DR 4500

[Chadd 916]

Open for review

[hamstercaster 2]

DR 4500 Classic Fit

About me: 6'1'' 263 pounds and counting (down lol).

Fit

Given my size and the size of my hands, I can't wear anything comfortably under 15 inches although some 14.5 inches I tried were close to be confortable. This glove is a lose fit and if my memory serves me right, it's close to be the loosest fit amongst the many gloves I tried. Especially the cuffs, they are loose and long and allow for good movement 9.5/10

Protection

No inserts on these gloves. Just foam but so far can't complain. Been hit on the hands a couple of times and felt nothing. The cuffs are long and give good forearm protection. It is also equipped with a lock thumb which is in my mind well calibrated. Not too stiff to limit grip or movement but stiff enough to help prevent thumb injuries in the event that your thumb would do an unexpected movement/extention during a fall or any other accident that may happen on ice. Inserts could possibly make that glove even more protective so I will rate it a 9/10

Weight

These gloves are very light for the size. They 15 inches and a pretty big 15 inches I might add and they weight next to nothing. They are lighter than my old Nike Quest 3 that were much smaller in size. But I guess they could still have made them lighter although glove weight is not something that matters that much to me. For that I'll give them a 9/10

Feel/comfort level

This glove is very comfortable. It is light enough and fits me very well. The feel on the stick is in my mind quite good. The palms are thicker than many more expensive gloves out there but for the price it offers good stick/puck feel and is much better than my old pair of Nike Quest 3. It is worth a 9/10

Durability

I've owned the gloves for two weeks now and have played 7 1 and 1/2 games with them. So far they show no wear whatsoever. The plams are reinforced with an extra layer black suede like leather. Not one single mark on it yet, no discoloration. Top of gloves is made leather imitation and doesn't show any wear either. There's a very tiny piece of that reinforced palm that isn't sewn in the glove but have yet to find out if it's just un-sewned or was just never sewned. This I guess could require more attention down the road and will thus make the rating drop a bit to a 8/10

Intangibles

The palms are sweet and give a good grip on the stick. I have a Reebok XT stick with no grip whatsover and this gloves manages to hold that stick right in place with no slippage whatsoever but yet lets your stick slide free when you need to glide your hands up and down the shaft for different shots or defensive situation. It is also fairly easy to pick the stick up from the ice if you happen to drop it. 9/10

Conclusion

I spent over an hour trying out gloves the first time. I had tried pretty much every glove in the store except CCM's, RBK's and DR's. Then I went back a second time to the store to try them all again and was decided to leave with a brand new pair of gloves. I tried all the same gloves again and was hesitating between Bauer XV, XX, XXX, Supreme 70's and One90's. Was also considering sor RBK 8 and Eagles. Then I saw the DR's at the top right corner of the display and decided to give them a try. I had not looked at the price before trying them on but was expecting them to be cheap as in my mind DR was not a company I considered to put out quality products. To me they were a company making products appealing to the masses, the people who are looking for cheap stuff, buy cheap and get what you pay for, a product low in quality. When I put the gloves on I was pleasently surprised by how they felt on my hands, the feel of the palms and all the material that touches your skin. They felt really comfy and light. Then I looked at the price tag... 97$ Cnd on sale from 170$ Cnd... now these gloves could sell at their regular price for 10-15$ less elsewhere as my two LHS in my town have next to no competition and thus hike their prices a bit but at 97$ that made my day. It was 40$ cheaper than the Bauer XV and in my mind the DR 4500 is a superior product to the XV and is close to the XX. They are not XXX or One90's as the palms don't offer as good of a feel as very thin plams but they are way up there with some of the best intermediate/top of the line gloves and I am happy I gave them a try.. I give them an overall rating of 9/10