# Gloves, or no gloves...



## paul (Nov 2, 2006)

I've been operating the rail for some time now, but can't seem to decide if I am comfortable with operating the line sets (all Multi-Line II) with gloves on. Most of the time I operate the lines bare-handed. But sometimes my hands just need a bit of a break, and I put on my gloves (usually SetWear EZ Fits) for the rest of the rehearsal or show. But I just can't get used to running rail with gloves on. So they usually come right back off.
So I'm wondering how do you all feel about operating line sets with gloves on?
Is it something that everyone does? Or nobody?
Just curious.


----------



## koncept (Nov 2, 2006)

i know when i worked on the rail for load in/out on shows (we didnt have too many flys durring the show were i worked) i would use gloves when the lines were out of weight and we either taking something on or off (depending upon how far out of weight it was) but typicaly did not use gloves, i think i would have had i had a nicer pair of gloves...


----------



## Footer (Nov 3, 2006)

I have the setwear leather gloves and I find that they really help when running lines. I will not wear them when pulling and out of weight line in/out because i have a stronger grip without them. If you have a pair of well fitting gloves your hands will thank you for it. When I'm throwing weight I do not wear gloves.


----------



## Van (Nov 3, 2006)

I agree with Footer I never wear gloves when I throw weight, learned that lesson the hard way. I did find a way to break in a pair of work glove s bit quicker though. I have a house and do a lot of gardening, ok my wife gardens I do yard work. I get a new pair of gloves, soak them in water, slip them on and spend a day working in the yard. by the end of the day they will snug up and conform to your natural grip. I don't know if this is a great thing or not But Personally I love the way my gloves fit after this. 

Oh and to be Honest about agreeing with Footer, I agree with him in principle. I don't actually throw weight anymore, I have people that do that for me ! hehehehehehehhe


----------



## Pie4Weebl (Nov 4, 2006)

I have a pair of Iron Clad Framers gloves which I pretty much won't touch the flyrail in a load in or show with out wearing them.


----------



## paul (Nov 5, 2006)

I've seen some gloves with LEDs in them.
Has anyone tryed those yet?

Thanks guys for the feedback.


----------



## Van (Nov 5, 2006)

AudMan_Farva said:


> I've seen some gloves with LEDs in them.
> Has anyone tryed those yet?
> 
> Thanks guys for the feedback.


 
Do those make it easier to get your fingers in the right holes ?


----------



## paul (Nov 5, 2006)

*ON gloves, not IN them...

and yes, thats funny.


----------



## soundlight (Nov 6, 2006)

My favorite gloves are the "original" Mechanix gloves from my local auto parts store. I use them when I'm on-loading and off-loading weight from the load rail, and will probably use them for flying when I get that assignment.


----------



## SocksOnly (Nov 23, 2006)

I use SetWare EZ Fits, and I wear them all the time. But if the fly is really out of weight, and I need to put my full bodyweight on it, I need to take them off...the gloves don't seem to have as much traction as my bare hands sometimes. Then again, maybe that's 'cause they're a bit to big for me...

Also, I've noticed that wearing them for long periods of time can make my hands sweaty. Is there a way to fix that?


----------



## Jezza (Nov 30, 2006)

Simply, gloves. Most rails I work off of are hemp which as you know just chews up your hands. Even off the rail, I try and wear gloves all the time. I never know when I've got to jump on a ladder and grab a hot light, start loading up the truck, etc. I've gotton my hands cut up enough times to learn my lesson and wear them as much as possible. Generally, I'll wear a pair of standard leather gloves for focus but as soon as I'm off the lights, I switch over to a pair of "mechanix" gloves specifically made for rigging. They are lightweight, comfortable, and have extra padding in the tips and nuckles to keep your hands from getting mangeled.


----------



## Too_Tall (Dec 1, 2006)

i have gone through so many gloves, that i just opt for the cheap wal-mart gloves, so that when they start to get worn down, i dont feel bad about throwing away a cheap pair of gloves.


----------



## TechiGoz (Dec 6, 2006)

I have been using SetWear EZ Fits too. When i'm on the fly, it depends how much I've been doing during the day. If its through a rehersal, again and again and then the show that night, sometimes my hands just want a bit of a breat, so I slip the gloves on for some of the easier fly cues. Along with Footer, I never load weights with gloves, as I've learnt the hard way too!

It seems though that when I wear them, the moment I take them off I cut myself on something or burn my hand. Its times like then I wish I had them on! But you never know when you may need to refocus a light quickly, load a new piece of set, or quickly drop a fly at the drop of a hat! So thats just my opinion anyway


----------



## saxman0317 (Dec 8, 2006)

AudMan_Farva said:


> I've seen some gloves with LEDs in them.
> Has anyone tryed those yet?
> Thanks guys for the feedback.



Actually, theyve been in fire/rescue catalogs for a long time...supposed to help for extrication from cars and stuff? ive got a pair thats got 2 leds on the back of the hand and one on every finger...i have em. Their bulky and not very flexable and just a royal pain...


----------



## bdesmond (Dec 10, 2006)

I've got a pair of SetWear HotHands ones that I got years ago, and I still wear them almost everyday and I rarely do any of this stuff in a theater anymore. I'm one to wear gloves whenever I do anything. I look at it as they're my hands, I only get one pair, and there's no sense screwing them up. It might be a little harder sometimes with gloves on, but I'd rather adapt than make a mess of my hands.


----------



## CHScrew (Dec 10, 2006)

I where gloves during load-in. But, other than that, I never do. My hands are so calesed it doesn't make a difference. I just like to feel the line when I use the fly's. That doesn't happen when I where gloves.


----------



## SocksOnly (Dec 10, 2006)

Also, if it's dark and you can't see the spike, you can feel it as it goes flying by (rather than not-feeling it with gloves). Plus it gives a bit more control.


----------



## thebikingtechie (Dec 19, 2006)

Since my school doesn't have a fly system we don't need to worry about flying but I have always heard that if you are flying something you should wear gloves. This summer a guy got terrible rope burn in the theatre I was interning in. He was trying to raise a big curtain and the rope was caught. He thought it was just really out of weight so he added another clamp and put on a bunch of sandbags. This got the rope unstuck but it was now robe heavy. He tried to stop it and couldn't but was able to slow it down a little. He of course wasn't wearing any gloves and got terrible rope burn. I saw it a week and a half later after he had taken the big bandage off and there was still a big area with no skin.


----------



## SocksOnly (Dec 19, 2006)

Ouch. I've seen my fair share of rope burns from rock climbing (if I haven't belayed in awhile and my callouses are gone), but that just sounds brutal.


----------



## taylorjacobs (Dec 19, 2006)

I find while on the rail during a show gloves are a bad option they tend to get in the way. When loading and unloading as well as testing the weight on a batten I always wear gloves. After a dance show the idiots who were loadin out just clipped the cable that attached the scenery to the batten..My friend did not know this and when trying to bring in the empty batten in flew to the ground burning/cutting his hands to pieces. It was about 150 lbs arbor heavy come to find out. Thats my story


----------



## GRCHSCAW (Dec 21, 2006)

I think that it is not safe to wair glove the rope can slip through your hands.


----------



## SocksOnly (Dec 21, 2006)

I would prefer the rope slip a litte rather than losing lots of skin (in that case, the rope would slip AND you'd get blood all over the place). Although I know what you mean, I like going gloveless at times.


----------



## icewolf08 (Feb 10, 2007)

In our theatre, my personal feeling when operating the flys is that gloves are a must. I think this comes from the fact that all of our purchase lines are hemp, and picking out hemp splinters at the end of the day is a real drag. Sometimes I think I should wear safety glasses too as I have gotten hemp splinters in my eyes while looking up the lines to see the flags.

I think the key to gloves in any situation is to find ones that fit just right and give you the dexterity you need. You are probably better off with good fitting cheap gloves from the Home Cheapo than expensive gloves from the local stage supplier that don't fit great. That being said, I love my SetWear Journeyman gloves for flys and general work, and I drag out my HotHands for focus.


----------



## evolutiontheatre (Mar 20, 2007)

in our theatre, we did a production of the Wizard of Oz earlier in the season and we had a fellow named Mark Kostuch, a flying Director from Flying by For come in to help us rig a few flying tracks to fly people. His number one rule about flying people, is that you NEVER wear gloves. He explained that gloves are bad because as they wear down the residue and material that is being torn off ends up on the rope, which adds to slippage later.

Obviously, this rule is a little more strict when flying people because if you let go of the rope, the actor falls. Simple as that. On a fly rail, flying scenery, I think gloves just come down to personal preference. for normal scenery flying, no gloves usually work fine. But when you have to fly something in or out fast, like the Main Curtain for example, its best to use gloves so that you can slow it down with the friction your hands provide as you near the in or out spike.


----------



## dvlasak (Mar 21, 2007)

Interesting. When we did Peter Pan several years ago, Foy was our flying company. Our flying director from Foy required our people to wear gloves!?

Dennis


----------



## evolutiontheatre (Mar 21, 2007)

that is interesting.


----------



## koncept (Mar 21, 2007)

could it have been the type of ropes used that made a difference?


----------



## Van (Mar 21, 2007)

koncept said:


> could it have been the type of ropes used that made a difference?


That's possible, Hemp vs. synthetic. Or perhaps one Foy employee vs. another. Hmmmm Maybe it's purely personal preference. Maybe, Just maybe, it's like the "how many licks does it take to get to the middle of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?".... The world may never know.


----------



## koncept (Mar 23, 2007)

speaking of foy and flying. the community college i used to attend is doing peter pan and having foy come in to do the rigging.


----------



## Van (Mar 23, 2007)

koncept said:


> speaking of foy and flying. the community college i used to attend is doing peter pan and having foy come in to do the rigging.


 
Foy.... The *Only* way to Fly.


----------



## koncept (Mar 23, 2007)

im kind of disappointed i transfered out of there because now im more into my major and not as much technical theatre. i want to go see the rigging of all that stuff and wont be able to see it installed, but i will probably be there for opening night and i know the crew will let me go on stage and take a look at every thing.


----------



## TheaterMarine (Mar 28, 2007)

I have been told to wear gloves all the time so you don't mess up your hands when pulling the ropes. I do take off my gloves when I'm pulling one of the heavier flys because it does seem I get more grip when I don't have gloves compared to when I do have them on. I do see the point about when you're flying people and that if you drop them they will get injured or killed, but most of the times I would wear gloves because if you screw up your hands you can't just go buy a new pair. As a friend of mine said, You can buy new equipment but you can't repalce people.


----------



## Ghost (Mar 28, 2007)

i usually wear gloves for rigging, carp, grinding and just abotu everythign else that can get kinda dangerous without them.. 
a good sweat trick is take a nail and punch like 100 holes through the palms and backs of the gloves (vents the air really well)
i have 2 sets of gloves that i use, ones with fingers and full breathable leather (holds up better than cloth or nylon)
and a pair without fingers but i sewed on a pad on the palm and up the finger parts for grip (just junk rubber)
gives grip and i dont sweat in them at all even after a 16hour call


----------



## PyroGoBooooom (May 15, 2007)

I too have a pair of the "original" Mechanix gloves. Slightly modified, though. I like having the tactile feel with my fingers, so I took them to my costume tech, measured out where I'd like them cut, and she double sewed the seam with heavy thread. Saves my palms on the line, but still have a soft touch with the com or whatever when I need them.


----------



## Logos (May 15, 2007)

I never used gloves I could never find a pair that suited me until I found in a sports store fingerless gloves designed for Rugby players so they don't drop the ball when it's wet. They are made out of something similar to wet suit material and have rubbery palms. I love them and wear them pretty much all the time. In the theatre that is.


----------

