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Gear Review: Scentlok Vigilante Shooter Gloves

d_rek

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
2,495
Location
SELP Michigan
Wondering if the Vigilante Shooter Gloves from Scentlok are good for saddle hunting? Find out here.
http://www.scentlok.com/shop/vigilante-shooters-glove/

MSRP/Purchased Price:
$29.99

Purchased from:
bought at ****'s Sporting Goods

Initial Impressions:
I bought these gloves about 1 month before the season began. I wanted a pair of carbon-activated gloves to use instead of my non-carbon activated under armour lightweight liner gloves for bowhunting. My initial impression was that these would be a suitable replacement and also had scentlok technology for controlling odor. The quality seemed to be very good, the fit was spot on for my larger hands and fit almost like a second skin, and I couldn't discover any poor stitching or hanging threads. The only thing that worried me was a rubberized pattern that was printing over the entire bottom of the hand area of the glove. Experience has shown me these types of patterns wear very quickly and do not stand up to even light abuse. As always time afield would be the true test..

Quality:
Made of a very quiet polyester fabric with scentlok stitched into liner of the glove. Stitching appeared to be very good. Camo pattern had very good fidelity. Rubberized hexagonal gripper pattern printed on underside of hand did not look like it would hold up throughout the season, and if I tried hard enough I could pick it away with my fingers.

If your intention to ONLY wear these in the stand and hold your bow and release these gloves are perfect. But don't try to do any other rigorous activity with abrasive surfaces. These gloves are simply not meant for that and will fall apart long before your season is over.

Sizing & Fit:
I went with a size X-Large glove for my larger than average meatpaws. The fit was true with little excess material bulking up or hanging loosely. Outside of a spandex form-fitting type of material they probably couldn't fit better.

Features:
These gloves have an cuff that extends about 2 inches below the wrist. I wished that cuff extended further, similar to my UA gloves because I liked that I could tuck it under my sleeve, but it was not a deal breaker.

Gripper pattern on the underside of hand is supposed to provide additional grip. In my experience with the gripper palm is that it's unneccessarily superficial and doesn't add any additional 'grip' to the glove.

Field-tested?
Yes. Used the entire 2014 MI deer hunting season.

I wore these gloves almost every day afield for the 2014 hunting season and the wear on them really shows.

I'll be forthright: These gloves are for wearing in your stand and nothing else. Not handling timber, brush, sticks, or branches. Not rubbing or gripping tree bark. Not for screwing in tree pegs. These gloves are simply not durable enough to stand up to those abuses. And it shows. I did all of those activities, while being mindful that I was wearing thinner liner-type gloves, and they are probably a few weeks from being retired.

Am I disappointed about that? Well, yes. I don't think i was particularly abusive with these gloves. I did screw in tree pegs a few times with them and move a few branches. The only other thing I did while wearing was simply climbing my sticks or pegs, strapping into a tree, and hauling my gear. Screwing in pegs probably wore them through the worst. After the first few pegs the gripper pattern was almost completely wasted. A few more some noticable holes started to form in the shell material. Fortunately, the scentlok material never wore through.

A couple of things that I did like though was that I was easily able to use my muff and/or shove my hands in my pockets wearing these.

Closing thoughts:
These are a great pair of gloves if the ONLY place you're going to wear them is when you're already in your stand ready to hunt.

I DO NOT recommend them for any other scouting, preparation, or field-dressing activities.

Recommended for use with a saddle?
Yes. They are great for a lot of the delicate operations a saddle hunter must perform while getting st up in their stand - strapping in, using your linemans belt, manipulating a caribineer or rope, etc. Just don't expect them to hold up to any other outdoor abuses though. For that I recommend a more durable work type of glove.

Pictures:

vigilante01.jpg

Glove side 1 - top of hand

vigilante02.jpg

Glove side 2 - palm of hand, visible wear on gripper pattern and right through shell fabric. Scentlok liner fabric appears to be intact.

vigilante03.jpg

Detail of index finger of dominant hand
 
Nice writeup! I just bought a pair of these on the sale, and I always buy them on sale. I have about 6 pairs of the older versions that I rotate through. I agree completely with everything in your review! I do use them and abuse them, but I've managed to string them along for a few seasons.
 
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