Camelbak showed two new gloves at AUSA today. The first is a supple-palmed, fire-resistant glove meant to take everything you love about the beloved FP2 Nomex aviators glove and make it more durable. The Max Grip SD uses hair sheep leather on the palm. Other gloves in the line use supple goat skin leather, but this hair sheep leather is so soft that that I had to wonder exactly what part of the sheep it came from. They’ve also rounded out the shape of the fingers and buried the seams for more dexterity.

For durability, Camelbak used a special weave, called a simplex weave, that will prevent the Nomex fabric from unravelling in the event the fabric frays. It’s also got an antistatic yarn spun into the Nomex weave to prevent static build up when handling fuel or other sensitive items.

By cranking up the durability and dexterity on these mitts, it’s easy to see these jumping from the hands of aviators to the hands of shooters, just as the long-toothed FP2 has. Look for the Max Grip SD Pilot Gloves to appear in spring 2011. Once Camelbak gives these a price, we’ll let you know.

The other glove Camelbak put on display was the FR Mag Force Long. It’s a goatskin palmed glove with rigid Kevlar knuckle protection. These will offer more durability and more protection for the infantryman than aviators gloves. Guys I’ve spoken with in the field tell me that hard knuckles are great when they fit, but they don’t always fit.

Camelbak has two separate knuckle molds to help remedy this fit problem. They’ve got one knuckle in the small and medium gloves and a larger knuckle mold for the larger gloves. Look for the  Camelbak FR Mag Force Long Gloves to hit shelves in spring 2011 and an as yet undetermined price.