Iron & Resin Elk Bobber Gloves Review – $72

Riding motorcycles is definitely one of my favorite things in this world. There is nothing like hopping on my bike and cruising in to town or hitting some twisties. Every motorcyclist knows that he/she needs several things before they are truly prepared to ride. A helmet, protective jacket, and a solid pair of gloves are the three items, in my opinion, that are essential to every rider. Today we are going to check out the Iron & Resin Elk Bobber Gloves.

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About

“Born in a small, Southern California, blue-collar beach town, graced with world class point breaks and seaside racetracks, where ghosts of a once towering oil industry still linger in the shadows. Iron & Resin is the brainchild of several friends who, after decades of collective experience building successful clothing brands, decided to turn back the clock and start anew. The result is a small, hand built collection of goods that draws heavily upon the founder’s own lifestyles and experiences.

Forged in California… In a mass produced, disposable world, Iron & Resin is a product of “one-off” culture. Where men still build, by their own hands, the craft they ride, be it water or land. Our goods are carefully hand crafted and printed one at a time in California.”

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Construction

My motorcycle is all black. Both of my riding jackets are all black. My helmet is all black. It only makes sense that I ride with black leather gloves. The stylish Elk Bobber gloves are constructed from black 100% Premium Grain Elk Hide leather. With only three main components: the leather, stitching, and metal anchor piston rivet; the Elk Bobber gloves are very simple. Their simple design, rolled cuff, and no-nonsense feel are my favorite things about them. Iron & Resin has done an excellent job combining performance, comfort, and durability into this attractive leather glove.

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Function

The Elk Bobber gloves have been my primary riding gloves for several months now. The comfort level is far above any other riding gloves I have worn. The seams do not bug my fingers or rub them raw, I have adequate squeezing range of motion, and the length is suitable for wearing under a jacket and also comfortably without one. I have encountered one small issue with these stunning gloves. After longer periods of use, the black dye in the leather rubs off into your hands, and is frequently difficult to remove. To many this may seem petty, but if I’m going to show up to meetings or work, I cannot have black all over my hands. Over time the severity has significantly decreased, but know that it is something you will have to adjust to/prepare for during the beginning of the Elk Bobber’s life.

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Aesthetic

As I said before, the Elk leather is some of the softest, most comfortable leather I have worn. The gloves have already formed to my hands and started to develop the worn, masculine look. I have several riding friends who have tried these gloves out, and even purchased some themselves. They are truly an attractive, solid addition to any motorcyclist’s riding gear, whether they ride a street bike like myself, or a classic Harley.

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Conclusion

It is obvious that passion, time, and superior materials went in to the making of the Iron & Resin Elk Bobber gloves. Even though the gloves do leave a few black marks during the “new” stage, it is a small price to pay for such, comfortable, attractive, and capable leather gloves. At $72.00, the Elk Bobber is a reasonable investment that will absolutely last a lifetime of riding. Head over to Iron & Resin’s website to check out their other leather gloves, and even some other hand built lifestyle goods.

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Iron & Resin Café Gloves Review – $72

When you get your first two-wheeled freedom machine (aka motorcycle), it’s an awesome experience. I owned my first motorcycle in college. When I graduated, I quickly upgraded to another cruiser and used it daily to commute into the San Fernando Valley. One of the best things I ever did for my daily rides was purchase a good set of leather gloves. Of course gloves aren’t just for riding motorcycles…but some gloves just go with motorcycles better than others. Such is the case with the Iron & Resin Café Gloves.

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About Iron & Resin

“Born in a small, Southern California, blue-collar beach town, graced with world class point breaks and seaside racetracks, where ghosts of a once towering oil industry still linger in the shadows. Iron & Resin is the brainchild of several friends who, after decades of collective experience building successful clothing brands, decided to turn back the clock and start anew. The result is a small, hand built collection of goods that draws heavily upon the founder’s own lifestyles and experiences.

Forged in California… In a mass produced, disposable world, Iron & Resin is a product of “one-off” culture. Where men still build, by their own hands, the craft they ride, be it water or land. Our goods are carefully hand crafted and printed one at a time in California.”

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Construction

The Iron & Resin Café Gloves come in what they refer to as a ‘gold’ color. It’s an attractive color, but I’d say it’s more yellow than gold. But, I’m not going to nitpick. The gloves are 100% deerskin leather. If you’re not familiar with deerskin, it’s super soft; a fact that makes them ideal for gloves. Not only is it soft, but it’s durable too. The gloves are double stitched and feature an extra layer of leather across each palm.

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Function

I received a pair in their extra large size and they fit perfectly. They’re snug in the right places and offer just the extra protection and insulation that I want when riding. And, their style affords me the ability to wear them off of my bike too. Their traditional look doesn’t look out of place with a good leather jacket on those cool mornings or evenings. On the motorcycle they are protective, yet soft enough to afford ease of movement and function while riding (which is extremely important). And riding is where these gloves truly belong…it’s part of the Iron & Resin DNA.

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Aesthetic

The first thing people do with these gloves is touch them…and comment on how soft the leather is. Then, of course they slip their hands inside and comment even more on the softness. Finally they ask, “where did you get these?” And, I happily suggest they visit the Iron & Resin website. I also point out they have several different colors, leathers, and styles of gloves available (be looking for another BestLeather review on their Elk Bobber Gloves).

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The color of the Café Glove definitely draws attention. But, it’s the deerskin leather that really grabs people’s attention.

The Iron & Resin logo name is stamped on both gloves and, in my opinion, gives them a cool, heritage look. They also have a piston and anchor logo pin in one of the gloves…another cool little feature.

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Conclusion

Even if I didn’t ride motorcycles, I would still be very interested in these gloves. I just like the style – I like the design – I really like the deerskin leather – and the fit and finish is ideal. At $72 the Iron & Resin Café Gloves are a bit more than you’ll spend on gloves from a big box store, but the quality, style, and ‘cool factor’ is unrivaled. I look forward to using them on most every ride from here on out.

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Hungant Peccary Leather Gloves Review – $140

Do you need a pair of gloves for touching nice things in nice clothes? We are talking about driving, holding your wife’s hand in the cold, or driving an Aston Martin. These may be for you. These are sartorial gloves. These are fancy gloves. They are not for weeding the garden or splitting firewood.

This pair arrived from the ever prestigious LeatherGloves4U on Etsy with Hungant Leather branding. Now I know what you are thinking. I was thinking the same thing. With a name that prestigious and classy these must be incredible gloves. Or not. Yes, the name and shopping venue is somewhat of a disappointment. You shouldn’t easily imagine buying gloves appropriate for driving your AMG Mercedes on Etsy from what easily sounds like the dollar store for gloves. This time, however, it is permissible because these are good gloves.

What in the world is Peccary?

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It’s pigskin. I know, more prestige right? This funny looking piggy’s hide is prized for it’s softness so it is actually very desirable. The softness makes these gloves much more suitable to fancy wear rather than work wear. Splitting a cord of firewood wearing these would reduce them to shreds of nice soft peccary leather.

The hair follicle marks are very apparent, as you can see. From a distance this gives the leather a textured look. For those wanting the smooth texture of cowhide, maybe look at cowhide gloves. These have an attraction all their own in my opinion. For more information about peccary leather click here.

construction

While the construction is simple, it is certainly well done. There are two components, leather and thread. So how good is the stitching? The below picture of the stitching on the backhand The stitching is not very noticeable so I magnified it using a macro lens. It is impressively precise stitching.

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Upon first seeing the gloves laying flat I was underwhelmed by the external seams. The glove seemed chunky. However, once you slip them on the complete smoothness of the slide onto your hand brings it all into a better perspective. It’s really smooth slide onto your hand. The cashmere wool lining feels warm (won’t really be able to know until winter). It may not have tucked seams but it does feel seamless inside and I think that is an appropriate compromise.

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I have no doubt that with care these gloves will last a long time – but a lot of emphasis on WITH CARE. Any usage with constant chafing will not be suitable for this kind of soft leather. You will wear through it. These are for gentle use. Driving, walking, breathing, looking fancy, etc. Light work only. They are not wimpy gloves but have an ideal range of use that they are designed for. Want something tougher?

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The fit of these gloves is very good. I followed the supplied instructions and found my hands to be a size eight. The gloves are fitted nicely without any looseness around the palm or at the end of the fingertips. With this kind of fit you tug gently at each fingertip to remove the gloves.

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Which color would you like?

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aesthetic

These gloves look really good worn with any classic material like wool, leather, or cotton. I think they are particularly fetching with a good watch. In this case it is a Seiko 007.

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functionality

It’s not cold enough yet this fall to know the cold weather suitability of these gloves. I can speculate that they will be fine for the dash to the car in the ten degree weather we get here in the pacific northwest but I won’t be taking them skiing. The other functionality factor is that the waterproofness of these gloves is similar to that of a sponge. The softness makes for comfortable gloves but they also soak up water easily. Constantly getting these gloves wet is going to shrink them, make them brittle, and generally ruin them. Don’t get them wet. Remember, these are fancy gloves for doing fancy things.

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BestLeather conclusion

The peccary leather gloves from Hungat Leather are expensive high quality gloves, no doubt about it. Though expensive for gloves that you cannot use rigorously, if you compare them to cashmere lined Dents gloves (very famous english glove maker) these are relatively affordable. You must use them appropriately (lightly) to fully enjoy them.

Check them out here.

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This is the most accurate color representation.

What do you think?