Finger Tabs & Shooting Gloves: Reviews & Rankings
String-hand protection for finger shooters — tabs and gloves, scored on the two things that publish across both.
If you shoot off your fingers — recurve, barebow, longbow, traditional — you protect them one of two ways: a tab or a glove. A tab is a leather pad on a plate, adjustable and repeatable, and it's what Olympic and barebow archers reach for. A glove is a three-finger leather sheath that lets you feel the string, and it's the traditional shooter's pick. They're different tools, so we never rank a glove as a worse tab. What we do score is the honest stuff both publish: price, and the quality of the leather touching the string. Everything else — spacers, ledges, aluminum plates — is tab-only, so it's shown, not scored.
How to read this: This is a thin-spec category on purpose, like bowstrings. Two things publish on every tab and every glove and actually matter: what it costs, and what the string-contact face is made of. Cordovan is the gold standard; plain leather is the durable default. The rest are features you filter by, not grades — a $75 competition tab and a $13 glove genuinely answer different questions.
Finger Tabs & Shooting Gloves CareScore Leaderboard
All 7 products ranked by overall CareScore™. See the full best-of breakdown →
| # | Product | Use | Price | CareScore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neet Pinch-Free Tab | Beginner finger tab | $6.99 | 91 |
| 2 | Damascus Doeskin Glove | Traditional shooting glove | $14.99 | 82 |
| 3 | Bear Archery Leather Tab | Traditional finger tab | $6.99 | 80 |
| 4 | Neet FG-2L Suede Glove | Traditional shooting glove | $18 | 77 |
| 5 | Bearpaw DOA Glove | Premium traditional glove | $45.99 | 56 |
| 6 | Fivics Saker 2 Tab | Competition finger tab | $74.99 | 52 |
| 7 | AAE Cavalier Elite Tab | Competition finger tab | $74.99 | 42 |
Best Finger Tabs & Shooting Gloves for…
The same data, re-weighted for how you shoot.
Head-to-head comparisons
All 21 comparisonsWe auto-generate a spec-by-spec breakdown for every possible matchup.
Finger Protector buying guide
- Tab or glove — which should I use?
- Shooting a sight, a clicker, precise anchor work? A tab. The flat, consistent face and the adjustable ledge give you a repeatable release, which is why every Olympic recurve archer shoots one. Shooting instinctive, traditional, off the shelf? A glove. It's thinner against the string, it stays on your hand between shots, and traditionalists love the direct feel. Beginners can start with either — a $7 tab or a $15 glove both work — and figure out their preference cheaply before spending real money.
- Is cordovan worth the money?
- For a target archer chasing consistency, yes; for a weekend shooter, probably not. Cordovan is shell horsehide — dense, water-resistant, and it keeps a smooth, identical release far longer than regular leather, which is why the $75 tabs use it and sell replacement faces for it. But a plain super-leather tab at a tenth the price protects your fingers just fine and releases cleanly enough for most people. Buy cordovan when your groups are tight enough that the release surface is your limiting factor. Until then, it's money better spent on arrows.
- How do I size a tab or glove?
- By your fingers, and it matters more than people expect. A tab that's too big lets the leather bunch and your fingers wander; one too small leaves the string riding on skin. Most makers cut small-through-XL — measure against a size chart rather than guessing, and if you're between sizes on a tab, size down (the face wears in). Gloves should be snug at the fingertips with no loose leather past your fingers. And tabs are handed: order the hand you draw with, not the hand you write with.
What the CareScore measures
The complete formula, bounds and data rules are published on the methodology page.
Street Price
59% weightThe one number on every listing, and the one that swings hardest — a $7 school-program tab to a $75 machined-plate competition tab. In a category this thin, price does the honest work.
Face Material
27% weightThe surface that touches the string. Cordovan — shell horsehide — is water-resistant and gives the most consistent release, which is why premium tabs and reinforced glove tips use it. It's a thumb on the scale, not a verdict: a plain-leather glove is a real choice, not a defect.
Size Options
14% weightHow many sizes the maker cuts. More sizes means better odds it fits your hand — a light tiebreaker, nothing more.