Makita Tools has come out with several styles of work gloves, as they enter the safety gear and accessories market for the first time.
Makita has so far announced 7 different “function-specific” work glove styles.
Makita says:
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From the bold styling and high-quality materials to the productive performance demonstrated by our ANSI/ISEA 105 standard ratings, we couldn’t be more pleased in what we’ve created and are very excited to see users slip their hands in these!
Here are the new work glove styles, along with pricing:
- FitKnit Cut Level 1 Nitrile Dipped Gloves ($8)
- Advanced FitKnit Cut Level 7 Nitrile Coated Dipped Gloves ($16)
- Open Cuff Flexible Protection Utility Work Gloves ($16)
- 100% Genuine Leather Driver Gloves ($20)
- Genuine Leather Palm Performance Gloves ($25)
- Advanced Impact Demolition Gloves ($27)
- Advanced ANSI 2 Impact-Rated Demolition Gloves ($30)
The knit gloves will be available in 2 sizes – small/medium and large/XL. The other styles will be available in 3 sizes – medium, large, and XL.
As of the time of this posting, it looks like Makita is only launching their new work gloves at online dealers.
Discussion
It looks like Makita covers broad needs and applications with their 7 new styles.
Their M thru XL sizing should suit many users, and hopefully they’ll add smaller and larger sizes in the future.
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For the knit gloves, the S/M and L/X sizing seems unusual. I wear medium gloves most of the time, and large for certain sizes. I especially prefer an accurate fit when wearing cut-resistant gloves, and am likely to avoid these. I presume this was done to help keep the number of SKUs to a minimum.
Makita USA has not shared any information about where their work gloves will be sold.
The work glove market is somewhat saturated, but there’s always room for more brands to enter the mix. For instance, consider Milwaukee’s success and constant expansion. But is there room for Makita?
I would think that a big part of Milwaukee’s current and growing popularity is at least partially due to their partnership with Home Depot, and their many prominently positioned promotional in-store displays over the years.
Makita also seems to enjoy a close relationship with Home Depot, but I would not expect for the retailer to clear off shelf or floor space for these new work gloves. Milwaukee seems to be Home Depot’s premium work glove brand these days, with other brands filling shelves with low and medium price point options. So, where does that leave space for Makita?
Will these Makita gloves offer anything that other leading work glove makers don’t, aside from Makita-teal color scheme on certain styles? One of Milwaukee’s selling points is their broad availability at online retailers and also Home Depot stores nationwide.
So, Milwaukee’s success among mature work glove makers – CLC Custom Leathercraft, Mechanix, Grease Monkey, Ansell, and others – is – in my opinion – partly due to the quality, partly due to convenient access, and partly due to high visibility promotional displays.
If Makita work gloves are built as well as other professional brands’ offerings, will that drive in enough sales to fuel further growth and expansion?
If I ever see these in-person, I’ll give these a feel. But if they’re just going to be an online-only or limited independent dealer offering, I don’t see much appeal compared to my usual brand preferences. Do you feel differently?
More Recent Work Glove News
Milwaukee Tool recently introduced new high dexterity cut resistance work gloves.
fred
Big industrial and Utility users probably consume thousands of pairs of work gloves per year. In the businesses that I partnered in – we bought quite a few ourselves – mostly from suppliers like Wells-Lamont and Ansell. Like other PPE – I suspect that some of the stuff that gets branded with toolmaker’s logos/colors – like Dewalt , Milwaukee or perhaps now Makita -are made for them under contract – by other suppliers. As an example – Dewalt work gloves come with UPC’s that star with 672326 denoting Radians as the OEM. That seems like a win-win – allowing the toolmakers to broaden their offerings while providing additional outlets for the OEM’s
TomD
I think this is a big part of it. The OEMs can get into markets they wouldn’t normally service and the brands can capitalize on their brand name. If you buy Milwaukee tools and the Milwaukee gloves seem at least as good as the others and aren’t insanely priced, you’ll pick them up.
Franck B.
You can often check the UPC depending on the product and the relationship between the OEM and the licensed name. But that doesn’t always work, for instance for gloves if the branded company is handling all distribution or repackaging.
But because gloves can be considered apparel, they should all have the RN identifier on the tags, and query the FTC database for it. For instance, Mechanixwear is 83381 and is responsible for many gloves that were labeled Craftsman, Kobalt, S•K, and on and on.
I believe the Makita impact gloves in this article are Mechanixwear (they are made in Vietnam instead of China), but I’ve not been able to check the labels inside.
Jared
I don’t see anything wrong with these Makita gloves, but on the other hand, there’s nothing particularly compelling about them as far as I can tell.
I would neither avoid them, nor purposefully seek them out. I think part of Dewalt and Milwaukee’s success also relates to consumer enthusiasm for those brands. Perhaps some people have similar feelings about Makita?
I still consider it a “Pro” brand, but it feels like its popularity is waning as it no longer seems to be at the cutting edge of development.
its_jake
i just like the color. i love my milwaukee level 3 gloves and the price is right, but i’ll be tempted to get some of these for the color
John
Every year or so I buy a batch of Maxiflex nitrile coated gloves, 6-12 pairs. They fit well, give good protection and provide excellent dexterity at about $4-5 a pair. They last a long time. I throw them in a bucket and clean them a few times a year. They just last and work great for metal, wood and automotive. Anything more expensive for the same style glove never reaches my radar.
Franck B.
I too like the Maxiflex gloves, but when I run out and I need them… I usually can’t find them quickly.
I’ve found the Milwaukee gloves to be suitable substitutions at a higher cost, but if you buy a large enough quantity the pricing becomes closer to the quantity pricing of the Maxiflex. But the Milwaukees are easier to get since I can just thrown a pair or two onto my HD orders.
Similarly I’ve used Mechanixwear SpeedKnit gloves which are nice, but cost slightly more (Lowe’s will have them on sale now and then for $15/3 pair, or regular $6 for one pair).
$5 is great for disposable gloves that you don’t have to dispose every day.
John
Been buying them for years through ebay. Arrive in a few days and last for years.
Jacob
Not necessarily related to these gloves, but I have been trying to understand cut resistant levels and can’t wrap my head around them yet. What level do I want so that I don’t accidently slice off part of my finger if it gets in the way of a utility blade? Thanks in advance.
Joellikestools
Howdy if you look through the comments on this previous post there was some good info about cut resistance. https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-tool-high-dexterity-cut-resistant-work-gloves/
Stuart
Ansell has a chart that breaks down ANSI cut protection levels – https://www.ansell.com/us/en/industrial/safety-briefing/na/na_what-are-the-levels-of-cut-resistant-gloves.
The problem is, an increase in cut level protection usually also means an increase in thickness and decrease in feel or dexterity.
Maybe cut level 7, which Ansell recommends for meat processing, would match what you’re looking for?
TomD
Yeah it depends on the type of danger you’re trying to protect from.
I got this for the wife to help her get used to using big sharp kitchen knives: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-18009S/Cut-Resistant-Gloves/Steel-Mesh-Glove-Small – well worth it and it’s chainmail – how can you go wrong!
It’s rated 9 and can stop a blade easily.
Jacob
Thanks. I’ve tried reading that before but for me the common layman it is hard to understand it. So was hoping someone had personal experience.
Stuart
If it helps, think of winter jackets. A light jacket will keep you a little warm but allow for easy movements. A medium jacket will keep you warmer and still give you a lot of mobility. A heavy jacket will provide the most protection against low temperatures, but the least mobility.
Cut protection has 9 levels, ranging from thin with light protection to thicker with heavy protection. Different materials can also affect cut resistance.
I don’t have very good examples of use. I tend to wear cut resistant gloves when I don’t want to wear work gloves. If I’m moving milled wood around, sharp edges can sometime cut into my hands, but I might have other tasks to do where I need more dexterity than typical work gloves provide. They’re also great for cut sheet metal where burs can cut my hands if I’m not careful.
Industrial users will have usage guidelines, presumably where someone has tested suitability for specific applications and developed standard procedures and safety guidelines. You can do that too. Personally, I just go up or down depending on what I’m doing. Basic protection? Level 1. Tasks where I’ve cut my hands on work materials before? 3 or 4. Using power tools, garden tools, or moving bricks around? Work gloves. For individual users, it’s mostly going to be trial and error.
Bob
I like mechanix brand gloves. They’re kind of spendy at $20 a pair. Harbor freight had a pretty decent Hardy brand knock off but seems to have discontinued them.
I’ll check out these Makita ones. I’m sure they’ll have some promos when they introduce them. I’m always in search of a decent mechanix knock off but I always end up going back to them as they seem to last quite a while and the fit is excellent on me.
Franck B.
I like the Mechanixwear mechanics gloves too. But they’re not cheap, and they are not durable. But the dexterity is great for automotive applications and other general use.
A lot of times you can find branded gloves by Mechanixwear and save a little money. I’ve bought a fair number of Craftsman, Lowes etc. gloves that were actually just Mechanixwear gloves but different colors or styles on the back, and they’d be $10-15 instead of the $20.
I believe the impact rated Makitas may be Mechanixwear-made.
And if you want to try another Mechanixwear product and save a little money, the Speedknit dipped foam-style gloves are only $15/3pr at Lowes. They’re not durable either, and have the thicker palm and fingers, which limits dexterity with small items, but at the price I can change them out every day or two if they wear out and keep several extras on hand.
Wayne R.
I’m a large guy, and have large hands – but not freakishly so. I have to work at finding winter gloves that fit well enough to keep blood flowing in them, but I can find them.
Work gloves/leather gloves are almost impossible to find that’ll allow me to close a fist. Am I overlooking something/somewhere?
I’m with you on the sizing of these – X/XL is a size that never has come close to working for me.
fred
There may be some variability from one manufacturer to another. Just like shoes – one brand’s size/width combination will fit my foot – while the supposedly same size from another manufacturer will not. With shoes – the instep may be the issue. With gloves it may be finger size as well as the circumference around the palm. I tend to look for XXL gloves and try them on. Many seem to fit reasonably well – but others seem snug. I was in Germany – and tried on a pair of size 12’s and found them loose – so bought some #11’s.
Bonnie
Is there something special I’m missing about the level-1 cut resistant gloves? I keep the equivalent Milwaukee’s stocked in my shop and these Makita’s look to be at least twice the price, with no major differences. I see the abrasion rating is slightly higher, but does that justify the price?
TomD
MSRP may be higher than the actual street price will be – depends on how the company markets. They don’t like MSRP being lower than major customers (think Fastenal) will sell at.
Stuart
Makita doesn’t mention any pricing; the pricing in my post was collected from Acme Tools’ preorder listings.
Rafe
Incoming next…. Makita work gloves now in 40V MAX!
Rog
How am I supposed to know how they’ll fit if you’re only offering them through online sales, Makita?
Koko The Talking Ape
I’m curious about this: “For the knit gloves, the S/M and L/X sizing seems unusual…. I presume this was done to help keep the number of SKUs to a minimum.”
Why would they want to keep the number of SKUs down? (I know what SKUs are.) I could see them doing that to keep manufacturing costs down, or reduce shelf spaced needed. Is that what is meant by keeping the number of SKU’s down?
Aaron S
Maybe they’ll offer heated gloves to compete with milwaukee but upgrade them to the 40v XGT platform for 15% more runtime!
Will
Are these really new, though? I have a couple pairs of Makita gloves that are at least five or six years old. Or did I miss something in the article?
Stuart
Brand new. Maybe the previous products were licensed and these are a new launch of core branded products?
Oleg K
That’s so great… I remember telling a friend of mine just the other day that what we really need is for another major tool manufacturer to start reselling gloves made by someone else. I mean, there are only a few thousand different types and brands of gloves out there, good move on Makita’s part. They should also come up with brushless gloves, portable gloves, etc.
Mike McFalls
I’m incredibly late to this post, and I don’t know that the definition of “entering the market” is, but I’ve purchased Makita work gloves as far back as 2016 from Amazon.
Stuart
Makita USA: “We are excited to launch our first full range of high performance gloves.”
Maybe they don’t consider whatever has been offered in the past “high performance gloves,” and so these are their first high performance gloves but not the first-ever work gloves baring their name?
There are a bunch of Makita hand tools on Amazon, but Makita isn’t formally in the hand tool market. Maybe this has similar context.