Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves Review – Are They A Good Buy?

Rinat gloves are a decent option across the board in most cases for a very simple fact. They may not be gloves that are going to go above and beyond what you’re expecting. What they are usually are goalkeeper gloves with a very high floor. What I mean by that is, virtually any gloves from this brand that you can pick up are going to be serviceable. Pretty much none of the gloves that they make are unwearable. Maybe besides the very cheap kids gloves that they sell in super markets in Mexico. These Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves are one of the newest models that the brand is currently carrying. Should you look into these gloves as your potential game or practice gloves? That’s exactly what I’m going to try and help you decipher. 

There are a couple of key points that I want to highlight beforehand. That may mean that I’m giving a couple of spoilers away, but I’d rather give you a good sense of where I’m leaning from the start. Ultimately I think Rinat is doing a brilliant job in pricing these gloves at their current going rate. Which is about 60 dollars. In many of the other reviews that I’ve done what doesn’t allow me to go all-in and recommend the gloves is the price tag. The price tag changes everything. You can have a decent glove that you can wear for practice and games, but if you’re paying 200 dollars for those gloves you don’t want “decent” you want above and beyond. This is what I’m going to be wrestling with when it comes to the Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves. 

Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves – The Grip

When these gloves are new the grip is generally very good. You just need to make sure that you get them damp enough to essentially activate the grip. This is something that a lot of glove manufacturers recommend. I have an article on that if you want to look deeper into why you need to keep the gloves damp to get better grip. In any case, grip levels do tend to fall off as you continue to use the glove. With these particular gloves you want to be very active when it comes to glove care. Grip levels can fall off drastically if you allow the glove to remain dusty, or you don’t give it at least a quick clean after a couple of sessions on turf fields. 

I like the look of the purple palm area for sure. The problem that I have though with the colored latex on many of these gloves is that you don’t get a real sense for when the glove is dirty. This happens more with black palm gloves than with this purple color. What you don’t want though is for dust particles to settle into the glove. When that happens you’ll start to notice that you’re losing grip, but the glove may not have necessarily ripped. If that’s the case what you need to do is give it a good wash. Grip is good when new, and you can maintain it for a couple of months if you’re active when it comes to glove care.  

You Get A Ton of Mobility

Many goalkeepers are looking for finger mobility in their gloves. This is why you may hear some goalkeepers say that they like to “feel” the ball. It’s essentially a delicate balance that you want to have between feeling the ball and having it hurt every single time that you make a save to a hard shot. I would make the argument that these gloves are going to be better suited for goalkeepers that have strong hands. In a sense they are a better fit for goalkeepers that have a higher experience level. If you wanted to start out wearing Rinat gloves, which is not a bad idea, I wouldn’t start with these. 

The reason why you get a ton of finger mobility with these gloves is because they are a thinner glove. Also, the materials that the gloves are made from certainly help enhance that mobility that I’ve been talking about. Although I just mentioned that I would necessarily recommend these gloves as the starter pack. I also get a sense that they are kind of in the middle of the pack. What I mean by that, is they are thin gloves that are going to provide a ton of finger mobility. They are not necessarily gloves that are too thin to the point where it’s really going to hurt you to make a save on a hard incoming shot. So that opens them up to be a viable option for up-and-coming goalkeepers that maybe aren’t “experts”. Yet, they’ve been doing this for a while.         

Durability Can Be Hit or Miss

I’m always afraid to bestow a sense of maximum durability with Rinat gloves. What I always say is that they’ll essentially deteriorate at the rate that you’re willing to take care of them. If you’re willing to make sure they’re always damp when you wear them, and then you dry them out in the shade and clean them thoroughly about once a week you can get to that 6 month threshold. If you’re using them once a week, and you care for them a ton then you can go way beyond those 6 months. When you use them daily though, the equation is going to change completely. I’ve worn Rinat gloves for years on a daily basis, and if you stuff them in your bag until the next training session they’re not going to last long. 

When I decided to completely disregard the well being of my Rinat gloves and use them daily they would wear out in about a month. With this in mind I could understand if someone told me that they felt these gloves weren’t durable. Then have another person come up to me and say that they’ve had their gloves for a year, and they still have some trend left on the tires. At their price point I think that if they last 3 months with still decent grip and daily use that’s good durability. I know that 3 months doesn’t scream durability. All that I would say to that is, welcome to goalkeeper gloves. You’ll end up buying a ton of them if you stick around long enough.       

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Best Ways To Make Sure These Gloves Last Longer

You’re going to want to make sure that you remove the gloves from your bag once you’re down using them and allow them to dry in the shade. You want to do this after every single use. Like I just said one of the ways to ensure that these gloves won’t last more than a month is to use them every day and just stuff them in your bag after every use. Cleaning them once a week thoroughly is a good measure. If you don’t use them daily then maybe you don’t want to be cleaning them so often. Just make sure that you do allow them to dry in the shade after every single use. 

If you want to make sure that these gloves are going to have sticky grip, Glove Glu is your best bet like I always say. At this point it’s one of the only things out there that’s going to allow you to keep gloves sticky and revert some of the original stickiness. This is not just something that’s true about these Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves. This is something that could apply to all of the gloves that you can find. Like I mentioned, three months may not seem like a lot. When you’re talking about gloves that you use on a daily basis though it’s not such a bad deal.   

A Middle Cost Glove That Can Be Your Game Glove

I would not be surprised if someone came up to me and told me that they used these Rinat Meta GK alpha gloves as their game glove. In fact, it doesn’t matter what level of competition you’re facing. You don’t necessarily need to wear a glove that’s overly expensive for games. There’s an argument to be made that most of the gloves that cost more than 100 dollars are going to be better than the ones under 100 dollars. It’s not a cardinal rule though that you’re going to be obligated to follow at any point. If you can find gloves like these that cost under 100 dollars and can serve as your all purpose gloves you’re in a great spot. 

What I see happen to many goalkeepers that play with more expensive gloves is that they try to extend the lifespan of their gloves at all costs. I understand that, if replacing the gloves is going to set you back 150 dollars you want to make sure that you can get your money’s worth. Before you decide to put your gloves in the trash. At the same time you could be putting yourself at a disadvantage playing with older gloves. When your game gloves cost 60 dollars like these ones you’re going to be more open to making the change once you feel the gloves that you have are finished. For me the price tag on these Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves is certainly a big advantage.      

What Type of Goalkeeper Can Benefit Most From Wearing Rinat Meta GK Alpha Goalkeeper Gloves?

There are two types of goalkeepers that I envision getting a ton out of this glove. That doesn’t mean that if you don’t feel that you fall into any of these categories you can’t wear these gloves. In any case, for me these gloves are great as practice gloves for goalkeepers that train every single day. Ideally, you’ll have game gloves that are similar to these Rinat gloves. If you really like these gloves than they can certainly double up as your game option. The price tag makes it, so you can buy two pairs at the price that you’d get for one pair of gloves that can be very equal to these in quality. 

I’m not saying that these gloves are the best quality that you’re ever going to find. It is going to be hard to find though gloves that are worth 60 dollars more than these gloves in quality. Even though in that 120 dollar range you’re going to find a ton of options. Goalkeepers who are trying to make that switch to modern gloves can find in these Rinat Meta GK Alpha goalkeeper gloves a great stepping stone glove. When you move to a thinner glove that may offer a bit less protection than what you’re used to wearing. Again having the option to make that switch without having to break the bank is one of the biggest upsides to these particular gloves.    

For those of you who do want to make the purchase I would really appreciate it if you used one of my links. It helps out the page a ton so that I can keep adding gloves to my collection and making these reviews!