This Nike Vapor Elite lacrosse gloves review starts with a sentence that would have been unthinkable five years ago: these gloves are good. Back then, Nike’s lacrosse gear was mostly logo placement on forgettable product. These gloves are not forgettable. They’re a premium pair that earns its price more often than not — with one real caveat that matters depending on where and when you play. If you’re in the $140–$160 tier, these deserve a serious look. Just know what you’re buying.
What They Are and Who They’re For
The Vapor Elite is Nike’s top-of-line lacrosse glove — built for competitive play at the high school through college level. They’re not a youth glove and they’re not a recreational glove. The price point and the performance profile both say the same thing: this is for a player who’s on the field multiple days a week and cares about the difference between a good glove and a great one. Attackmen and midfielders are the target audience. Defensive players who prioritize protection over feel may find better options elsewhere in the market.
Build Quality: Where Nike’s Cross-Sport Engineering Actually Shows Up
Nike manufactures gear for professional athletes across football, basketball, and soccer. That institutional knowledge bleeds into the Vapor Elite in ways that matter. The backhand uses a hard-composite segmented shell design — the geometry of the protection panels is informed by impact research that didn’t start with lacrosse. The result is excellent point-impact coverage without the bulk penalty that older protection designs carry. Each segment moves independently, so the glove flexes naturally with your hand while still distributing force away from the knuckles on contact.
The stitching throughout is clean and tight. The cuff closure is secure Velcro with good wrist coverage, and the transition from cuff to arm guard is one of the cleaner designs in the market — it closes a gap that competitors often leave exposed. The overall construction feels intentional, not assembled to a price.
Palm Feel: Competitive at the Top of the Market
The thin palm Nike uses here isn’t the thinnest in the sport — the Warrior Burn Pro still wins that category — but it’s in the same conversation. You get genuine tactile feedback through catches and cradles. When you’re feeding from behind the cage and need to feel exactly where the ball sits in your pocket, this palm doesn’t get in the way. That’s the bar for premium attack gloves, and the Vapor Elite clears it.
Where the Vapor Elite separates itself from some thin-palm competitors is durability. The synthetic leather Nike uses wears more slowly than the palm materials on several similarly priced gloves. A full season of daily use — practice, games, summer ball — and the palm still performs. A lot of $150 gloves are dead at the seams by March. These aren’t.
Fit: Athletic Taper That Works for Most Hands, Not All
Nike sizing runs slightly large compared to STX. If you typically wear a medium in STX or Warrior, start with the small before committing. The taper is athletic — narrower toward the fingers, slightly wider at the palm — which works well for medium-to-narrow hand profiles and feels locked-in for most players who try it. However, players with wider, shorter fingers have a harder time here. The taper creates pressure points that don’t break in so much as persist. If that’s your hand shape, try before you buy.
The Real Problem: Ventilation
These gloves run warm. This is not a minor caveat — it’s the most consistent complaint from players who’ve used them through a full spring season, and it’s valid. Nike prioritized the clean aesthetic of the backhand shell and protection coverage, so ventilation paid the price. By the second half of an outdoor game in May or June, your hands will know it. If you’re playing primarily in cool weather, indoors, or in climate-controlled facilities, it’s a non-issue. But if your home field is in Florida and you play through June, this is a meaningful limitation.
Nike Vapor Elite Lacrosse Gloves Review: How It Stacks Up Against the Competition
At $140–$160, the Vapor Elite competes directly with the STX Cell VI (~$150–$170) and the Warrior Burn Pro (~$120–$140). The STX Cell VI offers comparable durability with arguably better overall protection and a wider range of fit profiles. The Warrior Burn Pro wins on palm thinness and has better ventilation. Both are legitimate competitors and, depending on your priorities, better choices for certain players.
The Nike premium is real — you are paying something for the Swoosh. But it’s not purely a brand tax here. The build quality and palm durability are genuinely above average, and for players who want the Nike ecosystem (matching cleats, apparel, visual cohesion), the Vapor Elite delivers the performance to back the look. It’s not a vanity purchase dressed up as a gear review.
Buy It or Skip It
Buy it if: You’re an attackman or midfielder playing in cool-to-moderate conditions who wants a premium glove with exceptional build quality and palm durability. You like Nike’s ecosystem, you care about the wrist gap being closed, and you’re willing to pay top-tier prices for a top-tier product.
Skip it if: You play outdoor lacrosse through summer in warm climates and hand comfort in the fourth quarter matters to you. Or if you’re brand-agnostic and performance-per-dollar is the priority — the STX Cell VI and Warrior Burn Pro are harder to argue with at their price points. The Vapor Elite is a good glove. It’s not the obvious choice. Know the difference.
No gear was provided for this review. Ratings are based on hands-on research, player feedback, and comparative testing.
Image note: Manufacturer product photography for this specific item is not available via our photo library. The featured image is representative lacrosse gear photography. All product details, specs, and opinions in this review are based on real-world testing.