Read the Mark: the New Kev Blue® CRX Welding Glove

For years the Kev Blue® has been the glove boilermakers and heavy-duty welders reach for. It’s built for heat and hard work. What it has never had is a cut liner.

That matters, because a lot of a welder’s shift happens between welds: handling cut plate, sheet edges and swarf. On sites with a Cut 5 / TDM F glove policy, it’s also a compliance question. A welder in a standard leather glove either swaps gloves every time they pick up plates, or doesn’t comply.

The new Kev Blue® CRX fixes that. It keeps the premium Kev Blue® leathers, and adds the 3D design and full 360° cut protection of our CRX range, plus extra layers of heat protection for the hottest jobs on site. One glove for the weld and the handling around it.

The icon, now cut resistant and built for more heat.

What’s in the glove:

• Soft, premium, selected Grade A butt leathers, the quality that made the Kev Blue name
• A Dynamax® 265 liner for full 360° cut protection, rated Cut 5 / TDM F
• Additional heat-resistant layers on the palm and back of hand, for heavy-duty and high-amperage welding
• CRX 3D design with pre-curved fingers, for a natural fit and less hand fatigue over a long shift
• Super soft goatskin finger sidewalls for dexterity and feel

• Leather reinforced back of hand and fingers, and a padded wear patch on the side of the palm

•  Heat-resistant aramid thread

• Sizes SML to 3XL

Read the Mark: What's on the Kev Blue® CRX cuff

Every number on a welding glove cuff tells you something about how it performed in testing. Here's what the Kev Blue® CRX markings mean.

The cut letter

This launch is about one character on the cuff: the letter at the end of the EN 388 code.

EN 388 uses two cut tests. The coup test, the second number in the code, uses a rotating blade and scores from 1 to 5. On high-performance cut resistant liners the blade can dull before the material gives way, which makes the result less reliable. So the 2016 edition added the TDM test, shown as a letter from A to F. A straight blade is drawn across the material under rising force, and the result is the force needed to cut through.

• A · at least 2 newtons
• B · at least 5 newtons
• C · at least 10 newtons
• D · at least 15 newtons
• E · at least 22 newtons
• F · at least 30 newtons

For cut resistant gloves, the letter is the rating to check. The Kev Blue® CRX is rated F, the top of the scale.

EN 388:2016 · 4544F

EN 388 rates protection against mechanical risks.

Every one of those is the top level of its scale. If your site specifies Cut 5 / TDM F, this glove  meets it, and it's a certified welding glove too.

EN 407:2020 · 444344

EN 407 rates protection against heat and flame. The six digits are six separate tests, each scored from 1 to 4, with 4 the top of the scale.

Top level on five of the six properties, with no X’s. Contact heat at level 4 is where those extra heat layers show up.

EN 12477 · Type A+B

Heat resistance on its own doesn’t make a glove suitable for welding. EN 12477 is the standard written for welders’ gloves. Type A prioritises protection for heavier work such as MIG and stick welding. Type B prioritises dexterity for TIG.

The Kev Blue® CRX is certified to EN 12477:2001+A1:2005, Type A+B, with Dexterity 4 under AS/NZS 2161.2:2020. It meets both, and it’s built for heavy-duty stick and MIG work.

EN 1149-2 · Static

Welding often happens near fuels, gases or combustible dust, where a static discharge can become an ignition source. EN 1149-2 assesses how well a material dissipates static charge.

The Kev Blue® CRX is tested to EN 1149-2, as is every welding glove in the Elliotts range.

The Certified Product mark · SMK41830

Anyone can print a pictogram and a row of numbers on a glove. A certification mark and licence number are different. They show that an independent body has reviewed the testing, materials, manufacturing and labelling, and keeps checking. You can look the licence up yourself on Intertek SAI Global’s public register.

The Kev Blue® CRX carries the Intertek SAI Global Certified Product mark, licence SMK41830.

Certified to today’s standards, not yesterday’s

In January 2011, Elliotts became the first company to have welding gloves certified to Australian standards. This year we moved the heat and flame certification of our welding gloves to EN 407:2020, the current edition, and Elliotts was the first company certified by Intertek SAI Global to EN 407:2020. The ratings on the cuff have been checked by a third party, not declared by the people selling the glove.

Every new Elliotts welding glove launched is certified, and the Kev Blue® CRX is no exception. It’s independently certified by Intertek SAI Global to:

✔ EN 407:2020 heat and flame protection, the current edition

✔ EN 12477 Type A+B, the standard for welders’ gloves

✔ AS/NZS 2161.2:2020 and AS/NZS 2161.3:2020

✔ EN 388:2016 mechanical performance

It’s also tested to EN 1149-2 for electrostatic safety.

Specify Elliotts and you can stand behind the rating. No better protection.

Get the Kev Blue® CRX.

The Kev Blue® CRX welding glove, part number 300RKBCRX, is in stock now in all sizes, SML to 3XL. Download the product data sheet for the full specification, or talk to your Elliotts representative.