Executive Summary: This is a brief review because I’ve had a lot of time with the Curry One and these perform nearly as well with a more durable upper and slightly better cushioning.

I really wasn’t going to even bother picking these up but I tried them on at Dick’s and thought they felt better underfoot than the Curry One. People will pass on these since they are a take down model but that’s too bad for the uninformed because these are pretty good especially if you liked the Curry 1.

Here is my Curry One Review:

Curry One

Pros: traction, slightly improved cushioning, fit, stability, containment

Cons: old style synthetic upper looks plasticky, cushioning on the Curry 6 is still better

Sizing: true to size, same as Curry One

Buying advice: wait for sales or clearance stores $69 and under

Weight:

About the same as the Curry One.

Traction
Exactly the same as the Curry One. Great on clean floors but needs wiping on dirtier floors. These are about as low as I will go in terms of dirty floor traction performance. Anything worse than this and I don’t even bother.

If you’ve ever played in the Clutchfit Drive one or two, these play the same way.

Cushioning

I know they look like they are exactly the same set up but the Lightning 3 feels better to me than the Curry One. Even without this non descript sock liner (not even Ortholite) the cushioning has a little more give to it than the Curry One.

As Weartesters’ Duke0405’s interview with Dombrow stated, there is always a mix of Micro G and Charged and it changes from shoe to shoe. To me, these feel better than the Curry One Low which had an Ortholite sockliner rather than a Micro G sockliner in the Mid. It feels like a mix between the Curry One and Two cushioning.

I didn’t really like the cushioning of the Curry One because I felt it didn’t give much bounce and felt much harder than the Clutchfit Drive. The cushioning on the Lightning 3 is slightly better especially in the heel.

Materials

Obviously this is the biggest difference between the Curry One and Lightning 3 but surprisingly it doesn’t make a huge difference. I thought the upper would play super stiff since the upper looks like shiny plastic but it doesn’t have the cheap crunchy feel I expected. UA did a nice job eliminating the stiffness and weight by removing some of the synthetic and using straps instead.

There are some weird flexing spots but it didn’t affect the fit since the strap system holds the foot down in those areas.

It doesn’t conform to the foot all over like Anafoam but this upper is perfectly acceptable to me.
Fit

Exactly the same sizing as the air jordan 34 which is true to size size 11 for me
The materials do not conform to your foot like Anafoam but they don’t need to with the strap/wings in place.

There is no movement at all side to side or front to back. Even the deadspace in the toe box of Curry One has disappeared.

There is no dogbone or contours in the ankle collar like the Curry One but I didn’t even notice their absence as my foot was locked in perfectly. You can see the nice padding of the tongue as well.

Well done UA!
Support and stability

Support is about same as the Curry One, maybe a little better since the upper is slightly stiffer. The external heel clip looks short but there is an internal one as well

Also has the same plastic midfoot shank as well.

Stability is excellent just like the Curry One. It features an outrigger in the forefoot as well and easily passes my heel test.

Containment

Straps and synthetic ? Yes please

Containment is excellent on the Lightning 3.

Well done UA!

Conclusion

Want to play outdoors in the Curry One? Well here is your shoe. No need to worry about Anafoam ripping or tearing. You don’t even have to worry about depreciating a highly sought after collectible. If someone asked what you’re rocking, just say it’s the Veteran’s Day Curry One or S.Curry One (S is for Seth).

As with all take down models, these will go on sale soon and then hit Marshall’s, Ross etc. for $34.99 by next year but if you’re really itching for a Curry One like shoe, the Lightning 3 will do the job.