[Chad Arnow]

Does anyone have experience with Hanwei's mitten gauntlets? They are made of 18-gauge stainless. Here's a link:

http://by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Gauntlets.html

[Russ Thomas]

Chad,

Apart from them being a rather odd shape,which given their price is quite excusable,I think that looking at the top gauntlet you might have some problems with the edge of the cuff interfering with the hand movement ? It looks to me as though this could be a problem,given the position of the thumb in relation to the cuffs edge.

Just a quick observation.

Regards as ever,

Russ

[Allan Senefelder]

Chad, do they make these in mild steel as well? These look just like the ones sold at a local retailer here only the ones
he sells are mild steel. If this is the case then the thing you will most likely find(what I noticed) is that while you can make a fist okay you cannot flatten your hand out .

[Chad Arnow]

[Gene Davis]

My wife bought me a set of Hanwei mitten gauntlets for Christmas. Though I have yet to spar with them here are my initial impressions:
1.) They seem very sturdy, and in fact I thought they were more like 16 ga. steel until I double-checked the CAS Iberia website.
2.) They came with long-cuffed black split cowhide gauntlets to wear underneath. I have seen no mention of these being included, even on the CAS Iberia website, and was pleasently surprised to find them inside the packaging. I don't know if this is a recent development, but don't think they always came that way.
3.) Stainless or not, they 're coated with a rust-resistant finish similar to niello that looks like a polished galvanized effect. Hanwei uses the same finish on the sword and scabbard fittings of their Practical European line of rebated swords. I personally like it as it stays clean without looking plated and shiny. They only make them in this steel type/finish. All edges are smoothand well-shaped. One size fits??? (see 4 below).
4.) The fit is kind of odd. My hands are in the small to medium range. With the included leather gauntles on my hands hardly fit the width of the mitten, in fact I can only comfortably fit two or three fingers in the leather retaining strap without feeling cramped. At the same time, there is a tremendous amount of room between the back of my hand and the inside of the mitten shell. This adds the appearance of lobster claws to the oddness and a tight fit for two hands on a hilt less than 8" or so. Thinner leather gauntles make for a more comfortable fit, but having all four fingers in the mitten's retaining strap creates a tension that fights against my hand closing around a sword handle. Leaving my last two fingers out helps, but leaves them exposed. Russ mentioned the top cuff edge looking restrictive, and I have to agree that it is, coming past my wrist and butting against the heel of my palm. The cuff near the bottom edge of my right hand hits on my sword handle as I'm cutting, stopping it while simultaneously causing leverage against my thumb that I find unsettling at best and could see actually causing some real pain in a fight, possibly even resulting in being disarmed. I'm not sure who's hands the prototypes were modeled on, but I suspect a large primate other than Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

On the bright side, the price was right, they're sturdy, and I think they have genuine modification potential for any one with access to some basic metal and leather-working tools and skill. In all fairness, It could be just a bad fit for me, but with medium sized hands that are too large for these gauntlets in some dimensions and too small in others, I'm not sure who they're designed for. Just my humble opinion. All in all, I think I would prefer gauntlets with seperate articulated fingers.

[Russ Thomas]

Gene,

"All in all, I think I would prefer gauntlets with seperate articulated fingers."

Historically speaking of course ,many of these gauntlets had fingers as well rivetted inside the mitten protection,though over the passage of time very few now retain much evidence of this.

Regards as ever,

Russ

[Gene Davis]

"Historically speaking of course ,many of these gauntlets had fingers as well rivetted inside the mitten protection,though over the passage of time very few now retain much evidence of this. "

Thanks Russ! An interesting detail I was not aware of. By the way, I didn't mean to sound too harsh in my appraisal of Hanwei's gauntlets. As I said, they're as well-constructed as any product that Hanwei makes. I currently own 11 of their swords, and have handled many more of their products as a retail sales manager dealing in them, but before the gauntlets were in production. My wife bought the gauntlets online for me as a surprise for Christmas, so I didn't have a chance to try them first. I would really suggest that anyone interested in them find a retail store that sells them and try them on in person, and bring your favorite leather gauntlets to wear underneath, as the ones Hanwei provides may or may not fit. They fit very loosely on my hands, yet were extremely bulky to squeeze into the thumb and mitten straps. The Hanwei mitten gauntlets are well-made and finished, and economically priced compared to many other functional steel gauntlets on the market. However, if they're restrictive to properly and effectively wielding a sword, then I personally can't use them, at least not as they come out of the box, and suspect others who've tried them may feel the same. I'd be interested in reading feedback from anyone else who owns a set of them.

Cheers,
:Gene: