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Order Glovesmith Custom Glove

Bend Cut

Branded Break

Pattern Split

Triple Stitched Welt

Email Address:  info@usasportsdirect.com       Phone Number:  1-800-503-3343

  Vs. 
Glovesmith's Custom Elite and Custom Select Series are both professional quality gloves so, which is best for you?  The obvious difference between the gloves is the labels.  The Custom Elite boasts Metallic Gold labels and “Elite” is embroidered on the little finger; while the Custom Select has Glovesmith's traditional yellow gold labels.  Aside from the cosmetics the essential difference between the gloves is in the interior construction. 

Custom Select
Our Custom Select gloves are made with traditional glove making techniques.  Our larger competitors use these methods for their professional gloves costing upwards of $239.  Because of our micro cell production we are able to offer unmatched attention to detail.  You can be assured that each Custom Select will be constructed with genuine steerhide shells, deer tanned linings, and ¼” lacing in the webs & fingers tops.  We also use plastic reinforced pro felt padding, palm pads, and proprietary pocket grease.

Custom Elite
Because our Custom Elite’s are produced in such limited quantities we are able to bend cut the entire glove: the shell, the lining, and the lacing.  The bend area, which is the back section of the hide; is usually the thickest, cleanest, and has the most consistent fiber structure of a hide.  By contrast every other glove on the market uses the bend area for the palm of the glove.  The neck and shoulder areas are used for the webs because the leather is strong.  Unfortunately, the neck tends be wrinkled and scared; the weaving and stitching that most webs receive mask these imperfections.  The bellies are the least dense part of the hide these are usually used in backs and linings because the leather tends to be softer.

After the Custom Elite’s are cut they are then pattern split.  Splitting thins down the leather by slicing through the underside of the leather; generally glove backs are split to a uniform thickness.  With our Custom Elite’s we leave the stress areas, around web holes and finger tops, full thickness while thinning down the rest of the back of the glove.  We never split the palm of any glove.  Why not leave the back at full thickness?  Two reasons, first splitting the leather makes the gloves more workable which allows for better craftsmanship; second, splitting takes out unnecessary weight.  Why don’t others pattern split?  Splitting is done with a machine that takes no skill to operate.  Pattern splitting by contrast is still done by machine.  But, the machine must be set with much more precision than normal.  Also, the operator needs to be skilled and know the nuances of both the machine and the leather they are working with.

The Custom Elite’s back welt is triple stitched; this adds firmness to the glove.  Like all gloves our Custom Elite backs are welted together with a small piece of leather but unlike others we go another step and triple stitch them.  After the back pieces are welted together we then glue down our specialized reinforcing stabilizers over the welted seams and then sew these down.  These stabilizers increase the rigidity and enhance the overall durability of the glove.

Know what series you want? 
The most important decision when putting together a glove order is what type of leather you want.  Both the CR leather and the OT leather have benefits and drawbacks.  Often people will mix CR & OT leathers to attain a glove with their desired feel and performance characteristics.    

Recently OT or oil tanned leather has become the most popular ball glove leather.  The allure to this leather is the quick break-in period.  People want a short break-in period and the OT leather allows for this.  The main draw back with OT leather is that the gloves don’t hold their shape as well.  They don’t tear up, the leather is just as strong but because the leather is softer the whole glove will become floppy faster than a CR version.  Keeping laces tight can help reduce this problem.  Our OT leathers get lightly oiled and milled: this softens the leather and gives some hides a pebbled look.  Our OT leather still has body so expect a short break-in period.    

CR or Curried Retanned leather is firm and will require break-in.  The advantage to CR leather is that it holds its shape better.  Because the leather is firmer the CR leather gloves don’t become floppy as quickly as similar gloves constructed from OT leather.  The CR leather will soften up in the flex points while keeping the integrity of the glove.  At the tannery our CR Leather starts with a chrome tannage, then it goes through a secondary vegetable retan process to firm the leather and increase durability.  Finally, our CR leather is hand burnished with ultra lightweight oil.