I am very perplexed. I positively love the Nokona Gloves and so do both my sons. My youngest is still playing with the same glove he had as a freshman in high school [he is now a freshman in college] and he is ready to start breaking in another one. My oldest son still plays softball and wants to find a good large size Nokona glove he can use.

My problem is that I am finding it VERY DIFFICULT in fact MUCH TOO DIFFICULT to obtain the right size glove with the characteristics each son wants for himself. All the "big volume" glove warehouse type internet sites only have gloves for left-handed throwers in stock. The local stores only have gloves in the bigger sizes [youngest son is a middle infielder and needs a glove 11.50" or less]. I contacted the Nokona site itself and they said there had been a fire last year that destroyed their factory and they are up and running in a new factory but are behind. They said it would take 6 to 8 weeks to just catch up with back orders.

Assuming the people I spoke with at Nokona are overly optimiistic, is there anyone out there who is having similar problems? Is there another glove company that has the quality of the Nokona gloves with the light leathers that they are so famous for? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TW344

I collect gloves, which includes a few Nokona models...as far as middle infield sizes and a good quality glove with great playability, I suggest the SSK............or wait..

you have a PM

If you want the best, wait! 6-8 weeks is worth it, IMO.

nokona are available now

My son ordered a custom-made Nokona glove from the factory in late-June of 2006 and the lady at the factory told him it would be ready to ship within a month or so. Later in July 2006, he was asked to be a guest player with a team that was playing a tournament in Wichita Falls. He called Nokona to see if the glove could be ready on July 14th and he could pick it up at the factory. The lady at Nokona told him she would push his order to the front of the line and that he could tour the factory and watch the workers make his glove if he got there by noon on Friday the 14th.

After a whole lot of begging, I took the day off and drove him to Nokona to pick up the glove the day before he had to be in Wichita Falls. We got there, toured the factory and watched them finish and shape the glove he ordered. It was really neat seeing all of the people, some of whom were second generation glove makers, using antique looking equipment, make all of those gloves by hand. Some of the old timers had worked there for over 40 years. They had a room full of old gloves that were made in the 30's and 40's, old footballs, leather football helmets, all kinds of historic stuff.

Anyway, we picked the glove up on Friday, July 14th and the factory burned to the ground on Tuesday, July 18th. It was well worth taking the day off from work to see and purchase a piece of history, plus, my son would have never forgiven me for not taking him to Nokona if his glove had burned up in the fire!

My son got his first Nokona glove from his uncle when he was 9 and won't use anything else. We are lucky enough to live close enough that we can drive up to the factory to get a new one when he needs it. The people at the company are great and will go out of their way to help you. We went up there this past December while he was on Christmas break and the factory was closed but the outlet store was open. When they didn't have the glove he wanted in the store they went out into the factory and found what he wanted. He now has a Nokona infield glove to go along with his Nokona First baseman's mitt and catcher's mitt. They even relaced and reconditioned his original glove. He and I both would choose a Nokona glove over any other.

Nokona's are great.
I also recommend Kelley for a good durable glove.
Nothing like a Rawling's though.
If you don't mind the price.
Louisville Slugger also.
EH

My son got his first Nokona glove for Christmas. We bought it on Ebay. So far he loves it. I will say it does look small for the size. It's a 12" glove but I didn't believe it until I got the tape measure out because it looks like it's 10"!