Every week a buyer sends us a message that reads roughly: "We need the highest cut level you have." It is an understandable instinct, and it is almost always the wrong specification. Cut resistance is a match between a glove and a hazard, not a ladder where the top rung is best.
What the numbers actually measure
Under EN 388:2016 the fifth character of the marking — the letter, A to F — is the ISO 13997 TDM-100 result. A blade is drawn across the sample under a fixed load until it cuts through, and the result is expressed as the force in newtons required. Under ANSI/ISEA 105 the same method is reported as grams, and grouped into levels A1 to A9.
Two things follow from that. First, the test measures resistance to a slicing blade under load, not to a crushing edge, a burr dragged sideways, or a puncture. Second, the number is a continuous measurement that has been bucketed — an A5 at the bottom of its band and an A5 at the top behave quite differently on a real edge.
Match the level to the edge, not to the fear
- A1–A2 — packaging, light assembly, general handling. The hazard is a cardboard edge, not a blade.
- A3 — automotive assembly, maintenance, mixed parts. Enough for a trim clip or a hose clamp.
- A4 — construction, heavy assembly, glass handling. The step where liner blends start to include HPPE or steel.
- A5 — sheet metal, stamping, deburring. Where a rolled edge will genuinely slice a knit glove.
- A6 and above — demolition, recycling sorting, blade-adjacent work. Expect a real dexterity cost.
The cost you pay for going up a level
Higher cut resistance almost always costs something else. The liner gets denser, so the glove is warmer and less breathable. The yarn gets stiffer, so fingertip feel drops and a worker handling small components slows down. Glass fibre in the blend improves cut performance but can itch on a long shift. And the price per pair rises while the number of washes the glove survives often falls.
There is a second cost that buyers rarely model: workers who find a glove uncomfortable take it off. A glove worn for four hours out of eight delivers half the protection you paid for, whatever the certificate says.
A practical way to specify
Start from the incident record rather than the catalogue. If the injuries are lacerations from a specific edge, identify that edge and test against it. If the injuries are knuckle impacts from dropped material, cut level is the wrong lever and you want a TPR backing. If the complaints are hand fatigue and dropped parts, you are probably already one level too high.
Then trial two levels side by side on the same shift, with the same workers, for two weeks. The difference in reported comfort is usually more decisive than the difference in test data — and it is the number that predicts whether the programme survives its first year.
Where our range sits
Our current catalogue runs from A3 to A6 across 13 cut-resistant constructions, in 13 to 18 gauge, with nitrile, foam nitrile, sandy nitrile and PU coatings. If you tell us the material being handled and the failure you are seeing, we will point at two or three of them rather than the whole range.
