDED

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN a cat—or to make a pair of summer-weight riding gloves, for that matter. But most manufacturers construct their summer gloves as if they’d all been reading from the same book, where in Section 1, Paragraph 1 it says, "Take an unlined, short-gauntlet, thin-leather glove and punch lots of little holes in the top."

Well, Bates Industries Inc. (P.O. Box 240WP, Long Beach, CA 90801 [213] 435-6551) has seen the book, too, but instead read between the lines. And that’s precisely where Bates put the vent holes in its version of summer gloves; there is a row of flinch holes on the sides of the fingers.

Bates’ solution makes especially good sense, because it puts solid leather on the back of the hand, for more protection in case you tumble to the tarmac. It also allowsyou some control over the amount of ventilation. Just spread your fingers apart for more airflow, or bring them together for less. As improbable as that might sound, it works, making the gloves useful even if Nature giggles and drops the temperature suddenly.

Apart from their ventilation, Bates’ Summer Gloves seem like fairly standard issue. For example, the leather is approximately 1mm thick, with an extra layer running across the center of the palm; there’s elastic sewn in at the wrist, with nylon stitching used throughout. But Bates added a couple of handy touches, such as the strips of foamrubber padding running along the tops of the first two fingers and across the back of the glove, as well as a panel of rough-out leather over the same two fingers, for wiping moisture off faceshields or mirrors.

The leather itself is a colorfast, buttery soft cabretta; and although Bates is planning a running change to cowhide for the gloves, a spokesman says the new leather will be tanned to provide the same softness and stretch. If that’s the case, make sure the gloves fit tightly at first, because the leather will stretch enough to cause slight bunching in the palm.

Overall, though, the soft, supple leather and extra features of the Bates Summer Gloves (available in black only in men’s sizes S-XL and women’s sizes S-L for $33.50) are just gravy. It’s the ventilation that makes them winners, because it extends their usefulness past that of ordinary summer gloves. They’re the hot setup for warm weather.