Four Dirty Secrets Glove Manufacturers Don't Want You to Know
Secret #1: U.S. deerskin is superior to cowhide in comfort, protection & utility.
The reason most gloves are made of cowhide is because over 90% of motorcycle gloves (including Harley Davidson's) are made in China and Pakistan where labor is dirt cheap and deerskin is not readily available.
Secret #2: Most gloves fail at the seams.
With the majority of manufacturers more concerned with adding flashy features than real protection, they end up with overly complicated designs with too many seams. Each seam is a potential failure point. Count how many seams are in your own gloves. Most have as many as four seams on every finger, but Lee Parks Design gloves have only four seams in the entire glove! Fewer seams mean real safety.
Secret #3: Thin Kevlar thread reduces seam strength.
Unlike textiles, more threads per inch in leather makes it weaker, not stronger. Kevlar is a very strong aramid fiber made by DuPont but it makes a lousy thread for motorcycle gloves because it doesn't stretch when the gloves undergo stress. That makes it act like a cheese knife cutting through the leather and letting the gloves rip open. Lee Parks' gloves use a special "dual-duty" design that has two strong nylon threads per hole, engineered with just enough elasticity to maximize the seam strength.
Secret #4: Hard carbon fiber shatters (not deforms), creating a safety hazard.
Popular carbon fiber knuckle guards turn into dangerously sharp shards of fiber-reinforced epoxy resin which can aggravate a wound.
More about Lee Parks' DeerTours gloves.