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Company Website: http://www.usstandardissue.com/

Oakley Government Sales has been selling to the US Military and US Government for over 20 years. Over time Oakley's military line has transformed from a few models to a highly specialized division within Oakley. These products are designed exclusively for government customers, and are not available in retail stores. The Government Sales office is a division of Oakley's main office in Foothill Ranch, California.

Specifications:

• Made in:Vietnam
• Street Price: $40.00 (for qualified Military/Law Enforcement buyers)

Supplier:

To receive the lowest price you should open an account with Oakley US Standard Issue. I have seen these gloves sold elsewhere for more than $70.

Packaging:

Nothing fancy. A heavy zip-lock sleeve with a piece of fancy cardboard included. Oakley does place a piece of tissue between the gloves presumably to prevent the carbon knuckle protector from being scuffed.

Initial Impressions:

The gloves fit well. I wear a Large in other patrol oriented gloves (Hatch, 5.11, etc.) and a large fit perfectly. They very quickly form to your hand. The knuckle protector initially feels like a board across the back of your hand, but the foam seems to mold to your knuckles quickly and after a few minutes is fairly unobtrusive.

Operation:

At the time of writing I have worn these for one night of patrol work. They are comfortable and breathe well. The hard knuckle does not seem to inhibit movement, although they would make searching tight pockets more difficult. The knuckles are padded much like my motorcycle racing gloves and I am sure they would provide adequate protection for carbine work and hand to hand combat. The contact surfaces of the palm and fingers are Pittards® leather. It is textured and thin enough for good tactile feedback. However the pads of the index and middle finger are a thicker suede leather with rubberized grip dots on them. While this may increase durability and traction it does detract from the feel for weapons work. Time will tell if this is an issue for the close range work these gloves are intended for. The tactile feel was good enough for manipulation of handcuff keys. The thumb area was not reinforced. This is usually a weak area on gloves used for police work. Most duty holsters have some type of thumb release. This stresses the seam at the tip of the thumb and wears on the thumb pad. My 5.11 Tac-AK gloves failed at this point. The selector switch of the M4 also wears this area.

This review will be updated as the gloves wear in, and a final report will be completed when they fail beyond serviceability. They are very popular with other officers on our department so I will attempt to update with some of their input and pictured of wear on their gloves.

Update (08.05.09):

After several months of patrol wear, these gloves are holding up well. I removed the rubber nubs on the trigger finger. It was a simple matter of scraping them off with a handcuff key. As I expected the nubs are wearing off the other fingers on their own. In hot weather the gloves continue to impress me. They are not overly hot and they dry quickly. The only reoccurring problem is when searching subjects with tight pockets. The hard knuckle sometimes prevents you from reaching to the bottom of the pocket. The tactile feedback is still good enough to locate a crack rock without much trouble. Leaving the Velcro closure loosely closed allows the gloves to be donned quickly without much fuss. So far these gloves are proving to be excellent protection on fight runs and disturbance calls.

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