Two blades, two philosophies. The Coupe test spins; the TDM draws a straight blade under rising load. Understanding both explains half the confusing markings on the gloves in your warehouse.
OSHA expects a hazard assessment, not a guess. This method starts from the edge — its sharpness, the force behind it, and contact frequency — and lands on a defensible cut level for any workstation.
Legacy "Level 5" labels still circulate on packaging years after EN 388 moved to A–F letters. We trace where Level 5 came from, why it persists, and how to re-label a range without losing shelf recognition.
"A6 equals EN E" is the most repeated half-truth in glove sourcing. The two systems use different blades, motions and units — this article explains why no official conversion exists, and what to write into a spec instead.
ANSI A1–A9 Cut Levels Explained: How to Choose the Right Rating Every glove buyer has lived this moment. A customer asks for the highest cut level you stock, a tender document copies a rating from a competitor catalogue, or a safety manager insists on one level for every task on the site. The result is […]
Procurement teams are asked to specify an ANSI cut level long before anyone explains what the levels measure. This plain-language guide covers the test, the nine levels in grams, the tasks each fits, and how to write a level into a spec that holds.
A9 is not a better A6. It is a different construction, a different test result — 6,000 grams and above on the TDM-100 — and a specific set of jobs where anything less is the wrong glove. How A9 is built, verified and honestly sold.
The most searched phrase in our industry is also the most loosely used. This pillar guide defines cut resistant gloves properly — how they are tested, what the fibres and coatings do, how to specify a range, and how to verify what you bought.