Review: GoST Barefoots - BAMANOS Paws

Here's an interesting twist on regular gloves, and the astute amongst you might recognize the lineage of these, to that of the PaleoBarefoots PRONATIV and ANTERRA that I have covered previously. You would be right, and these are indeed the glove versions of those barefoot running shoes.  These are the BAMANOS from GoST. I had been lusting after these for some time, as I am forever dinging, cutting and scratching myself when gardening, adventuring and clambering, especially in wet environments and regular gloves sometimes wont cut it. 

Even my tried and tested Ironclad Landscaper gloves which I've worn lazertagging and in Mud Runs   but also with the Condor Combat Nomex gloves  there have been troubles with waterlogging and becoming wrecked with wear. That's where the durable chainmail links made of 0.55 mm gauge (1.4404") stainless steel  with a 4mm external diameter chain and an internal diameter of 2.9 mm, same as in the shoes. The most exciting innovation, is the cuff links, with two sets of  steel clips with hooks that feed into a slightly larger set of rings, one from under, then another wrapping over and hooking down, giving a really secure fitting. Being fingerless gloves, the armour only protects the hand, and a little past the first knuckle and down to the beginning of the wrist. That protection however, is tremendous. I had no trouble gripping tools, and manipulating debris in them, although, being fingerless, you still need to be mindful of that, but for gripping wear, you're covered. The addition of the new PAWS grip-spots means that the otherwise slick steel of the rings has even better traction on smooth or polished surfaces. One thing I found, wearing rings under them was uncomfortable ... Jewelry off when you are battling the hordes!

I look forwards to trying these out on the upcoming Tough Mudder, and we'll see how well they perform in some really adverse conditions. Conditions that so many other gloves have failed under.