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Branches pattern 99, bit of a squared off toe

Lol, I've changed my focus for this year and am consistently lacing the bottom 5 eyelets for training and games, I only go lace free when I coach. I did lace the Hyperlites fully up when I had them, hated the feel and the forward flex restriction and the lurking sensation of lace bite after about 5 games.

While this definitely may be a solution in search of a problem, the idea isn't as wacky as it seems. The fabric cords won't deflect or cave in like just about everyone expects. They have incredibly high tensile strength in relation to their size. I'd expect them to be as strong as metal. If you lived in Florida, or any other hurricane threatened zone, you'd see that hurricane shutters are now being made of fabrics like this. You take a sheet of it, stretch it across the opening, and it can withstand "missiles" from Cat 5 storms with the same ability as steel/aluminum shutters or impact glass. There are benefits to this. It's lighter and thinner, which increases visibility and comfort. It can be arranged in patterns to limit sticks or pucks from impacting the eyes, while not impeding vision. Impacts to the "cage" may not be as violent to the wearer because this might dissipate impact better than rigid metal.

I went from Vapor 2X Pros to Jetspeeds and don’t really notice a difference or performance give up. If anything I think the traditional eyelets wrap and mold better and if I were to order custom Hyperlites I’d opt for traditional over injected. That said, I don’t see myself switching from CCM any time soon.

@Miller55 what blades do you have? I was just thinking about needing some tips because I want to try to put a slight toe and wedge on some E4 woodies. Does anyone know of some good sealers to use if some of the lamination does end up splitting on the bottom?

I didn't feel any real difference when I went from apx2's to Ultrasonics or AS3 pros. I didn't like the injected setup on the Hyperlites. So saying I'm still in my apx2's, I just can't find a compelling enough reason to shift from a near perfect fitting really stiff boot, to the point where I've kind of given up on new boots and will just get the holders replaced to give the apx2's a new lease of life (the sad life of a always searching gear head, I have Ultrasonics and AS3 pros sitting on the shelf).

Bend and clamp, you have to hold the shape as the wood heats and cools, look up some boat building examples of putting the hull together if you want some ideas.

I am down half a size from what I wear in Bauers and CCM. In Bauers i was an 8.5 with toes brushing the cap, in Trues TF7 I’m 8.0. In store, prebake, the 8.0 felt almost too small, but I had read enough stories that it would open up on baking, which it did.

Similar boat here, but ended up back in Vapors due to the narrower toe box of the JetSpeed FT485. I immediately noticed that the boot was deeper than my previous Vapor x500's. I really wanted the CCM to work for me, but I ended up in Vapor 3x, Fit 2. That said, I need to shit or get off the pot and pick up a pair of TF9's before they dry up.