Do I need mud gloves for Tough Mudder or similar obstacle races?
One thing first: This topic is highly controversial!
Personally, we swear by wearing mud gloves*. We believe they make your life a lot easier at Tough Mudder and other mud runs.
Some people, however, wouldn’t wear gloves if their lives depended on it.
The basic question is: What’s worse? Suffering in agony because you have to pull yourself up a steel rope and your hands are killing you, or taking your gloves off half way through the race because you think you can do it without them?
Here are the two reasons why we prefer wearing mud gloves:
1. At many Tough Mudder obstacles you have a better grip with mud gloves
In our opinion, obstacles such as Funky Monkey 2.0, Hangin’ Tough, or Just the Tip are far easier to master while wearing gloves that provide additional grip.
The bars for example are usually very slippery because of the wet, sweaty, and muddy hands of the hundreds of Mudders before.
In that case the mud gloves can be a great support – but to be honest, it really depends on the Tough Mudder course!
Let’s say there is an obstacle like Kiss of Mud immediately before Funky Monkey 2.0. In that case there isn’t enough time for your gloves to dry, so we would recommend taking them off before attacking Funky Monkey 2.0.
However, usually the mud gloves dry very quickly!
2. Mud gloves protect you from injuries and give you some comfort
A better grip is nice to have, but in our opinion not the main reason for wearing gloves.
Why we really enjoy wearing mud gloves is because of the much better protection from scratches and splinters.
It’s also nicer if you crawl through mud and ducts.
Of course, they’re not mandatory, but in our opinion they make conquering Tough Mudder much easier.
We had good experiences with the Mud Gloves from MadGrip at Tough Mudder
Like many other Mudders, we have Tough Mudder gloves from MadGrip*.
Good to know:
From all items we recommend on our site, the gloves from MadGrip are by far our bestseller!
The mud gloves from MadGrip have a good quality, so you get great value for your money.
After washing you can use them easily for many more Tough Mudders, so they’re definitely worth the money!
From our point of view, the gloves seem to run “normal”. All three of us have small hands for a man, and S-M fits very well.
Here you can check the different sizes:
Mud Gloves Size XS*
Mud Gloves Size S-M*
Mud Gloves Size L-XL*
Whether you want to wear gloves or not is your decision. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you 😉
How to prep my Tough Mudder gloves?
Cut the fingertips off your gloves; ideally, shortly before your finger joints (somewhat like bicycle gloves).
It will allow more air to get to your hands, and for you to have better control and therefore better grip.
That’s all! 🙂
