There are several ways to get gloves in Counter-Strike 2. You can unbox them from a case, buy them from a terminal or another player, or trade up five red skins for a pair. Today, the CS.MONEY Blog is focusing on the last option and explaining how to craft gloves in CS2, as well as which red skins are the cheapest options for glove trade-ups.
The most important part of the game is having fun. And you’ll definitely enjoy the game more if you’ve got awesome skins. So where do you get cool skins without spending too much? Of course—on CS.MONEY!
Trade-Up Rules
CS2 lets you trade skins for other, rarer items. For firearms, the standard ratio is 10-to-1: 10 skins of the same rarity can be exchanged for one skin of the next rarity. Knives and gloves use a 5-to-1 ratio, but there is one important catch: CS2 has no StatTrak gloves, so StatTrak skins cannot be used to trade up into gloves.
The result of a trade-up is not completely random because:
- The gloves or knife you receive depend on the skins you put into the contract. If all five skins come from the same case, the resulting gloves will also come from that case.
- Float value also depends on the float range of the skins used in the contract. We won’t go into the formula here, as there are plenty of calculators online that can calculate the expected result based on the skins you enter.
- The only truly “random” part of the trade-up is the specific knife or pair of gloves you receive. If a case contains 24 possible glove pairs, each individual pair has an equal 1-in-24 chance of being selected.
Last but not least, the skins used in the trade-up disappear completely. If they have stickers, a nametag, or other applied items, those disappear with them when the contract is completed.
Cheapest Covert Skins for Glove Trade-Ups
To craft gloves, you need five Covert skins. If you want to make a glove trade-up as cheap as possible, it’s generally better to use skins in Field-Tested condition, and sometimes even Well-Worn. Skins with these float ranges are usually the cheapest.
MP7 Bloodsport
- Case: Clutch
- Price: $32 for an MP7 Bloodsport FT
- Best result: Sport Gloves Vice FT
Almost all of the cheapest skins for glove trade-ups cost around $30–35. The MP7 Bloodsport is no exception, but it is often the most budget-friendly option for a glove contract. Its price usually sits around $30–32. The trade-up can result in one of 24 glove pairs, but only five of them will definitely put you in the green:
- Sport Gloves Amphibious;
- Sport Gloves Omega;
- Sport Gloves Vice;
- Hand Wraps Cobalt Skulls;
- Specialist Gloves Fade.
The best possible result is a pair of Sport Gloves Vice. They currently sell for around $450–460, while the chance of getting this particular pair from the trade-up is just over 4%.
Glock-18 Neo-Noir
- Case: Operation Broken Fang
- Price: $32 for a Glock-18 Neo-Noir WW
- Best result: Sport Gloves Nocts FT
We recommend looking for a Glock-18 Neo-Noir with a float below 0.43, meaning a Well-Worn skin. There are two reasons for this. First, the price difference between Field-Tested and Well-Worn is around $5, which adds roughly $25 to the total cost of the contract. Second, using skins with a float below 0.43 means the resulting gloves can come out in Field-Tested condition.
While the visual difference may be fairly minor, the price difference between conditions can reach tens of dollars per pair. The ideal result is a pair of Sport Gloves Nocts FT, which can be worth more than $600.
M4A4 Temukau
- Case: Operation Broken Fang
- Price: $33 for an M4A4 Temukau FT
- Best result: Sport Gloves Vice FT
The case containing the M4A4 Temukau has the same gloves as the case containing the MP7 Bloodsport FT. The prices of these two red skins are also similar, so everything that applies to the first trade-up in this list applies here as well.
There is one important difference, though: the M4A4 Temukau is a meta gun with fantastic potential for crafts. So maybe you shouldn’t throw it into a trade-up contract after all. Why not just enjoy playing with a rifle that has a waifu on it?
AWP Chromatic Aberration
- Case: Operation Broken Fang
- Price: $33 for an AWP Chromatic Aberration FT
- Best result: Sport Gloves Nocts FT
This is essentially a direct upgrade over the Glock-18 Neo-Noir trade-up. By spending an extra $1–2 per skin, you can put together five low-float AWP Chromatic Aberrations and turn them into gloves.
The key difference is the average float of the resulting pair. With Glock-18 Neo-Noirs, the best-case result will be around 0.35. With the AWPs, you can get a float in the 0.22–0.24 range. For some glove pairs, that difference can have a huge impact on the price.
AWP Queen’s Gambit
- Terminal: Dead Hand Terminal
- Price: $54 for an AWP Queen’s Gambit WW
- Best result: Sport Gloves Ultra Violent FT
Let’s finish today’s list of the cheapest red skins for glove trade-ups with an option that doesn’t quite follow the usual rules. Skins from the Dead Hand Terminal are noticeably more expensive than case skins even in higher-wear conditions. Still, it would be wrong to ignore a trade-up involving some of the newest gloves in the game.
For this contract, we recommend using the same trick as with the Glock-18 Neo-Noir: get an AWP Queen’s Gambit in Well-Worn condition, but with the lowest possible float. This can result in Field-Tested gloves. Even so, the price is significant — five of these skins will cost almost $300.
For that money, you could buy a cheap knife and a couple of budget glove pairs, and still have some cash left over for a new USP. We recommend this trade-up only to the most adventurous fans of risky deals.
Is Trading Skins for Gloves Profitable?
Yes and no. It all depends on how many skins you are willing to put into the trade-up contract and which skins they are.
If you have several dozen Glock-18 Fully Tuned skins sitting unused in your inventory in Factory New condition, they could be worth putting into a contract. There is a good chance you’ll come out ahead — but the total value of such a contract would be around $900, and the risks don’t disappear. Your odds of turning a profit simply become significantly better.
Trading up skins in other conditions, or doing contracts with only a handful of suitable skins, is risky and almost certainly unprofitable. Even the cheapest glove contracts start at around $150. That’s already enough to buy a decent pair in practically any color.
So, in most cases, it’s easier to sell your skins and buy gloves directly than to rely on luck with CS2 trade-up contracts.
FAQ
You need five Covert (red) skins to complete a trade-up contract that can result in gloves.
No. CS2 does not have StatTrak gloves, so StatTrak skins cannot produce gloves through a trade-up contract.
No. The possible gloves depend on the collections or cases represented by the input skins. If all five skins come from the same case, the resulting gloves will come from that case as well.
Yes. The float values of the input skins affect the float and condition of the gloves you receive. Using lower-float skins can result in more valuable conditions.
