IPv6Freely

Yup same here, rink pro shop is closed by the time I get there for my games. Plus it's been terrible every time I've had them done there. Now I just pop the skates in while I'm packing my bag. I envy those who have a competent sharpener who is convenient to use. But I guess that makes me the ideal demographic for this thing.

I'd stick with what you have if you're happy with it. The Sparx is really not meant to replace a real setup. It does a good job and is fast and easy and convenient, but to be honest I wouldn't have bought it if there were competent pro shops near me. But for what it is, it's great.

I don't think I even need to say it.

This made my day. I'd vote for him.

I'm with you there. It was becoming less and less fun. Then I kind of missed it a bit after going full time goalie, played 4 games, and had some idiot break my ankle. So... that sure put an end to that...

I don't use the latter two for the most part (I only use IG to post images to Twitter and FB at the same time). My Facebook is still pretty essential though. I just removed almost everyone except close friends and immediate family, and removed all the pages I followed. I see 2-3 posts a day, maximum. I may have 30 people on there. Twitter is another story, but I'm in IT so it's pretty essential. Though I've pared that down a ton too. Lists help a lot with that (can see posts from companies, etc. without actually following them). Amazing how much you don't miss the noise.

My commute would go from 20 minutes to over an hour if I didn't use it. I-15 south from San Marcos to Rancho Bernardo. Ill save more in tolls with the Model 3 than I will in gas.

FasTrak toll fees. Or, more specifically, toll fee pre-pay replenishments. Basically, your usage has to be pre-paid, so they basically pull an amount from your bank account and into your FasTrak account (just like a Starbucks card, for example) to cover your toll fees “based on your usage pattern". Except this month they pulled $250 more than my highest EVER toll usage amount ($180). WHY?? Sounds like their algorithm to calculate your usage pattern is REALLY broken. To use the Starbucks card analogy again, that's like topping up your card with $50 to buy a coffee. Eventually you'll use it, sure. But it still sucks at the time. At least with Starbucks I can just tap a button on my phone to top it up, and I get to choose the amount.

6 straight losses (including a forfeit) since I came back from injury. This sucks.

Pickup from tuesday. Not bad, not great. Came out to challenge a point shot which ended up being 100x slower than I expected so it just went right through the 5-hole. One guy thought it was hilarious. I didn't. You'll see the result. I definitely don't normally do anything like this, but to be honest I was either going to slide into the puck, poke check him, and ended up doing neither and just gave him a shove instead. It was a dick move, I'm aware. I'd just had enough of him for the night. For what it's worth, the guys liked it because he doesn't pass and just cherry picks for breakaways all the time. Still, shoulda just poke checked him. Oh well.

Got a new goalie pant shell. Don't really need it but couldn't pass it up.

Crap, I JUST threw away my Sparx box. I probably should have hung on to that, just in case. I often keep boxes for most electronics, just in case (or for re-sale in the case of Apple products). If we needed servicing, would it be possible to have an empty box sent to us? That's how Microsoft used to do things with the old original Xbox... you'd call for service and they'd send you the packing materials. I imagine this is probably something you guys haven't thought about this early in the lifetime of the machines that are already out there ;) As for the Step.. I use Step black and have noticed almost no burrs at all. I don't know if thats the step steel, it being step black, or the sparx machine. With it being the black step I only use the leather to deburr but honestly probably don't need to use anything. Exactly the same here. Instead of a full 4-pass sharpening every couple weeks, I actually do two passes before every skate (twice a week). Probably not necessary to do it that much, but like you said... consistency.

I had previously been doing the same for the same reasons (I'm in San Diego), until I got the Sparx. So I totally understand your situation!

FML. We tied the game with less than 2 minutes left with me on the bench. Then I promptly let in an easy shot with 11 seconds left to lose the game. Absolutely brutal. The novelty of getting to play hockey again has worn off, and now I have to start working on not sucking again...

If you really want a backpack, I'd recommend this: http://www.gritinc.net/us/hockey/hockeypod.html It's what I use now for my player gear. It's fantastic, very comfortable, and like the other Grit models it has separate compartments for everything, if you're into that.

Yea it was really more about having something convenient than anything else.

I'm kicking myself for selling my Mammoth. Best bag on the market, period. (Though you certainly pay for it!) Was also looking at the sher-wood vintage pro bags, though I really dislike pro style bags. The more pockets the better.

Maybe, but it's far enough away that I've never been there, so quite irrelevant.

We have a guy who wears one of those player cateye cages, but otherwise I don't see much vintage gear.

Well, one of you can feel free to move to north county San Diego so I don't need the Sparx ;) That said, there's nothing "going on" here.

We definitely should not be discouraging manufacturers from replying to questions/comments/concerns. We should be embracing that, as most other consumers don't get that opportunity. If this thread was full of spam, it would be a different story.

IW's new bag actually looks really good: http://www.icewarehouse.com/IW_Hockey_Pro_Team_Carry_Bag_36/descpage-IWBAG36.html I think I've found my new bag :)

I'm envious of your situation.

Yea, those things are horrible. They work in a pinch but definitely zero reason to use them after a fresh cut. Only thing I can think of is the guy is on the wrong hollow for him and is trying to compensate, like the guys who rub their blades on the bench door threshold after a fresh skate. We had a guy on a previous team that swore up and down that the sweetstick was as good as a sharpening. Heh.

You're STILL dealing with that? Holy crap. Sorry to hear :( Funny you mentioned snap and pop... my ankle was popping almost CONSTANTLY when I was first able to put full weight on it without the cane. But not at all now. I kinda miss it, it felt good! lol