Review: Asivik gloves and cheap liners

 

For a long time I have used the black leather gloves from the Danish Army, the lined cowhide gloves. They are fine and durable gloves, but the lining is warm, so they work really poorly as work gloves in summer. I am also not fully decided on whether the elastic cuff is good or bad. It gets a bit in the way of the sleeves, but on the other hand it keeps dirt out of the glove.

I came across a pair of Asivik (SpejderSport’s own brand) leather gloves 2 years ago. They cost 100 kroner (~13 euros) on Black Friday. The normal price is 150 kroner (~20 euros).

My gloves have been used a lot over the last couple of years and for much more than “just” bushcraft. They have of course been used to protect my fingers while carving, they have handled hot things by the fire, and protected my hands while splitting wood.

But they have also survived as work gloves for all my other tasks: building a stone fence, removing a blackberry and rose thicket, tearing down old wooden walls, digging in soil when I made the carport foundation.

Now they are beginning to show a few small holes. There is a small hole in one finger. That happened in a fight with a huge rosebush.

Care

My gloves have regularly been cared for. Every time I have worked with leather, the gloves have gotten leftover dye and oil. Or they have gotten a good handful of leather balm and I have simply rubbed my hands together. Especially after working in soil they have dried out completely. Then I just brush off most of the soil, smack the gloves together well, and rub them with balm.

Missing features – which are easy to fix

The gloves are missing a lanyard ring or a loop for a carabiner. I have simply riveted a small strap onto each glove so I can clip them to a carabiner. Then they can always hang on a belt loop, on the anorak, on the shoulder bag, or similar. I put D-rings on all gear for exactly that reason.

If you have absolutely no skills in leatherwork, it is still easy enough to tie a small string through (there is a small hole for it inside the glove).

The liner trick

Something I am extra happy about with these gloves is that there is good space inside them. I use a size 10, they fit my hands very well (there is elastic in the leather on the back of the hand). In grocery stores (I found mine in Rema 1000 — a Danish supermarket chain) there are often cheap acrylic children's gloves. The ones that don't keep you very warm, and that get cold and wet immediately. I have bought a bunch of pairs for 10 kroner each (~1.3 euros).

The trick is that they stretch well, even to fit my adult hand. Alternatively you can cut a small hole in the fingertip — then they fit. As a combination, this trick works really well. As liners these little gloves are perfect. They fit inside the leather glove and suddenly make it a very warm glove, because the leather is windproof and waterproof. They also protect the hands extra when I use my post-hammer, for example. That works the best. Better than the cheap rubber-coated work gloves (they rub annoyingly) or big loose work gloves (they chafe).

I keep an eye on offers, so I can buy myself an extra pair as backup. It is a really good glove for very little money.

It is, in my opinion, an example of where price and quality don’t match, because the quality is so high. I would also like some extremely nice and expensive gloves, but all gear can be worn out. I am sure that even very expensive gloves could be worn out by the amount of hard and rough work I have done with these. And I never baby my gear — “these gloves are only for my bushcraft trips” — no, my gear is used in my everyday life, and my everyday life is practical.