RS Taichi Raptor Mesh Glove Review

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 11:43:41 +0000

“When riding a motorcycle, gloves are important, protecting your hands as well as letting you control quite a few functions on the bike.”

States Obvious

As one of those ATGATT people, (All the Gear, All The Time) I wear them on even a short trip to the shops. (That may be because on my bike, I can usually find a long way to the shop).

We all have different hand shapes too, and want a glove which fits well. There are often specific dimensions which make or break glove comfort level and it’s different for each of us. For me it seems my knuckle width and how far I can extend my thumb are what limits my choice - apparently through weird biology or whatever, my thumb often hits the end of the allowed thumb space in a glove before it’s fully extended, and since that can be my indicator light tool, I need it to reach.

In the Spring this year, I was looking for a new summer glove. Summers here regularly hit high 30s (degrees C), with humidity on the silly side at 90%+. That means I need a glove which is going to vent, not leave my hands bathing in sweat, and still give me whatever protection I can get.

Since I cant rely on online buying (or even a single manufacturer) to always have that thumb length/knuckle dimension, I happily go to trawl at my local motorcycle gear shop, NAPS.

So which did I get?

After trying on a lot of summer gloves, the bottom line was that I chose the RS Taichi Raptor Mesh glove which including consumption tax were about 10,500yen on the day. (Reminder to self: buy new summer gloves at the end of the previous summer season for discount!)

I went for these as they have that thumb space I mentioned, without having long dangly fingers, the knuckle was comfy, and the knuckle protector is split between index finger and the rest, which helps. Whilst not a gauntlet, it does come down past the wrist with some carbon fibre in plastic guards, sewn into the leather. This is something I appreciated as my previous summer gloves were shorties and whilst they were fine and well made, that wrist always felt exposed. Whilst the upper is mostly mesh, the palm is various forms of leather. They’re all double stitched, and inside feel smooth which I suspect is the nylon and neoprene. The only downside to the construction is that there aren’t any reflective patches.

So how do they ride?

After 3 months of usage through this summer, they’ve felt very comfortable, even after long (14 hour), hot rides, there have been no bits of glove or dye on my hands, and there was never any bad sweat build up, as I’ve had before with other gloves. The Velcro fastener feels good across the wrist despite looking fairly narrow and the two wrist guards I mentioned don’t feel awkward on the bars, and the gloves come off easily, even in the heat.

They also have a phone friendly area on the index finger, and whilst you can’t zoom as such as there’s only one, you can (safely, stopped at the side of the road) dismiss any messages without removing the gloves. For what it’s worth, I could also easily open and close zips with them on, and activate buttons on my Scala Freecom4 even whilst moving.

All in all, I’m pleased with them this first season, so I’ll update as to how they wear.

Useful Summer Products

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:33:33 +0000

Japan is hot and humid in the Summer, which is something I don’t need to tell anyone who has actually been here for it, but here’s a few things I have found which makes it that little more tolerable, especially if like me you actually like to get outside in it. One thing not explicitly on the list is sunblock which I apply liberally and frequently … and liberally again. Surviving n Japan has a round up on that, but in the meantime, here are some useful summer products.

Taichi Arm(our)ed Mesh Gloves
Just to start with a motorbike oriented one - my old summer gloves somewhat fell apart at the end of last summer, and because I like to ride my bike year round, I decided to pop down to NAPS in May during one of their sales and try on some gloves. I tried on a LOT of gloves. Aside from the four fingers and thumb per hand, I seem to have hands which don’t fit in a lot of gloves very well. The Icon gloves are nice, but the fit and size of the ones at NAPS weren’t quite there. These Taichi ones instantly fitted - like a glove. On the bike they let enough air through but don’t feel ‘drafty’ if you know what I mean, and the straps are well made from rubber and fit well. Importantly, there’s enough space around the thumb to allow easy reach to the indicator (blinker) switch - that’s something not to underestimate.

Frogg Toggs ChillyDana
I often wear some kind of head towel, because, to be honest, I sweat a lot. I also like to get out and do stuff - or indeed stay in and cook, so it works there too. Usually I’ll use a large cotton kerchief or a towel solution, but we found this.

Camelbak
If you like going out on these hot, humid days for any amount of time and distance, but don’t want to keep dipping into the (plentiful) vending machines, taking your own water with you, I’ve found, is a really good move, especially if you’re on two wheels. I decided to invest in one of Camelbak’s most basic products - the classic 2 litre water bag, in a simple backpack mount. It does seem to keep that water a little bit cooler, and the tube dispenser means there’s less mucking about with lids and cumbersome bottles. You can also put the bag itself into most backpacks on the market, so there’s no doubling up on baggage.

Keen sandals
Since where we live has sea, sand, rivers, stone and pavement, I like to have a decent pair of sandals for just walking around with the family - something which can go in and out of water without it being an issue. Previously I’d had a pair of Teva sandals, but since their distribution in Japan seems to have fallen apart at the same time as those long serving sandals, I decided to try Crocs last year to see if the low price was worth it, and frankly they just annoyed me for the whole Summer.

This year then, I’m giving the Keen Newport sandals a go, and so far they’ve been fantastic for all surfaces - very comfortable, and you can even jog in them if you’re so inclined for short distances. They’re not cheap though at 9,500en for my pair, though it looks like they’ll last a significant amount of time, and feel good at the same time.

Gloves on Nanikore

RS Taichi Raptor Mesh Glove Review

Useful Summer Products