A 4x8 lite of 1/2-inch tempered weighs about 80 pounds. Two guys carry it. If one guy's glove slips, the other guy is alone with 80 pounds of glass and the floor wins. Glazier gloves are a safety thing, not a comfort thing.
The right glove for moving glass is a leather palm with a textured grip and ANSI A4 or higher cut resistance. The HexArmor Helix 3000 series is purpose-built for glass — A6 cut, leather palm, won't snag on the edge of a lite. About $35. The HexArmor 5033 4-Below Helix is the cold-weather version with insulation for guys doing exterior install in winter.
The Mechanix M-Pact CR A4 is the budget version that a lot of glaziers use. About $35.
Avoid pure cotton work gloves for glass. They'll snag on a chip and you'll lose grip. Avoid pure nitrile-dipped gloves — not enough cut. Avoid leather palm with no cut rating — leather alone won't stop a sliver of plate glass.
Suction cups: the Wood's Powr-Grip handcup, dual-handle, is the standard for moving large lites. Bohle and CRL also make pro suction handles. Most shops own these — the glazier brings his own gloves and his own knife.
The knife: a glass cutter is a Toyo or a CRL pistol-grip with a carbide wheel. Different from a utility knife. We stock a couple. For everything else — cutting tape, scoring rubber gaskets — a folding utility like the Milwaukee Fastback or a Stanley FatMax retract.
Pants: Carhartt Rugged Flex Rigby in a darker color (gray or moss), reinforced knees, no cuffs. Cuffs catch on shards. A clean cut profile is a glazier's friend.
Shirts: long-sleeve, always. Slivers in the forearm are the most common glazier injury after the dropped lite. Carhartt Force long-sleeve in a darker color so paint and silicone don't show.
Boots: a flat-soled work shoe, not a logger or a wedge. A flat sole gives you the most stable footprint when you're carrying a lite. The Timberland Pro Drivetrain or the Wolverine Floorhand are the two we sell. Composite toe because you don't want a steel toe under a piece of glass — if you drop one, the steel will damage the lite, the composite will absorb. (Yes, the composite-toe argument is partly about not damaging the product. It's true.)
Eye protection: sealed goggles, not safety glasses, when you're cutting or breaking. The 3M GoggleGear 500 with anti-fog. Glass dust gets in side gaps on regular safety glasses.
Knee pads for setting bottom-rail glass and shower-door bottom tracks — same gel pads as everyone else.
Hard hat or bump cap depending on site. Most commercial glazing requires a hard hat; residential shower install you can get away with a ball cap.
The glove is the make-or-break piece. Buy the HexArmor or the Mechanix CR. Skip the leather palm without a cut rating. And the second a glove starts to fray on the palm, throw it out. A frayed glove is a glove that's about to slip.