How to measure glove size

Measure around the knuckles

Hand circumference decides the glove size on almost every chart. Measure your dominant hand, the one you write with, because MCR Safety notes that it is usually the larger one.

1. 1
   Open your handHold your hand flat, palm up, with the fingers together.
2. 2
   Wrap the tape at the knucklesRun a soft tape around the palm just below the knuckles, at the base of the fingers. Leave the thumb outside the tape.
3. 3
   Keep it snug and flatThe tape should lie flat against the skin without squeezing.
4. 4
   Read the number in inchesNote the circumference in inches. Under Armour's chart steps in eighths of an inch, so note fractions if your tape shows them.

No soft tape? Wrap a piece of string around the same spot, mark where it meets, and measure the string against a ruler.

Carhartt describes the same band in different words: lay the hand flat and measure from the crook of the thumb around the outer edge of the palm.

Measure hand length

Length is the second check. Measure from the crease where your wrist meets your palm to the tip of your middle finger, with the hand flat. Under Armour describes it as the base of the palm at the wrist to the tip of the middle finger.

Length matters most for close-fitting gloves. If your fingers are long for your hand width, the fingertips can press against the ends of a glove that fits your palm, and the next size up may suit you better.

Mechanix Wear sizes its work gloves by palm width and finger length instead of circumference. Its finger length runs from the base of the middle finger to the tip, not from the wrist. Use its own chart for its gloves.

Convert your measurements to a glove size

The international glove standard, EN ISO 21420, numbers sizes by hand circumference in inches: a size 8 is a medium for an 8 inch hand. It pairs each size with a typical hand length.

Brands move these lines. The North Face's medium is 8 to 8.5 inches, close to the standard. Under Armour runs about a size smaller: its large is 8.25 to 8.75 inches and its XL is 8.875 to 9.375, so a 9 inch hand is an Under Armour XL.

Women's charts use smaller steps. Carhartt's women's small is 6.5 inches, medium 7 and large 7.5. A woman with a hand over about 8.75 inches will usually fit men's or unisex sizes better. The glove size calculator handles both charts.

How work, winter and sport gloves differ

Your measurement stays the same, but the type of glove changes which way you go when you land between two sizes. The glove tool treats a hand within a quarter inch of a size boundary as between sizes.

• Work gloves: size down. Mechanix Wear recommends sizing down for a snug fit.
• Winter gloves: size up. Insulation and liners take up room inside the glove, and MCR Safety notes that lined gloves tend to fit snug.
• Sport gloves for running, training or cycling: Under Armour says to use your larger measurement, circumference or length, to find the size.

For example, an 8.5 inch hand sits on the line between medium and large. That hand takes a medium in work gloves and a large in winter gloves. In sport gloves it takes a large, unless its length measures as a medium.

Size charts describe fit only. How warm, waterproof or protective a glove is depends on the glove itself, not its size.