Mechanix Wear: The Original Covert Tactical Work Gloves (Large, All Black)

I love these gloves and will buy more. However, I feel that they are not as strong and durable as they used to be. I am suspicious that they are being made somewhere different now as the durability is a bit underwhelming. One pair I recently purchased came apart at the the thumb stitch area after two weeks. Also the finger ends wear through rapidly.
Great for shooting but don’t use them for heavy duty use. They don’t now seem to last.
I am buying another pair! Why? I just love the feel and dexterity afforded by these gloves and couldn’t be without them.
Just sort the quality control please!!!
MC

Despite the all-black appearance and “Covert Tactical” branding, these are about the most basic gloves Mechanix makes. Now I really like a lot of Mechanix designs, but this one really didn’t do it for me. For only about four to six bucks you can get a pair of similarly designed Hardy’s that are better stitched inside for improved dexterity. I doubt I’ll buy another pair of these, “covert” or otherwise colored. But, I am still keen on trying their .5mm high dexterity version of the same design, to see if it offers enough benefit over Hardy to justify costing about 4x the price. I know… seriously doubt that, but I like Mechanix Wear enough to give them a try. Some of their Mpact line has proven more admirable than these. The first pair of these I ordered was from a third party amazon vendor that shipped through amazon prime, named “Greatest Buys”. The name probably should have discouraged me, like something some Chinese knockoff company would come up with. But they had a slightly better price than amazon itself at the time and didn’t state there was anything different about their gloves and what was advertised in the listing. And since the order was still being fulfilled by amazon prime, I trusted I’d be protected. Though, at that time, I hadn’t seen all the reports of knockoffs being sold, so I had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the gloves.

As soon as I tried them on, an alarm sounded at how poorly stitched the seams were inside. This wasn’t half as comfortable as other Mechanix gloves I’d tried on in stores. The Velcro also felt extremely cheap, like it wouldn’t last long at all. A little research and I found several visual differences as well: these gloves didn’t appear to contain the TrekDry material nor the hook and loop. Several seams were single stitched, where they were shown to be double stitched in the picture. The thermal plastic rubber clasp also appeared different.

I didn’t want to wrongfully accuse the vendor of selling knockoffs. Afterall, this was the first pair of Mechanix gloves I’d purchased in this particular style. So I contacted Mechanix customer support, which was very accommodating. I sent their support email pictures of what I received and they responded that they didn’t think the gloves were knockoffs, that they looked like they were probably just an old version of the glove that they hadn’t produced in a “long time”. They offered to exchange them for another pair, including a prepaid return label to send the “defective” pair I received from Greatest Buys to them. It was a generous offer. Before returning them I photographed one glove that I received side-by-side with their updated version, which looks identical to what’s currently pictured on amazon. The upgraded version, while the seams inside the fingers are still more pronounced than they should be considering the price of the glove, they were much more comfortable than the older version, which I feared would result in some soreness after a few hours of even relatively mild to moderate activity. Less prominent seams also meant greater dexterity (sense of feel/touch). The TrekDry makes the gloves feel lighter and less warm. The newer model has a prominent hook and loop feature as advertised – the older version didn’t. The rubber closure is thinner, but the Velcro is dramatically improved over the older version which had the cheap plasticy Velcro others have complained about losing it’s stickiness quickly. And after opening and closing these just the relatively few times I tried them on while trying to determine if they were fake or not, I have little doubt these would have failed in the same manner.

I can’t rate which would have been more durable, though I didn’t see anything about the older version that would have made me think it might last longer. But the newer model, as pictured and described in this listing is much more comfortable. Still, unless their .5mm line makes me a convert, I’ll probably stick with Hardy next time. After all, at only four to six bucks, for a more comfortable glove with much better internal stitching, I don’t have to worry with changing gloves everytime I switch to an activity that might be too hard on it. I can just toss it when it blows out and stick with Mechanix Mpact line for activities that merit that type of protection. Even though, I’m starting to favor Ironclad for impact gloves too. I’m finding some rather drastic differences between some Mpact models. Their tactical gloves usually feel very good, not great, but good enough. But some of their work Mpact just aren’t cutting it. Their 4x material don’t feel like they’re any thicker than standard Originals. And their Genuine Leather requires a LOT of breakin before they stop cutting into your palm and fingers something painful. At least I think they’re loosening up – not that they were too tight. I even tried a size too large for me (according to Mechanix own sizing) and it hurt just the same, despite being baggy. I think Mechanix is slightly tougher on the outside than Ironclad, but until Mechanix figures out the critical importance of their interior seams, Ironclad will keep getting most of my Impact glove budget, as their Impact line is always as comfortable as they get.

Note on pictures: newest version on right – old on left. Palm and Glove back pictured for each version.

Given the rave reviews of this product I really expected them to last a lot longer than 3 months before starting to fall apart. There already holes on the pad of the index finger and right glove.

I’m starting to think that it’s simply safer to buy name brand products directly from the company site despite the amazing convenience of purchase and delivery that Amazon offers. These really seem to be knock offs and since there doesn’t appear to be a mechanism on Amazon to ensure resellers are selling genuine name brand products, it’s fairly easy for counterfeit products to find their way into ones shopping carts.

I’ve been an Amazon devotee for decades and will continue to buy plenty of stuff from them but I think I’ll stick to Kindle books and generic non-name brand items.

Overall they’re pretty good but two things let them down.

1. The ends of the index fingers are odd shaped and uncomfortable.

2. They insist on stamping their brand name all over them. It’s not enough to have Mechanix Gloves FOUR TIMES! across the back of the hands and again on the wrist fastener and hanging loop. They also have to add a tag that sticks out from the side of your hand and is rigid and uncomfortable and impossible to remove without destroying the glove. I paid for the damn things. Do I really have to market them for you as well?