Gloves Certifications Explained

Certification labels are only useful if you know what the test behind them looks like. Here is what our gloves are rated for, what each test actually measures, and where the honest limits are.

The lining: Kevlar HPPE Glass

Inside every Stanton is a knitted lining that blends Kevlar aramid, HPPE (high-performance polyethylene), and glass fiber. The fabric weighs 365 grams per square meter, which puts it firmly on the heavy end for a glove lining. You can feel that weight; these are not thin gloves, and we would rather tell you that up front. On its own, this lining fabric rates around ANSI cut level A4, roughly 1,700 grams of blade force before cut-through.

ANSI/ISEA Cut Resistance, Level A5

The finished glove tests to A5, meaning it withstands about 2,200 grams of force from a moving blade before being cut. In shop terms: sheet metal edges, burrs, and slipping hand tools. Cut resistance is easy to ignore in a welding glove until the day you drag your palm across a sheared edge.

ANSI/ISEA Contact Heat, Level 3

The contact heat test asks a specific question: at what temperature can the glove touch a hot surface for 15 seconds before the inside gets hot enough to cause a second-degree burn, with at least 4 seconds of pain warning first? Level 3 means up to 392°F (200°C). That warning window matters as much as the number. It is the time you get to let go before you are hurt.

Note what this rating is not: it is not a promise that you can hold onto glowing steel indefinitely. No leather glove gives you that. It is a measured window to react, which is what glove heat ratings are really for.

ANSI/ISEA Abrasion Resistance, Level 4

Abrasion is the slow death of most gloves: rough steel, concrete, grinding dust, day after day. Level 4 means the shell survives a standardized abrasion test long after lighter gloves have worn through. In practice, it is why customers tell us these outlast the pairs they used to buy in threes.

Arc Resistance

The gloves resist arc flash exposure without igniting or melting. If you work around live electrical equipment, that distinction matters: a melting glove makes a burn worse, a resistant one does not add fuel.

Gram Score: 6630

This measures the force, in grams, the glove withstands before being punctured or torn through. At 6,630 grams, roughly 6.6 kilograms of concentrated force, the Stanton scores higher than most gloves in its class against punctures and tears.

What it adds up to

Cut, heat, abrasion, and puncture protection in one glove, without giving up the dexterity that made us build these in the first place. If you want the story of why we settled at this heat level rather than stacking more Kevlar, we wrote about that honestly on the blog: When ANSI Is Not Enough.