When I was growing up, Hollywood taught me that precious gifts from a father to his daughter should come in giant boxes with velvet bows — imported, expensive, glistening. But my real-life dad had a slightly different approach. During my teen years, Christmas stockings were heavy with headlamps and wrenches. I would roll my eyes at my dad’s gifts of utility, searching for an errant earring or a shimmering lip gloss amid the tools.And when my hands were big enough, a new gift from the hardware store emerged: my own pair of his trusty split-cowhide work gloves.At first, I received the gloves with standard teenage disdain. But as the years passed, I came to understand what my dad had really been giving me all along. These were tools of competence, offering the confidence to handle life’s dirty work myself.If it’s not obvious from his choice of gifts to his teenage daughter, my father is a man of particular, albeit eccentric, habits. As a surgeon, he’s always been concerned about injuring his hands, while also being utterly unconcerned about looking bizarre. To him, the gloves are a logical shield against the world’s sharp edges and ever-present germs. Whether he’s straphanging on a city subway, beachcombing the Outer Banks, or cheering in the stands of the US Open, he is always sporting his own pair of split-leather work gloves. And when I go to visit, we can be found puttering around the house in our matching gloves, ensconced in our shared armor.It turns out that work gloves are a surprisingly excellent gift for someone you love. They can protect their hands through many of life’s tougher moments — from cutting down the prickly bush that’s taken over the garden to emptying a flooded garage. And they can make a loved one think of you, just as my gloves make me think of my dad. My dad loves the thermal protection of the thicker split cowhide in the Wells Lamont red gloves (left); he keeps a stack of work gloves in his mudroom, always at the ready (right). Thomas Risser for NYT WirecutterEven when I’m not twinning with my dad, these gloves have become an indispensable fixture in my life. When I owned a furniture store, I would reach for them to break down heavy crates. I am now living through a (never-ending) home renovation. And on any given day, I might find myself moving a cast iron pipe or breezing by Home Depot to pick up 60-pound buckets of joint compound. Because of the gloves’ extra-padded palms, bucket handles no longer dig into my hands (a previously painful occurrance).These split-cowhide work gloves have thicker palms than most, so they offer more padding. And they have a slightly more-contoured fit, which allows for better finger dexterity.These long-lasting split-cowhide women’s work gloves have the same thick palms as the men’s version, with a more-tapered cut for smaller hands.There are many kinds of split-leather work gloves, but my dad’s favorites are the Wells Lamont Leather Work Gloves, and they have since become my favorites as well. Made with a hearty cowhide, these gloves have thick padding on the palms and an ever-so-slightly contoured fit. Characteristic of the style, the split leather runs the length of each finger and over the top, fully covering the fingertip. The strip of leather across the back of the glove protects your knuckles. That means I can punch through heavy cardboard without a concern for staples, and I can handle construction debris without worry.The gloves provide thermal protection. So they keep my dad’s hands toasty and protected when he’s scraping ice and snow off of his windshield, hauling trash to the dump, lugging a Christmas tree, or handling a frigid steering wheel in New England winter. My dad even uses his “inside pairs” as oven mitts in the kitchen. In a pinch, I would too.In addition to appreciating the excellent quality of these gloves, my dad and I both really value the snazzy red safety cuff and detailing. I use the work gloves frequently in my home renovation, schlepping 60-pound buckets and dealing with sharp objects. Ivy Elrod/ NYT WirecutterIf you’re looking at other split-leather work gloves, you’ll realize that the Wells Lamont gloves are not the cheapest option. At $10 a pair, they’re about twice as much as the least-expensive alternatives. But for me and my dad, the thicker material and the reinforced stitching justify the (still very reasonable) higher price of these gloves.These gloves have wide safety cuffs, which are an asset if you’re frequently putting the gloves on and taking them off. But the cuffs might not be ideal for everybody, since the gloves have a looser fit overall. Wirecutter home-improvement writer Doug Mahoney endorses this pair’s protective qualities, but he notes that there’s a dexterity trade-off: what he calls “Fozzy Bear hands,” which are not ideal if you’re doing things like picking up nails.So if you’re looking to give a slightly fancier pair to a budding DIYer, you might want to consider the top pick in our guide to the best gardening gloves, the Husky Large Grain Cowhide Water Resistant Leather Performance Work Gloves. These waterproof gloves have a spandex back, so they’re stretchier and clingier than the Wells Lamonts, and they have an adjustable wrist strap, so you can tailor the fit.Top pickResistant to punctures and moisture, these gloves have mesh backing and snug, adjustable wrist straps. So they can fit a range of hand sizes, and the straps also prevent debris from getting in.For a Cadillac work-glove option, The Vermonter gloves are hand-sewn with 100% goat leather, and they have a removable liner. We recommend them as an upgrade pick in our gardening-gloves guide. Although they’re a substantial investment and take a little extra time to break in, they’re durable, repairable, and likely to last years.Upgrade pickIt takes some work to break in these thick, high-quality gloves. But the materials — and the customer support — ensure a long-lasting investment and great value, in spite of the high up-front cost.You could even elevate your utilitarian gift by customizing it; this past Christmas I flipped the script and got my dad a special pair of Wells Lamont gloves. After 53 years of practicing medicine, my dad officially retired. So I had a pair embroidered with “Dr. Risser” along the cuff (where he usually dashes off his last name with a Sharpie). It’s a commemoration of the career he’s leaving and a nod to the fact that he’ll never really stop working. At the US Open with my father. He likes the germ protection and grip his gloves provide when navigating railings in public places. This past Christmas I had a pair of Wells Lamont gloves (in a different style) embroidered for him. Ivy Elrod/NYT WirecutterI’ve just discovered that our work gloves are available in kids’ sizes, and I look forward to giving them to all of the kids in my family this year. It feels right to pass on our quirky family uniform, reminding everyone to work hard, take care of your instruments, and ignore the stares of the crowd. We can’t avoid the world’s sharp edges, but at least we can be ready to meet them.This article was edited by Katie Okamoto and Maxine Builder.Further reading
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