Warrior Bonafide Glove

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Open

[schrempsky 0]

Thanks to everyone who made this whole process possible.

In the past I have used alot of 4 roll style gloves, so to get a chance to demo one seemed the be the best category of glove to try. I currently use a pair of Eagle PPF's as my primarly glove, and have recently used a pair of Bauer 4 rolls as well. The PPF was my favorite gloves by far for fit, and i had the back of palm tightened so it fit more narrow. I do prefer tufftek/nylon gloves to the synthetic leather/portofino gloves, just as i find the material more durable. I do prefer the look of the tufftek compared to the synthetic leather, however initially i preferred the fit of the bonafide's to the PPF so that will not affect my opinion of the gloves.

Fit: I am a fan of tighter fitting gloves, finding the bauer 4 rolls to have too much volume for my comfort level. I found that the Bonafide's were a very slim fitting glove, especially for a 4 roll which i typically find to fit fairly loose(i.e. ccm 4 roll, bauer 4 roll, eagle x72). the fingers fit for myself the best, having a bit more volume than my eagles, but not seeming to be bulky or overly deep. The fit around the wrist is open just like my eagles, so they were not restricting at all. The liner used inside the glove is extremely soft and comfortable. it also dries out fairly quickly as we were playing a scrimmage in a mall where it was really warm. the dual layer digi palm feels a slight bit thicker than the MSH2 palm on my PPF's, but it is not at all overly thick. The grip area appears to be quite durable, but I will update the wear on it as the review continues.

Performance: Despite being new out of the box, the fingers and the back of the glove seemed to be broken in very quickly. When i first used my eagles, it used to bother the joints in my fingers when i closed my hands, almost like a scraping feeling. There was no such feeling here as the gloves felt like they were already broken in. I did however find that the thumb is fairly stiff and i couldnt open my hand as easily to put my hand back on my stick.I feel like this will go away once i am able to use them a few more times. The palm is extremely soft and provides a very good grip. I usually dont wear through palms very quickly, but there is a bit of pilling already on palm of my top hand, not in the reinforced wear area but in the fingers and the joints between the finger and the palms. in case you were wondering, i use a tacki mac grip on my one95, but am using a traditional white taped knob on my current original stealth stick. the nash gussets are a nice soft touch as well, seeming to connect to the palm very well. There is not an uncomfortable seam to deal with at all.

Once I had a hold of my stick there was no way it was leaving my grasp. The gloves from a stickhandling and shooting point of view felt broken in right off the bat. I usually find the material on the inside of the wrist to be a bit stiff and restrictive, but they were really soft and allowed all ranges of wrist movement to take place. Like i mentioned, i was playing in a very warm arena, probably something alot of you southern USA members are used to. Playing in Edmonton, its usually pretty cold. I found that my hands were instantly extremely warm inside the gloves after a 30 second shift. I even switched to a pair of PPF's for a few shifts, and I did find the nylon PPF glove to feel much cooler than the bonafides. I'm chalking this up to the glove having a synthetic leather outer, but I will update this again next ice time.

Protection: The gloves do carry plastic inserts in them, however they are not as thick as found on the PPF's. Despite this, I am not at all concerned about catching a slash to the hands, as the gloves appear to take impacts well. There is no plastic insert above the thumb, which is the only spot that is seemingly "vulnerable". I played in a very choppy shinny the other day, and I tend to shield my stick with my lower hand all the time. I always take around 5-10 slashes per game purely due to this, and I didnt feel a single one of them with the bonafide's on. I would say that the protection aspect of the glove is very similar to that of the bauer 4 roll.

Aesthetics: The glove is all black, which is perfect for me. I mentioned before that I prefer the tufftek nylon look of gloves to the synthetic leather outer, however this is not something that negatively affects this glove at all. I would prefer embroidered logos on the thumb and cuff, as you find with other brands pricepoint gloves, such as the bauer one75. however this is not something that is too vital to the performance of the glove which is first and foremost.

Right off the bat these gloves have taken the top spot from my PPF's, just because of a a slimmer fit. The palm is extremely soft and the gloves are very comfortable. Once the thumb has softened up and the glove can open up a bit, it will definitely be one of my favorites on the market.

[schrempsky 0]

second time on the ice with them again tonight. They feel completely broken in now, i have no problems opening or closing the glove, and the grip is still solid. once again the gloves were extremely warm, but i continue to think that is due to the rink and not necessarily the gloves. The palm is showing a bit of pilling on the fingers of my top hand, but no wear is evident in the reinforced zone across the palm. todays game was fairly calm so there wasnt much stick work at all. so i will update protection and durability in the coming games. so far though, this is my go to glove at this point in time, and has replaced my eagles, at least for the time being.

[schrempsky 0]

Used these gloves for my first mens league game of the season. They are extremely comfortable and have maintained their snug fit so far. The glove is nicely broken in, and is not stiff at all.They were not nearly as warm this past game, due to playing in a different rink. For this reason, i would say they are no better or worse for ventilation than my eagles. The palms are not getting worse, it seems to just have been that they were new, so they look to be holding up great so far. I didnt take any huge slashes or anything, so i cant say that they are extremely protective, but again i have no fear of getting slashed in them. the gloves helped me score twice in the first game, none of which were pretty, but a goal is a goal! will update again after my next game on sunday

[schrempsky 0]

The gloves have treated me very well since my last update. however i did take a few slashes on my bottom hand that i definitely felt. They werent to the point of being painful, but it was a stronger impact than i was expecting to take. That is only in comparison to my PPF's which are tanks. Protection wise they are still good, just not up to the standard of the PPF, which would likely explain much of the price difference between the two. Other than that they have been holding up great. No marks on the synthetic leather outer at all, and there has been no more pilling since the initial wear on the glove. The reinforced palm pad is holding up great, so these look like they will do for the longer term. If anyone has a specific inquiry, just send me a PM and i can reply in this thread

[schrempsky 0]

the gloves have treated me really well with no premature wear on the palms. They have maintained their snug fit which is exactly what I had hoped for. The synthetic leather shell has held up very well through many slashes. I have been very impressed with them and would not hesitate buying them.

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havent replied to this thread in a while. the gloves have treated me amazing, they are very well broken in, very flexible. the gloves have maintained their narrow fit, and dry out very quickly. Initially I was very concerned about the durability of the palms, however there is no more wear now than there was after my first few uses. The durable outer layer of the palm has no wear whatsoever, and appears that it will last for a significant amount of time. the synthetic leather outer also shows no sign of wear, despite numerous battles into corners and by skates and cages. overall i have been very impessed with the gloves and will continue to use them. i give the gloves alot of credit for helping me score the winner tonight :) would definitely recommend these for any customer or friend looking for a traditional style glove with a more snug fit.