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Help me identify my helmet

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I bought this as part of a kit from a guy when I started back.

Can anyone identify it for me? I'd like to know if I'm playing with something that's going to keep me alive.

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z390/bucketrafter/IMAG0214_zpsbccc384f.jpg

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z390/bucketrafter/IMAG0215_zps4df01eb4.jpg

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z390/bucketrafter/IMAG0216_zpsbc912997.jpg

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It's an Itech 950. The size of the window (the 'hole' behind the cage for your face), the ridge around the perimeter of the shell, the placement of the holes and snaps: dead giveaways.

950/951 masks get a very bad rap, but they're merely 'not very good', and extremely prone to cracking, particularly at the chin. They are, however, a much cheaper and less protective composite construction than the superior 960/961 (and 9600/9601) series, which are the same basic construction as the Hackva and many other quality masks: low-grade polyester resin adhering sheets of fibreglass with a single layer of aramid (aka Kevlar, Twaron, and various other trade names) for reinforcement.

Put it this way: I wouldn't wear one of those to protect my brain, but it's better than a salad bowl and some packing foam, which is more than I can say for some masks...

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Like I tell the kids, just develop your catching skills... :wink:

My advice would be to contact Michel Doganieri at Protechsport: for $300 Canadian, he'll make you an NHL-grade (as in, actually used in the NHL) custom-fitted mask with top-grade epoxy resin, and all it takes is a few weeks' wait-time. If you search this site and the internet generally, you'll find nothing but the highest praise of his work, and a LONG list of pros who use his masks. That, in fact, is how he fits people: he takes your head mould, matches it up to his selection of pro shells for the closest approximation, and then applies your chosen features and pads it to fit. My shell, painful as it is to admit, is a Lalime.

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As Michel will tell you, the only difference between his $300 fibreglass mask and his $600 full Kevlar mask (as in, not 'one full sheet' but *all* Kevlar except for the top and bottom layers, which are glass for sanding and finishing) is a little bit of weight (aramid's lighter than glass) and a bit more vibration absorption. Jose Theodore and a few other guys have used his fibreglass mask at the highest levels of play for YEARS; in fact, Jose used the same shell for more than a decade, just repadding it each year. I went with the Kevlar, but largely just because I decided not to skimp one iota on brain/head protection.

Just to be clear, the reason it's $300 is that it's a stock shell (well, a custom-made shell for a pro goalie) chosen to approximate your head shape, which is then padded to exactly fit your mould. AFAIK, nobody has ever done a custom *shell* for under a grand, and it's usually a lot more.

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As Michel will tell you, the only difference between his $300 fibreglass mask and his $600 full Kevlar mask (as in, not 'one full sheet' but *all* Kevlar except for the top and bottom layers, which are glass for sanding and finishing) is a little bit of weight (aramid's lighter than glass) and a bit more vibration absorption. Jose Theodore and a few other guys have used his fibreglass mask at the highest levels of play for YEARS; in fact, Jose used the same shell for more than a decade, just repadding it each year. I went with the Kevlar, but largely just because I decided not to skimp one iota on brain/head protection.

Just to be clear, the reason it's $300 is that it's a stock shell (well, a custom-made shell for a pro goalie) chosen to approximate your head shape, which is then padded to exactly fit your mould. AFAIK, nobody has ever done a custom *shell* for under a grand, and it's usually a lot more.

Right. I understood that. I'm bookmarking his site and will put in an order later this year.

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If you don't want to go the custom route and your 950 fits well, Bauer has started making a full-fiber version of their popular 960 mask, the 940. I use it and it's quite nice for the pricepoint($350). Unfortunately, the cage quality on that and the new 950(not to be confused with your 950) are not the greatest.

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