XProTex Batting Gloves Review
The Raykr, Hammr, Dingr, and More
The folks at XProTex, a new batting glove company (as of early 2010), have been nice enough to allow me to test out 3 pairs of their gloves...the Raykr, Dingr, and the Hammr (yes, those spellings are correct :).
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Disclaimer: I was not paid to give this review. Any opinions I share here are strictly my own.
XProTex is a company that uses cutting edge technology and claims to push the boundaries of sports protection to prevent career ending injuryes sustained to the bones in the hand. I'll start by saying right up front, that these things are downright impressive and pretty neat. Between the packaging, the gloves, and promotional materials, I was impressed when I opened up the package they sent me. But let's get right down to it and focus on the gloves themselves, shall we?
The
signature feature of XProTex's products is something called Advanced
Impact Composite (A.I.C.) material. It is an "impact-absorbing
intelligent materal conceived through 30 months of development and
testing." Basically, this is what all that yellow stuff is on the
gloves. It's not plastic, but has more of a rubbery type of feel. The
claim is that this material can take the impact force of
a 100 mph fastball and make it feel like a 39 mph pitch, "thus,
drastically reducing the chance of a career changing injury."
Rakyr
The
Rakyr (pictured to the right) is the top of the line model and they
make them in both left and
right handed (pictured) batter options.
As you can see there is a lot of the A.I.C. padding on the wrist, upper hand, and the pinky fingers. The left hand glove has a strategically different pattern than the right hand, to protect against contact with the spots most commonly hit while at bat and at different sequences in the swing.
The part that is protected the most is the little ball-like bone that sticks out on the outside of our wrists. There are even speical "A.I.C. Inserts" that fit into a pocket inside the glove, and on the Rakyr this specific spot of the wrist is protected.
Here you can see one of the
A.I.C. inserts that is placed inside of the glove, and can be removed.
As I mentioned, they
are usually placed on the little ball-like bone at the outside of your
wrist.
Although the A.I.C. padding already exists on the exterior of the glove, the inserts provide added protection to the most injury prone locations, which is nice.
Aside from the fancy A.I.C. protection on the exterior of the gloves, I couldn't ignore the incredibly soft leather on the palm portion of the Raykr. They use "Pittards Quartz Digital" leather on the lining, which is supposed to resist moisture from rain or sweat, and dry without losing the soft feel. Since I have just received the gloves I cannot give testimony as to how these claims stack up, but will update as soon as I can.
They Raykr is the most expensive of the XProTex batting gloves coming in at $79.95 retail.
My Photos of the Raykr: (Click for larger view)
Hammr
The second model I've been
able to test out is the Hammr.
Unlike the Raykr, this model is designed the same for left and right
handed batters so both the left and right glove have the same pattern.
It also however has the A.I.C. inserts in the same location as the
Raykr to prevent injury to the same wrist bone.
From the picture you can see that is carries a little bit less A.I.C. coverage than the Raykr, but still in the most strategic injury-prone locations.
It also uses a different kind of leather than the Raykr...the "Pittards AROMRTAN." This leather is supposed to be very resistant to abrasion, while still carrying the moisture resistant characteristics of the Quartz Digital.
The Hammr is a mid-range model and runs at $49.95 retail.
My Photos of the Hammr (Click for larger view)
Dingr
The Dingr is one of the
lower-end models, but also consists of
A.I.C. coverage on the wrist bones. As you can see it is doesn't have
as much coverage on the outer portion of the hands.
It does have an A.I.C. insert underneath the outer protection to protect the outer portion of the wrist. It does not use the Pittard's Leather, but rather premium goatskin.
It is the most affordable of the three models with the Dingr running right at $34.95 for adults, and $24.95 for youth models.
My Photos of the Dingr (Click for larger version)
Other Models
Although I've only had the pleasure of testing out three of the models, XProTex also offers several other models of gloves, and is looking to expand their product line into elbow guards, shin guards, and even heart guards and skull caps.
Strictly speaking of their gloves, next in line is the LYTE. The LYTE is just a standard batting glove without A.I.C. protection, but is said to protect the hand from blisters. There is also the REAKTR, which is designed to be worn underneath a fielding glove, protecting from hands from bad hops and bruises. The STRYKR is designed to be worn by catchers, and has A.I.C. padding on the back of the hand to prevent backswing injury, and on the inside of the wrist to protect from balls in the dirt that bounce up and hit the hand or wrist. Finally, there is the SLYDR. You guessed it. It's a baserunning glove to prevent injury from hyperextending the thumbs and fingers while sliding into a base.
Rewards and Recognition
XProTex may be new, but there is a lot of buzz circulating around the baseball world at this time about these products. First of all, they achieved the award of "2010 Winner Best of Show" at the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Convention in Dallas. They also received a nice write-up in Collegiate Baseball magazine. I also stay up to date of what is happening on the web and it seems that every day a different news source is writing articles based on the XProTex products, even U.S.A. Today. As far as major league ballplayers go, Bengie Molina and Omir Santos of the Giants are planning on endorsing the products for the 2010 season.
My Thoughts
The technology behind the A.I.C. material is what makes these products so valuable in my opinion. Granted I have not taken a 100 mph heater off of the hands just to test out the quality of this material, and I can't say I want to :) But I take their word for it, based on their convincing literature and effort put into the design of their product.
As far as the feel of the gloves go, I would have to say that they don't feel all that much different than traditional batting gloves, with maybe a tad bit more bulkiness where all the A.I.C. material is. The leather is incredibly soft on the Raykr and the Hammr, with the Dingr being a little bit more on the rigid side.
All in all, the gloves are put together very well, and you can tell a lot of effort (and money) has been put into their products. I give the XProTex batting gloves a big thumbs up. I give them kudos for not only designing a very high quality product, but also leading the way and pioneering the prevention of career threatening/ending injuries to our hands and wrists.
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I chose the XProTex Dingr because it offers sufficient mobility of the wrist while offering protection. I love how comfortable it feels; the glove is light ...
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