Sticks: Nike Vapour 7 bought from THS. I got the Naslund curve with the "pro" 102 flex. The stick is a little bit heavy, and I hate the sticky feel. In fact, I almost wanted to throw the stick away, but once I started to use the stick on a regular basis, the sticky feel wore off a bit and it is managable.
The stick itself is pretty good for that price, but for those that are playing on a higher level, I would spend a little more money on a lighter stick.
Skates: RBK 9K. Very light skates which means less energy used when skating, and late in the third period you will be a little less fatiqued. Boot is stiff which is good since I am a pretty heavy skater. The pump really secures the boot, and a few extra pumps late in the game tightens up the skate so I don't have to re-tie the laces. For me, I found the boot to be a little on the narrow side, even with an "E" sized boot. And the length of the boot is not as long as the normal CCM boots. I had to get a pair of size 8's whereas I always got 7 1/2's in the CCM boots. But at $600, the 9K's are something that most recreational hockey players should be able to do without. For the money, the 5K at $260ish is more than enough.
CCM Vibes, bought from THS. This was my first pair of skates purchased in over 10 years. Lots of changed since my old CCM super tacks. I wear "E" sized boots and still had to get them widened. Not a bad pair of skates, but the new "U" boot is a lttle too narrow and there is not enough padding in the ankle area for me so I ended up getting blisters on the heal of my foot. It helped a bit getting the heal of the boot punched out.
Pants: Reebok NCAA "pro" returns from THS. Best money I ever spent on pants. Lots of padding on the thighs, kidney area. No fears of block point shots. Last game, I was knocked into the boards and the pants took a lot of the shock and I did not feel much of the impact. Before buying these pants, I tried on some of the lower model pants but there really wasn't much padding in them, especially around the crotch area. Even though these pants have lots of padding, I find that I am still quite mobile and they are not clunky at all.
Elbow pads: RBK 5K from THS. Nice and light. Lots of padding in the important areas. But the fore-arm padding doesn't quite go down the fore-arm far enough so I find myself getting slashed between the elbow pads and the cuff of the gloves. But that is only an issue when I am on a break away and someone is trying to chase me down.
