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Ok... two competing concepts for the same issue... Coronavirus! In one corner, hailing from Bauer.. the Bauer Face Shield. In the other corner, hailing from CCM... the CCM Game On Face Mask! Two very different solutions and to me this speaks to the issues we are facing. Below you will find pictures of each but here are the pros and cons as I see them... In the end everyone will decide for themselves what they like better, what their own levels of risk are, etc. Discuss.... Bauer CCM Pros Visibility excellent. Breathability – does not cover the nose. Lightweight. Cons Flimsy clear vinyl. Expected hard plastic. Bottom spaces of Concept III mask remain open. No protection of nasal particles. Only designed for Bauer Concept III mask. Cannot use cage. Pros Covers the nose. Superior protection from transmission Can fit Bauer or CCM masks. Can fit on clear plastic cages or wire cages. Cons Harder to breathe – nose is covered. Impacts lower peripheral visibility. Mask tighter – chin strap may need adjusting. Bauer: CCM

IMHO, I think it's overrated in terms of being sold as a magic solution to your skating problems. You hear about people getting a new profile and when you ask why, they just shrug and repeat stuff the marketing brochure promises. You should have an understanding of what issues you have with your skating and have plan for what you want to achieve with your profile. Simply getting some profile because it promises something special is buying into the marketing. A profile won't make you something you're not, but it can give you a boost in a specific area to help you along. But there's no free lunch. You're always giving up one thing for another. But the hope is you're gaining more in one area than you're giving up in another. For example, I have small feet, and I find because of that, I'm a pretty agile, but I'm also little less stable. So, I sacrificed some of that agility for more glide and stability by going to a flatter profile. I don't miss the agility lose, but I do notice the gain in stability. Over time, I've slowly tweaked things to better fit what I want out of my skates. The profile spec is a bit crazy, but it works for me, but I doubt it will work for many others. So, that probably what's the issue is with you. You were given a solution to a problem you didn't have and it's hindering instead of helping.

I’m liking my CCMs so far. My biggest issue with a normal everyday mask was that I found having something wrapped around my ears all skate to be pretty annoying. Covering the nose isn’t ideal but it seems more aligned with the intended purpose which is to try to keep people safe. As a younger guy in a lot of the pick up I play in these days I’d rather wear something more conservative. The Bauer product seems like an absolute scam if I’m being blunt.

Single, dual, quad... I think some very great players have played the game on all 3 and it didn't matter to them once they adapted to what they had. It's like sticks, curves and lie... there's no one size fits all. Is Ovi's curve better because of his one timers, or is McDavid's better for his game? Neither because Crosby's nearly flat blade and short stick is superior... for his game. You can be elite on a 10' single radius or elite on an 0.5 Quad. Pick your poison and master it. There's no single answer to what is best.

I know many of the members here absolutely love quad profiles. I've tried a few different times and I literally can barely skate on them. I've been playing hockey for 45 years and played at a pretty high level, so I'm a decent skater. I find that I have zero agility on a quad. One thing that confuses me is the claim that the short front radius allows for tighter turns. I could see how this would be true for hard cuts when you're moving fast and leaning forward, but I find the long rear radius inhibits tight pivots. Maybe my skating style is odd, but when I'm trying to turn a very tight circle to shake a forechecker, I lean hard into the heel of my blade. The long radius makes it much harder for me to make that tight pivot. Anyone else think single or dual radii are superior to quads? Am I just weird in my inability to adapt to the quads?

Love the comparison Dave. Question... the CCM mask, wouldn't it be just as easy, and maybe a better fit to the face, to just wear a regular mask underneath the cage? I know they make some that breathe really well now while still passing the candle test (I have a couple of the UnderArmour ones that I've worn to photograph weddings that I find are amazing with how breathable they are and how they keep my face cooler than others I've tried, and this is wearing them for 6-8hrs with minimal mask breaks). Again, thanks for the comparison, really really hope to see you and the rest of the guys out on the ice in the near future (so I can get photos of us learning how to skate again 🤣).

Nothing is a panacea, but the Q0 solved some issues for me coming from some random profile some guy with a Blademaster put on my skates. I know there is one study which resulted in 9/10 being the ideal profile (I dont want to misrepresent it, would have to search but one of the members is affiliated I believe) but I don’t think the body of evidence supports broad conclusions. It could be that being on the wrong profile by a long shot could hamper your skating but once you get in the vicinity then good enough is good enough. Until you have studies with enough power accounting for all relevant variables then I am not sure it will get to the point of confident conclusions. One thing I found interesting is that when talking to a guy around here who I was steered to by the best skating instructor in Pgh, who is the go to skate guy for figure skaters, he still just had a 9’ bar, did “forward pitch” as an option, and rounded toe and heel by hand. Could be he just hasn’t adopted the newer approaches or that the work they do placing the blade on a figure skating boot is seen as the dominant variable. Just a point of information. it is not feasible for everyone to work through all the different profiles, and qualitative self-reporting doesn’t tell the whole story. Some things may correlate, some may not. Feeling faster may not be faster, feeling more agile may not necessarily show up in the end results, that is why many more structured studies need done IMO.

Very good points, and I guess I could have selected a better topic title. Guess I'm really wondering if there is a flaw in my skating that is stopping me from adapting to the longer rear radius on a quad? The tight turns claim really does confuse me because like I said, for me, tight pivots are performed on the rear part of the blade.

And there it is. Way out of square. I'm not sure how this guy was sharpening with this thing before.

Is the holder squared? Check that first.

Most overlays are just stitched to the palm base, there are some however that are attached with adhesive before being sewn. A simple seam ripper should handle popping the stitches. If the overlay is attached under the binding (as most are) that would require very careful cutting of the overlay to get it off.

The UnderArmor mask is great, but can't drink with it. My son uses it off-ice to workout. I've used it to watch games. Very comfortable. The only one I am seeing that would maybe work for drinking would be the ShockDoctor. I'm curious how secure it would be with that design though. Might need to adjust it a lot. My son tried the splashguard again Friday night and Saturday morning. We switched to a bottle with a straw top to let him drink. He still wasn't a fan. Said it fogged and impaired his lower peripheral vision when fogged. And didn't like he couldn't get a finger in the bubble to fix his flow. The top row of holes it blocks gave him access to get in. His hair falls in his face even after we wet it and slick it back. I'm sure he could get used to it and deal with it if he had to, but not mandated for us, so not sure we will force him to use it. It does provide a bit more protection, but not sure it is a huge upgrade from the bubble stock, which I would think is definitely better than a cage.

You must have shared a playlist or something instead of the URL to the specific video because that's not what we are seeing...

I'm seeing a IW video on how to measure your foot for finding the right skate.