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Oakley Factory Pilot Glove


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Oakley Pilot Glove or SI Assault Glove

 

I have yet to review a pair of gloves but these gloves have seen hard use from me over the past year and a half and I figure its time they get there day in the spotlight. I would also like suggestions on a glove to possibly replace these. It needs to be fairly breathable and not bulky and knuckle protection is a plus.

 

Material

 

The Oakley Pilot gloves are a mish mash of various materials that in the end seems to make an exceedingly comfortable glove. I cut the tag that says the materials and to be honest most of you dont really care but I will list them from memory. The palm is a very thin leather with tiny vent holes. The knuckles are carbon fibre with a padded underside. The section closest to the wrist is made of neoprene. Above that is a ridged weaved fabric complete with a firmly affixed Oakley O. The area surrounding the knuckles and at the base of the fingers is a nice and strong died leather. The top of the fingers have neoprene leather and the ridged fabric on them. The sides of the finger are covered with leather at the tip and a stretchy venting fabric along most of the length. The tips of the pointer and middle finger have a thicker piece of leather on them to aid in longevity and grip.

 

Features

 

The Oakley Pilot is a mid length glove that extends slightly past the wrist joint. It is made with warm climates and manual dexterity in mind. The entirety of the glove is covered in a way to let out moisture and heat to keep your hands fit to fight. This makes for a fairly light glove but it comes at a cost. The thin materials can give up along the seams of the fingers and I have witnessed this in friends as well as my own (pictures of this later in the review). That said these gloves do hold up fairly well to the abuse of military life. I have been using mine for a bit over a year and a half and use them for almost everything. I use them in the wood shop, as moving gloves and throughout the rigors of my Army job. I liked them so much I ordered a black pair for my motorcycle.

 

At the wrist of the cuff there is a textured grip of nine raised rubber nubbins which aid in putting the glove on. These work well but will eventually start to come off. The wrist part of the glove can be tightened with a Velcro strap to ensure your gloves doesn't come off or foreign object like a shell casing or bugs get in. I have fairly large wrist and hands so I don't often use this strap other than to secure my gloves to my gear when not in use. The cuff is made of a neoprene material and is holding up great so far on all of the gloves I have seen.

 

The tan leather in the knuckle region of the glove is stained with a nice tan die. It is a smooth piece of leather on the tan version while a slightly textured version on the black. The carbon fibre knuckle is double stitched in to ensure it doesn't get ripped off easily. The underside of the knuckle is padded with a nice foam that even when you give a decent punch to something it's not really felt. I can confirm that it is very painful to get it in the face. My hands were soaked and I was yanking at something and my hand came free and met up with my lip. It hurt a lot and my teeth made a visit to the inside of the back of my lip. This knuckle has also protected my real knuckles from all sorts of smacks and dings in an urban environment. Just above the knuckle are four rubber exhaust ports. I haven't really noticed them doing a whole lot except with a strong wind or when on my bike.

 

The fingers are made up of several materials and different features. The tips of the middle and pointer finger are covered in a thicker leather to stop them from wearing down. They were also given little grippy circles on them made of a rubber like material. This material will go away eventually with repeated use. You should be able to see this in my photos.

 

The palm of the glove is made of a thin perforated leather. I like this a lot because I can feel my weapon a lot better and it allows for awesome breathability.

 

Faults

 

All good things must come to an end and these gloves are not the exception. I have had the textured grip on the wrist lose its nubs, the grips on the fingers come off, and holes through the side fabric of the fingers. Does this bother me well yes and no. I really like these gloves and I know sacrifices need to be made in order to have the level of breathability, flexibility and weight these gloves have. I also put them through a lot of hell for example tons of rain CLP from the machine gun shoot and wear an tear as work gloves. They held up decently well for that but they are decently expensive and some of the faults happened early in its life.

 

I do think I got my money's worth and would recommend these gloves to others. If you have a glove you would like to recommend me to try that has similar features please go ahead.

 

Photos

 

I know the quality of the pictures is still fairly sad but it's the best I can do with a point and shoot camera and the lighting in my barracks.

 

pilot1.jpg

pilot2.jpg

pilot3.jpg

pilot4.jpg

pilot5.jpg

pilot6.jpg

 

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Hah, I guess we all just assumed people knew they were good gloves... I've had mine for three years now, and they've only just let go of a finger. I play every Sunday, and these gloves always come with me. I also use them in winter as regular gloves ( they're not particularly warm, being designed with hot climates in mind, but they do the job better than my skin). The sticky pad on the trigger fingers go very quickly, but that's not really a problem.

 

Excellent, excellent gloves. Personally, I wish they had a bit of gauntlet, but that's just me.

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Highly recommended from me aswell. The carbon knuckles came in handy more then i would care to admit, and the only single fault i can find to them is the finger protection. While they do protect from those anguishing finger-joint-shots somewhat, it still leaves you bruised for a while. Still, better then aching for a whole month. :D

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Try the Hatch Operator gloves as a replacement. They have the hard knuckle guards.

 

I can wear mine all day without feeling a hot spot from the armor. They also have the snug fits like a glove cut of the Oakleys vs. some other gloves bulky boxing glove/sausage fingers cut.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Just curious how much are you paying to get these things...? In the word of tactical gloves these are not really expensive for decent gloves. The only issue I have with them though is that palm tears pretty easy. I tore mine going over a pretty old messed up chain link fence but it did it's job to saving my hand from the big gash I would have had!

Edited by DenverAirsoft
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Just curious how much are you paying to get these things...? In the word of tactical gloves these are not really expensive for decent gloves. The only issue I have with them though is that palm tears pretty easy. I tore mine going over a pretty old messed up chain link fence but it did it's job to saving my hand from the big gash I would have had!

 

 

I get them for around 50-60

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Thats not so bad.... A friend of mine who bought some for motocross and paid approx. $85 (US Dollars) for them. I get them for a lot less so just was wondering if everyone else was paying a premium like he did.

 

 

I think I paid 300 AED for my pair from the Oakley shop in Dubai. Polimil have them alot cheaper but at the time they didn't have my size in stock and the shop in Dubai did.

 

In hindsight, I don't think I will buy another pair. They are good but I would rather buy some of the Kevlar solags from Blackhawk or get a pair of the Damascus gloves.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey, Thanks for the review.

 

But was hoping someone had tried this pair:

 

F.S.O.G-50 Firestorm Gloves

 

http://www.uktactical.com/acatalog/Warrior...orm_Gloves.html

 

IF so could you possible compare them, as i have a warrior plate carrier and am sold on their quality just wonder if tit extended to these gloves.

 

J.

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They look similar but these are Warrior Assault Systems (WAS) version.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had tried them and are able to compare them to either Blackhawk/Oakley/Damascus/5.11 gloves.

 

Price wise the WAS go for £30, so they're not cheap but in would be grateful if someone could to comment on their build quality and fit.

 

J.

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  • 2 months later...

Purchased the Oakley not so long ago, and they're great, but I must say being a little disappointed at losing the knobs on the fingers on the first day of use, for the price, that is a bit of a let down.

A couple of stitching weren't perfect either, was expecting a little more, you can feel those gloves were made in Vietnam and not US/Europe.

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I have a pair of the oakley SI Assault gloves. I love these gloves. way better than glove i've tried. it just feels better holding guns with them than other gloves i've tried.

 

I don't get how you guys are losing your little nubs on the fingertips. I've had my set for at least a year. I've dug holes with them in gravel and packed dirt and all of my are still attached.

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