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I'm not sure when my attitudes towards base layers shifted since growing up I would play in boxers and that was it. As an adult, I'm not a fan of the feel of elastic/velcro/etc and have been wearing base layers top and bottom for years now. It was a bit of trial and error to find what worked for me and recently I've gone through that process again. Figured I'd make a post about it in case it helps anyone else. My go-to base layers for the last 5 or 6 years have been made by a company called TSLA (not the cars) on Amazon. I forget who suggested them, but at the time you could buy ventilated tops and bottoms for $25 total. Insane price and they've held up amazingly well! They're not made for hockey so they don't have any rubberized bits to help keep pads in place, but they do breathe well, wick moisture, and are the best bang for your buck. I run hot so ventilation is important to me. The top has vents along the length of the arms and across the entire back. The overall material is on the thinner side, which I appreciate, and then there's the lighter mesh material for ventilation. It's a compression top, but doesn't make you feel like you're in a sausage casing. I think the version that I wear have been discontinued, but this this new version is very similar and under $20. No frills with pads on. They keep velcro and all that off your bare skin and help soak up sweat. Basic, but they work Trying something new, but not wanting to break the bank, I gave Adidas hockey base layer a shot. Price-wise it's under $40 and they use the 3-stripes along the arms to help keep pads in place. This is another compression top which is more form fitting than the TSLA, but could also be due to how worn my old tops are. The entire back is mesh for nice breathability. As my first experience with rubberized elbows, I felt like there should be more stripes or they should have been relocated. Based on the shirt I have, the stripes wrap more on the top of the elbow vs the bottom and don't do much to help keep the pads in place. Getting them to the underside of my elbow causes the sleeve to contort in an unnatural and uncomfortable way. For the price, it's not a bad solution, but I feel it leaves something to be desired. For me, the stripes didn't really help keep the pads in place Next up is a version from Shock Doctor. I've used other items of theirs in the past and am typically impressed by the feel and function of what they offer. The Core Hockey Shirt they offer not only has rubberized texture on the elbow, but the sleeve also folds over itself to further lock pads into place. At less than $60 the price is starting to creep up, but not terribly so. You may sense a theme, but this is another compression top. The overall material is the thickest I've tried so far and definitely helps keep you 'compressed'. I sized up and still felt it was a bit tight, but am hopeful it'll loosen up with more wear. The only ventilation panels are on the armpits. Seeing how thick the material is, I would have really appreciated the back panel to have mesh; especially given how it's constructed (multiple panels instead of a single piece of fabric). On the other hand, it's useful at extremely cold rinks like the one I played at yesterday. The rubberized elbow pieces contour your elbow much better than Adidas' version and the sleeve that slides over the pad does so very easily and holds the pad on exactly as you would expect. When the sleeve is folded over your bare forearm is exposed which I guess kind of helps you cool down a bit. The sleeve folded over the forearm part of my elbow pads Last up is a bit of a splurge and that's the TILO Pro Paddlock from Warroad. They also offer rubberized textured patches on the elbow as well as a sleeve that folds over itself similar to the Shock Doctor. Their claim to fame, however, is the cut resistant forearm sleeves. Before I go any further, let me get the elephant out of the room. This top costs $140! Even with the 40% discounts they were running over the holidays, it was still $80. That's a lot of coin for a top seeing as I've previously been happy with something that cost under $20. But now that price is out of the way, let's get into the shirt itself. TILO stands for 'tight and loose' meaning their arms are tight and the body is loose. That's generally not what I look for in a top so I ordered my regular size and a size smaller hoping to get the body a bit more conforming. Unfortunately, the cut resistant sleeves become too tight when sizing down and feel like they're cutting off circulation. Regular size body isn't terribly baggy which is a plus, but it's not as form fitting as I'd like. That said, the entire top is made of a lightweight mesh material. By far my favorite material as it breathes extremely well. The elbows have the most rubberized material compared to any of the other tops I've tried. The folding sleeves are a bit tight/finicky to get on with one hand. You basically have to fold over one side, press it against your chest to hold it in place over your pad, and then fold over the other side. Nowhere near as easy as the Shock Doctor even with the handy loops. However, once they're in place, the elbow pad doesn't move at all. I have to imagine they'll loosen up the more I wear it, but if you wear bulky elbow pads, it'd be a PITA to put on. I've never had my forearms cut, nor seen it happen to anyone in person, but I know it can happen so I suppose the cut resistant sleeve is just another preventative measure. The sleeve fits obviously snug and warm, but the fact the rest of the shirt breathes crazy well doesn't make this too big of a deal. With the sleeve folded over you can see the cut protection sleeve underneath So that's that guys. Options from $20-140 with a variety of different features. I don't feel any of them are perfect, but the Shock Doctor and Warroad are easily my new favorites. I don't see myself using any other tops going forward. If Shock Doctor created a thinner/more breathable top it would be the perfect base layer for what I'm after. I feel their sleeves grip the pads well enough to keep them in place and the fold-over portion is easy to use. I could take or leave the cut resistant sleeve on Warroad so that's not a major selling point for me. If they sold the top for about half the price and offered a slightly more compression version, it would be much closer to what I like to wear as I'm a huge fan of the mesh material. Time will tell if the fold over sleeve will open up and become easier to use. I don't plan on trying out anymore tops as my wallet has had enough with these, but if there's a brand I've missed that would check all my boxes, maybe I'll try it out too.

Try skipping the next to last eyelet. I didn't like how my 100k's felt when I skipped the top eyelet and I didn't get enough forward flex when I laced them fully. Skipping the next to last eyelet ended up being perfect. Give them time. The more you skate in them the better they will feel.

I know Thom had a handful of sizes available a few weeks ago. Might be worth reaching out to him to see if he still has any A7 left. https://sidelineswap.com/gear/hockey/inline-roller/chassis/3191271-new-sprung-a6-in-line-roller-chassis-frame-6593