Play Test: Reusch Argos Deluxe G2 GK Gloves
This week it was time to take another trip to the training ground and while most players are doing laps of the pitch or hundreds of doggies to get fit for the season, the main aim of our visit was to test one of the latest gloves from Reusch, the Argos Deluxe G2.
As any goalkeeper will tell you, Reusch are renowned for making fantastic gloves and have been for the past 40 years. The brand are currently making gloves for some of the world's top goalkeepers such as Julio Cesar, Silvatore Sirigu and Christian Abbiati among others so we were obviously interested to see what the Argos Deluxe G2 had to offer.
The fit of the glove was impressive, it s a flat palm cut, which wouldn t normally be our first choice but the design of the palm which features ergonomic palm embossing made it a really comfortable fit. The wrist band has a wider full strap with textile which is designed to aid wrist support as well as provide additional comfort, and as with many top gloves nowadays it comes with the pull loop to aid putting the gloves on.
The backhand of the glove features the sg latex allover, which is the palm latex used on a lot of Reusch's mid range gloves. The backhand latex is thicker to provide a shockshield effect which is due to aid cushioning when punching the ball clear and the sg latex is there to improve the abrasive qualities when punching; this improves the power and accuracy of your punch.
The backhand also features pro flex and the full airvent system which was a real bonus given the heat in which we performed the playtest, cooling down the hands and helping wick sweat and moisture away. 
Once on we cracked on with some handling, we were immediately impressed with the G2 Ultrasoft palm which Reusch have patented as their top palm for all the current gloves and is designed to perform outstandingsly in all weather conditions. Several components have been added to the palm to aid the abrasive qualities and make it stronger, but the thing that really jumped out at us were the gripping qualities.
We did a lot of work on crossing and the palm was fantastic, offering total confidence in our handling. One of the main features on the palm is the ergonomic palm embossing which follows the natural curves on the palm of the hand just to make it a lot more flexible when clenching the fist or even making a grasping action to catch the ball.
We previously play tested the Orthotecs which had this same technology and it was a lot more necessary with the rigid bones they have but it still adds comfort and flexibility. The cut of the fingers is almost custom made for catching crosses as the expanded finger tips are designed around maximising the catching or contact area of hands to ball and we never really felt in any danger of dropping anything. #SafeHands. 
The palm of the glove also features Duraguard control - additional latex which runs along the bottom of the palm which is the most strained part of the palm when making a save at full stretch. The duraguard control is designed to protect the palm from abrasion and designed to work in an almost shovel like motion to aid handling when catching the ball.
The keep control feature is where extra latex wraps around the little finger which is negatively stitched and aimed at improving distribution. On the ortho tec we found this a little uncomfortable but it really worked on this glove . 
Summary: Another fantastic effort from Reusch and really everything that we appreciate in a top quality glove. The expanse finger tips really work and the shockshield advance technology on the backhand gives it a classy thick set look. We still can t quite get used to Reusch without the arrow but that would be the only thing that we'd want to change! 
The Reusch Argos Deluxe G2 GK gloves are available to order now at selected online stockists including Pro-Direct Soccer.
