Glove Advice

[srv2miker 0]

Hey Guys,

I'm finally taking the plunge and giving goal a shot. Unfortunately, since I'm on a budget, I can't go out and spend tons on equipment, so I'm collecting piece by piece until next Fall. I figured catch glove would be a good place to start, as I could dry land practise with it. I've narrowed down my choices to a number of models that are on sale on various websites (note my selection is limited since I'm Full Right).

I've Googled high and low trying to gather information, but I can't seem to find the details I'm looking for, and I was hoping someone here would be able to share their opinions and thoughts on the following gloves:

Bauer gm3000 Reactor 3

Koho 580

Heaton Helite Z Pro

NBH Vapor XX

Obviously everyone will have subjective opinions, but any help is much appreciated! I feel a little awkward asking, since I'm a fountain of knowledge on skater equipment, but I'm a little lost in the Goalie world!

Mike

[Law Goalie 147]

Probably a good call getting the glove first, in terms of learning to use the gear gradually. Your only problem will be matching the rest of the set to the glove, if you care about that.

Of those, the Reactor is by far the oldest; the Vapor is the newest; the Heaton is a bit of an oddball; the Koho is the best in terms of build quality. If you can find an RBK to try on in-store, it fits and plays pretty much like the Koho will. I'd advise Koho all the way, based simply on quality, since you'll be learning the glove anyway. Very few people actually liked the Z Pro or the Vapor, and while the Reactors had a few die-hards, they didn't go over all that well either.

Any reason you're dead-set on buying new?

edit: Reason I ask is that there are two sets of full-right TPS Bionic gloves on eBay right now. One in the old Senior size (ie. huge) for dirt cheap, and one in the old Intermediate size (which is basically NHL-spec) at a very reasonable price. You will not find a better-made or more natural catching glove. Both sets are used, but the Int. set looks to be in great shape, and all it really takes to refresh a blocker is a $35 re-palming (be sure to get mesh gussets and thumb). The Bionic blocker also has player-style fingers, so it may feel a bit more like home to you.

[srv2miker 0]

thanks for taking the time to respond Law Goalie, much appreciated. I've been torn between the Reactor and Koho, because while I know the 580 will be good, the Reactor is almost half the price. It's hard to pay more when I'm not even sure if I will be any good!

I'm not married to buying new, but my searches for used items have come up pretty dry. I'm Full Right, which doesn't help, and I'm also in Canada (which explains why I didn't see your eBay listing). I am going to hit up some used sporting goods stores over the weekend, but I would expect not to find much for a RH catch. I am defintely looking at older clearance models to try and save some coin. Having everything match isn't a big deal t me, at least initially.

[Law Goalie 147]

I'm in Toronto myself, so I feel your pain there.

I'll put the Koho glove to you another way: its resale value is WAY the hell better than the Reactor. People loved those gloves. If you're looking at the ones from GoalieMonkey, I'd bet you can get at least 2/3 of your investment back if and when you re-sell. This is even more true of matched sets of gloves: it's always easier to sell both together than two separately, especially with full-right gloves.

Here are the two TPS Bionic auctions I mentioned:

Cheap & Serviceable (My one caution about these is that the senior-sized Bionc gloves are *huge* - not for those with small or even average hands.)

Good Quality, bit of a Premium Price

And another full-right auction I spotted:

Miller CMX

Miller isn't a well-known brand, but like a lot of the other small builders (Smith, Battram, Vortek, Viper, etc.) the quality is superior to most retail pro-level gear. The only other reason I'm really keen on the Bionic is that it's a really natural glove - feels like a baseball glove.

Still, I think you'll be surprised how much is available second-hand. There are a couple of nice sets sitting in a Play-It-Again here in Toronto, last I checked.

The other thing I would advise is to keep your eye open for cheap sticks. Buy wood, and buy 'em cheap when you have the chance ($30 a stick is a good baseline; anything less than that, you're laughing). Pads, protective and all that you can worry about later.

[srv2miker 0]

Hey Law Goalie,

Thanks for the links to the auctions, but in the end I opted with the Koho 580s. With your advice, I bought a blocker at the same time for better resale value. I have to admit that while I'm 27 years, I feel like a little kid starting something exciting!

I'm sure you'll see more topics from me through out the coming months as I look to acquire more pieces. Hopefully in some small way this adds a little life to this side of MSH.

Mike

[Law Goalie 147]

Cool - nice call on the Kohos!

My best advice is just to play catch with the glove on - chuck a baseball around. It won't work quite like a baseball glove, but it's similar enough. Tennis balls (or ideally an India rubber ball) off a wall to yourself works well too.

[interpathway 9]

Just another thought for a new goalie that your post reminded me of...the next piece you might want to buy would likely be a pair of goalie skates. I understand you've played forward/defence for awhile now so you might need some time to get adjusted to skating on goalie skates. Not exactly 'dry-land' training but you might need a couple public sessions to get used to the different sized steel on the goalie skates. Good luck!

[Law Goalie 147]

Also bear in mind that you can get goalie skates profiled pretty aggressively to ease the transition. Graf goalie skates come from the factory with a 22' profile, IIRC, as opposed to 30' from Bauer and RBK and 100' with CCM; you might even be able to get Grafs down to 14' or so without really killing the steel.

There are some benefits to the flatter/longer profile on goalie skates, but a comfortable transition is key here. I'm using a 65/130 CAG profile on my player skates for coaching, and it's *just* becoming usable.