Thorn-Deterring Glove

Forum Archives

 

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Lisa A

Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro

Posted: Feb-03-2005 at 4:58pm

My poor ol' hands are hurting from the barberries' thorns (guess they weren't so keen on being cut!) and look horrible to boot. My normal garden gloves give me no protection from thorns but standard leather gloves either are too big or too stiff for me to work easily.

Is there a pliable, MOL form-fitting glove that also protects hands from thorns on the market? If I can find something that would work, I'd be willing to pay more than my usual price for garden gloves (which ain't much).

 

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mdvaden

Location: Oregon, Western

Posted: Feb-03-2005 at 6:59pm

Good point about too stiff.

One customer recommended a brand to me as the longest lasting leather glove back about 1990.

He was right - 4 to 6 months is what I got from them. But they were thick and hard to bend my hands in.

Right now, I prefer the cheapest split leather from Home Depot for about $1.97 a pair because they are so pliable. Even so, sometimes I slice the material open above my knuckles. I get from one hard day to one week per pair which is okay considering I'm rubbing down the bark and dead stubs on trunks on a daily basis.

So the glove you want, I have not found yet.

My best strategy is to find ways to avoid handling the bad stuff. We use a pitch fork to pick up barberry or I use my rake and one hand with just enough pressure to prevent the debris falling.

I did a huge rose bed again this year in West Linn, and my older son helped. We brought one of those huge 2 wheel wheelbarrows to pitchfork rose branches into with a pitch fork to avoid using our hands and avoid a tarp which gets hung up in the thorns.

I pick up some branches with my pruner blades.

M.D. Vaden

 

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Lisa A

Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro

Posted: Feb-03-2005 at 7:23pm

I'll try those gloves from Home Despot (love that, tommyb!). I'd gladly pay $1.97, even if they only lasted through the 1x a year pruning. Thanks, MD, for the tip.

Keeping my distance won't work unfortunately. When I prune, I cut out the oldest branches first, then selectively prune what remains. I'm right there in the thick of it, all for the sake of forcing that delectable new growth (these are 'Rose Glow' barberries). I have to handle the thorny branches again when I cut them down to go in the yard debris bin. Ouch, ooch, ouch!! Yep, I suffer for my art.

 

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tommyb

Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley

Posted: Feb-04-2005 at 12:10pm

That's Homeless Despot Lisa. When I'm politically incorrect I like to go as far as possible, particularly for a business that strives to...nope,nope, not going to get on my soap box.

My glove source is Sgt Gator's in Damascus---I guess they get their mail in Boring, but the store is in Damascus. They have increible deals on gloves, well worth the trip. Last time I stopped in I bought eight pair, at about $2 a pair. Since I often work 'wet' this allows for hanging to dry. I believe they had some ladies gloves as well, but the closest I got to that were the pigskins I got for close work in my shop. I think I sprang for $3 for those. Army surplus is their main business, but they have deals on other stuff as well, maybe Surplus stores in other areas would be worth a look for everyone.

How about a dozen two hundred foot rolls of sisal string for 50 cents each?? Is that a good deal?

Of course, for you ladies the best deal is putting nasty work on the 'honey dew' list!!

Tom