Fun With Impact Resistant Gloves
Would you let another person hit your hand with a hammer if you were assured that the glove you were wearing would provide adequate protection from pain and injury? That would still require a great deal of trust, wouldn’t it?
There are a number of different brands of impact resistant gloves on the market. They’re designed to protect fingers and hands from accidental crushings, hammer strikes, cuts, and burns. One brand, Schmitz Mittz, was developed by a Canadian firefighter, Randy Schmitz, who was inspired by another type of protective glove used by butchers. I don’t even want to think about what could wrong with a meat cleaver.
Firefighters and butchers aren’t the only people who can benefit from high-tech hand protection. Farmers, miners, train engineers, construction and dock workers, roughnecks on oil rigs, and anyone who operates heavy machinery or toils in dangerous places could be at risk of injuring their hands.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The demonstrations of these impact resistant gloves are impressive and convincing, but getting back to my question: would you be willing to test them on your own hands? I think the reaction of the man in the video below is probably the same as most people would have. After all, we’re programmed for self-preservation. Maybe it would be different if you were the one swinging the hammer at your own gloved hand.
