Nokona Gloves

[pgibbons]

Does anyone have any opinions on Nokona gloves? I'm specifically interested in the Buffalo leather. I like a stiff glove, so I'm wondering if the buffalo leather will hold its shape over a full season?

Thanks in advance.

[ElCaminoSS]

i like the quality of the gloves bud for infield i feel their kinda heavy

[RottenGazebo]

i like the quality of the gloves bud for infield i feel their kinda heavyOh yeah? I'm gonna poop on y'all!

[pgibbons]

Errr, I don't understand how poop became a part of the conversation, but whatever.

Back to Nokona gloves. A local shop had a Kangaroo glove. I have to admit, I didn't like it, it was kind of "floppy". If you like a glove that feels broken-in, you'll probably love it. I like a stiffer glove. Maybe Nokona's Walnut leather is better? From the Nokona web-site it looks like the Walnut is not oil-treated. Anyone have any information on the Walnut leather?

[ElCaminoSS]

Oh yeah? I'm gonna poop on y'all!
Did I miss something?

[ElCaminoSS]

and why was I quoted in that stupid post?

[RottenGazebo]

and why was I quoted in that stupid post?Well, allow me to explain. Nokona sounds Japanese to me. Since baseball is the American past time, I am discouraged to see players using foreign gloves.

[ElCaminoSS]

THEY ARE AN AMERICAN COMPANY, MADE IN AMERICA!!!!! God how can you be so ignorant.

[ElCaminoSS]

Im pretty sure they are the only ones still made in America, please do a little researchbefore you just throw out stuff like that.

[ElCaminoSS]

Well, allow me to explain. Nokona sounds Japanese to me. Since baseball is the American past time, I am discouraged to see players using foreign gloves.
And how does this give you an excuse to say youll defecate on me, If you dont stop this soon someone may report you to the commisioner

[YankeesCatcher]

Like I said earlier...Unanimously hated by the entire population :eek:

[riverhawk]

I used Wilson's growing up and swore I'd never change. Then when I got to college, a teamate of mine had a Nokona and I loved it. My last two gloves have been Nakona's and I don't plan on ever buying another brand.
(Of course I'm a pitcher and my glove was never as important to me as it would be to say a shortstop.)

[pgibbons]

ElCaminoSS is correct, I know of no other glove manufacturer that still makes their gloves in the United States, except Nokona. They've been making the gloves in Nocona Texas since the 1930's. That dedication to keeping their workface in the United States, in the face of globalization, is why I am so interested in buying one of their gloves. That and because they appear to be high-quality gloves.

Of course if their gloves are no good, I don't care where they make them. But from everything I've read, their gloves look to be very high-quality. If I do buy a Nokona, I'll give everyone my honest opinion about it.

[ElCaminoSS]

can someone tell him to not steal my avatar

[RottenGazebo]

And how does this give you an excuse to say youll defecate on me, If you dont stop this soon someone may report you to the commisioner
Yes, I know they are American made. But they are probably made by a Japanese company.

[ElCaminoSS]

Wrong again, again please do some research, they are an american company that have their gloves made on nocona, texas. This is really getting annoying

[pgibbons]

For TigerFan84:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-02-22/cols_daytrips.html

[ElCaminoSS]

:clapping :clapping :clapping Exactly :clapping :clapping :clapping Good research pgibbons

[RottenGazebo]

For TigerFan84:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-02-22/cols_daytrips.htmlok thanks alot

[hellborn]

[QUOTE=pgibbons]Does anyone have any opinions on Nokona gloves? I'm specifically interested in the Buffalo leather. I like a stiff glove, so I'm wondering if the buffalo leather will hold its shape over a full season?
QUOTE]
I've only known one player in recent years with a Nokona, and he had
a kangaroo infielder's glove (played SS). It was extremely loose and my
friend thought that it was the best glove he'd ever owned, by far.
I knew another guy many years ago with a Nokona 1B mitt and he dearly loved it, don't know what kind of leather it was.
I thought that I lost my softball outfielder's glove earlier this year and had an AMG650K (kangaroo) picked out to replace it, but then I found the old glove. I kind of wish I hadn't....

[pgibbons]

Thanks everyone for the input. I finally bought a Nokona. I got it in Walnut leather and it's hard as a rock (the way I like them). I spoke to someone at the Nokona factory and they told me Walnut was the stiffest leather they make gloves out of and it's not oil treated.

I did try the Kangaroo and it was nice if you like a squishy, easy to break in glove. I prefer the stiffer leathers.

[ElCaminoSS]

Ive never heard of walnut leather before

[pgibbons]

Walnut is just what Nokona calls their medium brown colored, non-oil-treated top grain cowhide.

More info at this site:
http://www.nokona.com/leathers.html

[Yankeesfan1234]

how are you liking it so far gibbons

[pgibbons]

After a season of really hard play, I'll give a full detailed report about the glove. I can't give a recommendation until then.

But my initial impressions are this... I love it. The thing is hard as a rock. I've played wall-ball with it two days in a row now (200+ throws per session) and it feels great. The leather has a really great durable feel to it. The shape of it is perfect for an old middle-infielder like myself. The color, the smell, everything about it is exactly what you want in a glove.

But like I said, it will take a full season before I can say whether I'd buy another one or be able to recommend it to anyone else.

Also, at $123.00 it was cheaper than the Rawlings HOTH glove I considered buying.

Here are a couple pictures of it. The one with my hand in it is just after I got it. I squeezed it as hard as I could and that's as far as I could get it closed. Either Nokona's Walnut leather is very stiff or I'm a weakling:D

http://www.corporatedrones.com/images/NokonaAMG1050.jpg
http://www.corporatedrones.com/images/NokonaSqueeze.jpg

[ElCaminoSS]

Looks really nice, good luck with the break in

[Yankeesfan1234]

what is the size of your glove gibbons

[ElCaminoSS]

Its probably an 11.5

[pgibbons]

It's a 10.5. I play 2nd base (or at least I used to) and I like a small glove with a shallow pocket.

10.5 sounds really small, but here's a picture of my 10.5" Nokona next to my 11.5" Rawlings Pro-209SC HOTH glove. You can see the difference in length between the two gloves is not drastic. You can also see the Nokona has a much more shallow pocket. It's much less clumsy when trying to transfer the ball using the Nokona vs. the Rawlings.

http://www.corporatedrones.com/images/RawlingsNokona.jpg

[Yankeesfan1234]

nice thats what i was hoping because i was looking through the nokona gloves when you metioned them and the 10.5 really poped out and i was wondering if it was just me who liked that model

[lionel51]

Hey bro.. its been bout a month. Know its too short for an honest assessment but how's the glove holding up? I love stiff gloves too.. Also, where did you get the glove from? thanks and hope you're having fun with it!

[hiddengem]

I've never once seen a Nokona glove used in college or pro ball. They are a very heavy glove from my experience. Doesn't mean they are bad gloves, just not used in the pro arena.

[BuzzBaseball]

From what I understand Nokona doesn't give away their gloves to college programs or pro's or pay anyone to use them.

[hiddengem]

From what I understand Nokona doesn't give away their gloves to college programs or pro's or pay anyone to use them.

Not all of us get paid to use somebody's glove. Often times with younger players the agent is the one buying it for them.

[BuzzBaseball]

If Nokona was giving gloves away or willing to pay for pro's to use them you would see Nokona's right along with Rawlings, Wilson and so on...They're just as good.

[hiddengem]

If Nokona was giving gloves away or willing to pay for pro's to use them you would see Nokona's right along with Rawlings, Wilson and so on...They're just as good.

I suppose, but as a player you can order whatever glove you want through you agent, even Nokona. If they are truely just as good, I'm puzzled as to why I've never even seen one. And if Nokona was truely interested in selling gloves they would fight like heck to have pro guys use them, wouldn't you think?

[BuzzBaseball]

I suppose, but as a player you can order whatever glove you want through you agent, even Nokona. If they are truely just as good, I'm puzzled as to why I've never even seen one. And if Nokona was truely interested in selling gloves they would fight like heck to have pro guys use them, wouldn't you think?

Agent's get incentives.

Nokona's are just as good, probably better than Rawlings and Wilson and the rest of the very heavily marketed gloves and they're made in the US. Nokona is very interested in selling gloves and sell a lot of gloves they do. They're just not interested in giving them away, paying players to use them, providing incentives to third parties to have players use them or spending millions on advertising.

[wogdoggy]

sonny,listen to gem on this one,they are heavy and are shaped weird especially the fielders glove.Although the catchers gloves seem to be pretty nice .
If a pro REALLY liked them they would use them.common sense.

[BuzzBaseball]

sonny,listen to gem on this one,they are heavy and are shaped weird especially the fielders glove.Although the catchers gloves seem to be pretty nice .
If a pro REALLY liked them they would use them.common sense.


Nokona's are just as good, probably better. If Nokona gave them away and paid players to use them you would see them. Players will use what they and/or their agents are given incentives to use as will college programs. Common business sense sonny:laugh Your business naiveté is glaring.

[wogdoggy]

you shouldnt get buzzed and talk about baseball.lol..ask gem if HE REALLY LIKED nokona gloves would he use them on the field? Do you think gem can afford the 100 bucks for a nokona

[hiddengem]

Nokona's are just as good, probably better. If Nokona gave them away and paid players to use them you would see them. Players will use what they and/or their agents are given incentives to use as will college programs. Common business sense sonny:laugh Your business naiveté is glaring.

I'm trying to be as nice an courteous as I can to you on this one..trust me.;) First off, agents don't have incentives, and I as a player of 8 professional yrs will use WHATEVER glove I want to use, not what my agent wants me to use because he gets incentives. And if I call my agent to get me a glove, he has to PAY for that glove, its not given to him.

I have played catch with a few Nokona gloves and the only way I would use one is if it were the last thing available and I had to use it by default.

The reason colleges don't use them, is because 1. they aren't good enough, and 2. colleges are interested in "head to toe" deals. Like Easton, or Lousiville, where they can supply them with there bats, batting gloves, fielders gloves, bags, ect.

I called my agent today just to get his reaction to Nokona gloves. His response was that in the 15ys he's been an agent, he's never heard of them. That should tell you something.

[wogdoggy]

gotta wonder about a glove company who makes deer gloves buffalo gloves ostrich gloves and moose gloves.lol

[BuzzBaseball]

I'm trying to be as nice an courteous as I can to you on this one..trust me.;) First off, agents don't have incentives, and I as a player of 8 professional yrs will use WHATEVER glove I want to use, not what my agent wants me to use because he gets incentives. And if I call my agent to get me a glove, he has to PAY for that glove, its not given to him.

I have played catch with a few Nokona gloves and the only way I would use one is if it were the last thing available and I had to use it by default.

The reason colleges don't use them, is because 1. they aren't good enough, and 2. colleges are interested in "head to toe" deals. Like Easton, or Lousiville, where they can supply them with there bats, batting gloves, fielders gloves, bags, ect.

I called my agent today just to get his reaction to Nokona gloves. His response was that in the 15ys he's been an agent, he's never heard of them. That should tell you something.

Agent's don't go shopping for gloves, they "recommend" a player use whatever brand is "good" to them. Like I said before, Nokona does not spend millions on advertising or paying for endorsements so it is not that surprising that your agent has not heard of them. There are thousands of agents and they all have not heard of every manufacturer of sporting goods especially a small company like Nokona that is not in their face. Just because your agent (anybody can be one, there are ads on XM radio for how to classes on becoming an agent) has never heard of them doesn't make them a lesser glove.

It's common knowledge that colleges love head to toe deals, Nokona makes gloves, that's all, so a head to toe deal from Nokona is unlikely. Not all colleges get head to toe deals, most don't. Rawlings, Wilson, Mizuno make great gloves for the masses, that's why they advertise so heavily and pay for endorsements....they gotta sell tons of those imported (Mexico, Korea, China, Taiwan) gloves. They have trained the public very well.

Congratulations on your 8 yr pro baseball career.

You don't have to be nice gem...let it all go if you feel you must.

[hiddengem]

Agent's don't go shopping for gloves, they "recommend" a player use whatever brand is "good" to them. Like I said before, Nokona does not spend millions on advertising or paying for endorsements so it is not that surprising that your agent has not heard of them. There are thousands of agents and they all have not heard of every manufacturer of sporting goods especially a small company like Nokona that is not in their face. Just because your agent (anybody can be one, there are ads on XM radio for how to classes on becoming an agent) has never heard of them doesn't make them a lesser glove.

It's common knowledge that colleges love head to toe deals, Nokona makes gloves, that's all, so a head to toe deal from Nokona is unlikely. Not all colleges get head to toe deals, most don't. Rawlings, Wilson, Mizuno make great gloves for the masses, that's why they advertise so heavily and pay for endorsements....they gotta sell tons of those imported (Mexico, Korea, China, Taiwan) gloves. They have trained the public very well.

Congratulations on your 8 yr pro baseball career.

You don't have to be nice gem...let it all go if you feel you must.

Well I think if you were as up to date on these gloves as you think you are, you would have known that Todd Walker is an endorser for Nokona. Most likely paid, but when I played against him this year I'm quite positive he wasn't using one.

Also, how do you know that agents "recommend" a glove to their players? In all the years I've played this has never happened to me or any players I know. All that every happens is an agent recommend's a glove to a player because the company is going to give them free gloves on top of cash/merchandise money. To my knowledge its not because the agent is getting something out of it.

Heck..if you like the glove and can catch the ball with it, use it. I don't like the shape of their gloves, the weight or the way they feel on my hand. My personal preference for a long time was ZETT. You can no longer get quality ZETT in the states, only in Japan, so I use Rawlings.

[Razor]

Buzz, A pro player will wear the glove he wants to wear, swing the bat he wants to swing and wear the shoes he wants on his feet and if the agent does not like it, the player will just get a new agent. If pro players wanted to use Nokona gloves, they would, but they don't.

[pgibbons]

lionel51, to answer your questions, the glove is holding up, but... it's not perfect. Out of 6 different gloves I own, I do like it the best, but there are a couple of things that can be improved. I ordered it from a website called betterbaseball.com

Hey, I'm an amateur... at best. I'll give my opinion about gloves, but I defer to professionals like hiddengems if you want to know which glove the pros prefer or will help you best at that level.

Some people have mentioned Nokona's are heavy. Mine doesn't feel heavy to me, but I took my 10.5" Nokona(which is more like 11") and my 11.5" Rawlings to have them weighed at the mail-room where I work (they have accurate scales there). The Nokona was 2 ounces lighter than the Rawlings. Unfortunately, because I'm senile, I can't remember what the total weight was for either of them. Doh! I can get them weighed again though, if anyone wants to know the true weight of each glove.

Somewhat related to the discussion above, legendary Rawlings glove designer Bob Clevenhagen had this to say in the following Forbes magazine article: "Curiously, despite the fact that some 400 major leaguers make $1 million or more annually and hardly need a glove deal's pocket change, many have signed with companies that clearly produce lower-quality gloves. "You'd be amazed," Clevenhagen says, "at the number of multimillionaires who use $30 gloves."
http://www.forbes.com/fyi/2001/0305/084.html

You can read more about Bob Clevenhagen and the baseball glove business here:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/0405/03glove.html

Last, I have made a personal committment that I will NOT wear a glove made anywhere but the United States. For the most part, that choice limits me to only the glove manufacturers that professional players don't use.

[hiddengem]

lionel51, to answer your questions, the glove is holding up, but... it's not perfect. Out of 6 different gloves I own, I do like it the best, but there are a couple of things that can be improved. I ordered it from a website called betterbaseball.com

Hey, I'm an amateur... at best. I'll give my opinion about gloves, but I defer to professionals like hiddengems if you want to know which glove the pros prefer or will help you best at that level.

Some people have mentioned Nokona's are heavy. Mine doesn't feel heavy to me, but I took my 10.5" Nokona(which is more like 11") and my 11.5" Rawlings to have them weighed at the mail-room where I work (they have accurate scales there). The Nokona was 2 ounces lighter than the Rawlings. Unfortunately, because I'm senile, I can't remember what the total weight was for either of them. Doh! I can get them weighed again though, if anyone wants to know the true weight of each glove.

Somewhat related to the discussion above, legendary Rawlings glove designer Bob Clevenhagen had this to say in the following Forbes magazine article: "Curiously, despite the fact that some 400 major leaguers make $1 million or more annually and hardly need a glove deal's pocket change, many have signed with companies that clearly produce lower-quality gloves. "You'd be amazed," Clevenhagen says, "at the number of multimillionaires who use $30 gloves."
http://www.forbes.com/fyi/2001/0305/084.html

You can read more about Bob Clevenhagen and the baseball glove business here:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/0405/03glove.html

Last, I have made a personal committment that I will NOT wear a glove made anywhere but the United States. For the most part, that choice limits me to only the glove manufacturers that professional players don't use.


Good stuff bro..thanks. Like I said earlier I used to use ZETT and it was my favorite glove of all the gloves I've used. I've gone so far as to have a japanese agent that I know try and get in touch with them to make me a glove. No luck so far:( Now I'm using Adam Kenedy's Model Rawlings. Pro-AK2 11 3/4. and a 12 for Third.

[lionel51]

Glad you're loving it pgibbons! Whats the exact model of your glove? The proseries one?

hiddengem, i appreciate your comments bout nokona gloves.. in what way are they of weird shapes? What kinda leather was the nokona glove you used made of? I love zett gloves too.. the japanese and taiwanese have some very very good local brands like zett, ssk, hatakeyama and twin towers.. i've seen em myself and they are awesome!

From years of playing softball and baseball and seeing quite a few gloves, i find that in general, american brands mae gloves that are less stiff and easy to break in. They have really good cushioning though. Jap/taiwanese gloves on the other hand have generally stiffer gloves though cushioning may vary.

I wonder if there are any brands that you guys know of that manufacture gloves that retain the shape and stiffness(by this i mean other than the being easy to close, the rest of the glove is rather hard..)

[hiddengem]

Glad you're loving it pgibbons! Whats the exact model of your glove? The proseries one?

hiddengem, i appreciate your comments bout nokona gloves.. in what way are they of weird shapes? What kinda leather was the nokona glove you used made of? I love zett gloves too.. the japanese and taiwanese have some very very good local brands like zett, ssk, hatakeyama and twin towers.. i've seen em myself and they are awesome!

From years of playing softball and baseball and seeing quite a few gloves, i find that in general, american brands mae gloves that are less stiff and easy to break in. They have really good cushioning though. Jap/taiwanese gloves on the other hand have generally stiffer gloves though cushioning may vary.

I wonder if there are any brands that you guys know of that manufacture gloves that retain the shape and stiffness(by this i mean other than the being easy to close, the rest of the glove is rather hard..)

I don't know what kind of leather. It just seemed bulky to me. Rawlings tend to hold their shape well, and are a harder glove.

[lionel51]

I don't know what kind of leather. It just seemed bulky to me. Rawlings tend to hold their shape well, and are a harder glove.

Really? The pro series? Gotta check em out.. any others you know of that are stiff even after breaking em in?

[hiddengem]

Really? The pro series? Gotta check em out.. any others you know of that are stiff even after breaking em in?

Either Heart of the Hide or the Kip leather is good with Rawlings. Louisville is hard glove by nature as well.

[hellborn]

I've never once seen a Nokona glove used in college or pro ball. They are a very heavy glove from my experience. Doesn't mean they are bad gloves, just not used in the pro arena.

You know, I didn't think anything of it at the time, but the Nokona glove I was eying last fall was quite heavy. Everything else being equal, that can't be a good thing in a glove.
I found my old LS OF glove before I bought the Nokona, anyway, but I'm going to watch this carefully if I ever do go glove shopping again.

[pgibbons]

OK, I once again weighed my Nokona AMG 1050 10.5" glove and my Rawlings PRO-209SC HOTH 11.5" glove (both pictures are found earlier in the thread) and wrote down the results so I wouldn't forget this time.

The Nokona weighs 19.2 ounces
The Rawlings weighs 22.4 ounces

A difference of 3.2 ounces. Even though the Nokona is smaller and should weigh less, there is actually not a huge difference in size between the two gloves, believe it or not (again, see pictures earlier in thread).

Other Nokona gloves are probably heavier than mine - especially the oil-treated ones. I went back and forth with the folks at Nokona trying to learn about their different leathers (you can contact them here (http://www.nokona.com/contact.html), they respond within 24 hours). Walnut is their stiffest leather followed by Outback. Avoid the oil-treated leathers if you want a lighter - stiffer glove. Walnut and Outback are not oil-treated.


The positive - the Nokona is a ground ball machine. The shallow pocket of the Nokona really helps with the transfer. The glove has also held its shape very well.

The negative - the Nokona is just too loose. The thing never feels stable on my hand - it's too roomy. I have to wear a batting glove on my glove hand to keep the glove from moving around on my hand. I'm not a fan of wearing a batting glove under my glove - I feel like I lose some of the 'feel'. You would think a small glove like this would have a tighter feel to it, but it doesn't.

I have a bunch of pictures which illustrate the points above that I've been meaning to update my web-site with, but have been too busy lately to get to it.

For now, the Nokona (and a batting glove) will be my gamer. But my search for the perfect glove continues. As soon as this guy (http://www.carpentertrade.com) offers a smaller glove with a more shallow pocket, I'm going to have him make a custom glove for me. Hopefully my search will end there.

[hellborn]

OK, I once again weighed my Nokona AMG 1050 10.5" glove and my Rawlings PRO-209SC HOTH 11.5" glove (both pictures are found earlier in the thread) and wrote down the results so I wouldn't forget this time.

The Nokona weighs 19.2 ounces
The Rawlings weighs 22.4 ounces
...


The glove I was looking at (AMG650K??) was kangaroo...maybe that's a heavier leather? It was very loose already, which I like, so maybe it had also been oiled.
I'll still have my eye on that glove, but I'm going to think more carefully about the weight if I do thinking about buying it.

[pgibbons]

I tried their Kangaroo leather, didn't like it. The kangaroo is actually one of the lightest weight leathers, and the glove I tried did feel light - but it was too loose and squishy for me, didn't seem like it would hold its shape very well. Not holding its shape is an issue with Kangaroo, so Nokona often combines it with cowhide which they call BUCKAROO - Walnut Cowhide Palm/Kangaroo back (kangaroo for light weight, cowhide for shape retention).

Here is a page with information on their different leathers.
http://www.nokona.com/leathers.html

[hellborn]

Here is a page with information on their different leathers.
http://www.nokona.com/leathers.html

Thanks for the link...Nokona sure is good about providing lots of info on their website.
The things that I liked best about the Nokona I was looking at, other than the overall quality of construction, were the soft leather and the "roundness" of the pocket. I would use this for 12" softball, so I wanted a big pocket without having a huge overall glove. This glove seemed to have a pocket similar to the LS glove that I thought I had lost.
For an OF glove, I like to have a little bit of "sloppy" feel to the pocket...seems to help the ball stay in the glove after catching a fly, rather than clanging off. For a baseball infielder's glove, I look for a much stiffer construction and smaller pocket. My A2000-INF glove I picked up years ago has these, but that nice piece of leather has been sorrowfully underused in the past 10 years...played OF and C when I was in baseball leagues, and that glove is just not the thing at all for softball.

[chd66]

I know I'm late to the party, but Akadema (made in China, based in New Jersey) are stiff, retain their shape, and feel great.