In Gear Guru Alex Wright’s coverage of Muay Thai Gloves, we’re presented with four different brands of Muay Thai Glove. The standard Twins Special Glove, the Revgear Original Thai Boxing Glove, two types of Danger Equipment glove; a leather and a synthetic leather one, and a newly released brand called Thai Fighter, which is also synthetic. Which makes five in total, but a good group to compare and contrast with.
Starting with the Twins Glove. The basic Twins design is, as Alex states, the base model for everything else it does, not counting the one or two other designs that Twins often makes use of.
So what are the main points of the Twins glove?
The profile of the glove is a little more bulbous than a regular boxing glove, it has a shorter cuff, and the thumb position is a little different. Now, in the video, Alex makes it clear that he’s not the biggest fan of the Twins designs. The hand position is good, the grip bar is well placed, but the glove is stiff and forces the hand open. The stiffness and hand position does mean the glove is, as Alex says, very robust and long lasting, despite it being a tighter fit for western customers.
The second glove in the lineup is the Revgear Original Thai Glove and the second real leather glove in the arsenal. It’s no secret Alex has a fondness for Revgear, but one of the main positives for the Revgear glove is that Revgear’s market is more western than the Twins market. This means it’ll be a slightly looser fit for the smaller Thai guys around, but more of a comfortable fit to Western customers. Being able to more easily close a fist in the Revgear glove is attributed to the higher placement of the grip bar and the placement of an air vent in the upper section of the palm. The thumb placement is, as stated in the video, different to the Twins glove being that the only difference is the thumb curves in a slightly different fashion. Some people prefer the Twins’ thumb position, and others think the Revgear’s position is more comfortable.
The third Thai Glove we cover is the Danger Equipment Leather Legend. This particular glove has a very similar fit and feel to the Twins gloves. The difference between the Danger leather glove and the Twins glove is that the former is geared more towards sparring. The Danger leather glove has a tighter fit with more padding, this is perfect for sparring with others as you will have the extra padding on the palm and the knuckles to better stop kicks and strikes. The similarity to the Twins also extends to the size, meaning a smaller person will have a better time and fit with the glove. Especially when it comes to wearing wraps underneath your gloves, which, if you’re a western customer, will prove a little challenging with this particular glove.
With these three gloves, it really comes down to the personal fit and tastes of the customer, as the quality of all three are superb.
The last two gloves, the Danger Equipment Evolution glove, and the Thai Fighter glove are both made of synthetic material. The Evolution glove is made in Thailand, and the Thai Fighter is not.
Starting with the Danger Evolution glove and glossing over the cosmetic, the glove itself has a much better fit, with a tighter wrist strap. The placement of the Velcro strap itself is interesting, as it pulls across for a tighter fit on the wrist. The Danger Evolution glove is much cheaper than the previous three gloves by a big margin. As with all synthetic gloves, with good or bad padding, you’ll find your hands sweating a bit more than with a full leather glove.
The Thai Fighter glove is last on the list and is, by far, the cheapest glove in the comparison. Compared to the other top of the range brands in the video, the Thai Fighter just about holds up. The best part of the glove is the padding, the glove itself has a Twins-like fit and feel but with a synthetic twist. The fact it retails at a fraction of the price of the other gloves will set off some alarm bells, but the construction is superb nonetheless.
So is the Twins Special glove still the best glove for Muay Thai? Not discounting the quality of the Twins Special glove, but with the number of competing brands with cheaper offerings that keep up with the Twins or outperform them at the same price, it’s really down to personal preference.
