Choosing the Right Falconry Glove for Handling

By Weight Management in Falconry: A Delicate Balance
Comments 35
31 Jul 2026

Choosing the Right Falconry Glove for Handling

Why the glove is the first piece of kit worth getting right

Falconers talk endlessly about scales, swivels and telemetry, but the glove is the one item you use every single day, often for hours at a time. It does three jobs at once. It protects the back of your hand and forearm from eight razor-edged talons, it gives the bird a stable, comfortable footing so it settles instead of fidgeting, and it communicates to the bird that you are steady and predictable. A badly chosen glove does all three badly: too thin and you flinch every time the bird grips, which teaches it that hands are unreliable; too thick and your own sensitivity disappears, so you cannot feel whether the bird is balanced or shifting its weight.

For anyone starting out in British falconry, the sensible approach is to buy once, properly. A cheap glove will typically last a season of light flying before the leather softens, the stitching fails, or a talon punches through at the knuckle. A well-made gauntlet, looked after, will still be going strong a decade later.

Choosing a leather: goatskin, cowhide, deerskin and kangaroo

Most falconry gloves in Britain are cut from one of a handful of hides, and each behaves differently in the wet, cold conditions we actually fly in.

Goatskin — the traditional choice. Supple, fine-grained and grippy straight out of the packet, with an excellent feel for the bird's weight. It softens with use and can be a little thin at the knuckles, so it suits small and medium birds rather than a big female goshawk.
Cowhide — the workhorse. Thicker, cheaper and hard-wearing, but stiff until broken in and slower to dry after a wet morning in the field. Good for a first heavy gauntlet where cost matters more than finesse.
Deerskin and elkskin — incredibly soft and quiet, with a slightly suede-like surface that talons grip well. Superb comfort for long sessions, though the softer temper means it abrades faster than cowhide.
Kangaroo — the strongest leather by weight, very thin yet remarkably resistant to puncture. Excellent where you want maximum protection with minimum bulk, particularly for a bird that likes to reposition its feet constantly.
Synthetic and nylon-faced gloves — light, cheap and quick-drying, and fine for a child's first season or a spare kept in the car. They lack the moulded fit of leather and tend to feel slippery when wet.

Matching the glove to the bird in front of you

Species and, just as importantly, sex determine how much protection you need. A male kestrel weighs around 160 grams; a female golden eagle can exceed five kilos, and the difference in grip force is staggering.

Kestrels, merlins, male sparrowhawks — a lightweight short glove in single-thickness goatskin. Cuff length barely matters, feel matters a great deal.
Buzzards, Harris's hawks, red-tailed hawks — a standard gauntlet reaching perhaps 20 centimetres up the forearm, in goatskin or medium cowhide. This is the sweet spot for most UK falconers.
Goshawks, female Harris's hawks, peregrines, sakers — a heavier gauntlet with reinforced thumb and knuckle panels. A kill on the fist is a real possibility with these birds, and the glove must survive it.
Golden eagles, eagle owls, large female goshawks — a full double-thickness gauntlet with a cuff of 30 centimetres or more, ideally in kangaroo or heavy cowhide, covering the wrist and the vulnerable veins of the forearm.

Fit, cuff length and the wrist fastening

Fit is where most beginners go wrong. A glove should be snug enough that your fingers reach the ends of the stalls without slack, but loose enough that you can flex and close your hand fully. If you cannot make a fist, the leather is too tight and will rub the webbing between your fingers raw.

Measure around your dominant hand at the widest point, and buy for that hand — you will be carrying the bird on your left if you are right-handed. The cuff is not decoration. It protects the inside of the wrist, where a talon can do genuine damage, and it should extend past the bony point of the wrist with a strap or leather thong that you can tighten one-handed while the bird is hooded. Always check the cuff does not ride up when you raise your arm; a glove that slips is a glove that gets dropped.

Durability, care and knowing when to replace

Leather is skin, and it responds to the same things yours does. Dry it slowly at room temperature after a wet day — never on a radiator, which cracks it. Wipe off mutes and castings with a damp cloth, and treat the leather sparingly with a neutral leather dressing or neatsfoot oil perhaps twice a season. Over-oiling is worse than under-oiling: it softens the hide until talons cut through it like paper.

Inspect the stitching along the cuff seam and the base of the thumb every month or so, and replace the glove the moment you can feel a talon point pressing through the leather or a knuckle panel looks glazed and thin. Pair a new glove with a second, lighter one and rotate them, and you will get far more years out of both. Most importantly, wash your hands afterwards and keep the glove away from the bird's food — good hygiene keeps the leather sound and your bird healthy.

A well-fitted glove becomes an extension of your arm within a fortnight, and the bird notices. Steady footing builds steady nerves, and steady nerves are the whole foundation of falconry.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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