Let's be honest. 

Your grandfather didn't need gloves while he worked long hours in the field or factory doing manual labour that would crush even the toughest of the so called "athletes" of today.

His hands were made of hard earned leather. 

He didn't "workout", he worked. Period.

Many of us train for the coveted "work capacity", but who among us would have had the work ethic to stand among the giants that were our forefathers? 

Oh, you can swing a kettlebell a few times in a WOD for training? Try slinging hay bales all day in the blistering sun, then getting up and doing it again the next day. 

Oh, you did a killer sandbag Tabata yesterday? Try humping sandbags in the mud and pouring rain while bullets are whizzing overhead to build a shelter so you don't die tonight. 

Any you need gloves to do a few pull-ups and rope climbs for fun? 

Aspire to greatness.