Hockey Gear Whoring Thread and Reviews

[m3thods]

I'm at work now, but here's the best picture I could find:



As for the attachment area- each knee lift has 4 eyelets that tie in to a strip attached to the pad with 4 eyelets.

[BallPeenHammer2]

ahhh...I see. Easy fix, bro.

I'll look around the next time I'm there in terms of the knee block.

[m3thods]

^It's all good man. I was so wow'd by the service and communication with Denon from Kneestax that I ordered a pair. Should be in within the week. Ended up with a 2in block, with .05in in HD foam at the bottom for stiffness, and 1.5in in LD45 for the rest. I'll leave one of my LD45 knee lifts to make the total thickness 2.5in and go from there. I'll take your advice and velcro it in so I can take it off in a pinch (or add some more!)

I figured buying from Denon would be the same if not cheaper than buying brand name. I hope they turn out great so I can spread the word lol. Nice to support the local guys.

[m3thods]

So I got my Kneestax today. Put them into my V2s last night. Ordered a custom set (4 eyelets, just like my outgoing lifts), 2", LD45/HD80 mix.

Initial thoughts:

• Excellent price. $24 for most, $30 for custom
• Craftsmanship is good, but obviously amateur. It's made of foam (custom would mean that you can choose what combination of foam to use) encased in a material not unlike that found on marine inflatable boats (not the cheap kind, but the ones that run with a motor in the back). If looks matter, pay more for Sara at PAW's work. Her stuff looks as professional as any OEM.
• Fastening used looks to be a sort of epoxy. Looks pretty secure. Only time will tell whether it holds up over multiple seasons.
• Fit-wise: it's almost perfect. Had I known that a block of foam wouldn't fit exactly right, I would've requested a more unique shape. But that's out of his control, so nothing is his fault.
• It doesn't seem like it hinders pad rotation in my case.

For those of you with modern pads that have big knee blocks- I would probably only suggest using them for an extra soft "landing" pad to soften impacts. If you look at their videos, that's how Kneestax is mainly used with those goalies. The added height to your bf is a bonus, but the "pillowy" kneestax looks like it would be an awesome addition to hard knee blocks. And it's something you can just velcro in and out. Very easy and cheap mod to take a chance on.

[BallPeenHammer2]

I'mma order some too! =D thanks!

[m3thods]

^nice! Just getting the regular?

I played with them for the first time last night. I didn't have a chance to velcro them to my existing soft knee landing so they had a bit more freedom than I liked.

That said, I didn't notice them, and the consistent height (instead of flaring from my knee lifts) was welcomed. That's all I can really ask for considering the price. I think with a quick velcro mod to secure the stax to my knee area will make them just right.

[BallPeenHammer2]

Originally Posted by m3thods

^nice! Just getting the regular?

I played with them for the first time last night. I didn't have a chance to velcro them to my existing soft knee landing so they had a bit more freedom than I liked.

That said, I didn't notice them, and the consistent height (instead of flaring from my knee lifts) was welcomed. That's all I can really ask for considering the price. I think with a quick velcro mod to secure the stax to my knee area will make them just right.

I need something that's longer. Similar to the RBK ones cuz the ones on my brian's is short as hell.

probably a little higher too, to alleviate my poor hips. LOL

[6thGear.]

New gear to share

Bauer Supreme One.8 with superfeet insoles



Reebok 20K (Hanging to dry out hockey stink after first use! LOL)

[m3thods]

^Hey you got the 20ks!

I love mine, but my left shoulder keeps getting stuck under my left chest. Doesn't happen on the right, so I'm thinking it'll go away after the pad softens up.

Or I should lose weight in my left tit. One of the two lol

[6thGear.]

Yup! Got a GC from my bro for xmas and I used a team assist. So I got it at a steal! Did you take the extra bicep padding off? Damn it gets bulky especially with the elbow pad bicep padding added to it..haha. So the left shoulder keeps getting stuck? Is the size proper? Try pulling on the front neckline after you put it on. I find it fits so nicely when I do that and it's uncomfortable when I don't. Almost seems like it re-adjusts the position to fit snug?(Not sure how to describe it atm)

[m3thods]

Yeah it fits almost perfect, except the front padding is still a little stiff. So when my gut is relaxed it pushes up a bit creating a fold at the armpit. That's where the shoulder gets stuck. I think a couple more games and it'll soften up like butter and fit like a glove.

I kept everything on. With the extra bicep guard there's no gap between my elbows and shoulder pads. Without it I have about a inch gap which I'm not fond of.

[kwy]

Question for the goalies:

What do you think of sacrificing a wider butterfly for taller pads?
Giguere drops into a very narrow butterfly and instead uses his inner knee pads to close up the five hole, versus the traditional technique of closing the hole using the top of the pads while having a wider stance. I found that pretty interesting. This allows him to have another inch or two at the top of the pads which covers more space, but he can't close up the five hole with the tops of the pads because of the added length. (pics below).

I'm using a very modest sized pad right now, which I feel has helped a lot with my quickness and mobility, but I'm curious how a larger pad will affect my play. It's a 31" Brian's intermediate pad, 10" wide.

My friend, who played junior and is now the top goalie in his beer league div, uses a much larger pad than me, but he is only 2-3 inches taller. Something like a 34+2, which just sounded ridiculous to me. But maybe he's onto something.

I'm considering switching to a senior size pad (11" wide) with a 32" height, or simply a taller intermediate pad. I'm curious how the wider senior pads will affect my play as well.

Giggy:







Others:

[m3thods]

That's the whole point of a huge thigh rise. That said you need to ensure that the top of your pad seal with the ice enough to not let shots trickle through.

In terms of your question re: Giggy vs. MAF/Crawford:

I think it's more a testament to how flexible you are. In every case though, you should be driving down to the ice with your knees practically glued together. You can see this in every one of those pictures, regardless of whether the pads are flared out or not. This brings the knee stacks together really sealing the butterfly. If you're flexible enough, you can do this while flaring out your pads to widen your butterfly. I think taller pads tend to help when down low scrambling as you cover more of the ice, but in terms of butterfly I would think they would hinder going down.

I have a narrow butterfly but my pads come together more like Crawford but just narrower.

Note that taller pads mean that you're usually less mobile as they get in the way of each other. If you go huge thigh rise, get the thinner pads like the Rituals and Supremes so you can overlap them when in a ready position. Personally I'd stick with pads that fit and try to increase your hip flexibility.

[BallPeenHammer2]

I want to chime in here as well, because I got the Giggy Fly myself (Giguire style).

It's usually used for people who are less flexible at the hips, or want to simply save them. It also allows them to trap the puck instead of habitually kicking them out. Therefore eliminating a lot of unnecessary rebounds.


Although it helps take away the bottom portion of the net, wide-flare B-flies are DISASTROUS on the human body. We are simply not bio-mechanically engineered to have our hips flare out like that while driving towards the ground/ice at full speed. Most wide-flare b-fly goalies suffer from premature hip socket wear, walking/running issues, and multiple surgical repairs.

Narrow B-flies not only reduce that problem, it also,for better or worse, forces its user to be more positionally sound, given that it takes up less space. One thing though: You don't have to have a wide b-fly stance to use it. since you're going to tuck your legs in going down anyway. Wider, lower b-fly stances are not only stressful on the hip, but especially on the KNEES laterally. I currently am injured due to too much lateral torquing of my right knee from widened stances and lateral pushes in and out of them.

One drawback though is that you will need VERY protective knee pads to play that style, or else you're going to be hurt. A lot. Those knee pads Giggy has? Swiss-made custom Carbon fiber knee guards. almost a GRAND a pair. I have Bauer Supremes and have added some reinforcement after taking a few uncomfortable shots in the knee cap.

Oh, and one thing. IF you have a wide b-fly and bigger thighrises, then you don't always have to squeeze your knees together when dropping. if you look carefully at the pic of Crawford, his legs are actually wider apart, given he can close the thighrises together without his knees having to be together.

That being said....I went from 35+1 to 35+2 on my current pads, and yes. I notice a slight drop in mobility. Especially now that I try to widen my b-fly stance. They conflict with each other at times, but that's just something you have to get used to.

In terms of thighrise sizes and pad sizes, that depends on the person's body. Pad measurement (the "34" part) is chosen based on your FTK(foot-to-knee) and ATK (Ankle-to-knee)measurements. On top of that, the tender should also look at how high they want to strap it. Notably, Henrik Lunqvist: He has his pads sit VERY high on the leg, to the point where the toe area doesn't even cover the top of his foot anymore. If he wore them normally, then he'd probably be a couple inches LOWER on the pad size. Why? because with the reduction in thighrise sizes this season in the NHL, he can maximize his thighrise intrusion to the fullest, given that he is a VERY wide flared b-fly tender.

[UFO]

I used to play with a fairly wide butterfly and I'm currently trying to consciously narrow it (not to the Giguere extreme though!). I'm a smaller guy so I played the wide butterfly to make up for my lack of size, a bit anyways. I did strain my MCL quite badly on the one side which is why I'm trying to make the change now.

I find the narrower butterfly makes it a bit easier and quicker to push laterally and I would be in less situations to make the desperation reach save which is what strains the joints. I also find the narrower butterfly better for directing rebounds off the pads into the corners, whereas with the wider butterfly my rebound control was a bit all over the map and many times ended up back in the slot. But yes, narrower butterfly does force you to be more positionally sound and you also make less of those dramatic amazing looking saves.

[#19]

Wow that some pretty deep goalie talk here. I never would've expected to find that. I've been playing in net for over thirty years.. for us regular joes and now beer leaguers wide butterfly's are over rated, The most important things really is finding gear that fits you and your style properly and having a strong skating ability. Playing in the high levels of beer league if you simply rely on drop and block you're going to get lit up, you've got to be able to react and move instinctively.

Btw I've got a set of koho 586 pads in 36+2 for sale for $300.00, great shape they need nothing.

[kwy]

I have a fairly wide butterfly, but I've noticed as well that it strains my hip significantly. Gonna work on narrowing it down, but in the heat of the moment when you're scrambling around the bottom of the net, tension on the hip/groin is pretty inevitable. It's not like I'm 45 either, I'm 21 and already feeling some of the effects of using the butterfly.

Ended up trading up to Reebok Series IIs. Only a 31" but they are very stiff and feel like a 32 compared to the much softer Brian's I had been using - the RBKs hold their size and height very well over time. I've found that getting used to the wider RBKs has been a much bigger adjustment than the height difference.

Also just picked up a pair of Don Simmons senior goal pants (got a great deal). Fits 32-38", much larger than my measurement, but they take up a lot more space and close up the gap between my thighs so I have no complaints. Can't wait to use them in game.

https://www.donsimmons.com/ecom/product/998

[#19]

Thought i'd share some pics of the pads I used so far this year.

Vaughn V4 7600 36+1
These were really nice. Vaughn makes a very comfortable pad. I felt that eventually they just ended up being too soft. I was also disapointed with the wear. I haven't been in a Velocity pad since the orginal Velocity and I was saddened to see that for a pro pad the bindings and other high wear areas were wearing down quickly and much the same as the v1's. I personally though they should've been much better in that regard.



Koho 586 36+2.

I have something of a love hate with these. The open leg channel and calf wrap are awesome. However I could never get entirely comfortable with the knee area, they just always seemed too sloppy in crease movements. As expected they're much stiffer than the v4's especially with the single break. These were the best sliding pad I've used to date.. I loved that aspect.


Reebok Revoke 35+2 PZ

These are a middle ground between the last two previous sets. More flexibility above the knee because of the double break yet still a stiff pad. These are the ones I'm going to stick with for the next while. With the calf wrap and calf lock these play pretty tight to the leg and give me the control I look for with still allowing loose straping for rotation. If I had ordered these from new, i never would've used purple, i'd have a single break, and I'd have adjustable strapping. I've never been fond of the top strap on the thigh rise, I'd rather use my flexibility to close the 5 hole. i'm disapointed with the sliding, I expected them to slide as well as the kohos' but they don't. Also for a pro pad, they're breaking down too fast in the high wear areas. Also i'd prefer the knee block that's on the koho's.
I'd really like to try a Vaughn Ventus or a CCM Eflex.

The koho's are for sale.
Cheers!

[Spidey]

got a couple of pro stock doughtys from hockey monkey...

80 flex. e28 curve. Seems like Easton over rates their flexes. feels more like a 70-75.

[Wilso09]

Originally Posted by Spidey

got a couple of pro stock doughtys from hockey monkey...

80 flex. e28 curve. Seems like Easton over rates their flexes. feels more like a 70-75.

Nice! There were some Doughty pro-stocks at the Canucks year end sale the year of the Olympics and I wanted to get one or two, but one guy snagged them all up.
How much from HM and still available?
Posted via RS Mobile

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Wilso09

Nice! There were some Doughty pro-stocks at the Canucks year end sale the year of the Olympics and I wanted to get one or two, but one guy snagged them all up.
How much from HM and still available?
Posted via RS Mobile

Last I checked they were sold out, but they do have a bunch of sticks that have the e28 pattern which is what is on the Doughty. They were 139 a piece. At the time they had a 20 off sale for everything on the site... and I used a 10 dollar coupon too, and shipped it to Pt Roberts. I wouldn't have bought it unless I had all those price reductions lol. It is a nice stick but nothing spectacular.

It is pretty well constructed for an Easton stick, as they are known for crap durability, but that could be because it is a pro stock spec. The stick is supposed to be pretty much the V9. You will also see some nhl players still using them, as they were given to players before the launch of the V9 and V9E. Overall a good stick but not the best I have used. I actually like my first gen pro stock APX a bit better.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by kwy

Ended up trading up to Reebok Series IIs. Only a 31" but they are very stiff and feel like a 32 compared to the much softer Brian's I had been using - the RBKs hold their size and height very well over time. I've found that getting used to the wider RBKs has been a much bigger adjustment than the height difference.

That's what I've beens using the last year. My first set of pro pads. They are stiff and on the heavy side but really easy to control rebounds and very well built, have 'that' feel to them. I've not used other high end pads, but don't see a real reason to switch out of these for the level I play at
Posted via RS Mobile

[kwy]

I got a deal I couldn't say no to for these pads. I love how they hold their height. Knee cradle/leg channel is a bit wide for me though. Although it might just be a looser pad because its designed for butterfly. Took some time with adjusting the straps and whatnot to get them to sit properly on my legs.

The perfect pad for me would have another inch or even two on the thigh rise, a slightly more fitted knee cradle, be lighter, and have a thinner thigh rise to overlap better at the top.

[UFO]

I was very much in the same situation. Had some old Itech RX7's which worked ok, but were way too flexy and really unpredictable with my skillset, and also would not look to last very long with how worn they became after a season of ice604. I pretty much traded them straight across for the PS2's and never looked back. The gear isn't holding me back from becoming better that's for sure lol

[BLUETIGER]

pics goalies. stance, action shots, anything