mrboarderman
01-31-2006, 06:40 PM
When I think of protection, the first thing that comes to mind is gloves. Sure shoulder pads and Arm Guards are protective, but the gloves connect you to your stick; the single most important thing you have on the field.
I have been playing competitive lacrosse for about 7 years now. I have had Warrior Mercs, Warrior RPM Pros, Brine Gels, and Harrow Sabre Pros. The Mercs were boarderline not protective enough, while the RPMS were enough protection for that age level. The Brine Gels were really my first legitimate pair of gloves in my opinions. Multi-joint fingers and VERY protective. The palms sucked though, baggy and got crusty fast. Also the only palms I have had tear. The Sabre Pros I was given when I played for a travel team this past summer. THe gloves lacked a bit of protection in the fingers, but the palms were great. VERY thin so it was great feel, but they seemed strong. But I have never really had a glove that covers all aspects.
So, I ordered three pairs of gloves. I WILL get this right....hopefully. I ordered G-Forces from Laxmonkey (at laxdigest price), G2s from harrow, and I-Pros from lax.com.
As of now I have two of the gloves, G-Forces and G2s. To be honest I see these being the leading gloves at any point (yes a little biased). So Here it goes.....
I will look at the glove's protection, fit, and palms. I took value out because mostly I don't care the cost since it is which one works the best for me. That and they are all similar prices.
G-Forces
Protection: The gloves are known as low-profile, yet, that has no effect on the protection. The protection is top-notch. Because the gloves are tight, the protection locks onto each finger. The point finger and pinky finger both have rap around protection to decrease the sting when a check hits the side of one of those fingures. Despite not playing a game in any of this stuff, I feel like these will hold up well against any check.
Fit: TIGHT!!! Not sure how much I like this yet. For sure I feel like the stick is stuck to my hand, but it is a little strange. The fingers are almost TOO small, and to be honest I do not consider myself to have that big of hands. The thumbs on the other hand (no pun intended) seem a bit too big. I am sure the more they are played with the more roomy they will get in the rest of the hand (like any other glove)
Palms: The mesh on the palm it very strange in its orientation. The way it runs down the fingers feels strange on the hand. Yet the feel of the stick is pretty good. Good thing there is as much mesh as there is or your hand would be smoking while playing. The suede-ish material is not as soft as I expected, a little bit of a disapointment. (may get softer as played with)
Harrow G2
Protection: Sabre gloves have a spandex material between the pads and fingers. However, sabres had too much of this material. It caused the finger pads to slip and become useless. Harrow noticed this and decreased the amount of this material around the fingers. The result was positive for sure. The ouside fingers have the rap around protection like the G-forces but probably not as solid. But not bad enough to dock serious points. BAck, hand great, cuff great (more solid than sabre cuffs).
Fit: Not as loose as Sabres or Gels, but they are definitely looser than the G-Forces. The thumb is in a bit of an unnatural position (straight in repsect to hand which is strange.)
Palm: Same palm as on any other Harrow glove except the palmless gloves of course. I like the palm. No mesh, but very soft and thin. This doesn't mean slippery, they are as grippy as any other glove. (Who really wants gloves that don't slide a tiny bit though? Makes switching hands a little bit more of a pain if they don't slide a bit.)
I-Pro
Protection: The first thing I noticed when these came out of the mesh was the thin soft cuff (between wrist cuff and backhand protection). Will this lead to less protection? Doubtful, it just stuck out against the stiff non restrictive G-force and G2 cuffs. The padding is the typical plasic over padding. The padding on the fingers seems a little softer than the other two models. There is no rap-around finger protection. The moving wrist cuff is pointless, it does nothing the main cuff wouldn't do.
Fit: Strange feel, quite an unnatural shape. Typical gloves are slimmer near the wrist and sometimes near the fingers. THey are in fact slimmer around the wrist, but near the fingers the glove seems to almost spread your fingers out unnaturally. I think that is the strange feel I am getting. The joints on the fingers seem misplaced for me, and the thumb is a bit small in contrast to the G-forces large one.
Palm: THe tightness is between the G-Forces, and the G2s. THe palm is way too baggy, especially in the upper palm. This could have been due to the shape. The material other than the mesh is soft, but not as soft as the G2s. I would rather have the looser thin palms of the G2s than the slightly tighter thicker palms of teh I-Pros.
Overall Opinions
Out of the the gloves so far, to be honest I am not sure.
The Protection is just as good on each.
The fit is different on each but neither is bad.
The palms I lean a little to the G2s only because the G-Forces are a bit stiff through the palm, nothing sweat can probably deal with though.
I have had sabres before so looking forward to the crazy flexible fingers is appealing. Yet the G2 awkward thumbs are a bit disappointing at this point. At the same time, I like the thumb of the G-forces now but the fingers need some work.
Updated Overall
As you could maybe see I did not like teh I-pros taht much. However, I did not hate them like you may think. They are still wonderful gloves, and right for someone. With no price difference between them and G-Forces, the G-Forces are definitely better in many way. Better fingers, better fit, better thumb, better palms.
If I was given the I-Pros to play with I would be happy with them. But knowing that I have two other better options in my posession leads me to sending these puppies back to lax.com.
Also, I have chosen the G-Forces as the overall winner. I ended up getting picky.
Winners in each category:
Thumb: G-Force - better positioned than Harrows
Fingers: G-Force - better rap-around protection
Backhand: Tie
Cuff System: G2s- stiff, protective and non-restrictive
Palm: G2s - So soft....
Lining: G-Forces- Aegis works in my snowboard boots, why not my gloves?
Fit of course played a big role, but I cannot tell you which one will fit YOU better.
Well this was fun to do.
Thumbed Images
http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/8274/dsc000015zy.th.jpg (http://img466.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000015zy.jpg)
http://img492.imageshack.us/img492/3640/dsc000024tc.th.jpg (http://img492.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000024tc.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4591/dsc000051gc.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000051gc.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5423/dsc000067uo.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000067uo.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3419/dsc000071zn.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000071zn.jpg)
http://img493.imageshack.us/img493/9436/dsc000086cm.th.jpg (http://img493.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000086cm.jpg)
Enjoy Suckas
I have been playing competitive lacrosse for about 7 years now. I have had Warrior Mercs, Warrior RPM Pros, Brine Gels, and Harrow Sabre Pros. The Mercs were boarderline not protective enough, while the RPMS were enough protection for that age level. The Brine Gels were really my first legitimate pair of gloves in my opinions. Multi-joint fingers and VERY protective. The palms sucked though, baggy and got crusty fast. Also the only palms I have had tear. The Sabre Pros I was given when I played for a travel team this past summer. THe gloves lacked a bit of protection in the fingers, but the palms were great. VERY thin so it was great feel, but they seemed strong. But I have never really had a glove that covers all aspects.
So, I ordered three pairs of gloves. I WILL get this right....hopefully. I ordered G-Forces from Laxmonkey (at laxdigest price), G2s from harrow, and I-Pros from lax.com.
As of now I have two of the gloves, G-Forces and G2s. To be honest I see these being the leading gloves at any point (yes a little biased). So Here it goes.....
I will look at the glove's protection, fit, and palms. I took value out because mostly I don't care the cost since it is which one works the best for me. That and they are all similar prices.
G-Forces
Protection: The gloves are known as low-profile, yet, that has no effect on the protection. The protection is top-notch. Because the gloves are tight, the protection locks onto each finger. The point finger and pinky finger both have rap around protection to decrease the sting when a check hits the side of one of those fingures. Despite not playing a game in any of this stuff, I feel like these will hold up well against any check.
Fit: TIGHT!!! Not sure how much I like this yet. For sure I feel like the stick is stuck to my hand, but it is a little strange. The fingers are almost TOO small, and to be honest I do not consider myself to have that big of hands. The thumbs on the other hand (no pun intended) seem a bit too big. I am sure the more they are played with the more roomy they will get in the rest of the hand (like any other glove)
Palms: The mesh on the palm it very strange in its orientation. The way it runs down the fingers feels strange on the hand. Yet the feel of the stick is pretty good. Good thing there is as much mesh as there is or your hand would be smoking while playing. The suede-ish material is not as soft as I expected, a little bit of a disapointment. (may get softer as played with)
Harrow G2
Protection: Sabre gloves have a spandex material between the pads and fingers. However, sabres had too much of this material. It caused the finger pads to slip and become useless. Harrow noticed this and decreased the amount of this material around the fingers. The result was positive for sure. The ouside fingers have the rap around protection like the G-forces but probably not as solid. But not bad enough to dock serious points. BAck, hand great, cuff great (more solid than sabre cuffs).
Fit: Not as loose as Sabres or Gels, but they are definitely looser than the G-Forces. The thumb is in a bit of an unnatural position (straight in repsect to hand which is strange.)
Palm: Same palm as on any other Harrow glove except the palmless gloves of course. I like the palm. No mesh, but very soft and thin. This doesn't mean slippery, they are as grippy as any other glove. (Who really wants gloves that don't slide a tiny bit though? Makes switching hands a little bit more of a pain if they don't slide a bit.)
I-Pro
Protection: The first thing I noticed when these came out of the mesh was the thin soft cuff (between wrist cuff and backhand protection). Will this lead to less protection? Doubtful, it just stuck out against the stiff non restrictive G-force and G2 cuffs. The padding is the typical plasic over padding. The padding on the fingers seems a little softer than the other two models. There is no rap-around finger protection. The moving wrist cuff is pointless, it does nothing the main cuff wouldn't do.
Fit: Strange feel, quite an unnatural shape. Typical gloves are slimmer near the wrist and sometimes near the fingers. THey are in fact slimmer around the wrist, but near the fingers the glove seems to almost spread your fingers out unnaturally. I think that is the strange feel I am getting. The joints on the fingers seem misplaced for me, and the thumb is a bit small in contrast to the G-forces large one.
Palm: THe tightness is between the G-Forces, and the G2s. THe palm is way too baggy, especially in the upper palm. This could have been due to the shape. The material other than the mesh is soft, but not as soft as the G2s. I would rather have the looser thin palms of the G2s than the slightly tighter thicker palms of teh I-Pros.
Overall Opinions
Out of the the gloves so far, to be honest I am not sure.
The Protection is just as good on each.
The fit is different on each but neither is bad.
The palms I lean a little to the G2s only because the G-Forces are a bit stiff through the palm, nothing sweat can probably deal with though.
I have had sabres before so looking forward to the crazy flexible fingers is appealing. Yet the G2 awkward thumbs are a bit disappointing at this point. At the same time, I like the thumb of the G-forces now but the fingers need some work.
Updated Overall
As you could maybe see I did not like teh I-pros taht much. However, I did not hate them like you may think. They are still wonderful gloves, and right for someone. With no price difference between them and G-Forces, the G-Forces are definitely better in many way. Better fingers, better fit, better thumb, better palms.
If I was given the I-Pros to play with I would be happy with them. But knowing that I have two other better options in my posession leads me to sending these puppies back to lax.com.
Also, I have chosen the G-Forces as the overall winner. I ended up getting picky.
Winners in each category:
Thumb: G-Force - better positioned than Harrows
Fingers: G-Force - better rap-around protection
Backhand: Tie
Cuff System: G2s- stiff, protective and non-restrictive
Palm: G2s - So soft....
Lining: G-Forces- Aegis works in my snowboard boots, why not my gloves?
Fit of course played a big role, but I cannot tell you which one will fit YOU better.
Well this was fun to do.
Thumbed Images
http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/8274/dsc000015zy.th.jpg (http://img466.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000015zy.jpg)
http://img492.imageshack.us/img492/3640/dsc000024tc.th.jpg (http://img492.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000024tc.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4591/dsc000051gc.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000051gc.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5423/dsc000067uo.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000067uo.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3419/dsc000071zn.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000071zn.jpg)
http://img493.imageshack.us/img493/9436/dsc000086cm.th.jpg (http://img493.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc000086cm.jpg)
Enjoy Suckas