2010 Viper Venom Pad Review

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To start here is a link to my initial thoughts on the pads and pictures from when I got them back in the summer of 2010

2010 Venom Pads

I’ve got over 50 ice times of hockey on my 2010 Viper Venom pads since Aug. 2010 so I figure its time for a long term review.

To start the review a little back ground on how I use the pads. I normally play only one game a week in the winter. Occasionally I will pick up another ice time or a lesson to that but once a week is the norm. I play on a poor beer league team so when I do play I see a lot of shots. I’m a poor goalie so I let a lot of those shots in, so I fit nice with the team. In my old gear (Kay pads almost 15 years old) I was a stand up type goalie that flopped around a lot (think Billy Ranford with no skill and much shorter, I’m only 5’2 1/2”). Since getting the new pads I have tried to be more butterfly/hybrid I even took some lessons and a adults goalie game to work on this (not easy to teach an old dog new tricks….yup 37 is old). I also don’t believe that any product is perfect so this won’t be a review that gives everything gets 10 out of 10. In the real world if you can get 7 or 8 out of 10 that’s pretty good in my books. The review will be out of 50, 5 areas worth 10 points each.

The Specs of the pads as I ordered them from James at Viper:

• 2010 Vemon Pads

• Stock “Tribal graphic” that was one of the options Viper offered at the time.

• Custom colours to match my team (similar to Preds), Navy, Royal Blue, Silver, Sports Gold.

• 33”+2”

• Turco Break

• All leather straps

• Sliding toe bridge

• Thigh wraps

• Top 2 straps adjustable (standard, like Reebok)

Mods:

• I had a loop added at the bottom of the knee locks to help keep my knee in the cradle. The first couple of times I used the pads I found my knee was always coming out and hitting the ice. I added this loop so I wear the 2nd from the top strap very tight (right across the back of my knee) and this keeps my knee in the landing gear now. It also doesn’t seem to affect the rotation of the pad. Of course being new to the BF maybe the rotation could be better?

• I removed the sliding toe bridge, and replaced it with a standard toe bridge with a toe strap instead of the lace. I was skeptical at first when this mod was suggested to me, but it works awesome (for me anyway) and I will never go back. I put the strap in the 2nd hole in my Bauer 1000 skate blade and then tighten it as tight as it will go. This allows the pad to stay tight to my leg but puts no stress on my knee or ankle because my toe has full range of motion. I also have no problem with the pad not over or under rotating.

Now for the review.

Ordering/Customer Service: = 8/10 (7/10 without the gloves, 9/10 with the gloves)

I ordered these pads from James at Viper the end of March 2010. We exchanged several emails back and forth when I was decided what pads to go with from him (either BOA, like P3s or Venom like V3s). I was also looking at all other pad option at the time as well. In the end I went with the Viper Venoms, in no small part to the $699 sale price when I pulled the trigger. I figured for that price I couldn’t go wrong even if the pads ended up not being my style. After deciding on the Venoms I emailed James again to ask about sizing and to see if they “settle” like V2 & V3 pads did. James replied that my AKT (15.75) was close enough to 16” which is in the middle of his stock 32” & 33” and that the pads may settle a little so I should go with the 33” pad. So I said works for me, and had him make them 33”+2”. I also told him I was nearing the end of my season and didn’t need the gear until the end of Aug. so no rush. At the same time I ordered the pads, I bought a set of 2009 BOA gloves that James had on sale on his site for $300 for the set. They didn’t match my pads 100% but close enough. I told James he could ship it all together to save on S&H. About a month after I had ordered the pads I emailed James to see if I could make a change to the pads. He informed me that he had begun production but he would see what he could do. I only wanted to change the strap colour form Navy to Sports Gold, so he said no problem. However turned out that was not 100% true, turned out he ran out of SG straps, and so did his suppler so that added about 6 weeks to the pads. Once the gear was done James asked if he could used my pads as samples for a show he was doing in Ottawa then he would send out to me right after the show, I said sure. Well this also didn’t go as planed. James had a couple of sets of pads going to Sudbury and my set coming to Calgary…..they all ended up in Sudbury. So my pads got to my house the end of July, basically a month before I needed them. Could they have got to me sooner surer, sure would it have made a difference, nope not at all as I still got them before I needed them. On a side Note James surprised me by not sending the 2009 BOA gloves, but instead a brand new 2010 set that match my pads 100%.....and at no extra charge. So the ordering process was not perfect due to some hiccups on both sides of the process. In the end the hiccups didn’t do any harm and James really stepped up with the matching gloves!

Appearance/Craftsmanship: = 8.5/10

The appearance of the pads are great, I really like the way the Royal Blue and Navy look side by side. The Sports Gold and Silver add nice accents. I would have preferred regular silver and not weave (I can’t remember which I asked for) but that’s just my preference. The vertical role also looks over sized, I don’t believe they are just an optical illusion (and maybe a little picky). Also when I order this “tribal” graphic the top (sports gold) arrow was cut out like the bottom Silver graphic; I would have preferred mine to be that way too.

As for craftsmanship what can I say James makes an awesome product! There is not a stitch out of place and after 50 plus ice times (over 65 hours) other than puck marks no ware at all. The only things I can pick on are the lose ends of the pointed graphics, but I’ve seen this on other brand pads as well (I believe the sewing machines can only get so close when the material runs out). The other thing is that the adjustable strap area is all one long piece of Jenpro. I have seen on new models by Viper that this has been fixed and is not 2 pieces more like Reebok.

Performance/Pad Style: = 7/10 (6/10 before the mods 8/10 after)

As I mentioned before this will is my first set of BF/Hybrid pads, and so far I really like the change! The first time I used the pads I found that they slide really well to well (made a save and slide to the boards behind the net). Now that I’ve played the BF style more I can control that slide more, but still over slide from time to time (but I think that’s more goalie than pad issue). I also found that the biggest issue with the performance was that my knee was always popping out of the pad when I would go down in the BF and slide. I must say I don’t enjoy the felling of smashing my knee off the ice. I tried several different strap setups using the adjustable strap system and my knee was still hitting the ice. I ordered a set of Viper knee pads to wear with the thigh wraps hoping it would help keep my knee in place. The knee pad helps but my knee kept popping off the landing gear and hitting the ice. I had my local Goalie Shop install a loop at the bottom of the landing gear so when I did up the 2nd strap from the top I could do it up tight and not allow my knee to slip out. This has done the trick and my knee has not slipped out since. Another issue that I think may also be part of the above issue is the pad is too big, should have got a 32” not a 33”. I have not seen and real “settling” so I don’t’ think that should have played in the sizing choice (but it did). I also think the thigh rise is too small (this is all on me) with my narrow BF I need all the help I can up top. I also changed the toe tie set up (see mods) but this was not so much a pad performance issue as a user issue.

I think the style of the pad is what I need; I like the 2 breaks and the fact that it is a little softer and has lots of flex. This made the transition from my old Kay’s to a modern pad much easier. I also like the leg channel with the extra support (2 inner wraps and 2 outer wraps) very similar to a V3 for reference. I think the pad could be a little lighter (around 5lbs per pad currently) but that’s not a deal breaker.

Durability/Craftsmanship: = 8/10 (could be a 9/10 but to early to say for sure)

I only have 50 ice times with these pads so I’m guessing a little early to say truly what the durability is but so far so good. All the stitching and lacing is just as good as it was on day one. A few puck marks, but no real ware to speak of not even on the bidding which is usually an early ware spot. I had my last pads for almost 15 years, and could still be playing in now so the Viper has a tough legacy to live up to.

Comfort/Protection: = 8/10

The pads seem to provide good protection, I have got a couple knee shots that I felt the next day. However when in a BF and exposed I don’t think you can asked the pad to stop everything (an extra couple inches in the thigh rise might help). The comfort of the pad is pretty good too, not perfect but pretty good. I think not having to strap my knee so tight into the cradle would improve the comfort. I also think if I had got the 32” instead of the 33” that would help the strap issue.

Overall: = 39.5/50

I’m very happy with my Viper Venom pads, and for the price I paid I don’t think I could have even got close to a better pad. The pads aren’t perfect, but with some tweaking and some knowledge of how the pads play (and how James builds them) I think they could be closer (45-46 out of 50).

Would I ordered these pads again; yes even at the new custom price of $899 they are still a great deal. However my next set would be 32”+4” and might go flat knees (not 3 rolls) to save a little weight.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have.