IPv6Freely

Sure, I could do that. But now that I know it’s not just mine, I won’t be buying True sticks anymore. I don’t think this is relevant to the topic, unless I’m misunderstanding.

Mine is definitely neither of those things. I use tacki-mac grips and my gloves stay pretty much like-new.

I can’t find the receipt email. I think it’s a A4.5 from about 2015-2016 or so. I’ll check when I’m home.

Has anyone else noticed True sticks having their grip coating get tacky? Like seriously sticky? As background, yes I keep my sticks in my garage. Yes it gets hot in there in the summer. So I do accept that the damage is my own fault and I don’t expect True to do anything about it. But none of my other sticks, both newer and older, have had this issue. That said, has anyone else had this happen? It’s maybe 3-4 years old at this point and only been used a couple times (and not once since I noticed the stickiness last year). Like I said, I don’t necessarily blame True but I do want to know if this is typical as at this point I would not buy a True stick again because I’d be worried about this happening.

There’s just no reason not to.

Tony Fernandez

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Even worse is that people are getting upset about it. I backed a project on Kickstarter last fall and when they sent out a notification about the shutdown until the 17th, the people in the comments went nuts. I mean, its bad enough that you don't understand how crowdfunding works (they think its a shopping site?) but you can't accept a delay due to an entire country basically shutting down for a coronavirus? Get real.

As some of you know, I stopped playing in my league after the first couple games because of how ridiculous the league had gotten. Between our team rarely being able to ice a full lineup (and even then, most of it was the guys we brought up from rookie division), and the fact that they dissolved the division above us and many of those guys joined teams on our division (except ours) and absolutely lit up the league (7 of the top 10 scoring was new this season) it had gotten just not worth the hour or so drive to get there. I told the captain I just needed some time away and he said no problem and to let him know when I want to come back. The season is now finishing up and the captain asked if I wanted to come back. I told him I'd think about it. Then I talked to some of my teammates, and they all said the same thing. For example, keeping in mind that this is coming from one of the most happy-go-lucky people I've ever met: So it clearly hasn't gotten better. I wrote what I thought was a well thought out message to the league director asking what his plans were since he knows it's a problem, and basically asking him for help in determining what I should do: I don't know, I don't think what I asked was all that unreasonable. But I guess he did. His reply: Whoa. Okay. That... not only is super douchebaggy but I guess it also clarifies what I'll be doing going forward. I mean, even if its a case where he does plan to do something about it and doesn't want to hear from the peanut gallery about it, he could have said "if you have complaints, have your captain present them" (even though I'm technically not even on a team at this point and therefore have no captain). So I made my reply simple: So I'm just using this thread to warn people who might be considering playing in Carlsbad CA that the league is poorly run. I could almost accept the terrible ice if the director gave a damn, but with that not being the case I guess I'll play elsewhere. And I recommend others do the same.

Id just exchange it.

Looks pretty much perfect to me!

Not really, whatever is comfortable to you. They all have some various features but it comes down to comfort. I also personally don’t like the internal belts and always remove them and use suspenders. I wear my chesty over my suspenders, though many people tuck their chesty into their pants and put the suspenders over top. Do whichever is more comfortable to you, though the latter approach means you need pants big enough to accommodate. So when trying pants on, either bring your chesty from home or just be sure to put one on in the store.

Yeah HPG is totally different.

I'm not sure, I thought they were dead. Who knows. I wasn't a fan of their mask kits though (aside from the chin sling - I love those).

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Yup

Okay, thanks. Was gonna say... heh. It’s not enough of a difference to matter. One or two passes a week vs sharpening six passes once a month. Especially when you take into account the consistency aspect. But like I’ve said before, I didn’t buy it to save money. Consistency was for sure the number one reason I bought it.

Okay, fill me in guys... what's wrong with doing that? I do two passes before every game (so, once a week, which is usually one game and one pickup per week). I like that I never have my skates feel different. Consistency is the primary driver for doing it that way.

I didn’t realize the grey and tan were different. Mine are tan. I guess that explains why I said it’s grippy and somebody else said slippery.

I just can’t fathom the moisture wicking liner being very durable. I like the way the clarino really seems to grip as it gets wet. All that being said, I think it’s time for new skates. My VH don’t feel like they used to. Likely a combination of the foams compressing from age and my foot shape changing since I ordered them. A rebake may fix it, but I want a cowlingless skate anyway.

Yea bauer is kind of reversed. My first goal skates were Reactor. As for chest - I'll give you the same quote the guy at the store said to me when I started. "All of these are protective enough for your level, so its a matter of whats comfortable". Mostly true, though the bottom of the line is still not fun if you play pickups with higher skilled guys. I'd go AT LEAST one step up from the bottom, at first. I ended up going with Passau because its a fantastic chest, super light weight, very protective, and was cheaper than retail top of the line models, by a lot. That's one of the best decisions I ever made as far as goalie gear. Oh, and get a neck guard. Whether you are going to wear a dangler or not, get one. Most of them are useless. I use Maltese but they're dead now so the best option out there is either ecoprofoam or roughneck, which are pretty much the same thing, in general. Of course you'll need a jock (preference) and knee pads (Again, I went Passau because I hated everything retail I tried).

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Gnetik8.0, if I was starting out again. My first pads were Brian’s S-Series which was their low end product at the time. The glove was a bit thin but the leg pads were great. I have zero interest in Graf skates, personally. I have VH (now True) but only because I have a hard time with retail skates. But I would always encourage somebody go retail if they’re able to. Try to get something cowlingless, as just like leather straps you might as well get used to the style of the future and not the past!

For cleaning, soak in a bathtub with oxyclean. Agitate, soak, drain, repeat. Not sure on sizing. I haven’t had to look at that since I started. As for pads, most Sr level stuff is going to be just fine. I will take a new lower level leg pad over a used set any day. You want to avoid anything with leather straps too. Lots of guys still use them but the future is elastic strapping so you might as well get used to it from the beginning so you don’t have to switch later. As for quality, if you’re going lower level Brian’s is going to be the best build quality, but I’d use just about anything. Just don’t skimp on your glove.

Okay guys just leave it alone. Don’t feed trolls. We don’t need to waste another four pages on this. At this point it doesn’t benefit anyone to reply to ridiculous statements.

That’s a great breakdown, and while I agree that you obviously can’t directly correlate time wasted to your hourly salary, my time is definitely worth SOMETHING, and keeping my sanity is worth even more. Not having piss poor sharpening done, or showing up during posted business hours to find the shop closed “because it was slow so the guy went home” after the 30+ minute to drive there. Bottom line, for me: I didn’t buy a Sparx to save money. Not even close.