Ten subjects were asked to apply maximum torques on knife handles with either their bare hand or their hand wearing a Kevlar fibre
protective glove. Four knife handles (2 roughnesses, 2 hardnesses) were tested. Surface electromyograms of 6 upper limb and shoulder
muscles were recorded and subject opinions on both knife handle hardness and friction in the hand were also assessed. The results
revealed the significant influence of wearing gloves (po0.0001), knife type (po0.0005) and handle hardness (po0.005) on the applied
torque. Wearing Kevlar fibre gloves greatly increased the torque independently of the other two parameters. Under the bare hand
condition, a 901 ShA slightly rough handle provided the greatest torque. Subject opinion agreed with the observed effects on recorded
torque values except for the hardness factor, for which a preference for the 701 ShA value over the 901 ShA value emerged.