Airblade - new blade concept

[Neal 41]

Interesting post popped in my Twitter feed about a Kickstarter for a new company with a new blade concept. Rather than a composite wrap around a foam core, the blade is mesh. Airblade by Carbon Sports.

The claim 25,000 combinations of lie, curve, curve depth, contour, rake, shaft flex and shaft coat. Just right for all us stick whores on MSH!

[mcne0101 16]

If they would have just went with "more durable & better puck feel" with some performance metrics as 'proof' I would have been intrigued. That said, their first bullet point was "Scientifically proven increase in swing speed. Due to the AirBlade’s unique perforated construction, air flows freely through the blade - reducing drag, increasing swing speed, and maximizing power behind every shot." which lead me to believe this is snake oil. First off, I'm skeptical of any tangible performance increase due to the "reduced drag"....secondly, I like to tape my stick.

Good luck to this guy.

[tattoosbyjay 30]

that's pretty crazy looks like a fly swatter lol , but kind of a cool idea

[TeamHonda401 54]

I don't think those guys have ever heard of the O stick.

[Tyler Roy 86]

I was actually given a sample a while back and still have it. Interesting and strange doesn't even start to describe how I feel about it.

[jdksaves 56]

Lots of luck to this group, Seems they are trying to market to a demographic of people that used wood sticks before, but the market is now made of players that grew up using composite blades, not sure if this will be more durable and swing speed is close to irrelevant in hockey sticks. Yes you want a good balanced stick, but less drag is lost most of the time.

Also for Marketing purposes, go buy a non labeled jacket for the purpose of the video, not a football jacket.

[Tyler Roy 86]

The prototype I had was the AIRBLADE joined with a TotalONE NXG Shaft. The blade has raised bumps almost like goosebumps and they really hold the puck to the blade, almost too much. I found shooting to be a little difficult, snapshots off the toe were non existent and the only shots with substance were heel to toe wrist shots. The stick was also a little bottom heavy, and by a little its something Ryan Smyth would enjoy. Puck feel wasnt bad and it held up pretty decent, I just dont know if this is something that the hockey industry is willing to accept.

[mcne0101 16]

The prototype I had was the AIRBLADE joined with a TotalONE NXG Shaft. The blade has raised bumps almost like goosebumps and they really hold the puck to the blade, almost too much. I found shooting to be a little difficult, snapshots off the toe were non existent and the only shots with substance were heel to toe wrist shots. The stick was also a little bottom heavy, and by a little its something Ryan Smyth would enjoy. Puck feel wasnt bad and it held up pretty decent, I just dont know if this is something that the hockey industry is willing to accept.

haha the performance increase would have to be ridiculous for the industry to accept it.

[Tyler Roy 86]

Yeah, you cant have a good product and expect to take the market by storm. With something this strange/different you would have to have an exceptional product.

[start_today 757]

The prototype I had was the AIRBLADE joined with a TotalONE NXG Shaft.

I don't think those guys have ever heard of the O stick.

Imagine if they had joined the AIRBLADE to the 9ko shaft. You'd probably have no wind resistance at all. Not like all these other cumbersome composite sticks that you can barely swing due to drag...

[TeamHonda401 54]

I would like to see some test data on players swing speeds with regular composite sticks vs the air blade prototype. I'd wager the differences would be negligible when related to real world use. How the blade performs is another story though. If they managed to get something right with puck feel and friction, and it has the same or better durability as current offerings, they might be on to something special. We shall see.

[jimmy 194]

I would like to see some test data on players swing speeds with regular composite sticks vs the air blade prototype. I'd wager the differences would be negligible when related to real world use. How the blade performs is another story though. If they managed to get something right with puck feel and friction, and it has the same or better durability as current offerings, they might be on to something special. We shall see.

I agree, kind of how we wanted test data on the bauer LS2.1 power blade (since disontinued). You'd think something that lived up to the marketing wouldn't be discontinued.

[Neal 41]

The COO or CEO reached out to me to try to convince me to sign up for their kickstarter. At $290 for a stick, no way. That is top of the line money for a stick I've never held before from a company I've never heard of before. And even if I believe the marketing speak on the blade, who says they know anything about making a shaft? The best feeling blade isn't worth much if the shaft sucks. There is little or no information about their shaft, nothing about the taper or construction.

[jimmy 194]

haha the performance increase would have to be ridiculous for the industry to accept it.

Really? The "industry" and gullible accepted the LS2 "Power" runners.

[Monty22 821]

Really? The "industry" and gullible accepted the LS2 "Power" runners.

Apples to oranges comparison. How well was the Reebok "o" stick ( or whatever the Mylec Jetflo looking ops was called) do?

[jimmy 194]

Apples to oranges comparison. How well was the Reebok "o" stick ( or whatever the Mylec Jetflo looking ops was called) do?

Certainly is a valid comparison, hype is hype regardless of the product. Actually, scientifically, yes the airblade likely has a faster swing, however, is it a amount where performance will be noticeable, unlikely.

[raganblink 82]

Being well-balanced is a heck of a lot more important than having a faster swing speed by 0.7%. As for feel, there is a lot of nostalgia about wood sticks - I tried one again this summer since they started making the 5030 in my curve & I hated it. Weight, balance and shot speed wasn't close compared to a top-end composite. Yeah I had a little bit better feel of the puck, but marginally at best, and in today's game you don't need to have great feel for the puck - its on your stick for fractions of a second since you need to make quicker passes and decisions, can't really go end to end in anything beyond men's league or kids who are head over heels everyone they're playing against.

[chippa13 1844]

This guy must have offered a big donation to the Bruins Alumni foundation for those testimonials. Someone should tell them that Ken Hodge isn't a "Jr", he has a different middle name from his dad. I also enjoyed watching Ken Linesman struggle to read his testimonial for the camera.

[flip12 698]

In my mind trying to apply the physics...isn't the impact of a faster swing due to less mass somewhat nullified by that reduction of mass? If force is mass multiplied by acceleration, the force isn't going to be significantly greater just because the acceleration of the striking instrument is greater and the other factors aren't kept constant.