Every once in a while I come across some of these goalkeeper glove brands and I think to myself how could someone who doesn’t know a thing about goalkeeping or what gloves should feature evaluate this glove. For the most part, these brands are selling lower priced options. This means that in most cases they are targeting precisely people without experience in the goalkeeping realm and luring them in with cheaper options. The T1TAN brand was not one that I was familiar with until I literally bought a pair of their gloves. What stood out to me was the fact that they were putting 100 dollar gloves out there. That’s a big swing for a brand that’s competing in a space with others that are much more well known.
The intention of this article though is not to talk about the way that the brand is pricing their gloves and to see if that’s a good marketing strategy or not. I wanted to see if these gloves could really compete quality-wise with some of the other options that are on the market. As is the case with all of the reviews that I ever do, we’re going to be talking about the technical aspects of the gloves and what you can expect to find if you stumble across a pair of these. Ultimately, what I wanted to figure was how they stacked up with some of the other options on the market within their price range!
T1TAN Gloves Are Made From Quality Materials
This was the first thing that I wanted to figure out and to me, it was pretty clear from the start. You can’t be coming out here with a glove that’s at a price point where only a few goalkeepers are going to get to. Then have the glove be made from materials that are going to be falling apart right from the start. There are a couple of things that I don’t love like some of the removable straps that they have on their gloves. That’s an issue that we could point to though with a lot of the removable materials that goalkeeper gloves feature. You need to make sure that you set it up the right way for it to be able to work.
Apart from that you know from the eye test that you’re looking at decent quality gloves across the board. When you put them on you also get some of the familiar feelings. That’s one of the things that I always caught myself doing with these gloves. Trying to compare them to something that I’ve used before. When I’m dealing with a brand that I’m not familiar with I always try to make a comp. Even if I’m just doing that on my own without publishing an article about it. With these T1TAN I got the sense that the materials and the designs on some of these gloves were similar to what you can find with Elite gloves. The main difference that I see is the mesh backhand that’s not made from neoprene like the Elite gloves that I usually wear.
There’s Not A Ton Of Variation Between The Glove Models & Cuts
One of the main things that worries me about these gloves is the lack of variation between the glove cuts and models that they offer. It’s not the worst thing in the world to know that you’re getting a decent glove regardless of the model that you choose. At the same time though, if you’re not looking for a bit of a hybrid model between the old and the new school ideas the whole brand may just not be for you. Like I said in the last paragraph though if you just look at it like a modern glove that still keeps some of the elements of old that can be positive then it’s a glove that you may like.
What I just said may sound a bit hypocritical because recently I praised a glove for the fact that it brings elements of the new and old school together. The main difference in this situation is that I’m talking about the whole brand of gloves and not just one model. I do think in that case there is some precedent with Rinat gloves on the site. Where, what I say I’m not a major fan of is their latex palms not going above and beyond for premium models. In this case, with all of the gloves almost sitting within the same price range I guess it’s ok that we don’t see a ton of variation between one glove and the next. If you like these types of models you’re likely going to enjoy this brand.
You Can Expect “Good Grip” From These Gloves?
Yes, and that’s exactly how I would describe the grip on these T1TAN gloves as, “good”. That’s again not something that I’m saying as a knock on these gloves. It’s actually the opposite because I think the fact that they don’t rely on being super sticky means that the grip that you do get is not going to fall off as hard as it typically does with gloves that are made to be extra sticky. A lot of times, particularly with gloves from some of these lesser known brands, what they do is rely on making their gloves extra sticky to be able to make good videos for social media that are going to lure goalkeepers into making the purchase.
What you’ll see are these gloves that they want to sell to you by sticking the post. 99.9% when you see gloves that are being advertised this way you can assume that either that grip is going to fall off fast or in the worst case scenario the video is fake. Even if the video is not fake they are using some type of substance to get the gloves extra sticky for the perfect marketing photo or video. In this particular case stickiness may not be the main attribute that you’ll get with these gloves. In my book though, they feature very decent traditional grip that can last for a while. That brings me very nicely onto my next point!
Be Proactive With Glove Care For Maximum Durability
Since these gloves have a large latex area that’s also going to contribute to better grip. If you have them at their best there are some shots that are going to hit your wrist and may stick there close to your body just because of the latex grip. Now, the big downside with gloves that feature similar glove cuts is that if you aren’t proactive with your glove care the grip is going to fall off after a couple of games. Especially if you allow them to dry out in the sun. That’s the last thing that you want to do with these gloves. The latex palms are going to get hard and even the mesh backhand area toughens up if it’s wet, and you let it dry out in the sun.
Another thing that can be considered being proactive and completely increasing the overall durability of these gloves is making sure that you wash them regularly. I’ve talked about how often you should wash gloves on the site many times before. It depends on where you regularly play and how much you play. With gloves like these that have a lot of latex you don’t want to leave dirt or rubber particles embedded in the glove too long. If you play on turf or dirt fields be sure to wash the gloves right after and allow them to dry in the shade. If you have back to back games just make sure that you wash them when you get a break to allow them to dry out accordingly.
Amazon Availability In Kid Sizes Is A Real Asset
Not all of the top brands that are known for selling goalkeeper gear necessarily sell their products on a marketplace like Amazon. Let me dive deeper into this. Yes, you’re going to be able to find Nike, Adidas, Uhlsport, Elite and all of the other brands selling a pair of goalkeeper gloves on Amazon. What a lot of these brands are selling within that marketplace though is a very limited selection to what they actually offer. Why do they do this? Well, it can come down to things like fees and the fact that a lot of these brands feel that their own sites are established enough to where they don’t need the larger marketplace.
What I’ve seen happen though because of this situation that I’m talking about is that parents who are just getting started with kid goalkeepers are going to end up buying sometimes middle of the pack to poor quality gloves. Just because that’s what they find available on Amazon. If I had to guess the bulk of the sales for these T1TAN goalkeeper gloves come from this platform. I know that they offer a ton of models and different sizes including kids ones directly on the platform. For a lot of people that makes shopping for goalkeeper gloves a lot easier. In that same sense I can understand why they’re priced at around the 100 dollar range. I feel that the competition within that range is steep. They may just have more options available than any other brand within the largest marketplace in the world.
T1TAN Soccer Goalie Gloves – Are They Worth It?
These gloves make a ton of sense as a purchase for some of these goalkeepers that are getting into the game and want to go get a middle of the pack good all around glove. The benefit that you’ll have is that they don’t change their models all that often. If you find one that you like you can really grow with the glove and the brand itself. They are a brand that’s producing gloves that can be both training and game gloves. That’s a bit of the edge that I may give them over some of the Rinat or even Renegade options that sit in a price range below that 100 dollar line.
What’s unique, at least in my assessment of these gloves, is that I probably will not go out of my way to get a pair of these gloves. If all of the gloves in that 100 dollar range were lined up on a table, and I could just take any pair, this is probably not the brand that I’m going to gravitate to. Saying that I would, is a major lie, and it’s not something that I’m a fan of doing on this site. That’s why I feel it’s super important to mention the fact that you’re not going to have to go out of your way to purchase these gloves. In fact, as an Amazon Prime user you could get some discounts and benefits. That’s the main reason why I think the brand makes sense at that price point.
