Eric Swahn Racing

 (PIRC Crash gloves)

KNOX Handroid Gloves

This is the premier glove that KNOX Armor makes for motorcycles. The KNOX Handroid full gauntlet glove is the best glove on the market. They have palm sliders, a kangaroo leather palm, extra armor on the top of the hand, and the KNOX signature Boa lacing system. These gloves are good for all types of riding. I have worn them for street, canyon riding, track days, novice through expert national level racing. They crash well and are very comfortable for all types of riding.

When I got into riding sportbikes, I started off as most do. I was a SQUID, which stands for Stupidly Quick and Underdressed; Imminently Dangerous. Due to poor guidance, many times in my first season of riding I wore shorts and a T-shirt. Once I learned how important protective gear really is, I started looking into all the different options. I found that many brands made gauntlet style gloves but I wasn't sure which ones were the best. I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

Personal experience:

I have had several pairs of Handroids over the years and in 11 separate on track crashes, they have done the job every time. The first pair I had several years ago had an issue with stitching. At that point I hadn't crashed in them and the glove was opening at one of the fingers. I was able to return them and was reimbursed with a brand new pair. This was all before I started working at STG. The stitching issue is the only complaint I have heard from riders. This issue has been fixed back in 2012 with their redesigns with better stitching and seams. The one pair I destroyed was completely my fault, with three rain crashes in a single day. After highsiding, tucking the front, and later lowsiding losing the rear, the glove's Boa lacing system had enough. The rest of the gloves were salvageable, so I continued using them the rest of the weekend. With a little bit of clear hockey tape around the wrist, they worked just as well. The leather held up great and never ripped or opened up.

In another high speed incident at Road Atlanta last June (2013), I crashed on the brakes going into T6. Downshifting from 5th to 3rd, I was around 90 MPH, tucked the front, and slid half way into the gravel pit sliding the entire time on my hands and knees. With the velocity I had, my bike stopped within a few feet of the air fence after tumbling violently. I was able to get right up and walk to a safe area behind the cement wall. What amazed me about this crash, is that I consciously remember trying to grasp the ground to slow myself down from hitting the air fence. This generated so much heat in my gloves that I literally had heat blisters on my finger and thumb from the friction generated in the slide. Amazingly, the gloves did not tear through or rip a single seam.

Road Atlanta crash video:

(PIRC Crash gloves)

This year (July 2014) at Pittsburgh International Race Complex aka PIRC I was feeling very strong. I had the bike dialed in and I was only a few bike lengths from 1st place on the 5th lap. I was too greedy with the throttle and left a 30+ foot skid mark before highsiding myself to the moon in the middle of 3rd gear. I came down hard on my left side elbow, hand, and knee. For as violent as the crash was the gloves are in great shape. The supplemental leather overlay stitching on the left palm is torn in a few places but the main leather underneath is still 100% in tact.

My main criteria are crash protection, comfort, durability, and looks. In my opinion, no other brand on the market offers what KNOX can in a glove. The palm sliders are very important for me. They allow for the gloves to have excellent abrasion protection, dispersal of impact force, along with helping the rider to slide rather than tumble. This alone can be the difference between running back to your bike and finishing the race, or leaving the track in an ambulance. The Boa system easily and quickly secures your gloves and I like this system better than the regular main Velcro retention that most gloves have. It gives me the piece of mind that these gloves are never going to come off in a crash. The knuckles and top of the glove look like something that came out of the Terminator movies. They offer more protection than you will hopefully ever need. Last is my personal opinion, I think they just look bad ass! You will ever mistake another glove for a KNOX glove.

I trust my hands to KNOX, do you?

(PIRC Crash gloves) 

Thanks for reading,

- Eric Swahn