It’s not always easy to find gardening gloves that fit well. Most seem to be built for a man’s hand – they’re too wide and loose for many women.
The StoneBreaker Garden Pro glove for women is built on a unique pattern that may be a better fit for some women, particularly if you have narrow hands and longer fingers.
We put the StoneBreaker gloves to the test with three women and a lot of gardening! Here’s what we found…
High Quality Leather
Strong and supple goat skin leather stands up to heavy use
The StoneBreaker gardening gloves are made from goat skin, one of the strongest yet lightweight leathers available. It’s tough, yet soft and supple, and it stays flexible even after getting wet. There’s a little “give” that allows the gloves to stretch slightly when you move your hands.
Some Nice Design Elements
The gloves have some excellent features that add to their functionality.
Elastic at the wrist keeps debris out
The elastic wrist prevents dirt and debris from falling into the gloves.
Long, reinforced cuffs allow you to easily pull the gloves on (although it doesn’t help when taking the gloves off).
Strange Design
Exceedingly long fingers
The Garden Pro gloves are built using StoneBreaker’s patent pending Fit to Work platform which the company claims makes for a superior fit. Unfortunately, that may not be the case for all gardeners.
Tight Fit – These gardening gloves are intended to fit snugly and conform to your hand like a “second skin.” This may be tighter than you’re used to and can make it difficult to pull the gloves off. We found that the gloves did not stretch over time so it’s important to get the fit correct at the outset.
Pulling between the thumb and index finger due to short glove
Short Hand – The elasticized wrist closure sits just below your palm. I think it’s intended to be at the point where you flex your wrist but the result is that it feels a little short and it rides up the back of your hand when you form a fist or bring your palm forward.
Lots of seams, many of which are in uncomfortable locations
Long Fingers – The fingers are exceedingly long, especially the middle finger, leaving excess material sticking out well past the fingertips.
Short Hand Length – Although the gloves were properly sized according to the company’s sizing chart (see below), the distance between the base of the index finger and the base of the thumb seemed to be too short. The end result is that it was difficult to move the thumb and especially difficult to fully extend it.
Badly-Placed and Bulky Seams – These gloves have a lot of seams, particularly between the fingers and at the finger joints. This adds bulk in places where you least want it and contributes to chafing and blisters. Overall, the seams are quite uncomfortable.
Glove Sizing Chart
StoneBreaker provides a glove sizing drawing that you print out (follow the printing instructions to be sure it’s the right size). Place your hand on the drawing to determine which size glove is best for you.
The problem is that there are three glove sizes (small, medium, and large) but five sizes on the drawing. It’s not clear which hand size goes with which glove size.
Long cuff makes it easy to pull the gloves on
The company recommends that if your hand size falls between glove sizes, that you go with the smaller size.
Note that the gloves seem to be designed for women with narrow hands and long fingers. Our testers found that the fingers were far too long and made it almost impossible to do any tasks requiring use of your fingertips, such as transplanting seedlings, pulling weeds, or grasping smaller objects.
Only One Color
There’s only one color choice – an attractive combination of pale blue and a warm grey-beige (although it’s not so appealing after it gets dirty).
Seams Unraveled
Seems starting to come apart after a few weeks of use
Although this wasn’t a major failure, we did notice that on one glove some of the seams started to come apart after a few weeks of use. Given that the seams were double stitched, this didn’t cause a hole in the glove but it might in the future.
Recommendation
There’s a lot to like about the new Garden Pro gardening gloves for women from StoneBreaker. However, there are also a few design issues that prevent me from recommending these gloves for all female gardeners.
It’s difficult to give the StoneBreaker Garden Pro gloves a rating; so much depends on whether the design fits your hand shape. If you have narrow hands and long fingers, these gloves may be a good choice.
But for those whose hands are shaped differently, I wouldn’t recommend these gloves, in spite of the lovely leather.
Where to Buy
The Garden Pro women’s gardening gloves are available on the StoneBreaker website for $27.99, as well as on Amazon.
Now over to you – Which are your favorite gardening gloves? What did you like or not like about them? Let us know in the comments below.
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Disclaimer – GPR would like to thank StoneBreaker for giving us a free pair of gloves to review. There was no expectation that it would be a positive review and we received no compensation for writing it. All opinions expressed here are those of the author based on personal experience using the product.
Please note that the Amazon links above are Amazon affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase products through these links, GPR will make a small commission (at no extra cost to you) that helps to support this website and our gardening product reviews. Thank you!
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