Outta the Closet: Youngstown Leather Utility Plus Gloves

Gloves are gloves, right? They keep your hands relatively protected, somewhat warm, and sometimes, if the planets are in alignment, they last more than a season. At least that’s the case in a world where we tend to beat up gloves like it’s our job. Because, well, it is.

After an unfortunate event where we melted a pair of rubber reinforced gloves on a woodburning stove, we reached into the closet to grab a new pair of mitts and we happened upon the Youngstown Leather Utility Plus gloves. Part of the “performance leather” line from Youngstown, we were skeptical that a pair of goatskin gloves would hold up to daily abuse, especially in the harsh winter of Maine.

Before you skip down to the bottom to get our conclusions, rest assured that these gloves are the real deal. We'll tell you why.

Over the past few years, we have tried our fair share of tactical gloves, some that fit well, some that don’t, and all made of some type of fabric (meaning not leather). Throwing on the Youngstown gloves made us feel instantly like a mix of ax-man, utility worker, and race car driver. These are not marketed as “tactical gloves” but they will absolutely fit nicely into your life regardless.

The 18oz/sqyd goat grain leather feels very supple to the touch even though it is thicker than normal driving gloves. There is reinforcement across the knuckles, as well as fingertips, and a second layer of leather in the palms which Youngstown calls their “supersaddle”. This second layer is supposed to assist in the extended use of long handled tools. All of this extra material however, does NOT take away from the tactile feel once they are on.

The gloves themselves are also formed, meaning they are not flat out of the box, and are listed on the Youngstown website as being ergonomic. The goal is to decrease hand fatigue while keep a level of comfort for the user, especially if you keep these on all day long.

We were not expecting much warmth or water resistance, but these have been our go-to glove for the winter thus far. They are not going to keep your hands toasty in sub zero weather, but for short periods outside where covering the exposed skin of your hands is a priority these work great. We have worn them shoveling our driveway, out on the mountain snowboarding, and in the workshop. They are equally adaptable to all environments.

With a 4” safety cuff (required for utility workers), they are a bit longer than your normal gloves but with a quick pull over our sleeve, they helped keep a bit of snow and moisture out of our cuffs.

The fingertips are not touchscreen friendly, but if you’re wearing the Utility Plus gloves you’re supposed to be out on a pole pulling wire, not checking your Facebook status.

We’ve been wearing the gloves for a few months now and they barely show any wear. They have broken in to the point where they are very comfortable, but still retain a snug fit, exactly what you want from high quality leather gloves.

With an MSRP of right around $40, the Youngstown Leather Utility Plus is within reach for anyone that spends any time doing serious work.

Youngstown Glove Company can be found on the web, on Facebook, and Twitter.