Buying gloves online, looking for some feedback

[jgiant 0]

I'm in desperate need of some new gloves for myself!  I coach my son's U12 team and play pickup when I can, so I don't need anything too crazy.

Looking at 14" on clearance, buying sight unseen is tough w/o being able to try them on for feel, I was hoping to get some forum feedback before I decide.

I've narrowed down to any of the True Catalyst (9X3, 7X3, 5X3, and XS3), Warrior Covert QR5 20, and Sherwood Code TMP 1.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!

[swede 53]

Can’t go wrong with the Warrior Coverts. Actually bought a pair myself a few months back. My son also have s pair but in Jr sz 12.. They are a tight fit but not restrictive in any way. Not really elite level protection, but enought for my son in U12 and also for me playing pickup/beer league.

[Cavs019 710]

I would look at ProStockHockey.com. 14 is an easy to find size and if you’re not too picky on color you can get something way nicer than 2024 retail junk. 

[flip12 735]

On 12/28/2024 at 12:39 AM, Cavs019 said:

I would look at ProStockHockey.com. 14 is an easy to find size and if you’re not too picky on color you can get something way nicer than 2024 retail junk. 

It's downright depressing how far gloves have fallen in 10 years. From '95 - '05 gloves got so much better insanely fast. From '05 - '15 (roughly) they peaked. From then to now it's just ugly all around.

[stick9 907]

19 hours ago, flip12 said:

It's downright depressing how far gloves have fallen in 10 years. From '95 - '05 gloves got so much better insanely fast. From '05 - '15 (roughly) they peaked. From then to now it's just ugly all around.

The modern golden era for gloves was around the time of the Vapor 1X Pro, fantastic glove BTW. I lump the FT1 into that mix, another fantastic glove.

Back on topic...

On 12/27/2024 at 11:38 AM, jgiant said:

I've narrowed down to any of the True Catalyst (9X3, 7X3, 5X3, and XS3), Warrior Covert QR5 20, and Sherwood Code TMP 1.

I'd go with the Sherwoods. I've heard lots of positive feedback on them. I don't quite trust Warrior like I used to and Trues are still less than a 1-percenter in my parts.

[Westside 258]

9 hours ago, stick9 said:

The modern golden era for gloves was around the time of the Vapor 1X Pro, fantastic glove BTW. I lump the FT1 into that mix, another fantastic glove.

Agreed although I’d go back one generation to the APX2 from Bauer and the QRL from Warrior. FT1 is the last ‘great’ glove IMO

[start_today 781]

On 1/2/2025 at 4:10 PM, flip12 said:

It's downright depressing how far gloves have fallen in 10 years. From '95 - '05 gloves got so much better insanely fast. From '05 - '15 (roughly) they peaked. From then to now it's just ugly all around.

What’s so bad about the quality/design of recent glove offerings? 

[flip12 735]

Even from product pictures it's easy to see. I'm old enough to remember web images would load on the internet progressively: first very pixelated, then smoother and smoother, kind of like a thriller where the cops repeatedly ask the ITer to "enhance" 3 or 4x until the perp's face is revealed in crystal clear resolution. Gloves have devolved in the reverse of that: their geometries are composed of fewer and fewer polygons which makes for blockier builds.

There are two ways to notice it--look at the top end gloves of a line that's been around over that time and see how they shed layers of complexity from one generation to the next and also look at the lower tier gloves from 5 to 10 years ago. Today's top end gloves look like bottom end gloves from 10 years ago.

One example is Warrior's GX-archetypal glove--from MacDaddy/Dolomite, AK27, Luxe, QR1, QRL, QRE... they kept degrading.

Top end gloves feel ok in the shop, but it's thanks to a lot of fluff and tricks--super flimsy builds with stretch gussets. Good for them. We pay the price (probably roughly the same as old top end gloves after inflation) and the price they pay to produce them drops. They don't last as long, so we're forced to dip into the scum pond again in a bit for a product that's probably degraded again but the financial gouge is still going to be just about as deep as before.

[Westside 258]

Poron to standard foams. 3-piece thumbs to 2-piece thumbs. Embroidered cuff rolls to I don’t even know what to call the plastic crap now. That’s just Bauer. CCM has reduced D3O, or the amount of D3O, they’re using. Palm and gusset materials seems to be getting flimsier. 
 

That said, I wouldn’t even bother with retail gloves nowadays. Plenty of pro stock options available with better builds and more options. While it’s a shame CPR and Hockey Menders closed for repalms/customization, ITR does great work and continues to improve with every pair

[caveman27 208]

On 12/27/2024 at 11:38 AM, jgiant said:

I'm in desperate need of some new gloves for myself!  I coach my son's U12 team and play pickup when I can, so I don't need anything too crazy.

Looking at 14" on clearance, buying sight unseen is tough w/o being able to try them on for feel, I was hoping to get some forum feedback before I decide.

I've narrowed down to any of the True Catalyst (9X3, 7X3, 5X3, and XS3), Warrior Covert QR5 20, and Sherwood Code TMP 1.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!

I will second the recommendation of prostockhockey.com

You can also find pro stock gloves on sidelineswap.com 

 

[stick9 907]

On 1/7/2025 at 6:31 PM, Westside said:

Poron to standard foams. 3-piece thumbs to 2-piece thumbs. Embroidered cuff rolls to I don’t even know what to call the plastic crap now. That’s just Bauer. CCM has reduced D3O, or the amount of D3O, they’re using. Palm and gusset materials seems to be getting flimsier. 
 

That said, I wouldn’t even bother with retail gloves nowadays. Plenty of pro stock options available with better builds and more options. While it’s a shame CPR and Hockey Menders closed for repalms/customization, ITR does great work and continues to improve with every pair

Especially if you aren't worried about growing out of them.