Mini True 590 (L12.2) Glove review and ongoing Small hands/90 Degree glove discussion

[IpaddyTECH]

(edited because I originally believed this glove to be a 580 based on the seller's description)

Hello all! This is my first review/thread here on thegoalnet, I'm re-emerging on the online world of goalie forums after being a somewhat engaging member on the old Goalie Store bulletin board when I was a teen. Took some time off hockey and glad to be back at it in my early 30's here again. Mostly I play beer league, C and B levels. Thanks for reading and cheers!

 

Today I'm giving a mini review of a pro stock (Carr) True L12.2 590 break (60 degree) glove with practice palm (not my top choice). I'm calling it a mini review because I have decided to return it, and won't be able to review its' in-game or post break-in performance. But I hope my thoughts are still helpful to those debating the 590, or those with small hands like myself. For knowledge and quantification sake, the base of my palm to tip of middle finger measurement is 7 inches exactly. I think that technically qualifies as a senior small size. The trouble with my hands is they are not particularly beefy hands either, meaning grip strength is probably not off the charts, despite training forearms and hands directly. Keep all that in mind as you read my thoughts on the glove.

Enough monologuing, onto the glove!

 

As expected, the True Canadian build quality is phenomenal, with not a stitch out of place. It is beautiful to hold, look at, and even smell (gotta love jenpro). I could easily see this glove lasting years of regular play if maintained well. Do not hesitate to get this glove for any reasons there. I knew the practice palm would be stiff, and I also knew there was a strong likelihood of having to return the glove. Another struggle is I live in a less populated area, so while there is still some hockey, there are no goalie gear shops nearby. So anyway, yes this thing is stiffer than a (insert dirty middle school boy joke here), and I could not actually close the glove fully without help from my other hand. No surprises or complaints here, but just info. I'm sure with breaking it in properly, it would be a firm yet functional closure with bullet proof protection. Because I'm not frequently facing minor league slap shots, I'm going to be only looking for game-ready breaks from now on. My goal is to find a glove so easy to close that I don't think about it while playing. That I believe is the gold standard of equipment that fits and plays well. 

Onto the feel of the glove. My theory for wanting to get the 580 glove was to get that supposed "fingers only" closure you hear about. I was hoping that by eliminating the weak single finger of the thumb, I would instead be able to harness to full strength of my other fingers and forearm muscles to close the glove against the palm alone, instead of against the thumb. Well, after some handy detective work of other members here, I realized this is indeed not a 580, but the 590. With the 590, obviously the thumb was still a limiting factor, but I could feel a strong finger driven aspect. I realize I could be happy with a 590 and could make it work in a less beefy glove. The thumb actually angles forward at nearly 45 degrees so it was very comfortable and about %40-50 responsible for the closure by my feel. It did have a fingertips to thumb closure, but it was surprisingly not as flat and baseball mitt feeling as I would have expected from descriptions of the 590 break.

Here are some pics of what the hand position felt like to me, notice "can in my hand shape", and the forward angle of the thumb from the side (nearly 45 degrees). 

 

 

 

(Leaving this next line in from my first supposed 580 review just for a laugh: "My conclusion from trying on just this one single 580 break glove is that the 90 angle isn't as radically different from a 60 degree break as you might think." Haha yes Paddy, this is because it is in fact a 60 degree break. I guess that old saying applies here, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck... back to the review now.)

So here is the biggest problem I think I face, and maybe other small handed individuals face. There's only so far your hand can fit into the glove before the space between finger and thumb is stopped by the glove itself, thus anchoring the hand and limiting the reach of the fingers into the glove. This True 590 glove definitely has the "curved palm" rather than the pancake flat palm closure. It feels like holding and squeezing a can (like a can of vegetables, not a soda can). honestly it's a nice feel and creates a beautiful seal of the glove when closed, but it does lessen my strength to close it ; it's simply physics. The shortest distance between two points is always a straight line, and with my fingers not reaching as far into the glove (because of having to take this curved approach) I have less power and torque in closing the glove. While I appreciate the curved feel, I'm realizing if I want the strongest and snapiest closure possible, I might be a pancake glove guy. Does anyone think I'm way off or missing something here? Any pancake glove fanatics feeling very validated right now?

The rest of the glove is really amazing. The strapping is nothing radically innovative, but doesn't need to be, it's completely effective. Easy to open up to air out. Here's a big win, even with my small hands I was able to crank the straps down hard and tight with room to spare, so it's very adjustable. I love the soft gray nash which goes all through the inside of the glove wherever your hand touches. It's comfy, pretty grippy, and it seems thicker like it would absorb sweat well to insure grip through a game, and it seems durable. The pocket is decently deep and the T is super thick and strong yet closes perfectly. Open enough cuff to not get in the way and the glove presents really well. Thanks for reading again!

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by IpaddyTECH

[coopaloop1234]

12 minutes ago, IpaddyTECH said:

hat's another thing that surprised me, is even though it's a much more vertically shaped glove, I didn't feel like it would hinder those far reaching lateral saves, because as you reach the natural angle of the glove begins to tip outward (where you are reaching). So it again, isn't all that different from a 60 degree presentation in my mind. Am I crazy? Anyone think I may have gotten a 590 by mistake? Thanks for reading again!

My first instinct was confusion since that looks like a 590 glove to me. 

I wasn't sure if it was just the single T or not, but the lack of the pocket "folding" over when closed is a bit of a give away. 

[chile57]

@IpaddyTECH welcome (back) to the (newest version of the old) board and back to keeping and its online world and thanks for the in depth review that is surely to be helpful to folks.

Edited July 27, 2023 by chile57

[IpaddyTECH]

5 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

My first instinct was confusion since that looks like a 590 glove to me. 

I wasn't sure if it was just the single T or not, but the lack of the pocket "folding" over when closed is a bit of a give away. 

Yeah that might explain a lot, if there is a consensus on that, then I'll rename this review is a 590 review/ 580 degree fantasy, haha. To be fair, the listing said 580 closure, not 580 closure, not break. But it also said that about the other 590 closure gloves. I should have called and asked. But no worries, I wanted to feel it for myself. 

[ZeroGravitas]

I'm pretty certain that's the 590. I'm not a Lefevre guru like others who can tell just by the lacing, but it lacks the characteristic fold as pointed out by @coopaloop1234, part of which is because the tee should be anchored more to the right (when looking at it head on), and not in-line with the vertical lace.

[ZeroGravitas]

Pics of a single tee True 580, single tee Vapor 90 (kinda irrelevant here) and a double tee CCM 580. Note the location of the tee and where it meets the palm.

Edited July 27, 2023 by ZeroGravitas

[coopaloop1234]

2 minutes ago, ZeroGravitas said:

Pics of a single tee True 580, single tee Vapor 90 (kinda irrelevant here) and a double tee CCM 580. Note the location of the tee and where it meets the palm.

It's also missing that typical flatter bottom that most of the 580 gloves have as evident in your pics. 

I'm like 90% sure it's a 590 but I'm not a Lefebrve guy either. 

[IpaddyTECH]

It's also lacking a certain tag that most Lefevre gloves have... Uh oh, I think we have a time of death on my 580 fantasy. I'll edit it 

[ZeroGravitas]

3 minutes ago, IpaddyTECH said:

It's also lacking a certain tag that most Lefevre gloves have... Uh oh, I think we have a time of death on my 580 fantasy. I'll edit it 

FWIW, I think all of the True customs don't have that tag. I think it was only a thing during the last couple years of their time with CCM.

Off-the-shelf (overseas) retail has the break angle embroidered on it.

[IpaddyTECH]

1 minute ago, ZeroGravitas said:

FWIW, I think all of the True customs don't have that tag. I think it was only a thing during the last couple years of their time with CCM.

Off-the-shelf (overseas) retail has the break angle embroidered on it.

Dang, there is no limit to my lack of knowledge on these gloves. Curse of being a small town goalie in a low hockey area. I'm also realizing the closure is more of the typical thumb to finger tips. It's crazy what your expectations can do to warp reality. I'll be editing extensively to salvage the review.

[IpaddyTECH]

Okay it's properly updated and accurate now. Wow can't believe I missed that.

Anyone want to chime in on my pancake glove physics? I'm still liking the idea of a 90 degree break, but not a curved palm. Would the Bauer Vapor 90 fit the bill for me? 

[chile57]

@IpaddyTECH regarding your pancake argument - I definitely prefer a rounder shaped mitt (and also have not large hands as a 5' - 5"-ish individual) as opposed to the more baseball-y mitts. I'll throw out a suggestion - try to see if you can get your hands on/in a set of Warrior gloves. I've had no issues with mine. Was able to open close and scoop flat pucks off the ice from day one. Don't sleep on Warrior gloves (unless you are a hardcore Lefebvre junkie). Very snappy closure in my opinion.

Edited July 28, 2023 by chile57

[Teezle]

As someone else who's hand size is on the borderline between senior and intermediate for gloves (7" wrist to middle finger tip), I prefer the 90 degree break. I think it closes easier because you don't need to get your thumb involved in trying to close the glove; instead of squeezing your thumb and fingers together (which you don't have the hand length/grip to make work), the base of your thumb is braced against the internals of the glove and you just curl your fingers to your palm to close it. Similar to me how the playing the puck with the overhand "Turco" grip gets you more leverage than trying to stick underhanded.

[IpaddyTECH]

On 7/27/2023 at 12:40 PM, Teezle said:

As someone else who's hand size is on the borderline between senior and intermediate for gloves (7" wrist to middle finger tip), I prefer the 90 degree break. I think it closes easier because you don't need to get your thumb involved in trying to close the glove; instead of squeezing your thumb and fingers together (which you don't have the hand length/grip to make work), the base of your thumb is braced against the internals of the glove and you just curl your fingers to your palm to close it. Similar to me how the playing the puck with the overhand "Turco" grip gets you more leverage than trying to stick underhanded.

Thank you so much for saying that! That has been my theory for a long time now but no one has really confirmed it until now. What glove do you use? Have you tried the Vapor 90?

On 7/27/2023 at 11:25 AM, chile57 said:

@IpaddyTECH regarding your pancake argument - I definitely prefer a rounder shaped mitt (and also have not large hands as a 5' - 5"-ish individual) as opposed to the more baseball-y mitts. I'll throw out a suggestion - try to see if you can get your hands on/in a set of Warrior gloves. I've had no issues with mine. Was able to open close and scoop flat pucks off the ice from day one. Don't sleep on Warrior gloves (unless you are a hardcore Lefebrve junkie). Very snappy closure in my opinion.

I have been reading that the newer Warrior gloves are very easy to shut and still protective. The G 6.1 is now on top of my list of another glove to try, since it apparently is leaning in the direction of a 90 degree glove. Haha no not a lefebvre junkie. Had a fair amount of Reebok gear back in the day, even wore some P2's 33+2, but moved on from all of it. I'm mostly warrior and vaughn, with a little crush developing on Bauer lately. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by IpaddyTECH

[coopaloop1234]

1 hour ago, IpaddyTECH said:

I have been reading that the newer Warrior gloves are very easy to shut and still protective. The G 6.1 is now on top of my list of another glove to try, since it apparently is leaning in the direction of a 90 degree glove. Haha no not a lefebvre junkie. Had a fair amount of Reebok gear back in the day, even wore some P2's 33+2, but moved on from all of it. I'm mostly warrier and vaughn, with a little crush developing on Bauer lately. 

Warrior gloves have been fantastic since I started using them with the GT 1. I can see why some people don't like them, but I do think they are the most "advanced" glove out there. 

[Teezle]

On 7/28/2023 at 10:27 AM, IpaddyTECH said:

Thank you so much for saying that! That has been my theory for a long time now but no one has really confirmed it until now. What glove do you use? Have you tried the Vapor 90?

I have been reading that the newer Warrior gloves are very easy to shut and still protective. The G 6.1 is now on top of my list of another glove to try, since it apparently is leaning in the direction of a 90 degree glove. Haha no not a lefebvre junkie. Had a fair amount of Reebok gear back in the day, even wore some P2's 33+2, but moved on from all of it. I'm mostly warrier and vaughn, with a little crush developing on Bauer lately. 

I'm currently using a Axis2 591 break, which I've broken in to close with the fingers-to-palm closure. It doesn't have the full overlap T closure of a 580, but it works for me. I do have a Vapor90 on order; I'd have gotten it already, but Bauer messed up my set order and has to make the whole thing again

[IpaddyTECH]

Oh dang, well please let us know how you like that 90 when you get it. Bummer about Bauer messing it up. I can't imagine the let down after waiting weeks, just to have to send it back again. 

[Teezle]

17 hours ago, IpaddyTECH said:

Oh dang, well please let us know how you like that 90 when you get it. Bummer about Bauer messing it up. I can't imagine the let down after waiting weeks, just to have to send it back again. 

Fortunately the retailer caught it before it was sent to me (Bauer only made the glove, and not the glove that was ordered...so I suspect there was some submission error on the retailer side as well), but I should get it in early October and they threw in some free sticks for the screw-up. I'll definitely report back on the Vapor90 when I have it to use.