A CACAZAN Driving Glove for My Birthday

My husband has always owned several pairs of driving gloves and never fails to wear them whenever he drives.

He had often told me, “Why don’t you get a pair of driving gloves? They make driving easier.” But I never really cared about that, and the thought of having to put on gloves every time I sat in the driver’s seat felt like a hassle, so I never felt the need to get any.

When I attended a Porsche driving school, “driving gloves” were listed among the required items, but I thought, “It’s a waste to buy gloves just for the driving school,” so I ended up buying a pair of garden gloves for about 150 yen at a home center and took those instead (how cheap am I? lol).

Then, recently.

I turned 40 years old, and my husband gave me a pair of women’s driving gloves as a birthday present.

They’re from CACAZAN!

Actually, I had once come across CACAZAN driving gloves being sold at a place I happened to visit, and my husband said, “Why don’t you buy them?” but when I saw the price, I was shocked and thought, “No way, these are way too fancy for me—I’m not skilled enough at driving to wear something this expensive…” or some other unclear excuse, so I didn’t buy them (though if anything, I should have needed them more because I’m not a great driver).

The pair I received this time is designed for women, with a longer cuff than the standard model to protect against sunburn. Also, the fingers are cut longer so that those with nail extensions can wear them comfortably without worrying about size.

I see!

Since I usually have my nails done, I’m really happy to have the fingertips exposed like this, and the sun protection is a huge plus.

The gloves are made from original deerskin leather, and the back side is laminated with cupro, a glove-specific material with excellent moisture absorption and release properties, so they promise a comfortable fit that lasts.

They really put a lot of care into making these gloves.

How CACAZAN Driving Gloves Feel to Wear

Since receiving the gloves, I’ve made it a point to wear them every time I drive my beloved Swift.

And they’re surprisingly good.

Better than I imagined.

Above all, the grip and hold on the steering wheel feel excellent, and operating the manual shift lever fits perfectly and feels great. Also, when parking or making tight turns, the gloves make steering much easier.

Even when I wasn’t wearing gloves, I never felt the steering wheel was slippery, so I thought, “I don’t really need driving gloves,” but now I realize that having a firm grip makes driving so much easier.

In fact, the other day I thought, “It’s just a one-minute drive, so maybe I don’t need to wear them,” and drove barehanded, but I felt uneasy and ended up putting the gloves on halfway through.

Also, considering sweat and skin oils, wearing gloves might help prevent the steering wheel from getting shiny and slippery compared to bare hands.

I wish I had started wearing them much earlier.

When I shared my thoughts with my husband, he said,

See? Driving gloves are great. They make driving so much easier, especially if you drive a manual. But when I go on long tours driving over eight hours a day, I do want to take them off after a while. For drives of two or three hours, they’re really perfect.

This weekend, we’re heading to Fuji Speedway as a family, and I plan to wear the driving gloves on the way.

The weather forecast says it’ll rain, as usual… but I hope it clears up a bit.