“Do you want a pair of gloves for your soft little hands?” I’m paraphrasing, but that was essentially the message I received after testing the Bodyguard 2.0. With the BG 2.0, my main complaint was the slide bite the gun provided. It was brutal, and I whined, so I got to pick out some gloves to protect my precious hands. Which gloves? I’ve used plenty of different gloves, but the Safariland Hatch Friskmaster promised something a little different.
I’m not a police officer, but the idea of gloves for frisking makes sense. It never occurred to me the simple danger a frisk could create for a law enforcement officer. People carry some crazy things, and that includes used hypodermic needles that contain who knows what. There is a risk of knives, razor blades, and just generally gross stuff you don’t want to touch.
The Friskmaster: What, Why, and Who
The Friskmaster gloves implement a hard portion of enhanced synthetic suede for the palm and fingers. This cut-resistant material provides a high level of protection against cuts and punctures.
How high? Well, it has an ANSI cut resistance rating of A9, which is the highest rating. It also has a Level 5 ANSI Needlstick Puncture Resistance rating. The NIJ provides both, which does independent laboratory testing.
It’s worth noting that cut-resistant does not mean cutproof. If someone takes a slash at you, the gloves aren’t going to protect you from that. They are designed to protect you from incidental exposure to something sharp and should not be confused for cutproof or armor. You’ll be protected if you’re searching a pocket and brushing against a razor blade.
Outside of law enforcement, it’s easy to say there isn’t a ton of need for these gloves. However, as a man who occasionally works with barbed wire, the Friskmaster gloves provide awesome protection with better dexterity than my typical work gloves.
My typical work gloves are hard and reinforced all the way around. That kills dexterity, but the Friskmaster offers protection where I need it without being the typical stiff leather glove.
Strapping Up With the Friskmaster
The gloves are fairly lightweight for the level of protection they provide. The protection wraps around the tip of the fingers for extra protection. The thinner portion of the glove breathes well and does allow for easy movement.
In fooling around with a new Benchmade, I lightly gripped the blade and even carefully drew it across the palm of the glove with increasing force. I didn’t attack the gloves like a madman, but I was pleasantly surprised by how hard I could draw the knife across the palm with very minor disruption.
You will notice a disruption of your dexterity. I can’t build Legos by wearing the Friskmaster gloves, for example. It’s also tough to use smaller guns, but a duty-sized Glock 17 isn’t tough to use. These are not shooting gloves, but if you had to transition from frisking to getting frisky with your duty gun, it’s not a big problem. Working the ALS and SLS on my handgun wasn’t a problem.
Testing the Friskmaster Gloves
I’m not frisking anyone. I asked around, and people weren’t down for it. So, how do I test the protection beyond playing with a knife? Well, how about doing a little workout involving a tractor tire and workout mace? They tend to be hand-intensive and make my mitts put in work.
A few three-minute mace sessions will make soft hands blister quickly. With the Friskmaster gloves, that wasn’t a problem. The enhanced suede kept my hands from blistering and generally cut down on hotspots as a whole. Normally, I’d be dealing with hot spots on my pointer finger on round one. I expected the mace to slip a bit, but the synthetic suede provides a solid grip.
Outside of swinging maces, I flipped the tractor tire between rounds. It’s a great way to work those legs, but it also requires a good, often challenging grip. The Friskmaster gloves didn’t enhance the grip but provided some protection and comfort when ripping that thing off the ground.
During the workout, I had to skip ads on YouTube occasionally and was pleasantly surprised to find the thumb and pointer finger to be touchscreen compatible. With touch screens ruling everything, the compatibility makes a lot of sense. It’s super easy to manipulate my phone while using the Friskmaster gloves, and I appreciate that.
Getting Frisky
The Friskmaster gloves have a very simple appearance. I’d hazard to guess they resist a flashy look to comply with most police officers’ uniform requirements. They are all black with very little flair and a simple hatch logo. I wear a reasonably large watch and was pleased the gloves have a fairly wide cuff area to accommodate it.
The Safariland Friskmaster gloves are niche as far as gloves go, but clearly designed by someone who knows what LEOs need. It’s an excellent mix of compromise and capability, with a dash of dexterity and a ton of protection. It’s likely an underrated piece of kit and one our LEO friends would be well-supplied with.
