Kevlar Shooting glove…anyone use this

[PurpleDriver]

Has anyone used the PROTX Kevlar shooting glove? What was your impression? Or any other protective shooting glove.

I have been shooting compound and traditional gear for over 30 years and recently had a high quality, properly spined, carbon arrow explode on release. Not the Christmas gift I wanted…

I regularly check my arrows, but obviously I missed something. These gloves seem like they would not have prevented the shattered metacarpal but they could have kept the carbon out of the hand and bone that the surgeon had to spend 3 hours digging shards out of my hand.

Thankfully I should make a full recovery, but I am spooked for sure and want an extra layer of protection if it’s not a gimmick. I just can’t find much out about these gloves Or any competition to the PROTX.

Thank you all for the help.

 

[Swampcruiser]

Yikes, hope you have a speedy recovery. Happened to a friend years ago and I know he still shoots Easton acc’s or FMJ because of it. I was for a while . This is probably much better protection than a glove as his was in his forearm as well. I’m actually trying out some Victory VAP SS and I assume this wouldn’t happen with those either but I don’t like micro diameter components.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Glad you mentioned your buddy And that he’s ok still shooting archery. FMJs are also part of my plan.

Funny, but not; I used to shoot FMJs but switched to Axis 300s to gain some FOC. That was a poor decision in hindsight. I really do think the FMJs provides an extra margin of safety now having seen how easy it is to miss a carbon defect and the massive consequence. I shoot a 27.5” arrow with 175gr up front from a 75# VXR. Even though 300 is eastons recommended spine, I’m also moving up to the 250 spine FMJs. My set-up provided the peak energy capable from my bow, but that uber efficiency really wrecked my bone and cartilage.

 

[307]

Has anyone used the PROTX Kevlar shooting glove? What was your impression? Or any other protective shooting glove.

I have been shooting compound and traditional gear for over 30 years and recently had a high quality, properly spined, carbon arrow explode on release. Not the Christmas gift I wanted…

I regularly check my arrows, but obviously I missed something. These gloves seem like they would not have prevented the shattered metacarpal but they could have kept the carbon out of the hand and bone that the surgeon had to spend 3 hours digging shards out of my hand.

Thankfully I should make a full recovery, but I am spooked for sure and want an extra layer of protection if it’s not a gimmick. I just can’t find much out about these gloves Or any competition to the PROTX.

Thank you all for the help.

I can't answer your question as I have no experience with the protective glove but I thank you for the reminder to stay aware of potential accidents. I'm far too complacent when it comes to safety checking my equipment. The awesome power of these machines becomes quite evident when things go sideways.

 

[5MilesBack]

I have to admit, this never even crosses my mind, even though we do hear about it every now and then. I was wondering what the heck a Kevlar glove would be used for. I was thinking for BH protection if you put a finger up. Good luck with your recovery.

I did have part of limb break off and slice open my right forearm at full draw when a bow exploded. That's as close as I've come to an injury while shooting.

 

[PurpleDriver]

From what I see of the glove on their website and a few YouTube videos, the Kevlar will simply keep carbon shards out of your hand. The bones would still break.

I may only go the FMJs route(already have the arrows) as the aluminum will keep the carbon contained. An FMJ should also prevent minor abrasion that I think led to my experience. But at this point I just want to make sure I avoid this ever again.

thanks to all for the sounding board though!

 

[Swampcruiser]

I honestly think the FMJ get a bad wrap on bending if your somewhat careful and spin them occasionally. I especially think at that spine both aluminum jacket and Carbon is thicker and more durable.
Good luck

 

[Fatcamp]

I'm gonna shoot my five arrows for the Cold Bow Challenge and switch to FMJ.

 

[PurpleDriver]

I switched back to FMJ and now shoot with a PROTX Kevlar glove. Finally cleared to shoot again and glad to be back. Definitely will have to work back up to 75# though. I bought the 60 module and started back at 50, now up to 60 over about a month. But a session of around 12 shots is about all I can do until my hand gets stronger again.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Every time I think FMJ's aren't worth the hassle, I read something like this. Thanks for sharing! I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.

Sounds like I'm gonna at least go sniff around that bush again.

 

[WBrim]

Glad you’re making a good recovery!
Hearing about this is a good reminder to be vigilant about inspecting gear periodically- even if it can’t catch every possible problem.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Thank you both. I always thought I did a good job at inspecting my arrows before shooting. But, I feel very fortunate to be able to shoot again. In the end, it was 2 separate surgeries about 2 months apart and some permanent internal jewelry. The surgeon was shocked at the recovery compared to thought. He said I nearly lost my thumb. This sport is a ton of fun, but these bows are amazing machines capable of some serious damage.

 

[Fatcamp]

I'm an OR nurse. Thanks for the info.

I actually learned about your injury from your Cold Bow post and followed up on it.

 

[Beendare]

I’ve got a buddy that ran a carbon arrow through his hand….

And I’ve had a recurve limb snap at FD smacking me in the cheek 1” below my eye.

I think guys with compounds cutting the spine charts close on arrows will have more issues with this than a guy shooting an overspined arrow.

Precautions; I inspect and flex my Carbon shafts after shots….and wear safety glasses on my first dozen shots with new recurve limbs but otherwise I don’t worry about it as driving on the freeway is more dangerous than shooting your bow.

.

 

[DanimalW]

I’m no surgeon, but that looks like a repair I would make. Just run a screw through it! All joking aside, glad to hear you’re on the mend.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Thanks for the support! This was a good lesson for my son just starting archery too. He was in the lane next to me and was a trooper through it all. We definitely learned to flex those arrows even more than what we did before!

The first thing I did while waiting for surgery was to search how often this happens. It doesn’t happen often, less than 0.1% of all archers will experience this. For my setup I was not under-spined according to easton’s shaft selector, but I also don’t know why this happened. I don’t think these failures are due to under-spine, but rather damage to the shaft. In my case it went unseen.

Given that I fly airplanes for a living, that makes my hands critical to my family getting fed. The real damage came from the exploding carbon. I think a fmj would have contained this and damage should be easier to spot. In the first surgery, 42 pieces of carbon were removed. In the second, a single 3cm sliver was removed that was impeded a full inch away from the injury! The doc said most of the carbon was imbedded in the bones beyond the broken one.