Bauer Reactor 9000 Catcher Review

Reinventing Tradition

The release of the Reactor 9000 series brought about a complete revamp on the glove design when compared to the Reactor 6000.

For die-hard Bauer fans, the Reactor 9000 glove may look similar to one of Bauer’s most popular previous designs, the X:60, because it draws inspiration from this popular catcher from year's past.

Unlike the Reactor 6000, which was much more closer to a “baseball glove” style catcher, the Reactor 9000 uses a 60 degree break similar to that of a Reebok, and other “new school” catching gloves. Due to the break angle being very short and straight, the glove is awesome for puck handling as it is very easy to grip the stick.

Although the glove is almost completely foreign when compared to the 6000, it shares a familiar design component. It is a two piece cuff rather than a one piece. This provides additional mobility and flexibility to close the 7 hole under your arm more quickly. An improvement in puck retention was also a very big focus for Bauer with the 9000. It has a much deeper pocket and a solid single T design to make sure that pucks stay in when you want them in.

A feature that would be easy to overlook might just be the thing we like best about the 9000 catcher. Bauer has completely redesigned the way that the glove gets laced at the factory. A seam now runs directly down the middle of the palm. Having this seam where it is fixes a problem that we had with the Reactor 6000 trapper. Inconsistency. When assembling the 6000 trapper, although designed very well, it was possible not to line up the felt and padding correctly. The new seam in the 9000 means that every single glove has to be lined up exactly when assembled. This translates to gloves that feel identical out of the box, and alleviates the stress of wondering if you "got a good glove" when custom ordering a new catcher. And it's still made in Canada at the JRZ factory to ensure top notch quality.

Ax Suede Quattro material, which is very close to a traditional supple suede is used in the interior liner. This new material has some great performance benefits. Having a supple and grippy material in the catcher liner increases the feel and responsiveness with glove closure. Ax Suede Quattro is a material that dries out quickly, doesn't stink up easily and is extremely durable.

And finally, a really nice feature that's been added this year is the Poron XRD foam reinforced palm. Poron XRD provides great impact protection so stingers will be greatly reduced without making the glove more difficult to close. Plus, it has the added benefit of conforming to your fingers for added grip.

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