Every motorcycle gloves I look for buying have hard knuckles these days. Where are my goddamn simple stupid regular bare-knuckle gloves?
Having said that, I tried to understand why these hard knuckles are so popular now. And what are their advantages. So, here it goes.
The 5 main reasons why motorcycle gloves have hard knuckles these days are because – they provide:
- Protection against abrasion and scraping
- Comfortable grip over the handlebar
- Good ventilation
- Tactical gloves are the trend now
- For aesthetics
These hard-knuckle gloves are not universal when it comes to motorcycle gloves. At least as of yet. And there is nothing wrong with wearing regular gloves with no knuckle protection for a motorcycle ride. You can choose either of them.
Having said that, let’s discuss the reasons for hard knuckles in motorcycle gloves in depth.
1. Protection against abrasion and scraping
Protection is the first and foremost reason given for hard-knuckle gloves.
The hard knuckle gloves protect the motorcycle rider’s knuckles from abrasion and scraping in a crash.
While you can’t disagree with the reasoning, there are doubts about how important is this protection in a crash scenario.
Sure, my knuckle will be protected. But I am more of a land on my palm guy, rather than landing on the back of the hand (dorsal part and where the knuckles exist).
Personally, I think riders use hard-knuckle gloves because it looks cool. But more on the aesthetics part later.
For now, we can’t deny the protection part. If your knuckles come in contact with a hard surface, these hard-knuckle gloves sure do protect from all the scraping and the abrasion.
Besides, any injury to the knuckle can have devastating effects. We use our hands more than any other part of the body. And for motorcycle riding, you need your hands in good shape.
And hard knuckle gloves provide great protection. At the same time allow the wearer to have comfort, dexterity, grip, and breathability.
2. Comfortable grip over the handlebar
This is debatable. But hard-knuckle glove lovers say the grip is better.
For long motorcycle rides, your hands need to sustain the constant vibration and impact that comes from the road to the handlebar.
The motorcycle vibrations will be even higher if you are going for an off-road trip.
That’s when the quality of gloves becomes important. The better the quality, the lower will be the impact on your hands. No matter how good the suspensions and the front forks are, the handlebar is going to have lots of vibrations and impact. Your gloves should withstand those.
The rider will feel the impact and vibrations far higher on off-road trips or if the motorcycle handlebars are high.
This is where the hard-knuckle gloves help. Or at least claim to help. Many motorcycle riders love these hard-knuckle gloves since they provide better grip and reduce the vibration and impact on their hands.
3. Good ventilation
This is especially applicable for hard-knuckle gloves that come with ventilation holes.
These ventilation holes are provided right above the hard knuckles. They help in providing some much needed airflow to the hands.
While ventilation holes are not mandatory in hard knuckle gloves, they are pretty common. Nowadays many gloves with hard knuckles have ventilation holes in them.
The presence of ventilation holes is a boon for people who sweat a lot. The holes keep the hands more relaxed and prevent them from sweating.
The ventilating holes addition makes the gloves more comfortable to wear as well. It increases breathability. Particularly helpful when you are riding on sunny days.
So, if you sweat a lot or go for long rides on sunny days, hard knuckle gloves are indeed a good option to add to your gear kit.
4. Tactical gloves are the trend now
Hard-knuckle gloves were first designed as tactical gloves.
Tactical gloves are used to protect the hand and wrists from any injury or physical harm. These gloves are made for people in the military, defense, and law enforcement.
The gloves are for tactical and combat situations.
Soon, the hunters and shooters started using them. It makes sense since these tactical gloves protected their hands from injuries.
Before you know it, the trend caught on. The hard-knuckle gloves were popular in boxing, gyms, and many sporting activities.
It’s only natural that motorcycle riders caught on with the hard-knuckle gloves trend too.
The bike riders started wearing hard-knuckle gloves as well. Soon, the market was flooded with hard-knuckle gloves for motorcycle riders.
Nowadays, it is pretty common to see motorcycle gloves having hard knuckles. I would be surprised if it didn’t. Not that there is anything wrong with not having hard knuckles. Only the trend is not in favor.
5. For aesthetics
This one is my favorite of the reasons listed in this post. And the one I most certainly agree with.
Hard knuckle gloves look cool, hot, sexy, macho – whatever the adjective you love. Bottomline. They look cool. They make our hands look cool. And they make motorcycle riding look cool.
That’s the whole attraction of hard-knuckle gloves. It adds an aesthetic layer over the regular bare gloves.
If you are going for a long motorcycle ride, gloves are necessary. And when you are going to wear a pair of gloves why not gloves that look absolutely dashing? Hard knuckle gloves with their design, knuckle layer, multicolors, and ventilation holes sure do fits the bill.
Final thoughts
Again, unless you are a military or a law enforcement personnel, or going hunting, hard knuckles gloves are not an absolute necessity for motorcycle riding.
You can bike ride with a regular pair of gloves that do not have hard knuckles.
For sure, there are several advantages to using hard-knuckle gloves. But when it comes to motorcycle riding, only one reason stands out for me.
That the hard knuckle gloves look damn cool.