Today i decided to finally go, and do a full review and comparison, of the gloves i've used this past 8 months. First, let me tell you about myself, I started playing around the age of 15. I started out as a forward and then switch to goalie around the age of 16. I play mostly Inline hockey, only ice for my high school team. Once i graduated high school i quit playing for about 5 years due to college and just started up around the end of last year(2007). I went to a Harrisburg Lunatics tryout for PIHA and got the backup position on the Pro team. I was so surprised because i myself, did not think i did that well at the tryout. Anyways, i knew i had to get new gear. I went with a full set of ******* UL4. My previous pads were Heaton's and Franklin pro gloves. I loved everything about the set, but lets go on with the review of the gloves. I believe, finding a the right glove is one of the hardest things to do. I loved my old franklin and switching to this new pancake style was a tough thing for me.
UltraLight4
When i first took this puppy out of the box, i thought it was the sweetest thing i've every seen. It was so light and the balance on my hand was unbelievable. The only thing i couldn't get use to was the break it had. Maybe it's my hand, maybe it's just me, but i couldn't get use to this thing. Out of all three gloves i've used this one the most. I just kept on trying to tell myself that i can use this glove. Also, i got this glove with the laced webbing, Mark convinced me, seeing that he didn't charge me anything for it, so i went with it. I think, it's one of the greatest things ever, plus it looks much nicer than that of the usual string webbing. Like i stated earlier, the glove is so light. I just had to get use to the smaller NHL sizing. At first it was a bit hard, but i got use to it. I guess the speed makes up for the size. I love how everything that hit the pocket, just never came out, this is my biggest love for this glove. The only real thing i don't like about it, was the break and a few stinger's i've gotten from it. I even got a stinger so bad, my index finger swelled up for a day. Maybe, it was just bad luck and bad timing. I still love the glove, but i still complain about it till this day.
Craftsmanship: 9.5 out of 10 (due to one of the lace rings popping out)
Performance: 9.5 out of 10
Durability: 9 out of 10 (same as craftsmanship)
Weight: 10 out of 10
Protection: 8.5 out of 10
Break-in period: very little time, it was perfect in about 2 weeks
RBK Premier 1 Pro 05 model
This was a late christmas gift, due to how i was complaining so much about my glove not feeling right. When i saw this, i was so pumped, because everyone i know was using RBK and I couldn't wait to try it out. The first time i tried it out, was actually on ice, at my high school alumni vs. varsity game. I love the break it had, it still wasn't like my old franklin, but it was much closer to that of the Franklin. It was a little bit heavier than the UL4 but it was much bigger, since it was not NHL spec. I've use this glove the 2nd most out of all three. I used it for about half the games during the season and practices. The glove was a little harder to break in, than the UL4. Took about a month for me to break it in to were it is now. At first i had many pop outs, due to not being about to close it all the way. This also due to the break in period. Once the glove broke it, it was absolutely perfect. The balance was good and i've only had a few stingers, but nothing to that of the UL4. I believe this glove will probably be my choice as of now out of the three.
Craftsmanship: 10 out of 10
Performance: 9.5 out of 10
Durability: 9.5 out of 10
Weight: 9 out of 10
Protection: 9 out of 10
Break-in Period: About a month or so, depending on how much you play
Mission Helium Pro
This glove was purchased about 2 weeks ago, after surfing the web and seeing this baby on HockeyGiant for 90 bucks. I said oh heck, why not, the price was so nice, why not try it out. Now, when i first looked at this, i thought to myself, this thing looks much different than that of the other two. But the scary thing was, it was very similar to that of my old Franklin. Once i placed my hand into this baby, it was just like my franklin. I haven't used this glove that much, and it hasn't even come close to being broken it. But one thing i can say is, this thing is huge, i can put my head into the pocket. Craftsmanship looks ok, but i still don't think durability on this will be that great. This is the only made in china glove of the three. I've only used it once and didn't have too much usage of it, because everything was trying to go five hole on me. Of course they failed hee hee. This was all made out of weave material, not like the other two. Looks alright, but i rather have all jenpro than this weave stuff. I'll touch up later on this glove once I've tried it out a little bit more, later in the post.
Craftsmanship: 9/10
Performance: TBD
Durability: TBD
Protection: TBD
Weight: 9/10 same as RBK
Break-in Period: TBD
Conclusion: Out of all three gloves, i love the RBK the most. However, the Mission has a better break in my opinion than the others. It has a potential of being my favorite glove. I would love to one day get my RBK laced, to help with pop outs. I've seen the video on YouTube about it, but still thinking about doing it myself. For anyone out there that are having pop out problems, lacing the webbing is the best thing in the world. I wish i could combine things and there from all three into one, to make the perfect glove, but that's only a dream. So for now RBK all the way, especially if i get the lacing done. Thanks for reading my long review and i hope it will become helpful to anyone out there looking for these gloves.
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