Bear Grip have sent me their latest soft leather hand grips and I couldn’t wait to test them out…

Look

These grips don’t look like any other’s I have seen before, as they are of a tanned leather colour. The colouration represents the soft and hardwearing natural leather colour. It must have taken Bear Grips a while to do the research and development on these as they not only look great but also fit my fat hands comfortably. They’re also super easy to put on over three fingers and then fasten using the Velcro strap.

Feel

The best thing about these grips is the super soft feel. They are comfortable while on the hand and when performing pull-ups. As I’ve been using the other 2-in-1 wrist and hand protector Bear Grips, I’m now used to the feeling of using leather over the cotton material. From the start, they gripped the bar well in a gymnastics grip, but then I added chalk which only increased the grip. The fastening straps also do not dig into the wrist like other hand grips. One point to make is that they are one size bigger than I would usually purchase other hand grips at, so order the size below normal.

Performance

The wrist wraps fasten using the new style of Velcro making them even more secure and fitted to the wrist. This snug feeling is great as I can wear them throughout an entire workout without them becoming a nuisance.

The grips only get softer and start to perform better the more you use them. I have used mine for some lengthy CrossFit workouts and the leather seems to be hardwearing.

One minor problem with these is that they are a little wide, which doesn’t allow much of the hand skin to grip the bar. The more skin either side of a grip the more natural grip you have, but the more prone you are to ripping your hands. It’s about getting the balance right. Some people may prefer a full hand grip, but I like a little bit of palm either side to grip the bar. At the moment these grips have three finger holes, but I believe a two finger hole central grip similar to a JawGrips shape would be an even greater winning formula.

To conclude

These are a great product and I am going to use these on workouts which involve pull-ups, kettlebells and muscle ups in the future. Hopefully, the leather continues to be hard wearing and last longer than its cotton competitor hand protectors.

These are great for any level of CrossFitter or gym goer and will protect the whole palm against the pull-up bar and any gym equipment.

JT.