Scottish police testing metal-detecting gloves

Police in Scotland have begun field-testing a pair of tactical gloves that sport built-in metal detectors for identifying sharp objects during routine pat-downs -- and should they fail to detect a hidden weapon, they're made out of Kevlar to protect the wearer during the ensuing knife fight. Although not specifically mentioned in the source article, it seems the Scottish cops are trying out seven pairs of the HF-1 from Adams Electronics, which are powered by regular 9-volt batteries and vibrate inconspicuously at the wrist to signify that an object has been detected. Available in either "passive active" or "dual active" configurations (depending on whether one or both of the gloves sport a detector), the HF-1s deployed for the trial cost about $370-a-pair, and are being used to supplement the 1,000 or so FriskerPRO-like handheld detectors that are already in use. Overall these seem like a good way for officers to protect themselves without getting too touchy-feely with suspects, but on the other hand, they may just encourage enterprising criminals to step up their game and begin carrying around undetectable weapons like ceramic knives and filed-down toothbrushes.

[chaosrain @ Jul 10th 2006 3:14PM]

Kevlar? From what I understand Kevlar is specifically designed to protect against more blunt-force strikes. Though it travels significantly faster, a bullet distributes its force across a significantly larger area than a knife-point. As a result, bullet proof vests are poor at stopping knives and knife-proof vests don't help much against bullets.

Isn't this like bringing a gun glove to a knife fight?

[mishu pwork fwied wice @ Jul 10th 2006 3:17PM]

ceramic knives...?


i bet you're on of those people that believe a few sloppy illegal immigs used box cutters & went Top Gun into the WTCs...so perfectly in fact that the resulting structure failure matched a controlled demolition.. perfectly.

Oh but back to topic, yeah. Use these gloves so they don't have to cup my balls at the airport.

[Paul @ Jul 10th 2006 3:21PM]

im suprised a reader at engadget wouldnt understand the engineering of the WTC and why it happened exactly the way it did.

That said- I think the gloves are fantastic, great way to search people while making it less invasive and maintaining safety.

As to the comment on kevlar being poor on knives- that is correct in a stabing motion, i believe it is cut resistant in a slicing motion

[Bob @ Jul 10th 2006 3:28PM]

Yes! I knew my filed-down toothbrushes will come back in style.


BTW, most ceramic knives have a metal handle. And they are too expensive for the average street thugs.

[TheBuddha @ Jul 10th 2006 3:31PM]

Smell the Glove!

[Fuzz @ Jul 10th 2006 3:38PM]

Couldn't you just make a tight clove, implanted with those super powerful rare-earth magnets, then when near metal, you would feel the glove stretch and pull towards the weapon? This would be cheaper, and less prone to failure, although the guy being frisked might wonder why your hands are stuck to his belt-buckle.

[Spyvie @ Jul 10th 2006 3:39PM]

This might work great for detecting metal objects, but I doubt they could be anything but a hindrance to feeling anything else. I guess the officer would need to do a search with and without the gloves.

BTW: Kevlar gloves are commonly used by people who handle sharp objects professionally, like butchers and the techs who repair the butchers saws or slicers. They have been on the market since the early 80s.

[Saxon @ Jul 10th 2006 3:45PM]

Less invasive? Not only do they pat you down, but the gloves vibrate when they find the knife I hide in my jockies.

I usually have to pay for that.

[Spyvie @ Jul 10th 2006 3:51PM]

Fuzz,
Magnets are only attracted to ferrous metals like iron or steel, most knives are made from non-ferrous stainless steel so your idea just wouldn’t work.

Saxon,
LOL!

[mishu pwork fwied wice @ Jul 10th 2006 3:52PM]

Paul,

many scientists, engineers, physcisists, scholars, ect., back up my conclusions. I suggest you turn off Fox News and start doing some research.

[Paul @ Jul 10th 2006 3:57PM]

FOx news is for suckers... so is any network news. Mishu just because someone thinks you are totally wrong doesnt mean they are a bushie, infact, many believe that although they government did not conduct 9/11 it could have easily stopped it had they done their job.

As for the engineering part of it: Try Popular Mechanics, or the millions of engineers that back up the idea that hey, a plane really did bring down the WTC (like the designers of the building)... also I dont know of any RESPECTED scholars think this was a implosion. Stop watching the internet videos like loose change that I can go through and point out every flaw in in about 30 seconds.

[halo101 @ Jul 10th 2006 3:59PM]

lol funny joke about paying for the vibrating thing. back to mishu comment i was there during 9/11 and witnessed the first and second plane hit only a few blocks away. the first plane flew over me and i saw it hit the building. there will always be conspiracy theories but i know the planes were responsibile for the collapse. i guess u had to see with your own eyes to believe it. sum ppl will never be happy unless a theory fits their own ideology eg blaming the government for everything.

[yujean @ Jul 10th 2006 4:17PM]

knives can cut through kevlar... rendering them useless during knifefights. kevlar is good for stopping bullets. leather is good for stopping knives.

i'd honestly rather be checked with a conventional metal-detector (baton-like), rather than be groped by a man w/ black gloves.

[mishu pwork fwied wice @ Jul 10th 2006 4:34PM]

halo, I wasn't there, but people very close to me were - and they saw with their own eyes, and they sought out the real truth, and found that it was deliberately done by elements in the US gov't. I suggest you look at what experts on the "other side" are saying, and compare that with what popular mechanics or whoever is saying. Watch Loose change, watch all the 9/11 docu's - if its a joke then its a joke, but if its true...then its something you have seriously look at. Just be careful of people that claim to know everything, like if someone is saying they got "millions of engineers" or whever backing up them up, they might be blowing smoke out their ass.

[halo101 @ Jul 10th 2006 5:21PM]

lol why would a government hurt its own economy, defense system and ppl for? you dont make any sense, if anything we underestimated the ability of those responsible for it. those who admitted to doing it also. i guess theres no convincing sum.

[Will @ Jul 10th 2006 5:37PM]

How the hell did this turn into a soapbox about 9/11?

Two things about these gloves. First, they seem rather bulky, so it would seem that these would take the place of the wand detector, to locate weapons without having to touch the dirtbag. Also, this might be useful for finding used dirty needles on some a@#hole junkie, without having to touch him.

Second, if you don't think that an object that isn't made of metal can't be a weapon, then I challenge you to look at all the weapons that prisoners make inside jail. So really, these gloves are not the be all and end all.

[mishu pwork fwied wice @ Jul 10th 2006 5:59PM]

halo, then maybe you look up operation northwoods - http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662
Yeah, why would they do 9/11.. its not like these people had an agenda to wage war with another country..or seek an excuse to override the constitution so they could do domestic surveillence...or try to detain americans with trail indefinitely..or ignore the Geneva Conventions and start torturing people...or help their corporate friends *COUGH*halliburton*COUGH profiteer off war...

fact is without 9/11 nearly Bush's ENTIRE AGENDA would impossible. In fact, without 9/11 he would have been impeached for half the stuff mentioned above.

[Lebeu @ Jul 10th 2006 8:30PM]

It's not just about the material but also about the structure of the textile. The term kevlar isn't so exact description of a material as there's more than one kind of kevlar. As Spyvie already said kevlar does give - in some products - slash resistance but not proof, you can wonder is it enought for granting the utterance of "protect the wearer during the ensuing knife fight". There're already more tightly wover kevlar fabrics that do stop for instance a stab attempt.

OT @ halo101: Whether you were a few blocks away of the strike or saw it from tv news in Timbuktu, it doesn't really give you more truth value to what you say...

[LTM @ Jul 10th 2006 8:59PM]

I've always believed that the Bush Administration were too FU***** dumb to pull off something like 911; but on two minds, I'm also convinced that they are all too FU***** evil not to at least have tried to pull off something like it.

[pim @ Jul 10th 2006 10:49PM]

Stop this 9-11 stuff! You are all missing the main point, which is: Yay for vibrating gloves! Do they have versions for home use as well? That can connect to the pc? ;)

[apt @ Jul 11th 2006 11:09AM]

HUMILIATION

[Joshua Stein @ Jul 11th 2006 11:17AM]

mishu pwork fwied wice, you are clearly a CIA/NSA/JDL agent sent to throw everyone off track with your insane explanations about 9/11. Everyone will know the truth when I publish my book on how it was in fact the Celts (also knows as the Celtics) who were responsible for 9/11, OK City, and the systematic robberies of convenience stores in urban environs.

See, the Celts went underground during the Dark ages, controlling the Papacy, the Ming Dynasty, and several African nations. Then, they sent their spies to America disguised as slaves, where they then took control over colinial governments, and formed the sham constitutional conventions to cover their tracks. After they poisoned King George with Mercury to make him look insane, they set up the Gold standard as a way to keep the Jews and the French in check.

OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE - the clues are all there. Do you really think a Serbian shooting an Austrian monarch could really be the cause of WW1? Morons! The long and short of it is (I don't want to give too much away, or no one will buy my book), 9/11 never even happened! The WTC was an illusion done with mirrors and hallucinigenics. Physics say that no building can be higher than 178 feet tall without collapsing in on itself. The WTC was originally built as a cover to the undergound ferret farming operations used to destabilize the Balkans during the 1980's. And if you or a loved one claim to have actually been inside it, I ask you this: Did you actually see the elevator going up? Of course not! That sensation you felt while in the "elevator"? That was the gas they use to confuse you. That is why you remember feeling awed and dizzy by the "height" of the building when you got to the "top". It was actually on 93 feet off the ground, and everything you think you saw was a projection. That is why they had their own viewing insturments, and wouldn't allow truth-seekers like myself to bring their own telescope and gas mask.

There, I feel better now that I got that off my chest. Shame no one will ever read this.

[Moogle @ Jul 11th 2006 9:07PM]

http://www.dupont.com/kevlar/otherapplications.html

DuPont lists cut-resistant gloves as an application of kevlar. Basically, kevlar is a miracle-product for making bullet proof vests, but just in general it's a really strong fiber. Any strong fiber is probably going to be better at resisting cuts, tears, and ripping.

Yes, you can cut kevlar with a knife. Then again, I've seen pictures of a knife shoved through a car door and cutting a bullet in half. Kevlar is probably better than most other types of cloth at stopping anything but the sharpest knives.

[Michael Glenn @ Jul 15th 2006 2:54PM]

Uhh-- this idea is stupid. The entire point of a pat-down is to FEEL if they have some conspicious buldges. Now youre asking them to wear kevlar gloves with metal-detecting hardware inside of them? Why not get a metal detector instead, and retain the value of the hand-pat down without padding it so heavily that it is useless?

This might be the dumbest security measure I've ever seen.

[jason @ Nov 6th 2006 10:49AM]

I wonder how feasible it would be to attack the glove power supply or circuitry remotely.

[jason @ Nov 7th 2006 2:29PM]

try this out.