4 ms·

I had one my father passed to me. It was 20+ years old and worked fine. (Needed a few leather threads) I used it when I was 10 and before that, I had a cheap

I had one my father passed to me. It was 20+ years old and worked fine. (Needed a few leather threads) I used it when I was 10 and before that, I had a cheap glove. It wasn't gross. It was broken in, comfortable and much easier to use than a new glove. Also, a cheap glove doesn't last as long as you think.

JohnBooty 9y ago
Yeah those leather ties also go before anything else, haha. My experience is that if oiled (I like mink oil, though some say it's too heavy) any reasonable grade of leather glove, stored indoors, will last at least a decade of occasional use. My Ken Griffey Jr. glove (Wilson? Rawlings? I forget) has lived such a life. I think I bought for around $40 in 2001; I remember it being roughly one tier up from the cheapest glove you could buy. I've admittedly not played a ton of ball with it, but the leather's in great shape, no cracking anywhere... this thing might outlive me unless I get off my butt and join an old man's league every summer. Recently threw out some gloves I owned as a kid in the 80s. The leather was dry but not cracked; I was tempted to oil them just to see if they could be brought back to life. What's your experience been? Not saying you do this, but I think a lot of people store their gloves in their garages or some other place where they bake in the summer and freeze in the winter. That'll kill a glove for sure and while ultra-high-quality leather will surely survive this kind of treatment longer than cheap leather, it's no way to treat a glove of any kind. I'm sure that inexpensive gloves that see plenty of honest use (2, 3, 4+ practices or games a week) don't live forever either.
- Prefinem 9y ago
  I believe the cheap glove I first had as a kid was not even real leather. At least, it didn't feel like leather I was used to (Saddles, boots, horse tack, etc) but the cheap leather you find on well, anything cheap. Almost like a plastic. We had them for 3-4 seasons before they got stowed. When I stowed mine, the weave for the net between the first finger and thumb was coming undone and a few years later, the gloves were incredibly stiff and tore. We ended up pitching them (no longer played baseball and they were cheap) but when we did, I found my father's glove and it still worked (it was stored with the cheap ones). A little oil and it was back like new (or at least, new when I got it from him)

JohnBooty 9y ago

Yeah those leather ties also go before anything else, haha. My experience is that if oiled (I like mink oil, though some say it's too heavy) any reasonable grade of leather glove, stored indoors, will last at least a decade of occasional use. My Ken Griffey Jr. glove (Wilson? Rawlings? I forget) has lived such a life. I think I bought for around $40 in 2001; I remember it being roughly one tier up from the cheapest glove you could buy. I've admittedly not played a ton of ball with it, but the leather's in great shape, no cracking anywhere... this thing might outlive me unless I get off my butt and join an old man's league every summer. Recently threw out some gloves I owned as a kid in the 80s. The leather was dry but not cracked; I was tempted to oil them just to see if they could be brought back to life. What's your experience been? Not saying you do this, but I think a lot of people store their gloves in their garages or some other place where they bake in the summer and freeze in the winter. That'll kill a glove for sure and while ultra-high-quality leather will surely survive this kind of treatment longer than cheap leather, it's no way to treat a glove of any kind. I'm sure that inexpensive gloves that see plenty of honest use (2, 3, 4+ practices or games a week) don't live forever either.

Prefinem 9y ago
I believe the cheap glove I first had as a kid was not even real leather. At least, it didn't feel like leather I was used to (Saddles, boots, horse tack, etc) but the cheap leather you find on well, anything cheap. Almost like a plastic. We had them for 3-4 seasons before they got stowed. When I stowed mine, the weave for the net between the first finger and thumb was coming undone and a few years later, the gloves were incredibly stiff and tore. We ended up pitching them (no longer played baseball and they were cheap) but when we did, I found my father's glove and it still worked (it was stored with the cheap ones). A little oil and it was back like new (or at least, new when I got it from him)