IPv6Freely

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).

Image doesn’t work. What site did you attempt to host it from?

I tend to avoid KVG, personally.

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.

Never heard of it, but nope.

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!

The ones that fit your feet when you get fitted at the store.

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.

That’s how I felt with the ReAkt. I thought it was amazing... then I tried the 710 and 310. Wow.

At least it’s an increase instead of a decrease, so those who don’t understand why it was done will just find it to be a nice surprise

NME8 is the mask I use. It's pretty much the lowest end mask you can buy thats made of fiberglass and not plastic. As for the blocker, you can get them re-palmed. The glove, sorry I have no idea on break angles. I've never used CCM gear before. What about leg pads? Do you have any yet?

Still not as bad as the Colorado jerseys...

Jesus Christ this thread needs to die. One person not being able to read simple English is starting to add up to multiple pages of junk that benefits nobody.

I find the VN way too hard and didn’t conform to my head shape. So my helmet history is basically V10, Bauer ReAkt, CCM 710, and Bauer NME for goalie masks (the more common Profile series used VN foams).

Thank you!

I had a V10 because I hated the type of foam that was in the V08. I've never understood how anyone can think that style foam is comfortable.

Rocky Johnson

They have the same thing at the pumps in the town my wife works in, but the median home value there is ~4M and that's only because there are "small" homes around the perimeter of the town dragging the average down. Most of the time it's not necessary, but just like my wife's car says right on the gas cap "91+ octane only" while I'm sure the 87 would be just fine, for a couple extra bucks you might as well. I'm sure guys driving $250k cars don't really care about the premium they're paying.